REBIRTH: SEVEN DAYS BEFORE DOOMSDAY

Run, Kara, Run. My lungs burned, my chest ached, and my body cried out in pain as I sprinted down the mangled, broken and completely ruined street. No matter how scared I was, or how much pain I was in, I made sure to keep one hand tightly wrapped around the strap of my backpack, while also using the other hand to grip the small plastic bag of food that I had managed to scavenge. Behind me, I heard something snarl. I didn’t look back, I didn’t need to, not when I already knew what it was; a zombie. "Come on, Kara,” I hissed under my breath, trying to push past all the pain I was feeling, “Come on!” My boots slammed hard against broken pavement as I ran past the now familiar stretch of road. A car blocked the path I was on, I jumped and veered around the car, and almost slipped when my feet landed on a pool of blood. I paused for a moment, using the time to catch my breath. This blood wasn’t here yesterday, right? Who? The zombie slammed into the vehicle behind me and the sound of the metal shrieking immediately snapped me out of my thoughts. Without looking back, I ran faster. I had gotten such a good haul today, and I was not willing to let it go. The plastic bag I carried contained three cans of beans, two packets of crackers and a large bottle of water. I had searched four buildings before I had managed to find so much. Usually, I would have gone back immediately, but I had thought, maybe just one more building. That was a mistake, and that mistake was currently chasing me, intent on taking my life. I could not die, and I could not afford to get bitten. My husband, Ethan, had not eaten properly in two days now, I had to get it back to him. Another snarl exploded behind me, and finally, I glanced over my shoulder. The zombie was dumb, so instead of vaulting over the car like a typical human would, it just kept bashing its body on it, until the already mangled car had split into two. And now that the path was free, it was rushing towards me, fast enough for my stomach to drop. "s**t!" I gasped, running faster while also trying to squeeze out every last drop of strength I had in me. It was almost enough, almost. It took three whole seconds for the zombie to catch up to me, and when it did, I immediately lunged to the side. Thankfully, I was fast enough to avoid its claws. I hit the ground, kept silent, rolled, and shoved myself upright. I could not afford to scream, or else, I would be surrounded. The zombie could not stop its speed as fast as I could, so it slammed hard into a wall. I didn't wait to see how disoriented it was. Instead, I sprinted through a narrow gap through two abandoned cars, and rushed through an alley. My entire body was shaking, and my nerves were on fire as I got close to our building. I paused for a moment, and made sure I could not hear any snarls before walking straight into our safe house, and slamming the slightly open, large metal door shut behind me. It was just in time, because the moment I did, I heard a loud snarl straight from the head of the alley. I locked the metal door tightly, and pushed a large, heavy crate right behind it. "Stay there, you bastard." I hissed, letting out a laugh of relief before taking a deep breath and running upwards. My pain could wait, Ethan could not. We had built our safe zone on the third floor, it was high enough that no zombie should be able to reach us without us having extra warning, and it was low enough that we should be able to jump down and not be hurt much in case we needed to excape. I stumbled right into the apartment and kicked the door shut before shouting out loud. "Ethan!" I called out, I paused for a couple of seconds, expecting to get a reply, but instead, I got nothing. With a frown on my face, I dropped my backpack and immediately rushed towards the bedroom. I let out a sigh of relief when I spotted him. Ethan was lying against the mattress we'd dragged onto the floor. His left leg was wrapped in bloodstained cloth. His face was pale, but, he was alive. I almost collapsed with relief. "I—I got food." I stammered, forcing a smile on my bloodied lips as I held up the bag. Ethan looked up at it, before turning to face me, "You have been gone for hours." he said, his tone cold. "I had to search four buildings for the supplies,” I answered, pushing aside the bad feeling I felt within me, "Where's the medicine, then?” he hissed, I blinked, and just stared at him with pure surprise in my eyes. "What?" I asked, "The medicine, Kara." He hissed, “I thought that was what you were going for?” "Oh,” I looked down, “I tried, but all the hospitals and clinic centers were packed full of zombies. I couldn't find any." His face hardened. "You went out there for hours and came back without medicine?" I looked down at my bloodied hands. This time, I was finally getting angry. "I nearly got killed getting this." "And?" he hissed, his eyes filled with rage. Instead of continuing, he just reached for the bag. I was angry, but not angry enough to not give him food. So, I handed it over. His expression shifted the moment he opened the bag and saw the bottle of water I had brought. I watched him begin to drink the bottle with relish. "You have to slow down, Ethan." I whispered as I walked towards his side, "If you don’t, you are going to make yourself sick." He ignored me, and he kept on ignoring me even as I walked to his side and crouched besides him. "How's your leg?" I asked, "Still bad," he answered, but there was a note I could hear in his voice, one that told me he wasn’t telling me the whole truth. But I just nodded, "Do you want me to change the dressing?” I asked, keeping my tone as soft as possible. “I could.” "Later." He said, I nodded, didn’t ask why. I just turned around and reached for the dirty plates, so I could serve us. But I stopped and froze. Wait. Why were there two plates on the floor?