Infection Z Beswick, L. (books for 8th graders txt) 📖

“We all knew this day would come, everyone pack a bag quickly then get out through the back door, we’ll meet outside and all get out together” Colonel instructs, I rush to my room to get packed as do the others.

Once packed I head to the door and let everyone out until all that’s left is Colonel, April and Damon, with a smirk I close the door and lock it behind me, now they’re stuck there with no escape, if they get out we'll be long gone by the time they do.

We all board the truck, “where’s Colonel and the others?” Sarah asks in concern, “Colonel told me we can go, he’s with family now so they’ll take the other car" I reassure her with a smile.

April’s POV

I throw everything important into my bag and rush out of my room grabbing Finnian on the way out, once Damon and Colonel emerge from their rooms we all hurry downstairs to the back door, the zombies are banging on the windows and the front door trying to get in, with escape within our grasp we run to the back door but after turning the handle it doesn’t open, I pull on it hard but it hardly moves.

“The door is stuck" I tell them filled with panic and dread, one of the windows smashes and zombie arms grab wildly at us from outside, Finnian hisses and climbs into my bag from fear, Colonel tries the door but to no avail, with little time or other escape routes he throws his weight on the door but it still doesn’t budge, he does it again and again but the door remains closed.

We kick at the door and it slowly begins to give, eventually the door breaks open and we all make our escape just as the zombies burst through the windows and the front door, we get outside but soon realise the others left without us.

“The car!” Colonel announces and we all run to the car, we throw our stuff inside and clamber in barely escaping the zombies, with a sigh of relief we drive for some time trying to find a new location, we drive until all the city disappears and all that’s left is a large forest with tall trees looking above us.

After some time the car slows until it stops completely, “why are we stopping?” I ask, “the car has run our of fuel, we’ll take a walk and set down our stuff for the evening" Colonel explains.

We grab our things and take a slow walk through the darkening forest, I try and shake the freaky feeling that this forest mimics the one that’s always in my dreams.

By nightfall we have found somewhere acceptable by Colonel to set down our things, “let’s grab some of these sticks and start a fire" Damon suggests, we grab as many sticks as we can and Colonel starts the fire, and after some time we decide to get some sleep, we lay around the fire with our pillows and blankets.

A few days later it’s clear the others have scattered as we haven’t seen them since we left the house, with supplies scarce we’ve had to get used to hunting and eating what we catch.

“I miss the house" I moan as we sit around the fire waiting for our food to cook, Finnian purrs from my lap content that it's quiet again, “we got lucky with that house April" Damon replies, “Damon’s right we may find another house but we would be lucky if that had any running water or electricity, we’ll never find a place like that again" Colonel agrees.

“I think what happened at the house was weird, the gate just happens to turn off and then we get locked inside when everyone else had safely escaped” I say, Damon looks to Colonel and back to me, “I have to agree there, there was never any problem when we were there, it’s like someone wanted to get rid of us or something" he agrees.

“Nonsense I’m not sure how the door got stuck but no one would purposely do that to us" Colonel disagrees, me and Damon look at each other unconvinced but decide to drop the topic, after we’ve eaten we all go our separate ways for bed.

The next morning we are woken up by sirens and gun shots, Finnian meows and hisses in fright, I peek over my blanket in fear and find multiple men and women shooting oncoming zombies, I look to Damon and Colonel in confusion.

One of the men approach with a mega phone, “attention we have orchestrated a camp for survivors, you will get food, fresh water and a place to rest, upon arrival your blood will be taken and tested to find the cure for Z1, also known as the zombie disease" he announces.

I look to the others in excitement, a nice bed and food we don’t have to catch ourselves what a dream, “please approach and we will bring you to the camp" continues the man.

“Let’s go!” I beg and get ready to take off towards the truck, Colonel grabs my arm, “let’s not be too quick to trust them, this may be a trick to steal our supplies" he warns, “come on, they have uniforms plus we have our weapons if they try anything" Colonel sighs knowing there’s no swaying my decision.

We all approach the truck with our things and take a seat inside, the journey is bumpy and loud, the guns on the roof blast at the approaching zombies during our journey.

Once we arrive a code is inputted at the entrance, and the gates swing open allowing us to pass through.

I notice the large amount of people, they have tags on their wrists and seem happy, they’re gardening and running around, and doing a different range of fun activities.