Survivors of the Z’s- Graham Jackson,
30/07/2016, Nottingham, UK

We had covered alot of ground
Me and him
Me and the unknown man who had decided to help me get to my family
My angel
My grandchildren
We raced through a tunnel that was pitchblack with doors on both sides.
And
Behind each door laid one of those things. Thats what it felt like and the question sat on top of me…
WOULD. IT. EVER. END?
It was bound to at some point. The grim world that had seeped into my world had now flooded it. It didn’t matter where I looked now or turned my ear to.
I heard
And seen
One of those things chasing us down. Whether it would be in the distance
OR
Close by with my friend blowing them back down to hell. Whether it would be a defenseless lone man or woman getting caught by one. They were everywhere.
Seeking blood
Seeking an innocent life
Seeking to end somebody
“Turn here!” He told
I followed him left. We couldn’t move forward because there was a load of them in front of us. No way could he have taken care of them all.
“In here,” he said
We went through a back door down an alley. Luckily the place had the light shining through it. He brushed passed me and checked. I joined him and looked in the other areas where he hadn’t checked yet.
The room was large with many doors around.
“Why aren’t you scared?” I asked, “I’ve never been this scared in my whole life”
“What’s the point when it’ll only get you killed?”
“Its only natural”
“To you and to the rest of the world yes, but for me, no”
“Bu”-
“Shhh,” he told
He was on alert. His shotgun pointed forward and he moved forward slowly. I kept my ears and ears focused.
Again
Luckily the light shone through the windows, so seeing was easy. It was just predicting, what ever he had heard, was either one of them
OR…
One of us
“In there,” he said, “stand back”
He was smaller than me with a smaller frame, but his fearlessness made him stronger.
But in a world that was quickly changing. It could also be a weakness.
He walked toward the door and went to open it, but it wasn’t to be.
“Come on,” he said
We went to walk away.
“Hello!” A female voice shouted
He stopped and walked back.
“Are you ok?”
“No, please help us, my mum’s been bit by one of those things, we hid in here to hide and locked the door, but we can’t seem to get it back open, she’s… mum are you ok? Mum, talk to me please”
“Did you say your mum’s been bit?” I asked
“Yes, she’s not looking too good”
“We need to get her out of there, now,” he told
A thud
A thud against the door
THEN…
A cry
“Arrrrgh, help me!” She cried
“Hold on!” He told
He then pointed the shotgun at the door and blasted it.
Not once
But twice
The door gave way
And they both came falling out. An older woman on top of a younger woman. The older woman
The mother
Had clinged on to the daughter who struggled beneath her grip.
“Help me!”
She reached out. I kicked the once- was- mother at the side of the head and it fell to the ground. BUT
A gaping hole was left from the skin it had taken with it
He then pointed his shotgun and unloaded it’s deadliness.
The head splattered into bits
We couldn’t get to her on time. A young woman who looked only in her twenties had been taken prisoner from the virus.
She was suffering
Bleeding out from her neck
It had been shredded by her mother’s infected teeth
She cried out
“I don’t want to die”
Shaking
The cries eventually died out and we were left standing there.
MUM. DAUGHTER
Nothing we could do, but just stand there and think of the things we could’ve done that might’ve saved her.
“Lets go,” he told, “theres nothing we can do, what ever this thing is, it’s taken control now”
“We can’t do just leave her”
He took out a pistol, “its for the best”
Her eyes widened
A tear ran down her cheek
“I’m sorry,” he said
AND
suddenly shot her in the head

He led the way once more. Across a long coridoor and then we looked out of a window.
Nothing there
A crash then made us both jump. A body came flying down the stairs behind us.
Crashing into the walls
“Shit,” he said
A bellow from upstairs.
“Come on!”
He grabbed me and pushed me toward the door. We rushed out up a narrow street.
“Don’t look back!” He told
My phone rang, “Dad!”
“Evelyn!” I said, “I”m almost there, stay put!”
“Daddy, somethings happened, I can’t, hey! Get off of me! Dad, they’re evacuating everyone, please hurry, I’ll wait for you near the fountains, please hurry, I don’t know how long they’ll let me wait!”
The phone went dead. If I could see my own face it would’ve scared me fucking senseless.
Twists and turns
The left of the dark tunnel I was in. Was anything going to go right?
Anything all?
My chest killed. I was in agony. My legs bellowed in pain with every hit onto the ground.
BUT
I had to keep moving
With every scrape
With every move on the legs
With every twinge in my joints
The only thing I could
Touch
Feel
Was of my own daughter and my grandchildren, so stopping wasn’t an option. I was going to get to her no matter what it took
“Fuck!” I cried
“Whats wrong?!”
“Nothing, lets just keep on moving!”
It wasn’t long until another twist of the long nighterish tale came out of nowhere.
Stopping me in my tracks
Making me beg for mercy
The monster came out of nowhere and put me to the ground.
His face
Near mine
The smell of blood
The smell of dying skin
I could see skin in between its teeth.
It roared in my face with blood dripping from its eyes.
I held it back. Mustering up everything I could
My strength
My determination
But, I could feel my energy running low.
THEN
A boot came crashing into its skull and it was blown to bits straight after.
He offered his hand and I took it, “They’re all over the place, the square is not far now, lets go”