They mistook my kindness for weakness
The infected were closing in. She could hear them, the guttural growls, the snapping of limbs as they turned corners and barreled through alleyways. But Julianna kept running. Her breaths came in sharp gasps, throat tight with the effort, each step harder than the last.
And then she saw it.
Natalie. She was backed into a corner, fighting off the infected with what little strength she had left. But the infected were too many, too fast. Julianna's stomach dropped. She couldn't let Natalie die like this.
She wouldn't make it if she ran over to help, using a knife or her bat. So her fingers fumbled with the handgun she had grabbed, her mind a blur of thoughts, none of them coherent. She had no idea how to use it. No idea how to reload it. But there was no time to think. It was stupid, and would draw infected to them, but that was a problem for the future.
With trembling hands, she aimed at the closest infected, the gun shaking in her grip. She squeezed the trigger. The deafening click of the gun, followed by the jarring recoil, left her dizzy. Her hands shook harder, but she fired again. And again. The sound of the gunfire echoed in the street, and she winced, every shot feeling like it took something from her.
Some missed, some hit the infected, but just enough of them went down. It wasn't a clean shot—hell, it wasn't even close to good shooting—but it was enough to make the infected stagger back. One of them crumpled, another followed, and for a split second, the space around Natalie cleared.
The gun clicked, and Julianna's stomach sank as she realized it was empty. The reality of it hit her all at once: she had no idea how to reload. No time to figure it out.
She stuffed the gun in her pocket and sprinted the rest of the way toward Natalie, who was still struggling to stay on her feet, her face pale, eyes wide with fear.
Julianna grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her lightly, trying to get through to her. Her voice was ragged, barely more than a rasp. "Are you okay?"
The words came out in a jumble, hardly making sense, both of them caught in a haze of shock. Natalie's breathing was fast, her body trembling with adrenaline, and for a moment, neither of them said anything, but she was nodding.
Julianna's pulse was deafening in her ears, the pain in her arm now a dull throb that she could no longer ignore.
She yanked Natalie's hands into her own, feeling the foreign comfort of her warm fingers, something that felt solid in a world gone completely wrong. Their fingers intertwined, both of them running with everything they had left.
There were more infected behind them. She could hear them. See them in the periphery of her vision, closing in with relentless hunger. They were getting closer, but Julianna and Natalie weren't stopping. No matter how much their legs screamed, no matter how much they wanted to collapse, they kept moving towards the school.
The sound of their heavy breaths mixed with the guttural snarls of the infected as they pushed themselves harder, their legs pumping desperately beneath them.
Shauna found them first, blood splattered across her shirt, streaking her face, her breath heavy, ragged. She was barely holding herself together, but she was still standing,—still alive. The trio of them, Shauna, Natalie, and Julianna, ran together through the streets towards the familiar building, their footsteps syncing with the pounding of their hearts. But as they neared the high school gates, a wave of dread hit Julianna like a punch to the stomach. The adrenaline buzz was starting to wear off, and the reality of it all was starting to crash down on her.
Julianna was shaking. Her arm was on fire. The bleeding had slowed, but the ache in her muscles was a constant reminder. She felt as though she were moving through mud, her legs too heavy, her body too tired, her mind too clouded.
When they reached the gates, the sound of their ragged breathing was the only thing breaking the tense silence. Shauna looked over her shoulder, checking for any infected that might be trailing them. But it was clear.
That's when Julianna's feet froze.
She stopped in her tracks, letting go of Natalie's hand—the hand she hadn't even realized she was still holding until she let it slip through her fingers. Natalie stumbled slightly at the sudden loss of contact, but Julianna didn't realise, for once. Her mind was too full, spinning in a way that made her dizzy. She could feel the cold sweat on her back, the rising panic in her chest. She couldn't let it show. She couldn't let them know what she already knew.
"I—" Her voice was rough. It was a grating sound, coming from her mouth, as if someone else was speaking for her. "Taissa... she's still out there. We can't leave her." Her chest rose and fell with panic.
Shauna's brow furrowed. She opened her mouth to respond, but Julianna spoke over her, her words spilling out faster now. "You need to go around the back of the school. There's a way in. You need to get inside. Find safety." She wasn't making sense, not even to herself. Her thoughts were incoherent, but the words felt urgent, like a warning.
Natalie stood there, her hands shaking as she wiped the blood off her face. Her expression was hard to read, but Julianna could see the hesitation in her eyes, the uncertainty. She was questioning Julianna's decision, questioning whether this was the right thing to do. It seemed a silent realisation crossed her face.
But Julianna didn't have time to wait for answers. She was already making up her mind.
"Go. Get to safety." She repeated, each word dragging out of her.
Shauna was still eyeing her suspiciously, but before she could protest, Julianna pushed her forward, just a little bit, toward the gates. "I'll be fine," she lied. "I'll catch up."
Natalie didn't say anything at first. She just stared at her, like she was trying to figure out if she was lying.
But the moment passed quickly. Natalie nodded, just once. Then, without another word, she turned and ran, her feet pounding against the pavement, Shauna right behind her.
Julianna stood there, watching them go. Her breath was coming in shallow gasps now, and she felt like the world was closing in around her. She wasn't supposed to feel this way. She wasn't supposed to care this much. She barely knew them, barely spoke to them. But for some reason, it felt like they deserved something better. They deserved a chance.
In the last few hours, she had come to realize something: It didn't matter that she had only known them for a short time. They mattered. Even if she'd only spoken to them in bits and pieces, even if it was just casual conversation, she felt like they were her people now, in some desperate way.
And if she was going to die tonight, she didn't care. She would make sure they had that chance.
Her fingers twitched at the thought. There was something she knew she had to do. Something that wasn't quite finished yet.
The thought of Taissa, and of Van, was enough to make her blood run cold. They hadn't said anything, hadn't admitted anything, but it was obvious to Julianna. Even if they hadn't kissed, or spoken the words, she could see the way Taissa's eyes softened when she looked at Van, the way their hands brushed. It was enough to know. Enough to understand that if she didn't act now, they might be too late. Too tragic.
She couldn't let that happen.
For just a second, she thought about running after them, about abandoning this insane idea. About going with them. But who would that help? And honestly, part of her didn't want to. Not when she was already marked for death. It was selfish, but the idea of not having to watch them go through it, of not being the one who survived, it was something Julianna couldn't bear. She wasn't going to make it. But they were going to. They would go to Kansas City. They would find a safe place.
She wasn't going to be the one to ruin that for them.
Her fingers twitched again as she turned away from the gates. The adrenaline still rushed through her, numbing her senses, drowning out the fear, but it wouldn't last. It would wear off. And when it did, she would be alone.
Julianna's legs burned as she sprinted through the wreckage of town buildings, the sounds of her footfalls muted by the deafening roar of her pulse in her ears. She barely noticed the blood that clung to her clothes anymore, or the stinging in her arm. She had heard it, the distant sound of shouts, panicked, frantic voices that made her blood stop running.
Everything ahead of her seemed to blur as she ran, her vision narrowing on the small section of collapsed building. It was there—she could see the form of Taissa, pinned under a large bookshelf that had collapsed during the chaos. The sight of her made Julianna's heart stutter in her chest. She barely even thought as she approached, adrenaline flooding every inch of her body and pushing aside the pain, the exhaustion, the fear.
Julianna's hands shook violently as she dropped to her knees beside the bookshelf. It was heavy, too heavy to move normally. She knew that. But she shoved her shoulder under the edge, gritting her teeth against the effort, and with a grunt of exertion, she managed to lift it just enough for Taissa to wriggle out.
The effort almost made her collapse right there, but she stayed steady, holding the bookshelf up for just long enough for Taissa to free herself. The instant she was free, Taissa groaned, clutching her torso in pain.
"Taissa, you're hurt," Julianna murmured, her voice rough from exhaustion.
Taissa didn't answer, her face pinched in pain as she stumbled to her feet. It was clear she'd been injured in the fallout. Her ribs, likely broken, made her movements jerky and labored. Julianna moved closer, instinctively reaching out to support her, and Taissa leaned heavily against her.
"Lean on me," Julianna urged, trying to keep her voice calm, but inside her chest, panic was starting to rise again. She had no idea how much longer she could keep this up. Taissa was taller, but Julianna managed, pushing the pain down.
Together, they staggered out from the building. The infected were still scouting the area, their growls carrying in the wind. Julianna kept her focus, using every ounce of her remaining strength to push forward, one foot in front of the other. Her hair was falling out of its messy ponytail, it was too long, and it stuck to her face, her eyes, her mouth. Blood—she couldn't even tell if it was hers or the infected's—was everywhere, making it hard to see.
The school car park came into view, and Julianna's legs felt like they were going to give out at any moment. She could barely breathe, her chest heaving as she tried to control her panic.
From the roof, she saw Shauna and Natalie, waving frantically at her.
"Over here!" Shauna shouted, her voice carrying above the wind.
Julianna's heart leapt. They were so close. She could make it.
Taissa stumbled, her feet dragging, and Julianna had to fight to keep them moving, pushing past the dizzying waves of nausea that threatened to overtake her. They reached the ladder to the roof, and Taissa struggled to climb up, her broken ribs making every movement agonizing. But with the help of Shauna, Natalie, and Julianna's own shaky strength, they finally hauled Taissa up.
Once they were all up on the flat roof, the exhaustion, the injuries, the fear, it all crashed down at once. Julianna collapsed onto the ground, onto her knees, her body shaking uncontrollably as she tried to catch her breath. The blood on her hands, her clothes, felt like it was seeping into her skin, marking her as one of them.
She didn't care. She just needed a moment. A moment to breathe, a moment to rest. She laid on her back, the fall and rise of her chest unmistakably fast.
The sky above them was impossibly bright, the light so pure and blinding that for a split second, Julianna thought it was heaven calling her to her grave. She felt as though she could almost imagine herself lying in a field, no longer running, no longer fighting. She could imagine a world where she didn't have to do this anymore.
But the thought was fleeting.
She blinked, trying to focus on the present, on the faces of the people around her—Shauna, Natalie, Taissa. They were alive.
Her breath slowed, but the pain in her arm remained, constant and unrelenting.
But she wasn't that scared anymore.
Because if there was anything she had learned in the past few days, it was this: survival was never just about living. It was about finding the people worth saving. And she had found them.
Julianna closed her eyes for a moment, allowing the cool wind to brush over her face, knowing, deep down, that if she couldn't be there for them for much longer, at least she had done what she could to help them.