Page 12
Renee was hiding in a patch of trees, trying to ignore what was happening all around her. It was hard, but she’d managed not to assume the fetal position every time the zombies attacked. Instead, she’d go within viewing distance of Brie and hunker down. She’d cover her ears and either stare at the ground or close her eyes.
It made sense the king was so cold. How could anyone maintain any traces of humanity when all they did was rip people or animals apart? Today was no different, except she’d found a better place to hide. Before she entered the overgrown brush, she locked eyes with Brie so she wouldn’t get yelled at.
With her ears covered, she rocked in place and shut her eyes, wondering when the nightmare would end. At least this nightmare. The rest of it… being a captive to the undead king… that was going to go on until she escaped or her luck ran out and she died.
Something brushed against her leg and trembled. Terrified, she cracked her eyes open and found a rabbit. From the size, it appeared to be full grown. It peeked up at her and froze. It was such a crazy thing that both she and a rabbit hid in fear of the mass of monsters outside the overgrown foliage. Its white fur was a stark contrast to her filthy jeans and shoes.
Everything in Renee wanted to reach down and pet it, but it was wild and would run and then she might be the reason a zombie caught and ate it. They stared at each other for a long time. They stared long enough, the din of the massacre lessened and with extremely slow movements, she lowered her hands from her ears.
The bunny didn’t move and had stopped trembling, squeezing itself against her. Renee’s lips trembled as she tried to hold back tears. Animals. Renee felt they always understood her, even when no one else did. She drew in a long breath to calm her nerves before she reached down to stroke its soft fur. To her delight, it rubbed its face on her leg.
She no longer cared that tears slid down her cheeks and dropped from her chin to her jeans. This tiny creature had brought her more happiness in a few quick seconds than she had experienced in years. Renee continued to pet the small animal and almost exclaimed in delight when it clamored into her lap. She tried to stop the thoughts of asking the king, begging if she had to, to keep this creature. The rabbit’s presence made everything else more tolerable.
Before the end of everything, she never had a pet, despite her efforts. No amount of begging or proving that she was capable of caring for an animal convinced her parents. They had a strict no-pet policy in their house, and it stayed that way until the day they died. Renee had always believed her house wouldn’t have seemed so much like a prison if they had let her have a companion.
It would have been a true friend. One that could have possibly still been with her now. She sighed. Her parents never cared what she wanted. The only time they were more than tolerant of her was when there was company. Then they’d put on a show like they loved her, that they didn’t believe she was broken and shouldn’t have lived.
Shh… Renny, don’t listen to them. They’re the stupid ones, not you. You’re perfect. One day everyone is going to see it too. Her brother’s ghostly words filled her mind.
He’d told her things like that all the time. Renee’s chest tightened as the memories of him tried to invade her conscious thoughts. Nope. Nope. She couldn’t let herself remember. It would break her, shatter what was left of her of her resolve. She had to survive her time with the king. Find out the zombies’ secrets and tell the other survivors. End all the monsters.
The leaves from the bushes rustled. The bunny pressed itself into her and hid its face, trembling again. Brie’s face appeared with a frown. She opened her mouth but caught the tiny movements of the rabbit as it panicked.
“What in the fuck?” Her eyes flicked from the rabbit to Renee’s face and back to the rabbit.
“Don’t hurt it. I want to keep it for a pet.” Renee stumbled through her words and chastised herself for just blurting things out, once again making herself sound dumb.
“You can’t keep a… get the fuck out of the bushes.” Brie blew out a long breath and let go of the branches.
Renee made cooing noises at the rabbit before she whispered in its ear. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll convince him to let me keep you. You’ll be safe with me.”
Awkwardly, she crawled out of the brush, still cuddling the rabbit. The knees of her jeans were already worn and her scooting on them made the fabric more threadbare. Renee of course, had unfortunate timing because the majority of the horde was milling around searching for scraps when she emerged. All their hungry eyes turned to her.
Shit. Shit. They stared at her like she was lunch. Her backpack was still strapped to her. Her eyes darted around, looking for a path, any space she could run to get free as they closed in around her. The rabbit panicked and tried to escape, but she had to save it. But could she save the innocent animal and herself?
One of the more vicious-looking zombies with sharp teeth, opened its mouth and made odd, guttural, barking noises. Renee’s knees smacked together. She didn’t exactly know what those sounds meant, but at the same time, she did. It meant she was a goner. So much for the protection of the king. They were going to rip her apart like they wanted to weeks ago.
Another of the undead made barking noises and clicks. Her heart slammed into her ribcage. Screw this. There was a tiny opening to her right. She took it and ran her ass off. Behind her, chaos broke out. The horrible sounds of the horde chasing their prey filled her ears as she clutched the bunny and pounded her feet against the earth.
Ahead, she saw a clearing with only shamblers. Bingo! She picked up the pace. She’d wanted to learn more information, but she had to get away.
Renee picked up her foot, so she didn’t stumble over a root that poked out of the ground when she fell forward and screamed. Just as she’d slammed into the dirt, her arms locked to absorb the hit so the rabbit wouldn’t be squashed. She didn’t care that she smacked her face into the dirt. The rabbit was still in her arms. No. Please god, no. But there wasn’t time to find out if her attempts had worked because they rolled her on her back as several zombies surrounded her. Many hands reached for her.
Wait. Not her - the rabbit. Shocked they weren’t grabbing her, she screamed as her furry friend was torn from her arms. The pink eyes locked on hers, mirroring her own terror before they ripped it into pieces in front of her.
Renee pushed up on her knees and screamed. Screamed for losing the only good thing she’d had since the beginning of all this. Screamed for everything she’d lost. Screamed because nothing she did ever mattered.
Alone.
The zombies froze in place and stared at her. If she had to guess, she would’ve said they were shocked, but that made no sense. She crumpled and sobbed. When the roar she remembered well signaled he was coming, she couldn’t even muster the energy to pull it together so he wouldn’t see her sobbing like a child.
His heavy footsteps made her look up. Once again, the entire horde had their heads bowed. His fierce expression spelled disaster for someone. That someone probably being her, for causing problems. The king scanned the area before he peered at Renee. Brie pointed to the small group that had stopped fighting over the rabbit and twitched where they stood.
Without words, he crouched in front of her and tilted his head to the side. Renee swore she glimpsed compassion in the depths of his eyes, but that was wishful thinking. Still, it made her look elsewhere. She didn’t want to look at her dead friend, but she couldn’t help it. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes. There was no way to unsee the white fur now covered in red.
The king stood and turned to the horde before he zeroed in on the small cluster that held the pieces of her rabbit. Without a word, he grabbed the one in the middle and tore its head off. The others that still clutched pieces of the rabbit shook. Renee wanted to call out and stop him, but couldn’t make her mouth open.
The king snatched the one to the left and yanked it forward. In the background, a few quiet clicks from the herd signaled they wouldn’t interfere with their king’s punishment. He picked up the zombie by its throat, spun, and threw it into a tree. The display of strength awed Renee as the zombie bent backwards around the tree. The sickening crack meant its back had broken.
The king sidestepped and tore off the other zombie’s arms as easily as he’d done everything else. The pieces of her friend, what was left of the bunny, hit the ground when the zombie’s arms did. The zombie fell to its knees and made pitiful sounds.
Renee wanted the king to stop, but still couldn’t make a sound, caught between horror and fascination. The king eyed the crowd and barked orders at them. She watched as the others closed in around the wounded one that lay prone in front of the tree, the armless one, and the body with no head. Her hand flew up to her mouth as soon as she realized what was about to happen and she snapped her eyes shut.
Rough hands seized her and yanked her up. She expected to find the king but was met with icy blue eyes. Brie dragged her away as the horde descended upon their former members. The king hadn’t moved but stared at her as Brie led her away with the oddest expression, one she didn’t understand. As brutal as what she’d witnessed was, something about his face didn’t make sense. He seemed torn, almost sad, but not because of his actions. What she thought might be compassion earlier had infiltrated his eyes again, and he almost seemed… human.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12 (Reading here)
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40