Zombies

• Robbie Potter, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2018

A truck went by, ramming into the zombie bodies. You didn’t see many trucks these days, but you always had to be careful. Lachlan looked behind him—there were no zombies in his sight. He checked the other way—still no zombies. Lachlan got out of the truck and started heading towards the woods. He desperately needed some supplies. He was hungry and cold and hadn’t had much sleep. The truck was good shelter but he was also running out of petrol.

He was hopeful of finding something someone had left behind. "Hands up or I'll shoot!”, a woman’s voice said. Lachlan was scared. He raised his hands. "Turn around, slowly," the voice said. He turned around, and was face to face with a woman. She was smaller than him, with flaming orange hair and a round suspicious face with blue eyes watching him closely. She had ripped jeans and a sports top. "Good" she said, considering him. Lachlan didn’t see where the zombie came from. He just heard the woman’s scream and watched in horror as the zombie bit into her back and the woman fell. Lachlan started to run back to his truck. The woman was still screaming, but there was nothing he could do. The screaming stopped.

He was panting, running furiously. He saw the truck. It was so close. But so was a whole horde of zombies. He grabbed the handle just in time and jumped in. Where were the keys? The zombies were surrounding the truck. They were everywhere. He couldn’t find the keys. The zombies were climbing all over the truck.

His other pocket! He had put the keys there for safe keeping. He fumbled. The zombies were coming. He started the ignition. He was driving, but there were zombies that were still holding on. A zombie raised its decaying fist and smashed the passenger window. It started to climb into the truck. Lachlan punched the zombie in the face. Its head reeled back but it didn’t stop. Lachlan grabbed his pocket knife and stabbed the zombie in the forehead.

He had taken his eye off the road in the panic. He looked up only to realise he was about to hit a tree. He couldn’t stop. He jumped out of the truck. The truck slammed into the tree and the zombies went flying all around him. He tried to stand up. He was dazed but he had to get away. He started walking. He was unsteady.

The next thing he knew there was a terrible pain in his hand. This was it. Lachlan stabbed the zombie in the neck. But it was too late for Lachlan. His vision was turning black and soon he could only see darkness. A red sign appeared in front of him. "Game over."

"WHAT!?" Jack yelled at his computer.

"Jack, you ready for school?', his mum called from the kitchen.

He sighed. "Yes mum", he replied.

He put his computer into his bag and went to the kitchen.