Dead World Rising

by Katerina Petrova

  I turned to the left and went down a country road, I stopped just before a bridge as we could go no further in the car.

  'We'll have to got the rest of the way on foot,' I said worrying that she wouldn't be able to do too much walking. We came to an open field that was home to many cows and horses, I stood in awe as I watched the horses run through the grass like they didn't have a care in the world. The cows mooed as we walked on by, this place was so peaceful that I could of stared at it all day. We reached the end of the field and came a wooden gate, thankfully it wasn't locked I was filled with relief that we wouldn't have climb over it.

  'AAAHH,' Tara screamed clutching her stomach.

  No this couldn't be happening now, I couldn't face having to bury another person and her baby. I sat her down on the ground telling her to breathe, I went into doctor mode and thought how to help her. 'Where's the pain?' I asked keeping calm.

  'IN MY STOMACH, WHERE ELSE WOULD IT BE!' Tara shouted at me.

  'Keep calm Tara, listen to me we need to get you to the camp okay. Can you walk?' I asked worryingly.

  'I think so,' she said breathing heavily. I held her up as we walked the long path, we approached a tall brick bridge I could see that they had built a wooden gate in the arch. There was a small gap at the top of the gate just big enough for some one to pop their head through, as we walked closer I saw that there was some one was there.

  'Hello,' I called to the person.

  Tara's screamed in pain, I looked down to see that her water had broken. She slipped from my grasp and was now kneeling on the floor breathing heavily clutching her stomach.

  'Come on sweetheart we're almost there, just hold on a little more,' I said softly.

  'It's coming,' she cried.

  'Please we need help, the girls in labour!' I shouted. There was no answer at the door, I knelt down beside Tara and tried to comfort her. Moments later the doors opened, stood before me was a large group of people maybe twenty of them all holding weapons. Fear rose within me, had we found safety or had I led this girl to her death?

  Chapter 26

  Delilah

  When all this began, I was seventeen. I lived on a farm on the outskirts of Carlisle, I had two older brothers, and three little sisters. It was a loud, busy household but I wouldn't have traded it for the world. My eldest brother Clayton, was preparing to take over the farm as my parents had wanted to retire in a few years.

  It was May of 2010, we'd heard the news reports, we had seen the violence in the towns. My father made a run into town, to get us some supplies. We had everything we needed to survive, at least for a few months. We were pretty secluded on our farm, our nearest neighbours were five miles away.

  'Get those barricades up,' my father instructed.

  'We're on it dad,' I told him. My father looked like a typical farmer, he had the attitude as well. He was a tall, burly man who towered above me. I was six foot, he was a good six inches taller. He had long straw coloured hair, hazel eyes and olive skin. His rippling muscles broke through a good number of his shirts, he had a loud booming voice but was soft as anything. He loved us openly, he praised us often. He never had a temper, though he would defend our farm when he had to.

  'There, its done dad,' my brother Clayton said, wiping the beads of sweat off his face.

  We all looked alike in our family, Clayton was the spitting image of our father. He wasn't quite as tall though, he did inherit dads cheeky smile.

  'Good, now get in the house,' he instructed. Clayton, my other brother Tristan and I all went back into the house. Clayton was the eldest at twenty-one, Tristan was nineteen and I was seventeen. We were the ones who took on the hard work, we wanted our younger sisters to have fun rather than spend all their time working on the farm. We didn't mind, we all loved the farm but our sisters weren't so interested in it. Amy was the youngest at ten, she looked more like our mother. She was a tiny girl, skinny, despite how much she ate. Amy had golden curls that cascaded down her back, those large, round, blue bell eyes made sure she always got what she wanted.

  Becca as we called her, she was mix of our parents. She was twelve, but she already towered over our other sister Claire who was two years older than her. Becca was slender, with the same golden curls as our mother, her eyes were a sparkling jade and her complexion was dark like father's. She had mothers kind heart, but dads determination.

  Claire, was a mirror image of father. She was most like him in personality. Tristan was like mother too, well except for his height, that he got from father. Our mother was a small, slender woman with large, round blue bell eyes and golden curls that framed her heart shaped face. She was paler than pale, with a smile that could light up the room.

  Prior to the outbreak, we were always happy. We didn't have much in the way of material things, but none of us cared. We were happy, contented on our little farm. Even in the midst of the outbreak, we still remained close.

  'Where's Amy?' Father asked concernedly.

  'Isn't she in her room,' I said.

  'No, I've checked. I can't find her,' he replied worryingly.

  'Shit, I'll get Clayton and look for her,' I told him. This was day three of the apocalypse, we hadn't actually seen a walker by this point, but father had. We believed him when he told us, that the dead were rising. We were lucky that as we lived on a farm, we had guns. Clayton and I raced outside, calling Amy as we checked the barn, the well and animal pens.

  'We've got to find her,' I said urgently.

  'We will, don't worry,' Clayton replied keeping calm.

  'Amy, where are you?' I called as we reached the edge of our farm.

  As we neared our gates, which we'd reinforced the day before, I heard crying. I ran down, looking for her. I found her, with her leg trapped in the wire fencing.

  'Oh shit, Amy are you alright?' I asked urgently.

  'I hurt my leg, I was playing with my ball and it ended up down here,' she cried. I looked at her foot, it was wrapped in barbed wire. I could see that some of the spikes had dug in her leg, the blood was steadily dripping down her leg.

  'Clayton, go and get the wire cutters. I'll keep her company,' I told him.

  'Okey dokey sis,' he replied.

  He went off into the house while I stayed with Amy, I kept her laughing, to keep her mind off the pain.

  'I'm sorry, dads going to be pretty mad isn't he,' she said said sadly.

  'No, it's fine. You'll probably just get bollocking for wandering off,' I told her.

  'I know, I didn't mean to. My ball just ran away from me, then I slid on the mud and went straight into the fence.'

  'Don't worry about it kiddo,' I smiled. As we were talking I didn't hear the walker on the other side of the fence, it wasn't until it was nearly upon us that I saw it. It's face was cut to the bone, the dark hair was missing in patches. My first instinct wasn't to kill it, I thought it was a normal person at first.

  'Hey, you there. What's wrong?' I asked. It didn't respond, it just growled. It wasn't until I looked into those empty black eyes that I realised what it was, it lunged for Amy but luckily I jumped over the fence. Amy screamed as I pinned it down, I was ever so grateful that father made us all carry weapons. If I hadn't had my knife on me, we would have been screwed. I held it down with one hand, while I fumbled for my knife that I kept tucked into my boots. I pulled out the blade, still holding it down and I remembered what my father had told me. The only way to kill it, was to stab it in the head. I'd never killed anything before, well other than rabbits and squirrels. I braced myself as I plunged the knife into its head, it lay there still as night. I pulled the knife out and jumped back over the fence, poor Amy was still crying.

  'Hey, it's alright, its dead now,' I told her gently.

  'Why did you kill a person?' She asked tearfully.

  'That wasn't a person, it was one of those monsters that father told us about,' I replied.

  'Oh,' was all she said. Since then, father never let us go anywhere alone. He'd been furious at Am
y for wandering off, but thankful to Clayton and I for protecting her. By day thirty-five of the outbreak, the nearby towns had become infested with the dead and our neighbours had come to us for help. Our house soon became full, all of us kids shared one room. Our parents shared with four other people, and the rest were scattered about the house. We couldn't even piss in peace, Tristan, Claire and I all dealt with the way things were. Our parents began to crumble, they were losing hope. It was then, that the idea came for us to leave the farm. We'd had more walkers on our land in the last few days than ever before, today we were putting it to a vote as to what we would do next. With the forty people in our house plus us, it was turning into a heated argument.

  'God damn it, I'm not taking my family out there!' My father shouted.

  'Norris, how can you think of staying here? My daughter was almost eaten yesterday!' Replied our friend Jack fiercely.

  'I've told you before, if you want to go then you can,' my father told him angrily.

  'We need guns to survive out there, and we don't have any,' our other neighbour Donald piped up.

  'Well you're not having my guns, I'll not put my family in danger by taking away their weapons,' he roared. Of all the people who now stayed with us, there was one family I didn't like. The Compton's, they had lived in town, I didn't trust them. There was something not right, about the dad. He was a short, round man in his late forties. He had stone grey eyes, with a mop of jet black hair and dark skin. His name was Ronald, he treated his wife and daughter like crap, almost like they were his slaves. His poor wife Anna was terrified of him, she bowed to his ever whim. She was a tiny woman herself, barely five foot, with long red hair and forest green eyes. Their daughter Jessie, was tiny as well despite being fifteen. She had her mothers pale skin and green eyes, but had her fathers jet black hair. She too cowered in fear of her father, I'd spoken to my parents about my concerns but they refused to do anything. It wasn't their place, we had to real proof they'd told me. I kept a close eye on Ronald, if I saw him so much as lay one finger on Anna or Jesse I'd be right there to give him a smack. Turning my attention back to the argument, I noticed that Ronald just sat in the corner with a dark smile on his face.

  'Why don't we take a break,' he said in his smarmy voice.

  'I think you're right sweetheart,' his wife agreed. We all needed some air, my father needed to chill out and I wanted to evaluate our situation. I wandered over to the barn, leaving my siblings inside. My father joined me, looking stressed and fed up.

  'You alright?' I asked.

  'No,' he replied simply.

  'What are we going to do? It seems like things are getting worse,' I told him worryingly.

  'I know kiddo, and I honestly don't know what we're going to do,' he replied sadly. We spent the next four months on the farm, some people left over time others stayed in the safety of the farm. Sadly Ronald was one of the families that stayed. Tensions rose, to the point where everyday we were arguing with each other. My father kept insisting that the farm was safe, but others disagreed. We kept our guns close, making sure no one could steal them. In the middle of October 2010, things had reached breaking point. My father had Ronald up by the throat after seeing him hit Anna, I stood watching, smiling as that cunt finally got what was coming to him. He had him pinned up against the barn, he feet were dangling in the air as he struggled to breathe.

  'If you ever touch Anna or Jessie again, I'll fucking kill you,' he growled at Ronald, who's face was now going blue.

  'I-I'm sorry,' he gurgled.

  My father let him go, he fell to the floor struggling for breath. His wife ran over to him, crying as she took him back inside.

  'Norris!' My mother shouted angrily at him.

  'What!' He should back.

  'What the hell were you thinking? Things are bad enough round here, without you making them worse,' she yelled.

  'Fucks sake woman, I saw him. He was hitting Anna, I wasn't going to let him get away with it,' he spat.

  My mother didn't say anything, she just stormed into the house.

  'Is he going to be alright?' Clayton asked me.

  'Yeah, if you ask me father did the right thing,' I told him coldly.

  'I agree, but we need to watch Ronald. I've had a bad feeling about him, since he got here,' he said worryingly.

  'I know what you mean.' That night my siblings and I sat in what was my room, talking about things. Amy, Becca and Claire were scared shitless, Clayton was just angry all the time and Tristan had become quiet and withdrawn. All my siblings had changed, I was afraid of what the world was doing to them. Amy, Becca and Claire often huddled together, closing their eyes and trying not to cry.

  'Hey, you three alright?' I asked gently.

  'Why did dad hit Mr Compton?' Becca asked quietly.

  'Because, he's a bad man. He hurt his wife,' I told them.

  'Why can't we just make him leave?' Claire wondered.

  'If he leaves, so will Anna and Jessie, and we don't want them out there with him,' Clayton told them.

  'We should kill him,' Amy said coldly.

  'We don't kill people, you know that,' Tristan barked. 'But we have to do something, we can't let these people take over. Look at them, we've given them, a home and they've eaten most of our food, they sit around letting us do the hard work, while they pretend none of this is happening!' Clayton shouted angrily.

  'Easy Clayton, we've had enough arguments today,' I told him.

  'Yeah, I know. I just wish we could have our farm back,' he said sadly.

  'I know, and so do we all. But this is how things are, but we can't lose ourselves. We need to stick together, and stay strong. No matter what happens, we're here for each other,' I replied smiling.

  'Thanks sis,' he smiled.

  'I don't know how you stay so sane,' Tristan laughed.

  'Someone has to,' I told him. We all hunkered down for the night, I slept next to Amy as she had the hardest time getting to sleep. She'd seen so much, she was the one who'd helped me kill the corpses a few days ago. It had changed her, she was both afraid and hateful. She had nightmares, she'd wake crying, screaming that they were going to get her. If only we'd known, it wasn't the dead we had to worry about, it was those we'd given a home to.

  Piercing screams woke me in the dead of night, my sisters were still sleeping but my brothers and I were wide awake.

  'I'm going to find out what's going on, you stay here with the girls,' Clayton said fearlessly.

  'I'm coming with you,' Tristan told us determinedly. 'Alright, just hurry,' I replied panicked.

  As they slipped out the doors, guns in hand I woke the girls up.

  'Wake up girls,' I told them.

  'What is it?' Amy asked tiredly.

  'Shush, you need to be quiet,' I whispered. The screams were louder now, I heard Tristan shouting. I knew something was very wrong, I got all the girls up, made them get dressed as quickly and quietly as I could. They all had a knife on them, I opened the window and looked out. There was no one out back, I made the girls climb out the window. The extension we'd had done on our house a few years earlier was directly below my room. The roof was high enough for us to climb on.

  'You need to keep quiet, no matter what you hear,' I told them sternly.

  'Okay Delilah,' Amy whimpered.

  'Where's mum and dad?' Becca asked tearfully.

  'I don't know, Tristan and Clayton have gone to find them, we need to get away. They'll find us later,' I replied quietly.

  I barricaded the door as I heard my brothers die, there was one, two, gunshots. I don't know how the others had got the guns from them, but they did.

  'No, not my sisters!' Clayton cried weakly. The people came charging at the door, punching, kicking, trying to get in. I'd pushed the wardrobe and beds against the door, so they'd have a hard job getting in. I raced to the window, to find my sisters climbing down the back. I followed them, making sure they were safe. As we got down the back, I told them to hide in our truck. Luckily I
both knew how to drive, and how to hot wire a car. As I neared the truck, I saw him, Ronald, dragging out my brothers bodies. I saw a few other people, pulling out my parents corpses. I felt the tears in my eyes, but didn't have time to mourn. I ran to the truck, jumped in making sure my sisters were alright. It was lucky that they were all slender, they managed to get a seatbelt around two of them. I quickly hot wired the car, before anyone could see. The car roared to life, I put my foot down and drove straight through the metal fences.

  'Hold on tight,' I told my sisters. They cried as I left our home, wailing for our parents and brothers. We had nothing, no food, no shelter, nothing when we left. I held back the tears, I had to be strong for them, they needed me more than ever now. I didn't know where to go, or what to do. As I left my only home behind, all I could think of was getting my sisters somewhere safe. One thing I did know, I wasn't going to let anyone else in, ever again. People we'd trusted had killed my family, even those I'd know since being a child. The world was full of the dead eating the living, but to me, people were even worse.

  Chapter 27

  Tessa

  We made it as far as Northumberland National park, before the cars ran out of petrol. It was pitch black outside, but at least the snow had stopped. I pulled my coat tightly around me, I got out my flash light and pointed it to the boot as my dad got the food out. I saw the look on Delilah's face as we got out of the cars, a single tear fell as she wiped it away.

  'Are you alright?' I asked gently.

  'Yeah, I just- there's something I need to do here, I'm going to catch up with you guys later,' she said sadly. Before any on of us could say anything, she disappeared into the darkness. I'd come to know everyone really well, in the time we'd spent together. I could easily see how they'd all survived this long. They looked out for each other, they never turned on one another, even when things were dire. They all pulled their weight, and were willing to listen to other peoples ideas. Even Jensen who was the youngest, was grown up for his age. I cared for them all, even Delilah who I hadn't really spent much time with back at home. I was worried about her, I knew she'd lived here before she met Nikkita, but it was unlike her to go off alone.