The Armageddon Outbreak

On the date of December 22nd, 2012, the end times suddenly arrived. The undead broke out and soon outnumbered the living. Now, after a year and a half later, the world is not as it once was.

Armageddon

The cause of the commotion was eventually clarified. To the right were five of them �" five grumbling undead �" rapidly stumbling through the dense woodlands. From what could be seen of the commotion, their prey was a frantic little girl who had to be no older than ten years in age. How utterly disgusting. With it being well into the winter season in the northern great lakes state of Michigan �" a blanket of snow hid the frozen ground from sight �" she was naturally heavily dressed in a white coat, black snow pants, pink boots plus gloves, to combat the cold. This outfit of hers, including a backpack also, hindered her movement though and, judging by the way she looked, the girl had been running for too long already. Of course, when being so young, she wouldn’t have enough breath to keep up the required sprint to outrun the “formers” or “infected” and she seemed to know it already. Due to her realization that her pursuers were actually catching up to her and not falling behind, fright was seizing her. Thus, in a panic, she wasn’t following any of the commonly known rules necessary to staying alive which were required to avoid or lose the trailing zombies.

Instead of remaining calmly quiet, the child was squealing shrilly while completely seized by fear. Rather than staying focused on winding through the trees ahead of her, she was running straight and even slowing herself by glancing over her shoulder. At one moment, she even tripped! Then, as she continued to sob while getting back onto her feet, it was then that Christopher scoffed to himself uncaringly. Why did he care about what he was seeing? Was the world not that way and been that way for the past year? Did he have no heart? No, he didn’t. In fact, no one probably did these days. Hearts were weaknesses that led to mistakes; mistakes got you killed. Hearts had been physically as well as emotionally torn out of everyone’s chests throughout the past. Humanity had died a long time ago. Too long ago. Now, there were only animals in the previously “good” world and only the strongest survived. There were no special cases, no acceptations. Peoples lived or they died. The strongest endured, the weak ceased to exist. No argument.

Nevertheless, despite his coldness towards the desperate child’s plight, Christopher couldn’t help but admire the sight of someone else being alive. It seemed he wasn’t alone on earth. Never before, in the very longest time, had another living being ventured so far out into the pine forests that belonged to Chris. Never were any of the strangers that came along into his territory friendly but they sported bad attitudes along with guns which, truly, was not ever a good combination for him. He quickly came to learn that with the end of the world came unimaginative dangers. The living could be just as dangerous, as unbelievable, as those not living. Christopher’s soulless response to seeing the passing little girl in need was due to him being alone for too long as well as being betrayed too many times by making the “right” decisions. Numerous moments, driven greatly by his loneliness, had he gone out of his way to aid whom he thought he could befriend and help. Those same folk he helped out of trouble, out of even tight situations that would have brought around death, looked to stab him in the back as well as take his belongings for himself and, ha, why wouldn’t they? He had a good hideout, a safe haven in the trees, out of reach of enemies as well as filled with plenty of scavenged supplies from hard work. The home he had made over time was an excellent one. Anyone would want it… even, as displayed, kill for it.

“MOMMY!”

Again, Christopher scowled when hearing the scream of the little girl reverberate through the chilly air. Once, he remembered doing that. Once, he recalled crying out like that when the outbreak started and his entire family, his livelihood, had been… yet, that didn’t matter. Squealing for family didn’t help against hell. It didn’t do anything. It was against everything mankind would have considered back in the past but Chris didn’t care about the doomed girl. He DIDN’T care about her! Death was everything on earth now. That was the law, what civilization grew around, what was known. There was no more hope for anyone apart for those, the strongest in both willpower along with body, willing to do what was required to live to see the days that the living would finally outnumber the dead and, to do that, the craziest things had to be done. As for the child, it seemed she was fated not to survive the end times. Too bad for that was how things were… Or was it? Was death really the law, the master of all things? Could it not be proven wrong? Could it not be avoided now?

Yes, death was not the keeper of the world. Obviously, due to the appearance of the girl, there was still some life amid all the chaos that had transpired. Wasn’t Christopher even proof that the living could stand a chance throughout the worst of days? Therefore, why would he simply sit in place and allow zombies to take away his one chance to actually get news of what had been happening outside the pine forests? Why would he let death destroy more life? Sure, because of his previous experiences with strangers as well as the reality of the world, he was wary of the results of keeping the child alive to befriend. Wouldn’t she only be another worry on an already long list of worries for him? Wouldn’t she just be another burden to weigh him down and possibly get them both killed in the worst way? Yet, what did he have to lose? If he was to get torn apart then so be it. Chris had been a good man one time in his life. Could he not be that same man again for the little girl; for her sake as well as life?

“AAAH! MOMMY!”

“Oh, shut up…” Christopher hissed to himself when hearing the little girl shriek out for wherever her mother could be. She truly did have good reason to make such a commotion. A child her age shouldn’t have had to ever run from such monsters looking to… one could guess. Lucky for her, though, Chris had come to a humble as well as hopefully right decision in a cruel, unreadable world. Due to not knowing how his decision would result �" whether or not he was running straight into another bad ending again �" he couldn’t resist whispering to himself grumpily, “I’m going to regret this. I know it but oh well.” With that said, he was leaping down onto the snowy ground below from his hunting perch. When landed, he then dashed expertly on silent feet after the uproar while setting up his bow with an arrow.

Having survived since a year and a half ago when the infection began to the very moment, Chris had inherited the makings of becoming a true bane of zombies as well as a master scavenger. Being twenty two years old, his endurance was at its fittest, maybe even more than that, after having engaged undead at both close along with long ranged combat many times. He could now control his feelings, breathing, plus pace effortlessly. He currently analyzed situations, with or without pressure, in towns or not, in seconds and, with this gift, he did exactly just that with the child he looked to save. He observed the situation; then had a plan. As said before, there were five former humans closing in on their young winded prey. In mere moments, they would have a “meal”. Well, not if their steely pursuer had anything to do with it. Yes, seconds ago, Chris hadn’t been fond of gaining the wild zombies’ attention. However, after having thought of what was moral along with wanting to be able to talk with someone other than himself for a change, he now looked to execute five of them before they ended one helpless child.

Could a rescue be accomplished? Most would question it. Regardless, with it being Chris in charge, he certainly knew he would leave the coming fight behind with the girl beside him. The both of them would be unharmed as well as very much alive and, boy, would they have a long discussion back at the tree house. For now, though, a few undead had to be to be “killed” again and, through years of practice, their pursuer knew just how to do that.

“Remember, Chris… The head is an important part for the messengers of death.” Christopher whispered to himself while nearing the first of the five distracted undead, “However, they can’t rightly be messengers without their legs, can they?” At this, he shot an arrow cleanly into his first target’s right shin!

If motivated, the not living could get up to speed. Without having to breathe, they could keep this fast pace until catching whatever they wanted. Regardless, they couldn’t go anywhere as fast without their legs and, with a shaft through its right leg from behind, the first zombie Chris targeted collapsed to the earth! There, snarling, the creature �" formerly a woman in her forties �" dragged itself along with its hands as well as attempted to see what had disabled it. Not paying his downed victim much mind at the moment, Christopher fearlessly leapt over it to engage his second opponent who had noticed what had happened. The second undead �" previously a guy about Chris’s own age �" gnashed its reddened teeth as it fumbled along towards Christopher who, with a flash of his lethal hunting knife plus full body spin for extra power, slashed as well as smashed the monster aside! With that, for reassurance, the hunter fiercely finished both the first and second zombies by stabbing them in the heads and bolted after the three leftover! Yes, the little girl was alive. She was still fleeing.

The third undead �" perhaps a very beautiful teen girl during her time alive �" to be done in by Chris let loose a rather loud scream of its own when he arrowed it perfectly in the forehead! In turn, the fourth zombie �" an elderly looking chap �" stopped to look around. Once it saw what had transpired, it decided to engage the hunter rather than the little girl. This left one last undead to run after the child and  when Christopher readied to shoot the fourth undead coming at him, with a howl, the presumed third zombie with a freaking arrow through its skull tripped the hunter onto the ground by grabbing his right foot! Swearing in the snow, keeping his cool, Chris kicked at what had a hold of him! With a snap, he loudly broke the creature’s neck! For god’s sake, the thing should’ve been dead a long time ago before that! Getting over that, Chris prepped his knife while the fourth aged undead came snarling at him. Last second, it got a face full of snow from its supposed victim and, after a sharp slash to the brain, the thing fell to the ground to not move again! Four of the not living were gone, one more to go.

“You still got it.” Was what Christopher told himself while grabbing up his bow from the snowy earth to get back to catching up with the chase, “You still got it.” He had a clear right to say this. For months, death had kept right on coming for the hunter of the Michigan pine forests. Four times in a row now today it had had its chance to rip him to shreds but, rather than he, its messengers now laid still among the trees. Now, there was one last thing to do and, with god speed, he dashed after where the little girl had been running for. As he did run after her, questions began to come to his mind.

Now that Chris thought about it, where had the child come from? Why were there undead after her? How on earth had she made it so far into the woodlands on her own and where was the mother she called out for? Did she have a father then? Did she belong to a group somewhere? The answers to these riddles could only be provided the girl herself and, knowing this, the hunter increased his pace almost twofold! Then, screaming of the worst kind began piercing the surroundings ahead of him and that was where his speed became threefold for he didn’t want to think he might be too late! Only one kind of thing caused such inhumane screams; the arrival of death itself. Snow flew up with every step Christopher made. He clutched the bow and knife in his hands tightly until veins showed in his wrists. His mind raced with horrible possibilities of what could await him ahead and, when finally able to see the source of the shrill squeals, he felt his heart sink into his gut.

The remaining zombie was on its knees. Never was it good to see an undead on its knees for the only time it did so… was to feed. The creature appeared to have a firm hold of something, of the child, who was causing the shrieking while she flayed about wildly on her stomach. As the little girl cried out, her attacker ripped into her back with unrivaled savagery! Shreds along with pieces of material flew off the child’s spine into the air as her savior closed the distance between himself and the deadly scene taking place before him! At top speed, faster than fast, Christopher brought his bow around which smacked the unaware fifth undead �" a grandmother once �" off of its victim! Then, letting out a yell of his own, Chris plunged his dagger plus an arrow into the head of the recovering monster that looked to bite him good! Finished as soon as he had started, the hunter swept away from the motionless grandma zombie to check on the child; to see if the worst had happened. In turn, he felt his heart soar when seeing that the little girl was on actually her feet. In fact, she was running for her life again.

“Hey!” Christopher shouted after her. He stepped forward, remembered his weapons lodged in the undead behind him, got back his arrow along with knife, then he ran down the tired little girl. Once nearly to her, the hunter took notice that she seemed to be unharmed. The same couldn’t be said for her backpack along with coat though. They were in pieces which, miraculously, had shielded her from being scratched nor bitten by her assaulter. Ha, so it seemed miracles were around after all. Grabbing a hold of the child by the shoulders, Chris was startled as she let loose another mess of squealing, flailing, along with crying. Through it all, he shouted to make himself heard, “Hey, hey, hey! Calm down, calm down, calm down! Listen to me �" listen �" I’m not going to-”

“NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! LET GO, LET GO, LET GO! MOMMY!”

“HEY! SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND LISTEN TO ME!!!”

“NO, NO, NO, NO, NO-”

And so, the screaming between both living humans continued throughout the white wooded settings for quite a time after everything not living had been killed off again. It was mostly a miracle that the both of them were not heard by zombies for the half hour that they roared out at the top of their voices. Finally, Chris forcefully turned the child about to cover her mouth. As he did, he got a better look at her. She was indeed about ten with an innocently blushing look, had long blonde hair, plus teary blue eyes. Also, he got a nasty shock from her as she coldly bit down upon his hand at once! This showed she could defend herself. “OW!” He yelled out, shaking his injured hand as well as losing his grip on the girl at the same time. He leapt after her when she looked to flee and, there on the ground, they both remained panting. Then, done resisting, the child began to freely wail. Taking his chance at this, the hunter stated, “Don’t do this to me! Don’t run! If you have to cry then cry but I didn’t just kill those things chasing you to have you bite me and run to get chased again! It doesn’t work like that!”

There was no real answer to this. For good reason, only more crying echoed into the silent forest around the pair lying on the earth. Who knew how long the child had been trailed. She was clearly in a state of fear, shock, maybe more. Suddenly feeling that he didn’t really think things through �" earlier, he didn’t ponder about what to do when catching up to who needed saving �" Christopher sat up. Keeping a firm hold on the weeping child, he searched the surrounding environment carefully for unwanted visitors who were being drawn in due to the noise. Numerous times, the hunter told the child to quiet down but this only seemed to make her sobs renew in energy. Eventually, Chris had to settle with staying quietly observant as well as dearly hope nothing else dead would be attracted to the loud crying which, slowly, faded in volume until nearly gone. It was after at least close to an hour of sitting around waiting that the girl breathed out words rather than gasps.

“Let… me… go.” She uttered out. A bit relieved to hear her talking rather than freaking out further, Christopher sharply stated back one word.

“No.”

This only made the little girl renew in crying and, by god, she kept on spilling tears. She was scared, lost, rattled, confused, and who knew what else. She had come much too close to being infected, to dying. Chris remembered his own close calls, how he had cried without end afterwards too. However, releasing such emotions at high volume anywhere was foolishness. It was a sure way to get you killed in more than one way. Yes, the child had purpose to be afraid. Nonetheless, for both their sakes, she had to get a hold of herself. Yet, maybe she wasn’t the issue. Chris �" being a complete stranger that had killed five zombies, armed with a dagger along with a bow �" must have looked intimidating. The only way to possibly get the kid to silence, to get her to trust her newest companion, was to be coolly talked down. She needed a father, brother, friendly figure. Not a hero.

“Please, let me go.”

“No, I can’t do that. Look, please stop the crying.” Chris whispered, knowing the low tone would be one of the keys to gaining the friendship of the child, “Yet, I could let you go if you promise me not to run off.” At this, things seemed to ease up. The little girl shifted positions to give her rescuer a slight glance whom cracked into a welcome smile without thinking. He nodded at her while he added, “You know what? Don’t cry and don’t run and I’ll let you go. You promise to do those things for me; then I’ll be more than happy to let you go.” Several minutes passed. It was only when Christopher politely asked later, “Okay?” that the kid nodded her head. For the first time, uneasily, both humans sat up together. In time, as he trusted the child to keep her word, the hunter even got to his feet to check the environment for enemies. Nothing jumped him nor showed up. The coast was clear… for the meantime.

“W-what... what are you l-looking for?”

Again, when hearing her talk to him, Christopher felt relief at the child’s words. Probably that was due to the fact he hadn’t had contact with anyone or anything for too long. Anyway, in reply, he gave the tear faced innocent girl watching him from the ground a firm expression before saying back, “Seeing if you have any more guests coming along.”

“Guests? W-what? You mean �" did you kill t-them?”

“Kill” was a strong word for a kid to use casually. It kind of took the watchful hunter off guard but, knowing what the world had become, he realized it wasn’t such a shock. Once more, he’d been secluded in the forests for too long. He didn’t know how things really worked anymore for whatever remained of civilization. If the little girl could talk about killing simply, it seemed children were familiar with death too. Was that good? Was that bad? Who could say. Regardless, Christopher answered the inquiry directed to him about if he’d killed “them”; the zombies.

“That’s none of your concern, kid.” When seeing his answer was going to start a new series of crying, the hunter quickly became friendly and corrected his choice of words, “Yes, yes, the undead after you are all gone! I just want to make sure no more come along because your earlier loud tears could have attracted more.” At this, the kid paused in crying. She understood her wailing might bring more enemies and, feeling he was making a connection with her, Chris insisted, “Yeah, so, hold back on the crying. Relax. We’re going to be okay now.” Wow, for having been isolated for as long as he’d been, he was sure handling the exchange well. He was lucky he wasn’t insulting her.

“Fine. I-I won’t cry a-anymore.” Managed out the child in breaths, wiping away her eyes forcefully. In turn, not really knowing what else to do, Chris nodded in gratitude.

For a moment, the neither of them spoke. Really, what could the girl say to a total stranger? Nothing. It was actually the stranger who aimed to do the talking and, when feeling it was safe enough, he began discussing the list of questions that had accumulated in his head. He first had to find out about the assault on the girl. Had she really not been hurt? Therefore, to make sure she wouldn’t feel she was being pushed around or forced into anything, Chris put away his weapons while he slowly approached the uncertain girl. As she eyed him nervously, he said to her softly, “Tell me the truth when I ask you this…” In turn, the child slightly nodded, “Alright, beforehand, were you bit? Were you hurt? Were you harmed in any way, shape, or form that I should know of?” To each of these inquiries, it was solidly answered with a firm shake of the head. Next, the hunter paused before touching the child to say to her, “Show me your back then. I’ll be done asking if you were hurt when I see that you weren’t done anything harmful by that… certain zombie on top of you earlier.” Yes, that certain “incident” had been too close a call. However, a close call was all it had been. The girl’s back looked fine when shown from under the coat.

Now satisfied with what was most important to him, making sure no one was hurt, Chris let out a sigh as his senses somewhat eased up. He didn’t let down his entire guard, mind. He kept watch. Again, the world didn’t make acceptations for those that showed weakness. Letting something get the better of you was the end of you. No discussing it for that was that. Still, the hunter had questions on his mind which he gradually began revealing to his newest companion in the world, “What’s your name, kid?” Was his first inquiry, truly wanting to know.

“W-what?” Was the curious response, “W-why?”

“Your name? What is your name?”

“I…” The child didn’t look anywhere ready to reveal such information to someone she had just met. She was still lost, confused, frightened by all that had transpired to her. At seeing this, the hunter knew what was up and he decided another question had to be asked. He needed to keep talking, to keep making her comfortable, before asking for her name again.

“Alright, wrong question. I understand, you don’t talk to strangers, right?” This was answered with a quick nod and, with both of them feeling better, the exchange went on, “Okay, okay, okay… How about; can you tell me where you came from?”

“I don’t know.” This was an honest answer from the kid and the hunter knew it. Really, he saw it coming. Judging by the condition she was in as well as the fatigue she’d shown while running, the little girl must have blindly come from a long way away. Again, she shook her head while tears were welling up in her eyes, “I-I d-don’t know. Mommy.” The crying was going to begin again. In hopes to keep her wailing from recommencing, Chris quickly hushed the nervous child with him.

“Hey, hey, shush… Kid, look at me, look at me.” As he said this, Christopher found that he very much meant what he was saying. He wanted to not only keep the kid quiet but, deep inside, he realized he also wanted her to know she wasn’t as much in trouble as she thought. He wanted her to feel safe with him for that’s what she was. The danger had passed her. No more danger would come to her with him there either. “Dry those tears. You keep saying mommy. Can you tell me where she is?”

“N-no. I-I don’t k-know… Mommy.”

“Alright, alright, hey, hey! Stay calm, stay calm. Who is your mommy? What’s your mom’s name?”

“I-I… My mommy’s name?”

“Yeah. Your mommy’s name.” It felt kind of ridiculous to use the term “mommy” but it seemed to make things less stressed. That was a good thing.

“My mommy’s name is… is…” It took a few minutes of waiting, keeping watch meanwhile, until the name was remembered, “My mommy’s n-name is Tamie.”

“Ah, Tamie? What about a last name? Your mommy was Tamie…? Tamie…?” One step at a time was required and this was too much to ask of the little girl. She couldn’t recall the last name. Thus, Chris tried to ask for her name again. Maybe that would help. “Okay, so your mommy is Tamie. What about you? What’s your name?” There was a questioning pause. Then, as if a dam had broken, an answer came at last.

“My name is… Abby.”

“Your name is Abby then? Ah, I like it.” At that, Chris gestured to himself as well as bowed a polite bow, “Abby, my name is Chris. Christopher Hemson if you want to be, uh, formal about it.” This seemed to make the child, Abby, understand that he was being both funny and friendly for she smiled against her will in reply. This beam of hers seemed to establish a better connection between the living pair for they both grinned. Then, to make sure they understood each other, the hunter added to his introduction, “Listen, Abby, I have no idea where you came from or why you were being chased but I want you to know that I killed those things coming after you and do not mean to hurt you.” With this said, he displayed his intentions by respectfully bowing again, “I mean to keep you safe. You don’t need to be afraid of me. Okay?” Yes, Abby seemed to understand as well as accepted the hand the hunter extended to her. She got up but immediately sat back down. She was way too tired.

“I… I can’t get up. Why c-can’t I get up?”

“It’s because… How long were you running from those things, Abby?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Ah, it was going to be that way was it? Abby wasn’t going to know how long she’d been running, where she had come from, nor where her mother was? Hm, if she was going to want to go back to her mommy �" which she would �" that would be a challenge then. Yet, wait, was Chris really thinking about returning this child to her mom? Ha, yes, it seemed that way. He hardly knew the little girl and here he was thinking of being her hero again.

“Abby, where did you come from?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well that’s not going to work. You don’t know where your mommy is?”

“She’s with the group.”

“Group? What?” This was new information. This Tamie was with a group then?

“Yes. My mommy was with the group and… I don’t know.”

“Okay, okay. You were part of a group then? Was this group in the woods? Were you attacked by those zombies and separated from everyone?” This seemed to be too much for Abby. She shook her head as well as held it. The thought of the zombies and her “group” together wasn’t good. At seeing he wasn’t helping her, Chris actually took his little companion by the shoulders and said, “Okay, okay. Too many questions. Still, Abby, if I’m going to take you back-”

“Y-you’re going to take me back?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” This question, like the condition of the rest of the world, didn’t have an answer. Such acts of charity, even for children, wasn’t common. This was something Chris didn’t know, though he should when he temporarily thought of letting the zombies have the little girl. Now, he knew he would have regretted letting death take Abby from the world. She was likeable enough. She was delightful enough. Surely, she would have been a big loss to the group, to her mother, she belonged to if caught by the undead. Anyway, that was in the past. It was done with. Getting over his thoughts, Christopher continued, “Still, Abby, I can’t help you get back to your mommy if you don’t know anything about what happened to get you running like were. You really don’t know why the things were after you? Where you came from?” Again, these inquiries were answered with shakes of the head. In patience, the hunter nodded, “Alright. You came from the north. That much is certain.” Yep, Abby had come from the north. In fact, when looking northward, Christopher suddenly realized the landscape had adapted a rose red glow. He immediately looked to the west and, there, sunset was nearing.

Dusk would bring along night. Night would bring about an increased number of zombies as well as make them energetic. Thus, having no real idea as to what to do about getting her back to her friends before nightfall, Chris faced another challenge . He needed to get back to safety, to the tree house. Question was; would Abby be willing to come along with him to where it would be safe. She seemed very reluctant about answering questions still. Would she move from her spot with a complete stranger? Obviously, if she knew the rule of not to talk to strangers… getting her to come along wouldn’t be easy and with her being nervous, uncertain, along with resistant that would only make things harder. Yet, even if he had to knock her out, the hunter would do that. He’d become too attached to the child to let her be eaten now. She needed to come along and rest with him through the night. Then, hopefully by tomorrow they would have some idea of how to get Abby back to where she belonged; to where others were looking for her.

So, easily as well as steadily, Chris had his little companion focus onto the sun and asked her, “Can you tell me what that is, Abby?” He got an odd look from her. Naturally, she knew that that was the sun. Then, he asked her, “What happens when the sun sets?”

“Then it’s nighttime.”

“Right and, uh, do you know what happens at nighttime?”

“Everyone goes to sleep.”

“Yes and no. You and I and your group go to sleep but those things that were chasing you… they don’t go to sleep. They’ll try to find us.” At this, Abby looked scared. She was right to be but Christopher put in quickly, “No, no, no. Don’t be scared. I know how to keep them from finding us. I know how to keep us safe.”

“R-really? Mommy says there’s nowhere to hide. She says that’s why Garth and Jake and Michael and Rick stand with guns on the wall. They keep the things away from us all.” What on earth? Where did that come from? Anyway, recovering himself, Chris registered the information while he went over his own method of keeping safe. You see, he had a grand tree house he’d built from his own hands that was very much out of reach of anyone or anything dangerous. This he explained to Abby, adding a bit of fun to the explanation too.

“Well, I don’t have guys stand on a wall at night with guns. If anything, I’d say that was silly to how I stay safe.”

“How do you stay safe then, Chris?” Ah, she was calling him by name? Good. A breakthrough.

“I stay in the trees.”

“What?”

“Yep, I stay in the trees where the things that come out at night can’t reach me. Do you like tree houses, Abby?”

“Yeah! Do you have a tree house in the trees?”

“Yes. Yes, I do. Would you like to see it?” Immediately, as he feared, Christopher noticed Abby show apprehension at being asked to go somewhere she didn’t know about it. Thus, hastily, he tried to be as friendly as he could while he truthfully added, “Listen, you don’t know what happened to make you run here, right? Alright. Well, before dark comes, we need to get somewhere safe. I have a tree house in the trees where you’ll be fine and I promise you that I’ll see about getting you back to mommy when morning comes.” With that, he put in lastly, “We can’t stay here. You know that. I want to get you to the trees and have you sleep. By the time morning comes around… I bet you’ll remember where your mom is. Right?”

Abby still showed reluctance. She kept looking at the ground while rubbing her hands together until she finally asked a purely innocent question, “Y-you’re not going to hurt me?” What an awful question. Really, it wasn’t awful but it struck Chris down to his core. He literally felt his heart trembled while he shook his head. Then, he answered the question with a question of his own.

“Do you think I’m going to hurt you, Abby?” A long anxious pause passed.

“No… No.” Thank god. Good.

“No, Abby. I want to help you. I saved you didn’t I? Let me save you again then.”

“O-okay. We’re going to go up in the trees?”

“Yeah. We’re going to stay there all through the night until first light. We’ll be right up in the branches where nothing but the birds can reach us. You’re going to like it. I do.”

“And when morning comes… you’re going to help me find my mommy?”

At this, again, Chris felt a bit insulted. He stared deep into Abby’s eyes and, once more, answered her inquiry with one of his own, “Do you think I’m going to help you find your mommy, Abby?”

“Yes. You said so.”

“Yep. Indeed, I did. We’ll find your mommy when tomorrow comes.” At that, Chris got to his feet to look westward. He not only looked at the sunset but also towards the direction where his safe haven, the tree house, remained. Then, he extended a hand to Abby who blankly took it, “For now, into the trees we go. There we’ll sleep without having to stand on a wall with guns. Okay?”

“Okay. Okay…”

Having that finished and done with, relieved to know things were working out, Christopher �" for once �" ran through the rosy illuminated woodlands with a companion riding piggyback on his back. No, Abby wasn’t a problem of his. She was his responsibility but nothing of a hindrance. No, she wouldn’t pose a problem for him. Yes, he regretted very much of even thinking of letting her die. Never again would he be that way. The cruel world had shaped him into a man almost devoid of a soul. Well, perhaps Abby would help him keep his humanity after all. Already, she had reminded him of what was “true” strength and it wasn’t doing what it took to survive… it was doing what it took to help others worthy of life. He’d been born again by saving a child from the terrible odds and, tomorrow, he would get her back to this “group” she spoke of. Who they were, Chris didn’t know. What they were capable of, he didn’t care. They were obviously worried sick over losing a child and, soon enough, they would get her back.

While running along amid the tree trunks, Christopher thought of one last thing to tell Abby that might raise her spirits. It awaited them in the tree house and, with a grin, the hunter said to the child, “Abby, if you like tree houses, do you like dogs too?”

“Yes. I like dogs. Do you have a dog?”

“I do, actually. He's a husky and he loves guests.”

“Really?! Yay, a puppy!”

“Yes. Now you’ll be sleeping in the trees with a puppy without having to worry about the bad guys getting us. Yeah, it seems you’re going to be fine with me.”

Author's Note

This isn't a full story, sorry. More of a sneak peak or teaser. Either way, I hope that this was a good enough read. This story here, "Armageddon", is obviously about the end times involving zombies and it's currently an idea I'm working on. For now, I'm currently on another project but it doesn't hurt to keep this one for reserves you know? Anyway, thanks for reading. Let me know what you thought. :)

Reviews

[Aelia Darkshadow]

Oh my goodness I loved all your description! Ok, so maybe you used quotation marks where you should've used commas, and maybe it needs some work done. But I LOVED IT! (you know, aside from the grammar stuff, but let's forget about that for a moment, shall we?) IT IS AMAZING! I love puppies, too! :)

[Aelia Darkshadow]

WAIT JUST A MINUTE! I just read the description and you ended the world on my best friend's birthday!

[Cousitarian]

Lol, I ended the world on your friend's birthday did I? Oh, uh, awkward? I swear that that wasn't on purpose! Still, thank you very much for taking your time to read this. I very much like the concept of my "zombie idea" here and aim to work on it some more, of course. You have the little lost girl, the formerly heartless archer guy, and a world in ruin that they have to travel together. How could that not be good, you know? Regardless, now I'm just spoiling things. I'll be sure to let you know if I post anything more on this certain subject and thanks again. :)

Also, the misplaced quotation marks were previously dashes - you know, these things: "-" - and when I upload my files onto this site, writerscafe turns all my dashes into quotation marks... Odd? Yes. Frustrating? Yes. So, I didn't have time to review Armageddon and get rid of that certain problem. Not yet anyway. Ugh.

[Lucy Morningstar &heart..]

some of the grammar is off, there is a couple sentence fragments that could be part of other sentences, but I like the idea. And at the end, you kind of repeat the same idea about how abby isn't a problem for Chris, and it kind of goes back and forth between past/present tense. But I love the characters and I love the idea :D what a brilliant writer we have here on writers cafe

[Cousitarian]

Yeah, it's really more of a "Rough" draft then an actual final essay and - last minute - it was inspired by your own zombie deal. Although, this idea has been jumbling around in my head for years. Still, after having read your end times tale, I had to post something too. Thank you for pointing out my mistakes on here and you also have my gratitude for the compliment. I don't think I'm brilliant yet but aim to be. We'll see. :)