The Outbreak Pt. 3 -Riley

            The very trees seemed to try and impede my progress, their roots climbing up to trip me, and their branches striking out at my clothes and skin as I sprinted through the dense forest. I could hear the trampling of the Treaders behind me, and I knew I could not carry on much longer. Suddenly an idea struck me, and I knew I had no other option. I slowed to a halt, gathered my bearings, and began to scamper up into one of the ancient oaks. Once I was roughly ten feet off the ground I slowed and searched the forest floor for the group of Treaders. Everything was quiet and it seemed as though I had lost them. I breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the trunk of the tree to rest before continuing my journey.

            I awoke with a start, nearly falling from my perch. I guess I had fallen asleep, and it was now near nightfall. I hated travelling at night, but I supposed it would have to do. I slowly began to make my descent when I heard a low moan from below. My chest fell as I realized the Treaders had found me. In the dim light I could not tell how many there were, but it looked to be perhaps a half-dozen or so. I knew I could not take them all, and I knew there was no way I was getting out of this tree without them attacking and ultimately feasting on me. I was done for. I was totally and completely helpless.. Totally and completely helpless. All the memories of Connor turning and Nick being eaten rushed back in, and a wave of nausea hit me like a brick. I began to retch, but my empty stomach could not produce anything to throw up.

             I realized that this was it. It was going to die here with no one around, no one to even know I was gone or to miss me. Hell, I didn’t even know if there was anyone else. For all I knew I could have been the last person on the planet. I hadn’t seen anyone in my months on the road, and even if I were to get out of this situation, what would be the point? I didn’t even know where I was or even what state I was in. It didn’t matter. I lay back against the trunk of the tree and lost myself in memories of the world before. Memories of my friends and family, and of my wonderful life before the world went to hell.

            I was jolted out of my reverie several hours later by the sound of gunshots, and it startled me so badly I toppled from my perch. My descent to the ground seemed to take an age, and as I was falling I again flashed back to the world before. I flashed back through my high school days, and farther back, all the way back to my childhood. My entire life flashed before my eyes. As I slammed into the forest floor, pain flared up red-hot all over my body, and stars flashed before my eyes. The last thing I remember seeing is a dark figure shambling towards me, and then blackness.