“We have to jump it,” I said as I threw my axe across the gap. I was already running a few feet back to do a run-up when I heard it scrape against the roof, waiting for me to meet it there. The opposite building was slightly lower and the roof was flat, giving decent space to land. All I had to do was make the distance.

My heart pounded in my chest as I sped towards the edge. I knew if I didn’t take the leap on my first attempt, I would be frozen by fear and the zombies would surely kill me. Ash held her unbroken arm over her eyes as I ran past her, too afraid to watch in case I fell to my death.

Just before I reached the edge, I launched myself off the side of the building, my arms outstretched at my sides. Even though it was only a split-second, I felt like I was airborne for hours, hovering in the uncertainty of my own survival.

I tumbled onto the concrete surface, rolling to a stop and making sure all my bones were intact and the folder was still firmly in my bag. The next thing I knew, Richard was in the air, heading straight for me. I rolled out of the way just as he made impact with the roof, falling onto his side in relief.

I looked to Lea, who was holding her machete in fighting position while she told Ash to jump. Ash was hesitating, peering nervously over the gap while Lea prepared to take on the first of at least thirty zombies that were closing in on them.


“Ash!” I called. “Jump! You’ll make it!”

She nodded at me, but even from a distance I could see the unwillingness in her eyes. Lea glanced at her, having the same realization I’d had: Ash wasn’t going to jump.

“Shit!” Lea said before turning to us and waving us out of the way. Richard and I backed away as Lea swung her machete and baseball bat over the gap. They landed with a clang, the bat rolling to a stop at my feet.

I watched Lea as she grabbed Ash’s arm and pulled her back, holding her hand tight. The zombies were so close that they had less room to run – they would have to make up for it in the strength of their take-off. Lea started running, pulling Ash along with her. At first I panicked, thinking Ash was going to stop short and let Lea fall, but in the last moments she found her courage. They ran to the edge and leapt into the air, still holding each other’s hands as they flew.

Ash was the first to land, making it safely even though it visibly caused more pain in her arm. Lea wasn’t as lucky. Her foot slipped on the fringe upon landing. I watched in horror as she disappeared down the side of the building, only her fingers clutching to the roof.

Richard and I ran to her, lying on our stomachs as we grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up, dragging her onto the roof and as far away from the edge as we could.

“Thanks,” Lea said breathlessly as we lay there, watching the zombies falling off the opposite building, blinded by their lust for us.

Not waiting to catch our breath, we climbed as fast as we could down the fire escape. It rattled and squeaked under our hurried pace, but our time was far too valuable to take it slow. We didn’t know how long our rescuers could wait for us, so we had no time to spare. The rest of our lives depended on us getting across just two more blocks.

I leapt off the ladder, thankful to be back on the ground, and stood flat against the brick of the building, waiting for the others to follow. With a racing heart, I peered around the corner into the street, surveying the area for zombies. In the distance to my left, the horde was still crowded around Eleanor, greedily fighting over her flesh. Immediately to my right was the road that led to Circular Quay.

I turned back to Lea, Ash and Richard, and quietly pointed in the direction we needed to go. They nodded, and at my signal, we sprung into action. We sprinted around the corner and down the street towards the water, only to see yet another obstacle in our way.

I let out a frustrated groan. A twelve car pile up spanned the entire width of the street, blocking our way to the wharf. Zombies roamed in between the cars like mice in a maze. One by one, they caught our scent and started scrambling over the cars to get to us.

“There!” Lea said as she pointed to a narrow side street just ahead of us.

With no way forward and only a horde with a taste for blood behind us, it was our only option. We ran for it, devastated to discover it was a dead end.

“No, no, no!” Ash wailed as we spun around to see the zombies cornering us.

I was not giving up. I wasn’t ready to die, not when we were so close to freedom. I kept running, even though the others told me there was no way out. I reached the end of the alley, looking around for any way through. A slither of light was shining into the alley, and I followed it with a hopeful heart.

At the very end, between two buildings, was a very narrow gap. I inspected it, my eyes lighting up when I caught a glimpse of the sparkling water on the other side of it. It would be a tight squeeze, but we could slide through it. That thin opening held our only ray of light.

“Over here!” I called, not taking my eyes off the harbour, letting the sight of it lift my spirits. Within seconds, Lea, Richard and Ash were squeezing in between the two walls, side-stepping their way through the gap. I slid in behind them, carefully avoiding brushing up against Ash’s injured arm.

The last thing I saw before I was face to face with brick was five zombies running down the alley towards me. “Hurry!” I urged, knowing we were moving much too slow, the zombies could be squishing through the gap within seconds.

We scrambled along, scratching our skin and snagging our clothes against the rough bricks as we pushed ourselves through. An ear-piercing screech made me jump in fright, and I turned to see a zombie staring at me from the alleyway. The way it looked at me, with eyes of pure evil, sent terror running down my spine. I stared back at it as it tilted its head to the side, watching me curiously, taunting me. It let out another screech before leaping into the gap, the skin of its arms peeling away as it grazed against the wall.

Panic washed over me. I struggled to breathe, the tightness of the space constricting my chest, magnifying my anxiety to extreme levels.

Lea took one final step before making it out, with Richard only two steps behind her.

“Please hurry!” I begged, pressing my palms against the wall to help push me faster.

I was right behind Ash, terrified that the zombie was gaining on us. She whimpered when I accidentally knocked her elbow, but I was too focused on those menacing eyes to care. If Ash didn’t move faster, I would die.

I looked back at the zombie, who had lost an arm in its frenzied attempt to reach me. Another one had squeezed into the gap behind it, and I could see countless more wild eyes watching from the alley, all pushing to be the next in line to get through.

Just then, Richard stepped out onto the next street. He urged us to hurry as Lea slid her arm in to help. Ash took her hand and screamed in pain as Lea pulled her, knocking her arm against the wall. In just one pull, Ash was out, and Lea reached back in for me.

I grabbed her hand, holding onto her wrist, but the zombie was too close. It reached for me, digging its fingers into my arm, its fingernails snapping backwards as they dragged down my skin. I swung my arm up, elbowing it in the chin and knocking it backwards long enough for me to lift my axe. It was awkward to move in such a tight spot, but I managed to hit the zombie with the butt of the axe a few times, crushing its jaw in so it couldn’t bite into me.

Other zombies were hot on its tail, and with Lea pulling me, I hurriedly took one last side-step and fell out of the gap and into the street. I watched from the ground as the zombie pushed itself forward, its freshly exposed bones grinding against the walls.

It became stuck at the edge and leaned its head out, staring down at me and trying to open and close its disfigured jaw. I slid out of the way and scrambled to my feet, leaving it there to block the others from getting through.

We turned and ran as fast as we could towards the wharf.

Three large barges had docked in the bay, two at the wharf and one alongside the walkway – that was the one closest to us. Each barge had a crew of people in biohazard suits, testing survivors. A crowd of survivors like us were on the barge, lining up as they waited to be tested.

Smaller rescue boats were speeding back and forth from each barge and out of the harbour, I assumed transporting uninfected survivors from the make-shift floating quarantine to the ship. My heart sank to see how little survivors there were, and I hoped many more had already left for the ship. Trying to distract myself from my exhaustion while I ran, I searched for my friends in the sea of people, but to no avail.

Heavily armed forces surrounded the entire area. Having rolled out rows of barbed wire to create a path to each barge, at least one hundred military officers were on guard, holding shields to protect them from the hordes of zombies getting tangled in the wire. Once stuck in the barbed teeth, soldiers used one hand to hold their shield up while the other stabbed the zombie in the head. Other zombies were being shot by snipers who had been strategically placed on the top of the barges. It was clear that, even in such a short time, a lot of work and planning had gone into our rescue operation.

A soldier guarding the barge entrance pointed at us and waved to one of the snipers, who then turned his gun towards us. I held my hands up defensively as I ran, trying to show him we were innocent, that we weren’t infected, but he held his position.

He started firing and I screamed as I heard the bullets flying by my head. But each one missed. I glanced behind me to see three zombies lying on the ground, bullet wounds in their foreheads. The sniper was shooting at them to protect me.

Another bullet sped by, followed by a scream from behind that made me flinch, and I turned to see Richard being taken down by a zombie. The sniper took another shot, killing the zombie, but it was too late.

Richard was on the ground, bleeding and screaming as two more zombies launched themselves on him. His cries grew louder, but mercifully the sniper ended his pain. Lea, Ash and I ran side by side, speaking encouraging words to each other to keep us going, trying not to feel the loss.

The hordes were growing fast, too fast for the forces to overcome. The on-land soldiers began retreating onto the barge and the rumble of its engine rang into the air. Some waved at us to keep running to them as others held their arms out to catch us, waiting for us.

Zombies that had escaped the wire barrier came for us, and I knew there were too many for one sniper alone to take out. I braced myself, swinging my axe and hacking at zombie after zombie as I ran. Lea held her machete high, chopping and slicing at anything that got too close. And even though Ash’s arm must have been causing her great pain, she seemed to have moved past it – she was stabbing zombies with a kitchen knife she held in her good hand.

The barge started inching away, preparing to launch before the zombies got too close.

We were less than thirty seconds away from setting foot on the barge, but the zombies were closing in.

Desperate tears welled in my eyes as I fought through the zombies.

Knowing I was close to freedom but even closer to death tormented me, but the sight of our rescuers and the promise of safety spurred me on.

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Thanks for reading! :D

Do you think Eva will make it to the ship, or will it leave without her?