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

from her as far as allowed, “why is that?” she asks, knowing how awkward she’s making me I push my feelings to the back of my mind and move closer to her “because you’re like 12 and it’s weird" I smirk, she laughs in response and shakes her head, “see this is the side of you I love" she smiles, “I uh I love to see I mean" she coughs awkwardly, “why can’t you be like this with April, she probably needs your humour right now" she sighs, “well April’s my sister and it would be weird to flirt with her" I blurt out and immediately cover my mouth with my hand stepping back, “oh this is flirting?” she smirks, “wow would you look at the time it’s so late, I’m so tired” I fake yawn and run into my room slamming the door behind me, hearing her laughter echo from the kitchen.

Once in my room I breath heavily and try to suppress my smile, “shit" I whisper laughing quietly, “I’m so busted" I sigh and for the first time for the past few days feel an emotion aside anger and sadness.

The next morning I wake early and start packing a few items from my room to take on our journey, and look around my room with a sigh knowing I may not come back here again, I throw on some black jeans, a plain black shirt and a hoodie with a pair of black converse and leave my room, noticing how quiet the house is I decide to pack up the food we have left and leave a few things for breakfast, “hey" April says quietly, I turn to find her with her backpack ready to go.

“Sleep okay?” I ask unsure of really what to say, “yeah not too bad, look I’m sorry about yesterday I know that was weird" she says referring to the incident with the monster, the anger on her face as she splattered its blood flashes through my mind, “it was weird but I get it, we lost mum and I know it’s been hard on you, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you more" I admit struggling to look her in the eye, “yeah it was hard, and you weren’t there, but I know you were having a hard time so I get it" she smiles, I grab her and pull her into a hug, she stiffened at first not used to my affection, then wraps her arms around me and burrows her head in my shoulder, we stay like that for a while.

I pull back and sigh “I won’t leave you alone again" I say, she finally smiles “I know" she says in reply, feeling a weight lifted from my chest I turn and continue with breakfast, “where are we going?” April asks sounding sad, “I am not entirely sure yet, we’ll just have to travel in one direction and find somewhere to stay and try and get food on the way if we can" I shrug, she becomes quiet now.

“Morning!” Sam announces cheerily, “morning" I reply not turning to face her, “morning" April says quietly, I bring the food to the table and we eat in silence as normal, I glance at the empty seat beside me feeling sadness wash over me at my mother’s absence, I feel a hand touch mine and look to find Sam’s hand on top of mine squeezing it reassuringly, I smile as we continue in silence.

Once done with breakfast we all check we have everything we need and leave the house for possibly the last time, “I still can’t believe we probably won’t be back" April sighs, “remember when mum tried to teach you to ride your bike in the garden and you crashed straight into the fence" I laugh, she giggles “and remember when you tried to make pasta for the first time and nearly burnt the house down?” April laughs, we enjoy the memories of the house and our mother as we start walking away from the house, it soon vanishes into the distance as though we only imagined it there in the first place.

For once the roads are quiet with no monsters roaming, I think about how we call them things and monsters, there must be a better word for them, I think of the zombie films I’ve watched and think how they resemble them, “why do we call those things monsters?” I ask, “because that’s what they are" April replies in a snarky tone, “don’t you think they’re like zombies?” I ask, “zombies aren’t real Damon" Sam laughs, “they behave exactly like zombies, they eat people, they look like the undead, and turn into them when they’ve been bitten" they become quiet for a moment, “so do you think we should call them zombies?” Sam asks, “it’s better than not knowing what to call them and saying whatever word you think of first" I reply, they both quietly agree, and we continue the walk in silence.

“A shop!” April announces in excitement, I grab her wrist “whoa slow down, we still need to be cautious you never know when one of the zombies might be lurking around" she sighs and nods slowing her pace, we arrive at the shop door that is open ajar, I slowly peek my head through and see no zombie in sight, “okay it seems clear tread carefully" I whisper, we slowly walk through the door checking the shelves and the floor for any viable food or medicine, I spot some feminine products and place them in my bag for the girls, thankfully this shop is still fairly stocked, we grab bandages, medicines, tinned and non-perishable food.

“I think we’ve got enough let’s go" I whisper, just as we start heading back to the door I see a zombie shuffling through, I grab the girls and pull them behind a shelf gesturing my finger to my lips to keep them quiet,