75 Days

I lifted the metal baseball bat higher, feeling much better with a heavy weapon in my hands. They twisted nervously around the rubber grip, and I stepped silently from behind the building, careful to avoid stepping on anything that will make noise and give away my position.He's shuffling along a few yards ahead of me, right in front of the alley I needed to get to. His left arm is dislocated, and it's hanging at his side. His ankle is broken; the skin is tattered and bloody, and the bone is poking out. He's walking on it anyway, oblivious to any pain he might be in. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that three of the fingers on his right hand are missing, probably bitten off. His skin looks soft; the infection's been in his body for a while, and he's started to melt. At first, they look like deranged humans that can move fast and gracefully, until after a few weeks and they start to decompose.I moved forward another couple of steps, and stop when a can goes ski

Reese and I head back down to the apartment, and Ryder is still sitting on the couch with his feet up on my coffee table. I can't help but frown at his rudeness. He catches my mean look, rolls his eyes, and drops his feet from the table. Then he wipes his hand across the surface, smearing the dirt into the carpet. I clench my hands and roll my eyes back at him. He chuckles and crosses his arms over his chest, giving me a glimpse of his barbed wire tattoo in the process. I ignore him and start to dig through the cupboards. "Are you two hungry?" "Yeah, we are," Ryder says, hopping to his feet. "What do you have?" "Not much variety," I admit, reaching for the cans on the top shelf. I can feel my fingertips brush against the metal, but I can't get my hands around the cans to bring them down. I grit my teeth to keep from groaning in frustration. One of the boys starts to laugh, and Reese reaches up to gra

In the morning, Ryder, Reese, and I all head to a grocery store on the other side of town. Reese and I are both in the backseat keeping our eyes open for any signs of the Warriors, and Ryder is driving as carefully as possible. The last thing we need is a fight on the day we're planning to leave. The brakes slam, and the car jerks to a stop, sending Reese toppling over me in the backseat. "Get off!" I smack at his arm, trying to shove him off me. His elbow is digging into my ribcage, and I can't breathe. "Sorry," he grunts, trying to move. "Shush! Get down." We obey Ryder's command without further complaint, and he turns the car off. The three of us duck down as far as possible while still being able to see. About two-hundred yards ahead of us, three men dressed in camouflage and carrying assault rifles are dragging something behind them. At first, I think it's a zombie corpse. T

In the morning, the four of us pack up our gear and get ready to start walking. Ryder and Reese both look tired, and I wish I'd forced them to let me take a turn at watching. They're the only things standing between death and me, and if they're working at half-full, mistakes might happen.Reese stops me before we leave, and buckles something through the loops of my jeans. It's black and looks like a belt, but it has a leather holster right over the hip. He tucks one of the Glock 17's away, and smiles. "You remember how to shoot, right?""Um, yeah," I say, not nearly as confident as I sound. And I don't sound all that confident. "I think I'll stick close to you just to be on the safe side." I give him a nervous chuckle, and he smiles."Don't worry, I'll protect you."Ryder makes a rude gagging noise, and I glare at him. He just shakes his head, ignoring my stony glare, and grabs some extra ammunition, tucking it into a bag that he hangs ove

Ryder reacts fast, and jumps away from the knife. It slashes through the air, missing his neck by a couple of inches. Ryder grabs the leader's wrist, and twists it sharply. The leader curses and the knife falls from his hands and into the dirt. Ryder twists the wrist harder, and it snaps. He draws the leader closer, and brings his knee up directly into his stomach. The leader wheezes harshly and doubles over, trying to catch his breath. Ryder doesn't give him the chance though. He brings his arm up, and slams his elbow down directly onto the leader's spine. He falls to the ground and doesn't move again. His two companions just stare at him, unsure of what to do next. They're still holding their weapons, but Reese has them at gunpoint. I can't see what he says to them, but they drop their shotguns to the ground and start to back away, hands raised. They don't want to mess with Ryder or Reese now that their leader is laying face-down on the gr