The hot
night air hung heavy over the woods as Sonia Durant wound past twisted tree
trunks and low-hanging branches. Twigs
cracked under her bare feet as she moved swiftly through the dense forest,
dancing past patches of poison ivy and bramble bushes with the deftness of
someone who had grown up in these woods and traced this path many times
before. Sweat and the muggy air caused
her thin nightshirt to cling to her slight frame as she ran away from her
pursuer. The lumbering, heavy steps that
trailed behind her were not cognizant of the same path that she was
following. Each footfall landed with a
singular purpose; to hunt Sonia down, preferably before she reached the
clearing that led to her home. While
Sonia would not be entirely safe there, it was better than getting caught out
in the woods where no one was around to help.
She listened as the steps grew
closer, her pursuer was not only running, but also, because of the apparent
disregard of the preordained path through the forest, was cutting a straight
line through the overgrowth as opposed to zigzagging along as Sonia found
herself doing.
Sonia knew that if she did not
take a chance and make one last, desperate plunge for the clearing, she would
not make it. Her pursuers would be upon
her and she would be lost. She could see
the moon lighting the grass, like a runway to safety and knew that she would be
safe.
Just a few more steps.
As her bare foot hit the soft wet
grass she felt a hand on her shoulder.
It was cold and clammy, as if the hand carried no life, and only sought
one thing, her. It pulled at her
t-shirt, ripping the material as it tried to grab on to something more
substantial than flimsy cotton. She
struggled to break free, more than willing to sacrifice the garment if it meant
saving her life. As she felt the shirt
sleeve rip free, she thought she had made it, that she was safe and she would
be home soon. As she made one final push
to get home she felt the cold grip return to her wrist. As brittle as the hand was that clung to her,
it refused to let go regardless of how hard she pulled. She tried to scream but the heavy air and the
exertion of running through the forest left only a small whimper in her
throat. Sonia lost her footing on the
wet ground falling backward and landing sharply on her backside, still in the
clutches of her pursuer. She looked up
into lifeless eyes and a toothless smile as dry, cracked lips peeled back
across its face. Tears streamed down her
cheeks as the gaping maw of the dead man descended upon her, its only desire to
satiate a hunger that grew within its once lifeless husk. Sonia Durant was nothing more than a snack to
this creature, a slight detour as it wandered, searching for its next meal.
The first bite was the only one
that hurt, as each subsequent piece of Sonia that was ripped away from her body
just sent her into a further state of shock.
She was dead before she could remember the name of the creature that
attacked her.
Zombie.
No comments:
Post a Comment