I Hold On

Ariel watched as her sister closed the doors to the barn, the only light inside filtering in from the windows above. She stopped kicking at the empty fruit cans on the floor by now and took a seat back on her bale of hay, sighing as she looked around. The barn was darker now, taking on a more eerie look. Her left hand hesitantly went to the slightly dulled machete at her side and she ran her index finger over the hilt then trailed it up to the back end of the blade. The cool steel felt almost relaxing against her heated flesh.
The young brunette wasn't sure how long she sat there like that, turning the machete over and over again, examining it as if looking to find something that would tell her how she could survive this thing. It seemed like just yesterday she and her mother and father were heading to Georgia to visit Ellie for a weekend at college. The car ride had been long and seemingly endless. The roads had been pretty clear that day. The sky had been cloudless and blue. The heat was uncomfortable but had been bearable since the air conditioner in the car had been blasting.
Ariel could remember her father sitting in the passengers side tapping at the window while her mother drove, both of them singing some old country song that was way before her time. She could clearly remember them taking a turn on the next exit, her feet tapping at the floor impatiently, trying to tune out her parents off tune karaoke. All she had wanted in that moment was to be home alone. Sure she loved her sister dearly but the constant nagging and prodding of her mother and father to get into a good college just like Ellie had been in irked her. At that time she hadn't even wanted to go to college. Hell, she wasn't even sure what she wanted to do with her life then. But now looking back she wished she had at least tried to make her parents proud before the end hit. Maybe then she wouldn't feel so worthless like she did now.
A sudden groaning just outside the barn doors had brought Ariel back to reality. Her eyes went a bit wide and she gripped her weapon tight. She had been so sure the barn she was in was safe. Perhaps whatever was outside had followed her and Ellie all the way there but she didn't know for sure. Looking around she didn't see much of a way out. She hoped by staying quiet the thing would just go away or if she was lucky there was only one outside and if it did manage to make its way in she could take it out. Now Ariel wasn't a fighter like her sister but she'd fight if she had to.
Quietly the nineteen year old stood up, noting how whatever was outside dragged its way past the closed doors of the barn. She could hear its low moan and the shuffle of its feet along the dirt outside. Carefully Ariel stepped around the bale of hay she had been sitting on, hoping to get as far away from the barn doors as possible before the zombie caught her scent or heard her. That's when she let out a low yelp, her right food stepping on one of the empty fruit cans, her ankle twisting just right that she swore she heard it snap. Her body hit the wooden floor of the barn in a heartbeat after losing her balance and the machete she had once been holding slid across the floor just out of her reach.
No sooner did the young Lavelle girl fall did a mess of groans and clawing at the old barn doors occur. So much for it just being one of those ugly bastards, she thought. Covering her mouth she hoped to keep from whining in pain as her ankle throbbed and she stretched out as far as she could to reach her weapon. The doors to the barn rattled and creaked, hungry growls and hissing threatening her from the other side. Slowly and painfully Ariel got up, just in time for the doors to burst open, a good five or six flesh eaters stumbling in afterwards. Grabbing the machete and getting to her feet, the brunette whimpered, struggling to get to the back of the barn where she had seen a latter that lead up to the hay loft.
Ariel knew for a fact she couldn't take them all on, especially in the condition she was in now. Step by step and inch by inch she walked, praying for some kind of miracle. The walkers continued after her, arms outstretched and teeth chomping at the air, all of them begging for the flesh of that heat stricken and water deprived woman. They were getting dangerously close to her as she fought to keep walking and stay upright. Sweat poured down her flushed face, her heart beating so loud it echoed in her head, her ankle throbbed and pain shot up her leg making her want to cry and the adrenaline was the only thing forcing her on. Just as one of the rotting hands with black finger nails and missing skin grabbed a hold of the shirt on her back she let out a petrified scream, immediately swinging her machete back, nailing the carnivorous thing right in the forehead, its skull splitting and brain tissue flying backward and forward.
The blade was logged in its skull and without a second thought, Ariel just left it there, moving quick and heading up the latter to the loft for safety seeing as the thing was dead. Its companions attempted to follow after her, some tripping over the one that laid dead on the floor, the machete still stuck in what was left of its brain cavity. Once up in the loft Ariel whined and whimpered, looking down for a brief moment only to see that the damned things were still trying to get at her but none of them smart enough to know how to climb a latter. She was panicking and out of breath and she held her ankle tightly in hopes in keeping it straight would stop the pain. Her mind went to thinking about Ellie, praying she hadn't run into the same fate that she was facing now. But if her sister came back to the barn then Ellie would be in just as much trouble as Ariel was in now wouldn't she? One hand gripping her ankle and one hand gripping her head, the brunette tried to calm down and tune out the groans. Hot tears rolled down her face and she got to thinking at this point she'd of much rather had her parents awful singing. In fact she actually missed it.

Notes

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