I mustered the last ounce of my strength to kick the zombie creature in the face and dashed into the room. I climbed up the shelf, hoping to find a safe spot. But I was too tired, I unleashed my pyrokinesis on the undead that had chased me, setting them on fire with a flick of my wrist. But it was not enough. They had already cornered me, growling and gnashing their rotten teeth. I had no regrets. I had done everything I could to protect myself and my friends. But I knew this was the end. I prayed that Emma would not return for me. She was too brave, too loyal. She would never leave me behind. I hoped she would reach Della and Hannah. They were the only ones who understood me and cared for me. They shared my gift, my curse. If they stayed together, maybe they had a chance. I fought back as long as I could, but the heat was overwhelming. My hand was scorched and bleeding, and they smelled it. They smelled my fear, my pain. I fell back on the shelf. One of them was right in front of me, ready to bite. Its eyes were empty, its skin was peeling.
I felt a surge of terror as the undead creature lunged at me, its teeth ready to sink into my flesh. Just as I thought it was over, the floor beneath us cracked open, sending the creature tumbling into the abyss. I gasped in relief and horror, watching as the creature was sliced in half by the closing floor. I turned around and saw Alex standing behind me. He had saved me. He reached out his hand and helped me down from the shelf where I had been hiding. He looked at me with anger and concern in his eyes. "Do you have a death wish?" he snapped. I couldn't say anything. I knew I had messed up again. He stormed out of the room and came back with a first aid kit. He gently cleaned and bandaged my wound, then told me that Emma was locked on the first floor. I asked him how she got locked up and he said, "If she had followed you, she would be dead by now and you too, I can't babysit two kids at a time, you are already a enough troublemaker," he added. "I locked the door so she would wait until I brought you back," I asked him why he had saved me, but he didn't answer. He just said that we should go and check on Emma. She must be worried sick about you.
He tossed me a first aid kit after we reached the first floor. He glared at me and said, "Don't ever cross me again. I've saved your life this time, but next time you're on your own." I flashed back to the time when he said those exact words before when we fled from the school , but he still showed up this time. I opened the door and found Emma lying on the floor, sobbing. The blood had dried up, but she had a gaping wound. When she saw me, she sprang up and ran towards me. I braced myself for another blow, but she embraced me instead. As I saw her tears, I broke down and cried harder than her. We only stopped crying when Axel mocked us, "Are you trying to out-cry each other? How pathetic." We both laughed. Emma playfully punched me and I grinned. Emma said, "Bro, you promised to leave me as bait and run away. Why did you come back? Don't you ever try to die without me again?"After I cleaned and bandaged Emma's wound, I thanked Axel for his help. He smiled and said it was no problem. Emma looked worried and said, "Now what? We left half of the groceries there. Hannah and Della must be waiting for us too." Before I could reply, Axel said, "You two should go home and rest. I'll bring the rest of the groceries in the evening." I protested, "But you told me to stop making trouble for you. I don't want to bother you." Axel teased me, "Wow, you haven't changed a bit since we were kids. Same stupid person, just a bit taller." I glared at him and said, "Don't you dare mock me." He smiled and said, "Fine, fine. I'll bring the groceries when I'm free. "It's settled then now let's go," I said to Emma." He then asked me, "Can you ride a bike with a burnt hand? Wow, hats off to you." I realized I hadn't thought of that and felt embarrassed. He said, "I'll drop you both home. Come on." We went to the parking lot and got into his car. He put the grocery bag in the back seat. It had mostly chocolate, biscuits and other unnecessary things that I had grabbed from the store.
We arrived at our home after a long and exhausting day. Axel said he had some important work to finish and that he would catch up with us in the evening. Emma and I made our way inside, but something stopped me in my tracks. It was a small cream color bundle of fur nestled among the soft green bushes. I crouched down to see it better and felt a surge of joy. It was a teacup Pomeranian puppy, the most adorable creature I had ever laid eyes on. It had fluffy creamy fur, a tiny black nose, and sparkling brown eyes. It wagged its tail eagerly when it noticed me and I scooped it up with my uninjured hand. "Emma, look at this precious baby!" I gushed, holding the puppy close to my chest. "The undead has ravaged so many animals, I always dreamed of having a pet but my parents never agreed." Emma looked at me with pity. "Your parents never agreed because you're too irresponsible. How are you going to take care of a puppy?" The puppy and I gave her our most innocent and pleading puppy eyes and implored her to let us keep it. Emma melted. "Fine, fine, you two stop being so cute." As Emma turned away, I grinned wickedly. I had tricked her with our cuteness. I looked at the puppy in my arms and said, "Hey cutie, you're already so much like me. You're my baby from now on. We'll live together and Aana will protect you no matter what." I smiled tenderly at him. Emma shouted from the door, "Are you two going to linger there forever?" I said, "Coming!"
As the door opened, Della and Hannah gasped in shock. They saw Emma's head and my hand wrapped in bandages. I tried to lighten the mood by saying, "Hey, bros, check out our new gang member." I looked at the puppy in my arms and smiled. They urged us to come inside and sit on the couch. They wanted to know what had happened, so I told them the whole story. Before anyone could comment, I said, "I picked up some instant noodles on the way. Can someone please make them? I'm starving." Della took the bag and headed to the kitchen. The three of us sat in silence, so I decided to play with the little puppy on my lap. It grinned at me and I thought it had the cutest smile ever. I vowed to protect my adopted baby's smile no matter what. Della returned from the kitchen with a bag of dog food. "Omg, I know we are bitches after all, but we are humans too, right?" she exclaimed. "Never mind, I just mistook it for Kellogg's. I saw the chocolate flavour and grabbed it. My baby is so lucky, he will love it." I said and I smiled at the puppy. "Don't worry, you're a lucky baby," I said, stroking his fur. Everyone laughed. Then I had an idea and I stood up in front of the room. "Welcome the heir of Aana the Great!" I announced, lifting the puppy in the air. "His name from today is Cupcake!"
We sat down at the large wooden dining table, where we usually had our meals together after we had decided to take refuge here. But this time, it was not a pleasant occasion. It was lecture time. Everyone started lecturing me, as they always did. They thought I was a ticking bomb, ready to explode and take myself and others with me. They thought I had no regard for my own life. They spoke with concern in their voices. They didn't know how to reach me, how to help me. But they didn't understand me either. They didn't know what I was going through I was an emotional fool kinda person, what I had seen and done. They didn't know the pain and guilt that haunted me every day after we didn't save the unwanted guests whatever rivalry we had I always thought I must've saved them. As they all talked, I suddenly realized that if I died, I would leave behind people who loved me and mourned me. People who would miss me and wonder what they could have done differently. People who would blame themselves for not saving me. I realized that I was the only one who was foolish and self-destructive in our group. The only one who didn't value the precious gift of life. Tears welled up in my eyes and I blurted out, "I love all of you, I'm sorry I will act more carefully, I promise." They looked at me with surprise and compassion. They smiled at my emotional outburst and said, "We love you too." They hugged me and tried to comfort me. After this melodramatic scene, we decided to go upstairs and rest. We needed some sleep after the long and exhausting day we had. But then, something unexpected happened. A drone flew in through the window and dropped a letter on us. It was from the government, demanding us to surrender. We were shocked and confused. We didn't do anything wrong. We only killed to survive. We were not criminals or terrorists. We were just ordinary people caught in a terrible situation. We ignored the letter and didn't read any further. We didn't want to deal with it right now. We just wanted to forget about everything for a while....