Survivors of the Z’s- Cal Moore, Ashford City, California
We ran away from the flames. We just kept moving. I looked around. Mason was to my right and Hannah and Zach were to my left. I looked back and saw my parents side by side.

   “Keep going Cal!” Dad told, “just keep going!”

I looked forward

The fire felt close

Everywhere was threatened now

The smell was strong 

I looked around and noticed the surrounding areas get set alight as well.

Hannah fired her gun

I looked her way and saw the diseased.

There were many

And they were coming our way

   I looked on concerned, “oh no”

   “This way!” Mom told

We ran toward the road and carried on down it. I looked back again to see if they were close.

Luckily

They weren’t 
We had lengthened the gap

But we couldn’t stop

We had to keep going

   “Down here!” Hannah bellowed, “quickly… Zach, go!”

We turned down an alley

   She turned, “move!” She told

She fired again 

The diseased had closed the gap

They were coming in quick

Most of them were sprinters

We could hear there screams 

Screaming for our blood

There were many houses. We tried many doors, but we couldn’t  get in

   “There’s somebody in there,” Mom told, “Hey!” She cried, “let us in, please!”

I looked and I caught a glimpse of the figure behind the unclear glass. It was just standing there. 

And then

It slowly came towards us

   “Wait,” I said

It reached the glass and it’s hand pressed up against it. We could hear it’s groans

   “It’s one of them,” she said

I looked at Mason

The fright on his face said it all

Hannah’s, mom’s, dad’s

We all looked like we were readying for the end

   Hannah grabbed her gun and began firing, “fuck you!” 

She cried out loud

She fired and some fell, but she weren’t going to kill them all.

   “We need to move, come on!” Dad told 

Once again we ran, but I felt my legs tiring.

How long could we go on for?

I looked around once more at everybody and I could tell.

They all felt the same way.

We were slowing down

And they were quickening

We turned another corner

down another street and like the majority of the streets we had passed. It was nearly empty.

What would’ve been a typical city street. Was now only inhabited by a few cars and one or two bodies that were torn apart

We ran down a back alley now

   “Ahhh!” I heard

I looked around and saw my mom on the ground fighting an infected man that was holding her by the leg.

   “Mother fucker!” Dad bellowed, “get off her!”

He kicked the side of its head 

Twice

And it fell

We all ran to my mom’s aid and we all kicked repeatedly. Kicked it until there was nothing left.

   “Zach, come here,” Hannah told 

Dad reached down and took a gun from the bodies back pocket. We then heard their screams. 

They were close

The ground we had gained was shortening once more

   “Is there anything over that fence,” Dad breathed heavily

   Mason jumped up and clinged at the top for a second, “no, there’s nothing there”

   “Ok, climb over now, all of you, go!” Dad told

One by one we climbed over

Zach first

Then Hannah

Then Mason

   I stayed, “you coming right?” I asked 

   “Yeah, we’re behind you,” Dad told

Dad helped me over and I landed in a small back yard with a swing close by and a dog kennel down at the bottom. 

Mom came seconds after

BUT…

Dad stayed over 

   “Jeffrey!” Mom shouted, “What’re you doing?!”

   “I’ve gotta do this honey, I have to lead them away, they’ll keep following us no matter what, now go!”

   “You’re not leaving us!”

I listened and a tear fell from my eye.

   “Go, now!”

   “Jeffrey!” She cried

I ran to the fence and tried climbing over, but mom stopped me.

   “Leave it, Cal,” she told 

   “Let go of me!”

   “He’s gone, he’s led them away, I’m sorry”

   “Dad!” I screamed

I heard the gun from a far and as we hid behind the fence. The sounds of their running footsteps passed us.

   “Over here!” Dad called

He fired the gun once more

   “Come get me!”

Mom and I sat down beside the fense.

   “Come here,” she told

   I fell into her arms, “he can’t leave us mom,” I cried, “he can’t”

My vision went dark as I lent into the warmth of my mother. 

I felt protected

Like a shield had suddenly appeared around me

   “He did it for us,” she tried to stay strong, “I would’ve done the exact same thing, he just got there first, Cal”

   “We need to go,” Hannah spoke 

I looked up and saw one making its way out of the back door of the house. 

It walked gingerly 

A small woman around my  mom’s age

Hannah wandered up to the kennel and picked up the chain next to it. She wrapped it around her knuckles and hit it hard in the head. 

It wobbled 

She hit again until it fell 

She then got on top of it and repeatedly bashed the hell out of it

Mason and I looked at each other in shock as she just kept going.

   “Hannah,” Mason said, “Hannah, I think it’s dead,” he walked up to her and caressed her shoulder, “Hannah, stop it… stop it”

He pulled on her and she pushed him away.

   “Don’t touch me!” She cried

We all were standing at the edge.

Another safe house gone 

Another way of life destroyed

DISINTEGRATED 

The only question that stared into our anxious eyes was…

Safety, was it dead to us? 

Filed under: Season Three