8

post zombie apocalypse begins

His family wasn't safe here. They couldn't stay here any longer. And that's why he had to leave. If he wanted to make sure they would live through this he needed to leave. So that's what he did. Leaving before his family realized what he was doing or even what had happened here earlier. He took as little stuff as he could carry with him, leaving nothing but a few pieces of clothing and the things his brother had given him. He ran away as fast as he could while staying hidden behind the bushes. It was easy for zombies to find him since he didn't have to hide properly. All they needed to do was walk around the neighbourhood and follow his scent, so once he was deep inside the bush the screams stopped abruptly and everything went silent. Only his heartbeat could be heard, pounding loudly inside of his ears, his whole body quivering as adrenaline coursed through his veins.

Then someone started to yell at him to turn around, to run back to his house as fast as possible, but he couldn't. The person sounded angry, frustrated, angry and scared. And that's exactly what Zumwraek was doing, it was all just too overwhelming to think clearly right now. He needed to leave. He didn't know if he could survive the next week, let alone the next month or more. There were too many dangerous things out there. Too many unknown dangers lurking around every corner waiting for him to trip and fall prey to their evil clutches. They couldn't stay here, they simply couldn't. They were going to have to go, they needed to leave, and Zumwraek needed to get them out of here before they got captured or killed. He could already feel the tears forming in his eyes, ready to flow down his cheeks as the fear gripped his heart and made it hard to breathe. He couldn't cry yet, he had to keep it together, otherwise, they would hear him coming and get themselves caught. Then it would all be over. They would never escape and his parents would die and…

And Zumwraek lost control of himself and burst into tears. He buried his head in his hands and sobbed quietly, unable to stop. He didn't want anyone to see him like this, he hated crying in public. No matter how badly he wanted to stop and to hold it all in…to stop and not cry…no matter how scared he actually felt…he couldn't. Every time he tried to put all of his emotions into his grief he broke down and it just couldn't happen again. The last time he had done that…well…he had ended up losing his family. That's why he shouldn't even attempt to do that again, ever. Ever.

He knew he should stop crying, knew that he needed to get up and go somewhere and calm down and come up with a plan to get his family off this hellish island and away from danger. But when he glanced up he found that no one was watching him. None of his siblings were looking at him nor was his father, they weren't saying anything either, not wanting to get themselves caught as well. They had already been punished enough. It was better if they stayed quiet. Especially his mother, she knew that if she said anything he would just give in and start crying again. She was good at hiding her emotionless mask when it came to other people's, but when it came to him she could no longer fool him. Her face was as pale as snow and her eyes were full of fear as they locked onto him.

"Mom," he whispered, his voice hoarse and raspy from all the screaming he had been doing earlier. He had to do something or she'd die. He needed her to live and get them away from here. He needed to protect her from harm, he needed to save her. He needed to save them from their horrible fate here on earth. "Please, mom, I need to get you guys out of here!"

She shook her head lightly. "You can't do that by yourself…we can't leave now. Please understand, son. We will be alright, we are strong. We can handle anything," she replied firmly, although he could see that there was a slight tremble in her voice as she spoke.

"You haven't listened to me, mom! Please, please listen," Zumwraek pleaded, desperation laced into every single word he uttered as he started to crawl towards her, his heart breaking upon seeing the bloodstain on her dress as he grabbed her hands and tugged it slightly until she released them. He gently placed them on his waist, his arms circling her petite frame as she clung unto him and buried her nose in his shoulder.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, burying his face against her soft, blonde curls, whispering in his desperate attempt to convince her that he would definitely rescue them both. She was the mother figure in his life and he knew he couldn't imagine without her and he couldn'

Chapter 8

post apocalypse begins

Zumwraek continued to whisper his reassurances in an effort to calm his mother, but it didn't work, he had to keep reminding himself that he didn't know if she could really hear him and even though he tried his best he couldn't make her believe him. He felt himself getting weaker and weaker as he kept pleading for her to let him take care of her and protect her, but to no avail. He had never seen her like this before; she was completely broken and completely vulnerable. It terrified him to look at her like that, terrified him more than his entire family had ever frightened him before. But even though he tried to push the terrifying images of her being torn to shreds from his mind he found it impossible.

When Zumwraek had finally managed to pull himself from his mother's embrace she had remained silent, still trembling in fear as she gazed up at him wide eyed, her expression filled with shock and horror. But Zumwrap couldn't afford for her to panic, couldn't afford to allow himself to panic as well. He needed to concentrate on calming her down, needed to focus all of his attention on calming her down so that she wouldn't freak out and cause problems. He needed to get her away from this terrible place before her fear turned into anger and before her terror became rage…or before she decided to try and hurt them herself. He had been through this before and knew very well that this was what was happening now. He had to move quickly.

"I'll get us out, mom. Trust me!" he told her, his voice shaky and weak and barely audible. "I promise, okay? Just hang in there…" His words fell on deaf ears as she nodded shakily, refusing to meet his gaze as she continued to stare at where they'd stood moments ago. She wouldn't speak anymore, she just refused to say another word until after they escaped the town. Zumwraek couldn't blame her. If he'd been in her position he probably wouldn't have trusted himself either.

After a moment of staring at where he'd been sitting only a few moments earlier Zumwraek slowly pulled himself away from her embrace, his legs wobbling underneath him as he did. He forced himself to stand up, using his mother's frail form as support as he walked past her in search of the others. When he spotted them he smiled softly as he stepped towards them, holding out his hand to help them climb up onto the wagon before hopping in himself. Everyone else followed soon after and within minutes the wagon was moving again and heading in the direction of his home.

It was quiet now, the sounds of the waves crashing against the boat fading away as they left the town's shores behind, leaving behind its inhabitants behind forever...

"Where are we going? Why are we going so far?" asked Zack curiously as Zumwraek drove, trying to catch up to the wagon. Their journey to the island had consisted of many detours and almost complete stops and starts, making them lose valuable time because they had to change their course to avoid falling victims to monsters who'd decided to attack the wagon from behind whilst it was distracted by those in the other wagon. Thankfully Zack had remembered to tie his bowstring tightly around his wrist after noticing that it seemed to break during the trip over. As long as the string held firm then he could still reach them whenever they got stuck. It had worked perfectly until now anyway.

Zumwraek shrugged slightly and answered with a simple shrug in return, keeping his eyes fixed on the road ahead of him as he carefully steered the wagon along the rough track. They weren't taking a direct route to the shoreline. In the end they had chosen to take a less risky and therefore shorter route instead. Not because they thought the monster hunting parties would follow them through such narrow paths, but rather because there was less chances that they might bump into any roaming monsters along the way.