Free And This Too: A Modern Fable by Emily Owenn McIntyre Page A

a tree, dizzy with hunger and lethargic from reefer.
                  “Go on without me, man,” he huffed as sweat dripped down his pale face.
                  Mikey shook his head and offered his shoulder for Andre to lean on as they continued to flee.
                  “nUUUggh!”
                  Mikey kept walking, not looking back.
                  “nuuuUUUgh!”
                  “Dude, it’s no use,” Andre whimpered. “We’re gonna die.”             
              Mikey didn’t say anything. He knew it was true; all of the infected people in the town of Amut were following them in a large herd. Ashlenville was miles away. There was no hope. No hope to be had…at all.
     
    *****
    Harley woke up when the shooting stopped. Her head was spinning. She hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast that morning and the stench of decay was overwhelming. If it weren’t for the fact that she was utterly surrounded, Harley would have thrown up on the street. However, she knew that getting out of the car would mean her life, so she sat quietly, watching the zombies pass by. It was getting dark; she would have to go to sleep soon, and still hadn’t found Allie.
                  “Hell,” Harley vocalized.
                  She wasn’t hungry, but she knew she needed something in her stomach, to maintain her stamina. Harley was stuck between a rock and a hard place; the simple task of turning on a light or even moving too much would draw the attention of the undead.
                  Harley eased the seat back as far as it would go. Inching towards the back seat of the car, the famished young woman stopped whenever she worried that a walker was getting too close. Pixel had made a bed of the passenger’s side floor. His gentle, rhythmic breathing nearly brought peace to her fraying nerves and stuttering heart. When she was safely in the back seat, Harley closed her eyes and began to breathe again.
                  The simple task of grabbing a snack had become just as dangerous as driving from Ivana’s Port to Sandy’s Beach. Harley peeked over the top of the bench seat and overlooked her store of goods. She cautiously grabbed a bottle of water and a bag of trail mix from the hatchback before lying back down in the seat and engorging herself on the modest meal.
    *****
                  In the dimly lit third floor apartment, Allie and Kurt were eating a dinner of hotdogs with soda and chips on the side. The hotdogs were some of the last perishable foods they would eat in a long time. There was no electricity in Sandy’s Beach. After dinner it was time to train. Both Allie and Kurt were incredibly sore from doing exercise circuits for both combat and regular fitness. That evening they decided to just do the regular circuit.
                  Once all was said and done, they decided to check on the scene below.
                  “They’re all out there now,” Allie whispered, looking down at the growing population of undead.
                  “What about Harley?” Kurt inquired softly
                  “Harley’s a big girl; she can take care of herself.”
                  “Do you think they’ll dissipate in the morning?”
                  “They always do.  They always lose interest and try to find someone else to snack on.”
                  “I still think we should make a plan,” Kurt whispered frantically, “Harley would be great company. There is strength in numbers.”
                  “She was too dumb to check her fuel gauge before driving all over the place.”
                  “Not stupid, just nervous.”
                  “Why are you defending her? You two haven't spoken since high school.”
                  Kurt