[ WP ] The Zombie Apocalypse is on its 3rd week . You expected them to be dangerous but you never expected them to be able to talk .

*If you would like to follow my work please check out [ r/KonarCity ] ( https: //www.reddit.com/user/KonarCity/ ). I also have two self-published science fiction books out through Amazon, Ajax: Rebirth and Ajax: Relinquished, which are periodically free to purchase. * 
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 The sleeping figure shifted in her sleep, uncurling slightly from the small ball Keira formed to ward off the night ’ s chill. Slowly she awoke, blinking rapidly to clear the grit from her eyes. 
 
 For the second night Keira had crawled into the dumpster, curling up among the rotting refuse with the tattered blanked she had salvaged wrapped around her. A backpack lay at her feet, along with an iron bar that still contained traces of decomposed flesh and grey matter from the last walking corpse that tried to turn her into a human buffet. 
 
 Keira fumbled in her jacket pocket for the small torch she had salvaged from an old keychain. Her thumb pressed down on the torch ’ s switch, illuminating the dumpster with a pale white light that did her dishevelled state no favour. 
 
 Her black, fur lined jacket was heavily stained by dust, mud, dried blood, and the juice of rotten food. Likewise her grey jeans and brown boots had seen better days, three weeks of constant wear had really taken its toll. They were the only clothes left in Keira ’ s possession and a shopping spree was the last thing on her mind. 
 
 The dried bloodstains on her right boot reminded Keira of the first zombie she had encountered; her own mother. When she had received a phone call in school from her panicked mother Keira had sprinted home, the scared words of her mother replaying through her mind, “ There ’ s someone else in the house. ” 
 
 Twelve minutes later Keira careened through the front door of her house and skidded across the wooden floor straight into a wall. She scrambled to her feet and felt the fear sink in as she looked at the trail of blood that lead to her mother ’ s lifeless body. Keira moved slowly to the body, skirting around the pool of sticky blood that had formed under her face-down mother. 
 
 She knelt down, tears flowing freely at the sight of a ghastly wound in the side of her mother ’ s neck. Keira gripped her mother by the shoulder and rolled her over; two lifeless eyes stared back. Keira held her own mother close, stroking away the bloodied blonde hair that had fallen across her pale face. 
 
 Keira did not know how long she knelt there, cradling her mother ’ s corpse, sobbing uncontrollably. When a car alarm went off in the street Keira looked up, staring out of the open doorway for the source of the noise. A second alarm started up almost immediately, except she could hear that it was further away from the first. Two gunshots snapped her out of her trance, the noise reverberating along the street and shortly followed by a shrill scream. 
 
 Keira lowered her mother ’ s body to the floor and stood up swiftly, the sudden movement causing her to become light headed. She moved over to the doorway, eyes wide as she scanned the street for her mother ’ s attacker. She hoped that whoever had fired the gun had killed the man, or woman, responsible. Keira pulled the phone out of her pocket, ready to call the police. She turned away from the door and stopped dead in her tracks; the body was gone. 
 
 A guttural scream had Keira spinning on her heel, not fast enough as was shoved towards the staircase as a figure lunged for her. Keira managed to twist in time, using her attackers own body weight to send them crashing against the wooden staircase. A sickening sound of splintering wood and shattering bones greeted her, but the sight of her mother ’ s corpse rearing up from the staircase brought a fresh terror to Keira. 
 
 Her mother lunged once more, coming within a fingers breadth of grabbing Keira by the throat before a bullet tore through her skull, splattering Keira in her mother ’ s blood and brains. 
 
 A pair of hands gripped Keira, shaking her as a voice tried to coax a response. Her eyes were fixed once more on the lifeless body of her mother, yet there was no peace on the woman ’ s face; her eyes were wide and focused, her teeth bared in a snarl. 
 
 Keira shook her head, releasing the memory that haunted her each night. The dumpster was the here and now, it was safe, relatively dry, and the Roamers seemed to take no interest in her over the horrific smell. 
 
 Keira sat up and opened her backpack, pulling out the half-eaten pack of dried beef that she had been trying to avoid. There was no other food left within her backpack, she had finished off an apple several hours ago and left herself without another option. There was probably still beef lodged between her braces from several days ago, and with no chance of finding an orthodontist to remove them Keira was stuck living with braces during a zombie apocalypse. 
 
 She removed a strand of beef and was about to bite into it when the faint noise of panting broke the silence. Roamers didn ’ t pant; they were normally silent unless they kicked an object on the floor, or were tearing apart a living being. 
 
 Keira stood up inside the dumpster, careful not to clash her head on the lid as she did so. Slowly she pushed up on the lid until she made a thin gap big enough for her to see out of. The dim light of dawn streamed into her eyes, causing Keira to blink rapidly until they adjusted. 
 
 Outside in the alleyway she could make out the dark clad figure of an old man to her left. He was doing his best to hobble to the alleyways end without making too much sound whilst favouring his left leg, with his hand resting on his right legs thigh. Between both shoulders he sported a large pack that was only slowing down his progress, probably containing possessions he could not bear to be without. Keira was surprised that she had even heard him, he was at least forty feet away and moving further away with each second. 
 
 She was about to call out to the man when movement to her right caught her eye. Keira scanned through the gloom and could just make out the two figures that were closing in on her location. She took her right hand off the dumpster ’ s lid and reached into the back of her jeans. Her fingers slipped around the handgun, prepared for if they got too close; with only five bullets left Keira prayed that she did not have to use the gun. 
 
 As the figures were bathed by the dawn light Keira saw that they were zombies, not the humans she would have preferred. Their faces were smeared with the blood and gore of their recent meals, and a soft moan came from both of their mouths. Keira knew they were only seconds away from spotting the old man; he had no chance of escaping them. 
 
 Keira drew the gun from her jeans, resting the short barrel on the lip of the dumpster as she trained it on the closest zombie. Her finger rested lightly on the trigger as she weighed up her choices; save the man, using two of her five bullets in the process, or let another human die in order to survive. 
 
 Keira ’ s finger gently drew back on the trigger, her body tensed to surge up and open the dumpster ’ s lid. She was about to stand up when a noise no zombie should ever make drifted over to her. 
 
 “ I smell his fear…his blood. We are close. ” 
 
 “ Good, the hunger is strong tonight. Let us feed. ” 
 
 Keira could not move, her entire body was frozen with shock. These mindless *animals* who stalked humans, feeding on their flesh, hunting them down, could talk. She could have said goodbye to her mother, yet the woman who raised her had tried to kill Keira without hesitation. 
 
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 This is just a rough draft, didn ’ t have time during my lunch hour to edit it. Hopefully will tidy it up when I am home. 

