F**k Ballerinas
You did the best you could, that’s what you think as you run.
That doesn’t help though. She was so scared. She couldn’t shake the fear that caused her to freeze. You had pulled her. You had begged her.
You had seen it in the movies, so you even tried slapping her.
That was the last thing. Yeah, you slapped her before he leaned over and bit a chunk out of her neck.
And the blood. Oh my God, so much blood. Her scream wasn’t right. It was a gurgle. The bite so deep, that her voice flooded beneath the torrent of her own blood.
And then you started running away. And you understood her last words, despite the fact that she was drowning in her own blood.
“Please don’t leave me.”
You’ll learn to pretend you never heard those words. You’re sure of it. You don’t know what’s happening. You’re not thinking. You’re reacting, running.
You’re so far past panicking.
That’s the blessing. You recognise it and you thank Christ for it. You’ve become an animal. And just maybe, yeah, just maybe you’ll survive because of it.
They are everywhere. The sick ones. As you run past, they pivot on their feet.
You remember the music box from your childhood, a gift. The ballerina. Yeah, they are pivoting like ballerinas. You hated that music box, you were a tomboy.
Fuck ballerinas.
You manage to run faster, how? How?
Your heart is an implosion.
Your breath burns.
Faster still. You run faster still.
When his arm grabs you—You scream silently. There is horrible pain with such a scream. A spasming of your vocal cords, a charley horse, burning, burning-
A man has pulled you into his arms, against his chest. You feel his arm wind tight about you.
“Ssshhh. Quiet girl, quiet now, it’s okay—” His voice is a harsh wind coursing over gravel, a painful whisper. Your head against his chest you hear his heart pounding, pounding. He’s terrified~Just like you~
“Daryl, I think we can make it, we jus’ gotta bolt, fuck waitin’ for it to look better—”
“Alright. Yeah. What ’bout her?”
The man shakes the holy shit out of ya’—
“Can ya’ hear me Peaches?” He shakes you again. “Are you in there?! We gotta run, sunshine. You gotta run with us. You wanta’ live, don’t ya’?”
“I wanna live.”
“Good girl, yeah. You’re gonna live. We’re all gonna live, let’s fuckin’ go—”
