Prologue

Terror. That’s the only emotion my brain could fully register at the moment. My eye’s rested upon Lucas. He was to young to be doing this. Too young to be fighting for his life and yet, there he was. Standing tall at only eight year’s old, pointing the gun at a crawler that had marked us as it’s next victim.

   Lucas pulled the trigger. The sound rippled through the alley.

   This wasn't going to work. They were attracted to noise. Adored it even.

   I held Landon, my screaming three year old brother, against my chest. How did we even get into this situation? Only a few hour’s ago, the four of us had taken refuge at a local convenience store.

  Wait… The four of us. Lucas, Landon, and me. Who’s missing? My brain was slack. How could I just simply not remember?

   I gripped onto Lucas’s sleeve, pulling him along through the alleyway. Landon clung to me tighter whining. I knew what that meant. I temporary released my hold on Lucas, drawing a small handgun we had picked up recently and fired at the crawler behind us.

   I missed.

  “Addie! Over here!” I recognized that voice.

  I turned, momentarily tracing the source of the voice. Standing near a door sort of ajar stood Nathan, my older brother. His eye’s were frantic, “Come on!” That was when I realized the Crawler had gotten between Lucas and I. There was no way I was leaving him behind. I turned towards Nathan and shook my head.

  His eye’s widened, but he surged towards us anyways.

  Another one had appeared, groaning loudly.

  Nathan grabbed my arm, shoving me hard towards the door. “Get inside and lock the door! I’ll get Lucas!” He yelled. Lucas had pulled out his gun and snapped the trigger. It clicked. The sign that he needed more ammunition. Landon began to cry.

  “No!” I shot back. “I’m not leaving you two.”

  “Go!” He barked. “If you don’t we’ll all die! Do you want that, Addelynn?”

  I shook my head. Of course not.

  “Then go!”

  I nodded, feeling my legs move without my command. I gripped down on Landon, securing him tightly in my arms. “It’s Okay, Lane. It’s alright.” I cooed. This didn’t calm him one bit, for he still sobbed into my shoulder. I placed my free hand in his tousled brown hair.

  I released Landon, allowing him to stumble into the small room Nathan had found, before shutting him in. He screamed from the inside, slamming his fist against the door. “Addie! No!” He begged.

  From behind me, Lucas screamed.

  I spun on my heal, gun in hand. But, petrified at the scene. Nathan was fighting off two of the undead. His gun had been knocked from his hands. Lucas was pinned under a women, his hand’s in her hair was the only thing keeping her from biting him. He squealed again. I glanced at the two. Who do I shoot at first?

  Nathan shoved the one the had gripped him away and lunged for his gun. He aimed at the crawler before him and fired. Nathan’s eyes landed on me and narrowed. He must of just realized I had disobeyed his orders. “Help him!” Nathan screamed at me.

  I aimed at the crawler’s head as Lucas’s hand slipped. The crawler bit down into his throat. Nathan’s yelling was muffled by the sound of a single gunshot.

  “Addie? Addelynn!” Landon pounded on the barrier. He must of heard Nathan and Lucas screaming.

  I was frozen.

  The gun had fallen from my hands.

  Nathan held Lucas in his arm’s, one hand over the gash in his neck. I could tell it wasn’t enough. The blood still leaked between his fingers. Lucas blinked, staring up at his older brother. This was my fault. If only I would of shot the crawler faster, gotten him out of her grasp quicker. I took a shaky breath.

  Nathan looked over at me, tears dripping down his cheeks. He knew it was my fault too. I couldn’t deny it. Nathan reached for his gun. “Get inside.” He ordered and when I just stood there, he barked “Now!” I nodded, walking back towards Landon.

  As soon as I had opened the door, Landon attempted to bypass me. I was quicker and snatched him into my arms. From where Lucas laid, there was another gasp and I didn’t dare turn to look. Instead, I pushed our way into the room and sealed the door. Only then did I understand why Landon had been so scared. The room was pitch black. I snuggled him in my arms, weeping lightly. Guilt consuming me.

  A single gunshot was fired.

  The door opened abruptly, making Landon twitch in my arms. The door slammed shut, along with a light switching on overhead.

  “Nathan, where’s Lucas?” Landon mumbled, wiggling his way out of my arms. I didn’t lift my head or respond. I kept my arms wrapped around my knees, my head buried.

  Nathan pulled me into his lap, wrapping his arms around me quietly.

  “Lucas?!” Landon screamed and I heard his little footsteps make their way to the door. He began to Pound on the door, yelling things like "Why are you leaving him out there?" or "What's wrong with you two?"

  “Landon, the door’s locked. Lucas i-is… Dead. Now come back here.” Nathan stuttered, adjusting me in his lap to pull the other boy into his arms as well.

   "W-What?"

  "Landon, the crawler bit him. He's gone. I made sure he wouldn't rise again." Nathan's voice was soft, though I still shook.

  "Like mommy?" He whispered.

   Landon crawled beside me, nuzzling his head into my chest. I willing opened my arms and wrapped them around him. 

  "Like mommy." I confirmed.

  "Everything's going to be okay, alright? Tomorrow we'll head out around noon when not many are out. Sound good?" Nathan replied. "Get some sleep." He gently opened his arms.

  I recognized this place now. Nathan had found it a few month's ago and jammed it with supplies. Seven quilts were folded in the corner, can's of food and water meant for four to five days were stacked to the left. Next to those, were a stack of candle's and a box of matches. Besides that, it was vacant.

  I was still holding onto Landon when Nathan moved to make a pallet. He laid down three of the quilts on the ground and folded one into a long rectangle to use as a pillow. 

  When Landon moved to the small space, I followed. 

  Nathan covered us in the spacious quilts, mumbling something about taking watch.

  Landon's body heat was enough to keep me warm, especially when winter was downing upon us so quickly. We only had two more month's. My baby brother's breathing evened as he quickly passed out, but I was more troubled. Nathan had lit two of the candle's and turned out the light. The small space was well lit, but to dark for me. I uncovered myself, careful to keep him warm and sat up.

  "Addie, you should really try to sleep. We have a long journey tomorrow and-" 

  "I'm s-sorry." My voice broke.

  He sighed, moving towards me. "Addelynn.."

  "If I would of listened to you, Lucas would still be alive. But I-I defied your order and now he's dead. He's dead because of me." My breathing was uneasy. Nathan pulled me into his lap, cradling me. 

  "Stop talking like that, Ads. Listen to me, it wasn't your fault. If you would of followed my order, I wouldn't have been able to get to Lucas in time. He would of still died and I probably would have gotten bit trying to save him... You saved one life. My life." The way he said his life, I knew he was thinking that I had saved the wrong life.

  "Lucas is in a better place, with mom and dad. It's not your fault. I love you." 

  "I love you too.."

 

Reviews

[Wolfwind]

You've got a powerful scene here. The tension and emotions running within the characters is very well woven and easy to see. The scene ends leaving me want to know just what the crawlers are and I think a bit more description of the backdrop of the scene would be nice.

Good Ink!
Wolfwind