Chereads / The Lich's path ; Apocalypse / Chapter 18 - Wounds of the weak

Chapter 18 - Wounds of the weak

The day that Lesley fled with his family from their city Fesorus , the zombies had been slaughtering their neighbors . Lesley could still remember his mother screaming for him to hurry out of the house and get to the car .

At the time , Lesley was a young teen with little understanding of the danger around them . Although he'd seen it on the news ,the fact that it was actually happening , that the apocalypse was happening , waslike a dream . But he didn't want to anger his mother by not obeying her . He simply rushed outside to their car infront of the garage and hoped his mother would hurry getting Granma .

That's when he'd seen it .

Coming from across the street , a tall bony and bald figure . It's hands had broken fingers , it's face had sagging flesh and an exposed eye socket . Wearing dirty and wet rags that barely covered anything ,the zombie looked repulsive . Lesley had been frozen in fear , looking at it , as it moved towards him , step by step .

His breathing was caught in his throat , he couldn't call for help and the shaking in his stomach was like worms . The zombie was less than six steps from him , raising it's bony hand towards his face and Lesley began to hyperventilate , as his heart beat like thunder . I'm going to die , he thought fleetingly .

That's when his mother rushed up with an axe and chopped off the zombie's arm .

" Get away from my son , you demon ! " She'd screamed and attacked the undead creature .

Mrs Woodsman had been a robust woman , with a sour attitude but a very strong body . The axe she held , had been used to chop trees by her since Lesley was a baby boy . The zombie didn't stand a chance , Lesley thought as they faught . Eventually his mother chopped off its head but by then , zombies had come out from their neighbors .

" Get in the car ! " His grandmother had yelled from the car door and his mother had repeated the words too .

" Drive ! " Grandma shouted at her daughter once they were inside , and they burnt rubber , getting onto the road and flattening some zombies in their wake .

" Lesley , listen to me . " His mother had said to his scared mind , " Never freeze again . I saw you frozen and about to die , I don't want to see that again . You're father didn't give me a weak son and he didn't die with a weak son . "

" Dad is dead ? But you said he was coming home . " Lesley had been shocked , his father was supposed to come back from the army tomorrow .

His grandmother placed a comforting hand on his shoulder from the passenger seat . Her old face , with red hair was sad and remorseful . Mrs Woodsman just took a deep breath , stopping herself from crying like she had last night when she heard about his death . No , tears would get them nowhere .

" Lesley , just promise me that when you see a zombie again , you won't freeze . " She said to him .

" I promise . " Lesley had said looking down and hiding his tears from his mother .

-_-...._-_

Lesley groaned in pain .

Everything hurt . From his chest , to his legs , his skull and ... EVERYTHING !

Slowly his mind drew him into consciousness now and again , but all he saw was a room and hooks on the walls . Then sometimes he saw a person or what looked like a person moving around . Unfortunately these moments of consciousness lasted a few minutes before he fell back into oblivion . It was nearly three days past when Lesley woke up .

The first thing that Lesley noticed was the smell , it was the ripe smell of rot and neglect . Like a fresh coffin placed in the wet soil for a week , that's the smell that filled his nose . It was not pleasant but Lesley had long ago learnt to be comfortable with uncomfortable smells .

He opened his eyes slowly and saw a wall . The wall was creamy , with a diagonal diamond pattern and some hooks were on it . Lesley tried to move , which was easier thought than done . But , despite his body's protesting he managed to get up on his elbow and then leaned against the back wall .

Lesley saw that he was on a dirty bed , in an otherwise empty room , devoid of furniture . There was no windows and hooks aligned most of the walls . The stale and mouldy smell seemed to fill the whole room and Lesley breathed it in , forcing his body to adjust .

As he looked around the room , he saw that he wasn't alone . At the edge of the bed was a person sitting on the floor , their back to the bed and Lesley . His memories of a person moving in the room came back and Lesley smiled , thinking that someone had saved him from squad 19 .

" Thank you . " He said , his voice was slightly raspy from a dry throat , screaming of thirst .

The person on the floor moved their head and then slowly got up , their backs still facing Lesley . The redhead saw that it was a young man , dressed in jeans and a grey shirt . His arms looked dirty and wounded , dry blood was on them .

A sense of warning made Lesley pause and look at the guy closely . His back was to him but judging from his stance , the guy had bad posture , he was slightly hunched over .

" Hello ? " Lesley said after the guy didn't answer him .

Then , slowly, the guy turned around and faced Lesley , allowing him a clear view of his face . When Lesley saw it , he sucked in a quick breath . His eyes turned hard and his hand reached for his Crux . Moving as fast as he could , which was fast thanks to rage , he lunged the knife at Mel's neck .

The zombie did nothing to stop his demise .