Ashley
“Ashley! Honey, wake up!”
The young girl in the pink pajamas rolled over in her bed, rubbing her eyes.
“Dad? What's wrong?” she asked sleepily, still foggy.
“We have to leave. Get some clothes on.”
Ashley looked over at her best friend Riley. The other girl was stirring on the sleeping bag on the floor. Some night for a sleepover.
“Mr. Benton?”
“It's okay, Riley. You stick with us! Get dressed and wait for us in the kitchen.” Ashley’s dad said firmly.
The two girls looked at each other, then at Mr. Benton.
“What happened? Is there someone hurt? Are Mom and Dad-- ” Riley started to panic.
Mr. Benton cut off the questions. “I'm sorry, we have no time for this now. We'll explain later. Now get going. It won't take long to pack up your things.”
Ashley and Riley got out of bed, Riley digging her extra clothes out of the backpack she had carried her things for the sleepover in. They both sensed something was wrong, but they knew better than ask again right now. So they quickly pulled on sweats and tops and grabbed their bags and shoes from under the bed. Then they hurried downstairs, leaving their dad standing at the foot of the staircase. As soon as the girls were outside, he followed.
Mrs. Benton had the car running, some food and supplies stuffed in the back.
“Girls, listen carefully. There’s a big emergency going on and we’re going to evacuate out of the neighborhood. There's a designated safe zone in the city; we're going to head over there.” Ashley's mother explained.
“Mrs. Benton, I want to go home!” Riley protested, “My mom is waiting!”
Ashley took Riley by the arm. "You can't go home yet. You'll be safe with my parents! Please!"
Mrs. Benton shook her head sadly. "Riley, please don't argue. We called your parents and they didn't answer. We can't waste time heading back to your house. Stick with us and we’ll try and find them at the safe zone, alright?” She said, opening the car door for the girls.
“Okay. Okay.” Riley reluctantly said, climbing into the backseat next to Ashley.
Ashley’s dad got into the driverseat.
Ashley sat looking out the car window at the dark streets. The suburb was quiet, a little scary. She felt an icy shiver race down her spine. A long line of traffic clogged the main road, some people ditching their vehicles and continuing on foot. Eventually the traffic thinned a little enough to drive easier, but it was still chaotic.
People jostled around each other, trying to stay together so none of them would be separated or attacked during the evacuation, even though there was nothing more they could do now.
Ashley looked back at Riley. Her eyes were closed, head leaning against the glass pane, asleep. A tear slid down Riley’s cheek.
“Riley?”
“Yeah, Ash?” Riley answered, wiping the tear away. Only her friends called her “Ash”.
“Stick with us. We’ll be okay.” Ashley answered, squeezing her friend's hand.
The two girls were starting to drift off to sleep when the car jolted, hitting a pile of cars .
“Girls; wake up. We need to get moving if we’re to make it out of here before sunrise." Mrs. Benton urged, her eyes darting around the vehicle.
“Why, what’s happening?” Ashley whispered in the darkness. She was starting to get scared now.
“There’s a roadblock up ahead; we’ll have to walk. ” Mr. Benton replied softly. He sounded as though he was scared. “Come on, girls. Let’s go.”
“But -” Ashley started.
Her father turned to her and picked her up; something he hadn't done in a long time. People were running now, yelling, shouting, pushing. All in all, it was chaos.
“Daddy! Put me down!" Ashley cried, clinging to her father's shirt. "Please let me go! I don't want to lose Mom!"
“Be a good little girl, Ashley.” her father cooed quietly into her ear. His voice cracked slightly “We have to stick together.”
Above the din of voices, a volley of gunshots rang out. It was hard to tell where the sound was coming from. Maybe it was nearby, maybe it was further away, but either way it was loud and close. They stopped to catch their breath.
“Stay behind us, girls! I know this place is unfamiliar. Just follow me.” Mrs. Benton told the two.
“Run!” Ashley heard her dad scream. She followed him, heart pounding. People bumped into her, pushed her, tried to step on her feet. Finally they reached the end of the street. She couldn't see anything around them, but then her dad stopped suddenly. Ashley bumped into him and stumbled backwards, losing her balance and falling onto the sidewalk. Pain shot through her body as she hit the pavement hard.
She heard Riley scream.
“Ashley! Run!” her dad called out.
Ashley struggled to sit up. She heard another gunshot, followed by cries of pain. Another bullet whizzed past her head.
“Ashley, RUN!” Her dad repeated.
Suddenly the screaming started, louder and closer. More gunfire rang out, followed by screams of terror.
She turned back to see he father fall, but never stopped running. She ran off the road, heading to the strip of woods by the highway. There was no other place to run.
Another flash of light illuminated the trees. Something large flew over her head and landed not too far in front of her. The air filled with the sounds of bullets being fired. Someone screamed.
Ashley curled into a ball, trying to hide. She squeezed her eyes shut. The sounds stopped. For a moment everything seemed silent. Then a man’s voice broke through the silence, his words echoing across the field.
“Alright, people! It’s over! Everybody, just calm down! You’re making too much noise!”
The voice was deep and authoritative. Ashley looked up and saw a soldier standing in front of her.
He was tall, almost six feet and wearing camouflage fatigues. Ashley stared in awe.
Then he spoke again, this time his voice softer.
“It’s gonna be ok. Hold still.” His hand went to his holster.
Ashley whimpered and curled into a ball.
When no shot happened, she looked again. It wasn't a gun; it was a temperature scanner. It was scanning her body.
"Hey, it's ok, kid. We're here to help." The soldier said, walking towards her cautiously. She stayed hunched over, afraid to move.
He bent down to face her, putting his hands up.
"Ok, you're safe, kid. You're safe. Nobody's gonna hurt you.”
“I want my mom and dad! Why are they shooting people?”
The soldier didn't answer, but pulled Ashley to him almost protectively.
She hugged him, burying her face into his shoulder. He wrapped one strong arm around her tightly.
“Let’s get you to the truck, ok?"
Ashley nodded, slowly getting up. The soldier held tight to her as he helped guide her down the road. When they approached his truck, another soldier looked at her warily.
“How do you know she’s not infected? We were told to elimin…” He started to say
“She's a little girl! I did a temperature scan; there's no sign of the early symptoms! Let’s get her to the quarantine zone in the city first!” The first soldier said. “We have to be careful of how we handle these kids. They’ve been through a lot.” He paused, staring at the child in his arms. “Are you ok?”
Ashley nodded weakly.
******
Ashley felt numb as the group of doctors looked at her. She was stripped down to her Hello Kitty underwear and training bra, hugging herself in the cold room. She felt violated; her clothes were gone, ripped off of her body and left behind. One doctor had to hold her as she vomited.
One of the scientists injected her with a syringe full of some kind of sedative. She could barely feel it anymore.
“Where’s my mommy? And daddy?”
“Don't worry, you're safe. We just have to make sure you’re not sick. ”
The scientist wiped sweat off of her forehead and checked her vitals once more before leaving the room.
After five minutes, she was given an injection that made her pass out instantly.
******
When she woke up, she was in a hospital gown. They put her in a bed, keeping her warm and covered with blankets. She had no memory of anything that happened while she was unconscious. All she knew was that she missed her mother and dad.
Two women with kind faces came in, holding a backpack.
“Here you go sweetie, we brought you some new things.” one of them smiled. “We’re aid workers. We're going to put you in a shelter for lost kids.”
*******
Ashley spent the next few days in the makeshift refugee shelter. Most of the others who had found themselves in the same predicament were in groups of based on age. Some of the younger children were terrified. Some of the older ones slept in groups. The facility was run as normal as you could. A school, if you could call it that, operated by giving kids workbooks and crafts. Eventually, the truth of the situation came out; there was a viral outbreak that caused a zombie invasion. Every person was to stay in the quarantine zone until further notice. The small area's population swelled, and the quarantine zone became a ghetto.
*****
Ashley aged out of being in the children's shelter when she was eighteen. After a few days of living in the streets, she found a group of people who were set up in a tenement, living together. They were mostly homeless kids whose parents died in the attacks or got caught in the crossfire, mixed in with a few nice adults. Ashley took one look at the people, and couldn't leave them. The others agreed and decided she could stay there till they could find a better place for her. At least until a bigger camp was set up and they could find homes for everyone else. They shared thier rations and looked after each other. The group was looked after by a woman named Kat, who acted as the unofficial mom; making sure everyone was home by curfew and telling the other members to stay safe.
*****
Rules within the we quarantine zone became more restricted; people couldn't enter or leave the quarantine zone without being tested even with their documents. Crime became harder and the punishments more severe. Whispers of rebellion began circulating, but Kat knew the only way out was to escape. The group planned carefully, and Ashley knew that her hope for survival was outside the city walls. As soon as she heard they were about to escape, she joined.
*****
Kat showed up at Ashley's door with a backpack, asking her to pack a bag so they could leave the city. She packed as quickly as possible. No matter what, Ashley had to survive; she'd lived through the early days of the outbreak, she would survive now. Once she was finished packing, she opened the window and climbed outside. It was raining heavily and the ground below the window was muddy. The group of people who were escaping with gathered, with Kat giving instructions.
“We’ll get to the wall the smugglers go through; if we're quick we should miss the guards. Everyone ready?”
They all nodded, looking determined and determined for the first time since Ashley met them.
Kat turned away and yelled to the group in general. “Everyone follow me; we've got work to do!”
They all started down alley to where the guard towers were located. Kat volunteered to watch the guard towers, while the others went to the smuggler’s hole. The youngest kids went first, followed by a few older adults. No one saw the guard hiding in the shadows.
“Get everyone out!” Kat yelled, firing her gun at the guard. Two of the guards fell, but the rest kept moving forward. Kat shot another one and then turned to the remaining guards. “Now!” She yelled again, jumping over the fallen bodies of her fellow guards.
“You’re fucking dead, bitch!” Another guard swung wildly at her.
“Kat!” Ashley screamed, hesitating to get through the hole.
“As the group rushed through the smuggler's hole, the sound of gunfire echoed through the narrow passageway. Suddenly, a single gunshot rang out, followed by a thud.
Ashley's heart pounded in her chest as she turned back to see Kat slumped against the wall, blood seeping from a wound on her chest. Shock and disbelief washed over the group as they realized their fearless leader had fallen.
With tears in her eyes, Ashley knelt beside Kat, who weakly raised a hand to her. "Keep... going," Kat whispered, her voice barely audible. Ashley squeezed Kat's hand, promising to carry on their mission.
As the group mourned the loss of Kat, they knew they had to honor her sacrifice by continuing their journey. With heavy hearts and renewed determination, they pressed forward, each step fueled by the sheer will to survive.
The world outside of the quarantine zone was unrecognizable. Buildings lay shattered everywhere. Cars littered the streets, cars that hadn’t been used in years; the smell of oil was thick in the air. The walkways were filled with debris. Ash walked slowly between the two children following her.
"We need to keep moving. It looks like most of the zombies came this way.” Her voice cracked. “We can't stay here.”
Ashley tried to act as the unofficial leader, keeping the group together as they traveled through dangerous territory.
There wasn’t much food or water to be found, but they ate whatever they could get their hands on. The lack of water was a concern, but it wasn't the only problem. Zombies roamed the streets, and once they got out into the country, they would become even worse than they already were in the city. Ashley hoped they could find a settlement. With Kat dead, she figured she could head out on her own, maybe find another group to travel with. The group stopped every night to sleep, staying together and keeping their heads low to avoid attracting attention. They never encountered any zombies, but they knew it was only a matter of time before they did. They kept walking.
They finally reached a large town, and the group was able to scavenge a truck. They loaded it high with supplies as best they could. Ash stayed with the group until they made it to a camp. There was a settlement nearby, but Ashley had heard of the Jackson settlement and knew that if she made it there, she could find a place to settle down permanently. It was getting late in the year though, the cold weather would be coming soon. If she could find someone willing to travel with her, she might make it. She didn't know a young man with a lot determination would cross her path.
