It didn't take me long to drift into a restless sleep. The car shook as it went over potholes and loose gravel making it harder to sleep comfortably but seeing as there was nothing better to do I dealt with it.
I could feel the car slowly come to a stop as we ran out of gas
"Looks like we're walking from here," Nico said, not sounding very enthusiastic. I got out of the car and grabbed my bag meeting the boys at the front of the car. We all looked exhausted as if we hadn't slept in days and that is exactly how I felt
"How far do we have to walk?" I ask already feeling my legs getting tired as we started our journey
"Only about forty minutes" Ace replied,
"FORTY MINUTES!" I yell already wanting for an infected to come and bite me, I couldn't walk that far even with my life on the line.
Even with the sun low in the sky, it was still quite warm as we walked I could feel sweat build on my forehead
We walked for what seemed hours as the sunset and was replaced with the moon and bright shining stars
We were about 25 minutes away from the cabin and I was exhausted my legs felt as if they were about to fall off
I was looking at the blurry ground as I walked. When I was stopped by a big arm in front of me I stopped and looked at Ace who was looking at something in the distance. I couldn't see much as it was dark and I still hadn't put my glasses back on
"What is it" I whispered
"A Lurker, just up ahead" He whispered back
Shit
"Were going to have to go around it, we can go through the woods" Nico said as he handed me my glasses
"How'd you do that?" I asked taking my glasses placing them on the bridge of my nose finally being able to see properly
"I'm a pickpocketer, I know what I'm doing" Nico replied as he walked into the tree-filled forest, I followed making sure Ace wasn't far behind trying to ignore Nico's comment
We walked through the trees, they were tall and haphazardly placed, we looked at the ground trying not to make much noise
I followed Nico and Ace not knowing my way around the area and hoping that they knew where they're going, the grass was flattened. I could tell this was an area that many people walked through. I couldn't blame them. It was a beautiful area. The trees were full of green and brown leaves as small animals ran through them. It was beautiful but now wasn't exactly the time to be thinking about things like that
Sadly we didn't have luck on our side and I bumped into Ace's toned muscular back, I guess he ended up in front of me as we were walking
"Ow what the hell," I said
"A Lurker is walking around out here," Ace said quietly
I backed up slowly trying to get around him but because I'm clumsy and wasn't looking where I was stepping I stepped on a twig. As you could probably guess the twig snapped
Its head snapped towards me as Nico and Ace looked between me and the Lurker
The Lurker ran towards me not wanting to waste a good meal
Ace ran towards me, as the Lurker jumped to grab a hold of me my body hit the ground but something else had thrown me against the forest floor
The Lurker jumped over me and landed on a tree as Ace got off of me and grabbed my waist, lifting me up knowing that now wasn't the moment to waste even a split second.
"Run!" Ace yelled as he held on to my hand as he started running Nico was ahead of us, not by much but enough.
I could hear the Lurkers footsteps behind us Ace had finally let go of me as we continued running
"Shit, where's Nico?" Ace said from beside me as my breaths became heavy, I didn't even realize that Nico had disappeared, he was nowhere to be seen. We passed a tree and were pulled behind it. We turned around just in time to see Nico holding a thick branch as he swung it like a baseball bat hitting the Lurker in the head making the creature fall to the ground giving us enough time to hide behind a set of thick bushes.
We all sat behind the bushes silently, I held my breath praying that the Lurker wouldn't find us. We heard the Lurker run past us but we didn't dare move even a muscle.
"I'm guessing Lurkers go off of sound and not sight," Nico said barely above a whisper
"I'm guessing your right" I added attempting not to be too loud
We sat behind the bush for about another five minutes before we felt safe enough to get up and leave
We continued to walk to Ace's cabin as quietly and quickly as we could, the moon hung high in the sky and the stars twinkled as we walked up the driveway leading to Ace's cabin
We walk inside and Ace tried to turn on the lights only to notice that they weren't working
"The power must be out," Ace said after flicking the light switch a few times
Ace knew his way around the cabin well enough to find three bedrooms so we could all sleep for the night. I placed my glasses carefully on the window ledge as I laid in the soft twin-sized bed trying to think of strategies to avoid Lurkers. I don't know much about them but I feel like I know some basic knowledge about them or the minimal things I've learned from the few zombie movies I've seen.
I fell asleep only to be stuck in a nightmare. I was alone being chased by a horde of Lurkers I ran and ran but they were gaining on me. One had caught up to me and tackled me to the ground as the others surrounded me and began to eat away at my flesh.
My flesh peeled from my bones as many different Lurkers took chunks of my skin grabbing at my insides as if they hadn't eaten in months. The pain was unbearable as I felt their teeth scrape against my bones as they began to break into pieces. Screams escaped my throat feeling the pain only get worse
I was jolted from my nightmare sitting up quickly in bed, the room was now filled with light from the shining sun, I got up putting on my glasses leaving the room tiredly
I open the door and walk through the small hallway that lead to an open floor with a small kitchen and dining table on the left and a four person couch and rocking chair on the right, it seemed to be a sort of living room
"Morning" Ace said in a sing song voice from the couch, I assume Nico wasn't awake yet since Ace was sitting alone
"Morning" I reply rubbing my eyes sitting beside him on the couch
"There's not much to eat around here since the power's out and no ones been here in god knows how long" Ace advised, I nodded, I usually didn't eat much anyway. It wasn't unusual for me to skip two or all meals each day.
"How'd you sleep, you look like shit" Ace added, I chuckled
"Thanks, I had a nightmare so I didn't get the best sleep" I said just above a whisper
"I see. Do you know how to slow dance?" Ace asked out of nowhere
"What? Where the hell did that come from?" I asked laughing, Ace shrugged but continued
"I'm not sure but it might help distract you from whatever is bothering you" Ace said looking at me, god he's gorgeous
"No, I don't know how to slow dance" I said embarrassed
"Then let me teach you" He said with a large grin on his face getting up from the couch holding out one of his hands, I smiled shyly and took his large hand, my hands looked like a child's hand compared to his
He pulled me off of the couch and brought me close to his chest, He kept my right hand in his as he placed his other on the small of my back leaving my free hand on his shoulder
"Now we slowly spin in a circle" He said taking the lead, it was calming
"Isn't it weird without any music I mean we're basically just spinning in silence" I laugh slightly
Ace carefully removes his hand from my back slowly guiding my head to lay on his warm chest, he puts his hand back to its original place on my back
It only takes a few short seconds before he starts to hum, I'm not sure which song he was humming but it was beautiful, I could hear his heartbeat as he continued to slowly spin us in a circle. I couldn't help but smile, even with the world around us going to shit Ace found time to keep not only Nico sane but me as well, I felt at home with his arm around me and my head on his chest, I felt like we were in our own world. We stayed like this for I don't even know how long before Nico came out of his room and entered the living room
"I wanna dance with Zac" Nico said playfully, I couldn't contain my laughter at Nicos sad face, I removed myself from Ace's embrace immediately missing his warmth. I walked over to Nico and wrapped my arms around his neck, Nico was smaller than me so it was more like a hug but that seemed to do the trick just as well. I swear Nico can be such a child sometimes.
After Nico got his fill of attention we sat on the couch to try and figure out what we were going to do now, we needed water and food as well as flashlights and anything else we could find that would help us survive, after our long discussion Ace told us to get changed so we could chop some firewood for the large fireplace that sat in front of the couch, once we were ready Ace took us to the back of the house where there were two small axes, Ace said we'd need to split up since there were only two axes,m he thought it would be best if Nico and I went together as Ace was strong then both of us and could hold his own. He also said it would make him feel better knowing we were looking out for each other so we agreed.
If I'm being honest I hated the idea of splitting up but Ace said we'd get more done this way so I kept my concerns to myself.
Nico and Ace knew their way around this area better than I did so I kept as close to Nico as possible, Nico mostly just picked up already fallen branches so that it would be easier to carry then whole logs.
A small branch caught my eye not too far away. I figured I could grab it and be back by Nicos side within seconds so I went to grab it, I turned around to see that Nico was gone, shit. He couldn't have gone far, I started scanning the area around me only to realize I was completely alone, by this point I had wandered so far that I didn't even know how to get back to the cabin.
I couldn't yell for Nico incase there were Lurkers around that might hear me, I needed to think of a way to either find Nico or get back to the cabin and fast, by this point it must be around noon so I have a few hours to get back before dark, god I hope Nico realizes I'm missing. I continue to wander hoping to find some indication of the boys or even the cabin but sadly I couldn't find anything.
I heard a twig snap from somewhere in the distance and I was instantly filled with hope
"Ace? Nico?" I called hoping to see one or both of the boys emerge from where I heard the twig snap, instead I was met with my worst nightmare. A Lurker. No two Lurkers to be exacte. One that looked to be a man in his mid thirties with a decent build and a teenage girl with a bloodied cheerleader uniform on, the small girl had a bite taken out of her neck so I assumed she had changed from getting bit, I guess you can turn from getting bit too, typical. They were slow but still to close for comfort.
I wasn't sure of what to do since Nico had the axe and all I had was a small branch which wouldn't be of any help whatsoever.
Shit shit shit what do I do, where are Nico and Ace when you need them.
Ok It's ok Zac think I thought to myself, I only had enough energy to run for about ten minutes and even if I did run I didn't know where the cabin was and might only end up more lost than before. I did the only thing I thought of, If it worked then hopefully I'd be saved and If it didn't I'd be eaten alive
"ACE!" I yelled at the top of my lungs hoping to god that he heard me and got here in time to help me
I stepped back as the two Lurkers only got closer, I tripped over a loose tree root falling on my ass, the smaller Lurker reacher out for me as I kicked my legs, she grabbed a hold of my swinging right leg
"Fuck" I cried, this was it, I felt her grip on my ankle tighten as she attempted to take a bite. I kicked my legs even harder keeping her from biting me and attempting to get her rotten decaying hand of me
I couldn't see much as tears filled my eyes all I know is that someone and hit the small Lurker on the back of the head letting her fall to the ground completely still, a familiar set of strong arms wrapped around my body
"Oh my god Zac are you alright" I heard Ace whisper into my ear, I clung onto him as If he was going to disappear from reality
"Shit Zac I'm so sorry I should have kept a better eye on you" I heard Nico say while also embracing me in a strong hug.
"Take me back to the cabin please. I don't want to be out here anymore" I say shakily
Nico lets go of me allowing Ace to carry me bridal style back to the cabin, it was only about a twenty minute walk meaning I hadn't gone to far, Ace set me down on the couch softly as he told Nico to go outside and collect the wood that they left by the side of the cabin.
Nico did as Ace said going outside to collect the wood leaving Ace and I alone yet again. Ace turned to face me moving his chestnut hair out of his eyes
"I'm so sorry Zac, it was stupid of me to slpit us up" He said sadly
"It's not your fault, I shouldn't have walked away from Nico or wandered off looking for him, if I had stayed where I was I could've gotten back to the cabin no problem. I yelled for you because I didn't know what else to do, I couldn't take on one Lurker let alone two. If I didn't yell for you I would've died, I knew If I yelled for you that you'd have a better chance at finding me" I explained grabbing one of his hands
"Next time I'll be more careful, I promise" I added with a small laugh, I hated that Ace blamed himself for my stupid decision and same with Nico
"Good. I'm just glad we made it in time" Ace replied looking a little less sad
Nico walked through the door with a bunch of wood in his arms, Ace got up to help Nico and they placed the wood in the fireplace deciding a nice warm fire would be helpful for all of us seeing as we didn't have the warmest of clothes.
The fire did indeed help, we stayed there until the sun had set telling different stories or jokes to try and lighten the mood from the previous incident. We all got tired so Ace put out the fire and we all went into our rooms getting ready for a hopefully peaceful sleep, I got changed and placed my glasses on the ledge of the window and slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
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