We’d walked long enough to see the faint first light of the sun’s rays creeping over the horizon.
“Marina,” Viola whispered sharply, grabbing my arm. I jerked my head up from counting the road markings – an incredibly boring, but distracting activity. There were buildings in the distance.
“Is that the city?” I asked, squinting my eyes to try and make out more detail.
“It must be,” she answered, though her voice was one of hope rather than certainty. I reached a hand up to rub the back of my aching neck. I had Hallie draped over me, somehow fast asleep - despite my staggering steps - the way that only a child could manage.
“It’s probably full of them,” I grimaced, thinking about what, or who, awaited us on the road ahead.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, let’s just find a secure place that we can get some sleep. I feel like Death warmed up,” she complained, picking up the pace again. I shifted Hallie gently, trying to distribute her weight more evenly. My arms felt like they were about to drop off, but I didn’t want to wake her if I didn’t have to, so I lumbered forwards with her still slumped against me.

The closer we got to the city, the more suffocating the air around us felt. I knew Viola could feel it too. We were both slowing down, trying to put off the inevitable. The buildings had gone from being specks on the horizon to looming over us with a menacing presence.
“We should get out of the road,” I suggested, as I tried to wake Hallie. We needed her alert and ready to run if necessary. As she roused, I shushed her and put a finger to my lips. She nodded, wide-eyed, before looking around nervously. We crept over to the nearest building, a small factory of some sort, and put our backs to the wall. Viola got down on her knee to speak to Hallie.
“This is really important, Hal, so listen carefully. You follow us at all times. You do what we say at all times. If you get into trouble, call out. If something happens to us, you run as fast as you can. Is that clear?” she asked. Hallie nodded.
Viola looked her in the eye, sternly, “Do I need to repeat any of it for you?”
Hallie shook her head. Her face read as pure fear. It was clear even though she didn’t say it. I wasn’t sure how to go about comforting her, because I felt exactly the same. Viola and I, we were supposed to be the adults, the grown-ups, the responsible ones; but we were just as scared and clueless as her - we were just better at hiding it.
“Okay,” Viola began, as confidently as she could. “We stay close to each other, and we stay close to buildings for cover.”
I nodded, “If anywhere needs searching, I’m the one that goes in.”
“Your arm,” Viola reminded me, just the mention of it making it throb.
“I’ll deal with it,” I replied, coolly. There was no way that I was letting Hallie lose her mother as well as her sister. “Let’s do this, keep an eye out for any movement."

We progressed into the city, dodging, ducking and diving for cover. So far, we’d managed to avoid any unwanted attention by keeping our distance and timing our steps well. The closer we got to the center though, the more people we saw, and not one of them looked… normal. Thankfully, it was becoming easier to spot - even at a distance the jerky movements were recognisable, and the further we could keep away, the better.
“Look,” Viola hissed, gesturing towards a set of small buildings surrounded by a chain link fence.
“That’s a fucking school, I can’t think of a worse place to check out,” I retorted in a whisper.
“There might be first aid stuff there, and I bet the classrooms lock,” she tried to reason.
“And where exactly will we find the keys?” I asked, impatiently.
Viola waved me off, irritated, “They’ll be there somewhere.”
“Viola, do you seriously think I want to add more children to my conscience?” I couldn’t mask the disbelief in my voice. I was astounded that my sister, in all her intelligence, thought that this was a good idea.
“You think they were still teaching class in the middle of all this?” she sassed, rolling her eyes. “ School's out, Marina. Come on, I don’t want to be on the streets any longer in this state.”
“No,” I shook my head.
“Marina, we’re doing this. Are you going to help keep us alive, or are you going to let us go in by ourselves?” she pressed. Fucking guilt-tripping bitch.
“You’re an ass,” I replied, pressing my lips together tightly. I dropped my pack from my shoulders and, with a quick look around to make sure nothing unwanted was lurking nearby, ran over and scaled the chain link fence. I reached the top with ease, and swung myself over, dropping to the floor on the other side. Marina approached the fence with Hallie, essentially shoving her daughter over the top before throwing our packs over and climbing it herself.

Once we’d all got our feet on the ground again, we high tailed it across the recess yard until we found the cover of the largest building. Presumably the bulk of the school was inside here - the cafeteria, sports hall, offices and so on. Following the wall, we tiptoed until we came to the main entrance. I pushed on the door gently. Unlocked. I snapped my hand back and hesitated as the door swung back into place.
“There’s been no one so far,” Viola encouraged, trying to peer through the glass panel into the hallway beyond.
“That doesn’t mean there’s no one inside,” I reminded her, my voice quavering. I put my hand against the door again, trying to stir any ounce of courage I could find. I wasn’t sure I had anything left, but I had to find something. Anything that would get me through that door. My fingertips grazed across my knife in its sheath, as though it might give me an encouraging pat or some words of comfort. I took a deep, shaky breath, put my palm against the wood and pushed.

I wrapped one arm around Jimmy and pulled his back to my chest as I pushed back away from the bank.
“If we go under, I will bring us back up again,” I promised him, though he didn’t look convinced. “You at least know how to float right?”
He nodded, his eyes wide, “I think so.”
“Then that’s what you try and do,” I answered, looking towards the bank.
The biters were at the water’s edge now, and starting to throw themselves in with no hesitation. With my free arm, I paddled backwards frantically until the current picked us up. Jimmy was already beginning to panic, his grip on my arm around him growing tighter by the second.
“Just stay still,” I called out over the white noise of the water, kicking my legs as the flow picked up. Jimmy didn’t answer, instead focusing on holding onto me. I pulled him back into my chest, trying to keep us close together. I tried to look back and see what was ahead, but I couldn’t turn enough without dunking Jimmy, and that would have been disastrous. I looked over his shoulder, my breath hitching in panic at the crowd advancing towards us. I tried to paddle us along, but it was proving difficult so we were stuck with the current. I felt Jimmy kick his legs frantically to try and propel us along as the infected drew closer, seemingly not afraid of the river. As the water grew deeper though, I could see them beginning to flounder. The flow of the river picked them up and washed them in our direction, sweeping them under as they flailed their limbs. I let out a breath of relief - they can’t swim.

Despite the good news, things were still dire. Jimmy’s panicking was not aiding our survival. I tried to hold onto him more tightly in an attempt to provide him with some security, but he continued to thrash his arms and legs until we were both plunged beneath the surface. I tried to pull us both up, but I couldn’t. We were both going to drown if we stayed like this, so, reluctantly, I kicked away from him, trying to get myself back up to air. I broke the surface of the water and took a few deep breaths into my lungs. The biters were definitely not doing so well, but neither was Jimmy. I looked around, quickly identifying his pale skin and dark hair, and dived down towards him. I wrapped my arms around his form, which was now unmoving, and kicked back up from the mud of the riverbed. We surfaced, and I held his limp body against me tightly as we carried on to wherever the current was taking us. I was too breathless to try and call his name, so I shook him instead, but he gave no response. He hung lifelessly in my arms, so I resorted to doing all I could to keep his head above the water. The infected were disappearing one by one, their desperate thrashing no contest for the swirling and twisting of the water. At least we had that on our side, but I also had an unconscious Jimmy…

I held onto him tightly, desperately, until I felt a slither of silt beneath my pointed toe. The water must be getting shallower. I peered to try and see what had become of the biters, but could see nothing now. I couldn’t afford to wait any longer. Jimmy was still not rousing, and every moment he stayed out was a moment towards him never waking up. I stretched my foot down as far as possible, desperately trying to push us towards to bank whenever I made contact with the riverbed. Inch by inch, we drew closer, until the water was shallow enough for me to touch the bottom flatfooted. I hooked my arms under Jimmy’s, and dragged him backwards across the grit and rocks until I had him lying flat on the sandy bank. I rolled him onto his side for a moment, letting the water pour out of his mouth as I panted shakily. I pushed him back over onto his back and gave myself a few seconds to try and catch my breath. My eyes stung with tears, but I blinked them away. This was not the time for an emotional breakdown, I could do that later. I took a deep breath, tilted Jimmy’s head back and brought my lips down to his, blowing air into his lungs. I began the CPR cycle, pumping at his chest impatiently. I was about to lean in for another rescue breath when he spluttered and coughed lightly.

“Jimmy!” I cried out in relief as his eyelids fluttered. “Fucking wake up, you ass.”
“That’s… rude,” he murmured, softly, with the tiniest hint of a smile. I pulled him up and wrapped him in the tightest hug I could manage, making him groan.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted, loosening my grip a little. “I just- I didn’t think you were coming back from that.”
“I bet you would have missed me,” he whispered, a smile beginning to play across his lips.
“Shut up,” I laughed, shoving him away gently, though I couldn't deny that I would have. In the short time I’d known him, his lust for life and enthusiasm had quickly encaptivated me. It was infectious, and I realised that I liked it. I liked the feeling of freedom that he stirred up in me. I liked the fun that he’d injected into ordinary, mundane situations. I liked the way he made me feel about myself, the way he made me feel about him…
“Are you ok?” he asked, curiously. “You must have been fucking superwoman or something back there.”
“Uh-huh,” I nodded, sitting back and pulling my knees to my chest hurriedly as I realised I was still barely dressed. “I’m ok.”
He gave me a saddened smile, “you don’t have to hide yourself, Marina, not from me.”
I looked up and met his warm gaze, shame written across my face. It wasn’t something I could bring myself to talk about, even if I wanted to. He seemed to understand my silence, and decided instead to change the subject.
“So,” he smiled, awkwardly. “About the van…”

Notes

Are you lot happy now?