All was quiet in the early morning. A cool, gentle breeze flowed between the trees like all was calm. The peaceful silence was broken by loud foot steps crunching over the leaves on the forest floor. A man was weaving his way between a patch of dense trees, a small horde of the undead on his heels. He was growing tired and desperately searching for a way out of the mess he got into. Jason stumbled and bumped into a thick tree. It was a split second decision but he began to climb.
The zombies caught up mid climb to the panicked survivor. They reached up, grabbing at his legs and back pack. Jason yelled out of fear, his cries echoing off through the woods. More dead were stumbling their way towards his cries. He shrugged one of the straps of his back pack off his shoulder, letting the grabbing zombies pull it down. He managed to kick away the rest and free himself enough to climb higher into the tree. Luckily for Jason there was a branch big enough to sit on and rest.
Jason look down to the group of walkers at his feet. The horde was growing larger from all the noise he made getting to safety. He noticed his pack had ripped when it was torn from him. All the supplies he gathered in his last run were scattered at the feet of the dead.
"Well...shit.." He breathed out, groaning low. "Shit!" Jason yelled out louder, hitting the tree with his fist out of frustration.
It all felt hopeless for him at that point. Jason leaned into the trunk and wiped the sweat away from around his sky blue eyes, anxiously running his fingers through his greasy brown hair. He pulled his sleeves up on his dirtied black hoodie to check for any injuries. Then over his blue denim jeans and felt his sides and chest. Nothing hurt other than his sore muscles and lungs from all the sprinting. He then just sat there, thinking the situation over in his head, wondering how he'd get out of this mess. He has been in tight situations in the past and there had always been a way out. "Guess I'm waiting this one out." Jason commented to himself.
More time passed before the first sound of gun fire cut through the woods. The gunfire continued, more and more shots like a big fire fight was happening. Jason noticed the horde starting to lose interest in him and head towards the noise. He covered his mouth, trying to hold in a nervous / happy laugh. Jason watched as more and more of the zombies wandered away from around the tree. He could tell that whoever was firing off those guns met the horde just from the different screams.
A few moments passed and he found his opening. Jason quickly climbed down the trunk and looked over his supplies. Most were trampled and useless now. He managed to salvage a few flares he found and a bar of chocolate, both of which he shoved into his jeans pocket. The screaming and the last of the gun fire ceased by now. Jason was already turning the opposite way until he stopped himself. He struggled with his conscience for a few brief seconds then headed towards where he heard the guns. Someone could be alive. Jason couldn't live with himself if he left other survivors if he could have helped.
He made it through to the edge of the woods, seeing a military truck parked on the road. The ground was littered with corpses. Only the dead walked now. Jason crouched down, trying to stay low to hopefully avoid another incident like before. He almost didn't notice the kid walking around among the others. Jason almost wrote it off as another zombie. The kid didn't look like one of them though. He wasn't bloodied or walking differently. Jason studied him closer, only confirming for himself that he was right. That there was a child walking near those things. There were only about five zombies still standing and they were spread out. If he was quick he could get them all without too much trouble.
Jason pulled his knife from his holster, an old kitchen knife that had proven useful so far. He crept up to closest zombie and jabbed the knife straight into the skull. Jason yanked it out and quickly moved to the next and took it out quickly like the first. Now the zombies noticed him and were coming towards him. The first in the row he avoided as it lunged forward with its arms stretched out. Jason let it stumble as he dealt with the more immediate threat coming at him. He thrust the knife up through the front of the zombie's face. His knife got stuck as he tried to pull it out again. Jason had to let go and step back to avoid the other zombie lunging towards him.
Three down, two to go. He glanced over the corpses on the blood stained ground, searching for a weapon while keeping an eye on the threats in front of him. He spotted a hatchet on a raider's body nearby and walked quickly to it. Jason scooped it up and immediately attacked the nearest zombie, dispatching that threat. One left.. He got a bit eager and attacked a little too soon. The hatchet got stuck in the top of the head but the zombie was still going. Jason struggled to wiggle it out, having to kick the leg of it to get it to fall down and off the hatchet. This time he swung with more certainty and took care of the final one walking around them.
Jason slid the hatchet into the holster he had for his old knife and carefully walked up to the boy. He could tell he was alive and frightened. "Hey... it's alright kid.." He said, glancing around them just to make sure there were no more on the way. "Those things aren't going to hurt you now." Jason tried to sound calm through his somewhat heavy breaths.
