The Girl with the Blue Backpack

As she walked along the dissembled remains of a broken road in shades of bright green moss that filled the cracks of broken cement, she felt alone. There were abandoned cars and that were parallel, vertically and horizontally parked on the remains of a broken road. Most of the remains of what use to be a useable car were only the steel frames that had become rusted and disintegrated by the apocalypse. As she looked to her left and looked to her right there were veriest buildings, some that run all the way up to the sky. The windows of the buildings had been shattered and pieces of glass were scattered along the ground. Shops that were once functional had be run down by empty shelves and signs that were hanging by a thread. The city was empty except for the near distance growls of the undead lurking within the shades and around ever corner. As a survivor of this unpleasant world she always had a dagger firmly placed within her boot and her hand hovering over it every time she heard the scratching noises that gave you goose bumps and radiated through each cell of your body. Each time she saw the disfigured face of a once lively human being she felt more and more alone. Her father died in a car accident when she was six years old. Her mother was a gentle woman that had a firm belief in righteousness and morals. She was a strong woman, a confident woman, a brave woman that took risks and she tried to maintain these qualities every day. But she died only three months ago by a savage attack when they were cornered and overwhelmed by a heard of the undead as they were gathering supplies, she sacrificed herself so that she could live. That burden weighed heavily on her shoulders everyday, the regret that maybe she could have done something else and the burden of being alone without her mother. She didn’t have any brothers or sisters, only her blue backpack that carried her supplies. She looked to the sky and hoped that her mother was watching over her somewhere in the mist of clouds that shimmered and moved each time the sun tried to peer through. The sky was a warm orange mixed with shades of red. Since the apocalypse happened the sky has always resembled the same colours, they have never changed. Maybe it was sign that the world has ended. There was still smoke rising from buildings, coming from chimney tops and from abandoned buildings that were charcoal and filled with ash and soot.

‘Now I have no one’ she thought to herself. Her stomach made a distinct and hyperbolic rumble deep with her abdomen. She was hungry. She had a quick look in her lucky backpack to find only crumbs scattered in the pits of her back. But she had a bottle of water. She looked around to find a supermarket without a door and boards nailed to the outer linings of windows that said ‘DO NOT ENTER’. After everything she has seen in the last six months when all this chaos erupted nothing startled her anymore. She entered with bravery. The floor was cluttered with objects that were broken and dismantled. She trended lightly and quietly making sure she didn’t disrupt anything that could be hiding inside. Any sudden movement or noise can trigger the undead. The shelves were bare, someone had already raided this place and it was empty. In the fair distance there was a can of baked beans sitting neatly at the end of the shelf. She raced towards it in desperation trying to not make a sound. Her hand was outreached forward ready to grasp the tin with her whole palm as a disfigured hand covered in stains of dry blood grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward with all his force. She had forgotten how strong the undead can be when they take a hold of you. His bony hands had fingernails that were long and sharp with a point at the end. His mouth was opened wide with saliva that was dripping from his mouth soaking his shredded green t-shirt that was in hanging in shambles. His skin was pale and his milky white bald head was covered varicose veins that protruded in colours of deep purple. His eyes were a grey colour with a mixture of white and black. It was as if looking into a soulless human being.

As she wriggled and struggled to break free of his grip he never let go. His jaw was snapping, his teeth were clanging trying to get a bite of any part of her flesh. With every echo of the grind of his teeth as they smacked together, she moved further and further away. But he still had a hold of her wrist. In the end his strength was no match for a thirteen-year-old girl and he knocked her over and his body was lying on top of her never giving up his lunch. The wet saliva was dripping on her neck and the smell of rotten flesh was fulfilling the air between their faces. There were crackles echoing from his pharynx. She tried in desperation to grab that dagger from her boot but she was out of reach. She then tried to push him over, but his dead weight was overpowering her strength. Suddenly there was another growling sound that was faint in the distance as it drew closer it became louder and louder. She thought this was going to be the end, this is how I die. I am no match for two of them let alone one! Then a furry animal jumped on his back grabbed a hold of his green t-shirt and yanked as hard as it could slowly but reassuringly getting him off her. When he was nearly half way off her, within seconds she grabbed the dagger from her boot and firmly planted it right between his eyebrows. The crackles and wheezing that was coming from his obstructed windpipe had stopped and his arms flopped to the sides and he fell head first in her lap. She wiggled her way out and kicked him off with boots, sliding him across the floor as blood was pooling on the linoleum floor. Above the corpse was a black and white dog, an Alaskan malamute about knee high and was panting and wagging his tail eagerly at her.

“you saved me, thank you” she huffed.

He wagged his tail even harder and ran up to her and began to lick her face clean. She giggled, the first time she had laughed since her mother was alive. It felt good to laugh again. She wrapped her arms around him.

“you hungry boy?” she asked.

She grabbed the baked beans down from the shelf and got the can opener she had handy within her blue backpack and opened the can. She got out a spoon and began to eat and smeared some on the floor for the dog to eat. It seemed as though he hadn’t eaten in days because in a second glance it was all gone and the floor was pristine. She gave him a little more.

“well I better go before others come” she said scraping the last remains from the tin and getting up. She needed to find shelter for the night. So, she began her walk down the empty streets again. She felt semi satisfied with her meal although she was would kill for some hot mac and cheese. Within the cracks of the road grass had began to grow tall and long. Every couple second, she could hear rustling within the grass. She turned around and looked and nothing was there. She knew deep down that someone or something was following her. She grabbed out her dagger that had been wiped clean from the blood of the dead man in the supermarket. She held her dagger high ready to attack, her fingers were bright red from the hard grip she had. She kept walking and got off the road and down a alley way that trailed into a large paddock. In an attempt to lose whatever was following her. Still holding the dagger firmly in my hand. Then she heard the pitter patter of footsteps trailing behind her. She turned around with her dagger up to her face and looked around to only see an empty field filled with dead grass and trees that had lost all their leaves. She saw a flicker of a shape behind a tree. She couldn’t make out what it was but it quickly went behind the tree but instantly knew that it was spotted. Then slowly he came out from the tree, she recognized instantly it was the dog from the supermarket. He came leaping over to her, she gave him a cuddle. Hand in hand, the little girl and the black and white dog walked the post apocalyptic world together. When she was in danger, he kept her safe. When she found it hard to sleep, he snuggled into her beneath the blankets of her sleeping bag. When they gathered food he always helped. He always stayed by her side and never left. She was alone anymore, she was happy. Then all of a sudden, the sky became clearer and she could identify the shades of blue and the sun was shining brightly, it felt warm and reassuring that everything was going to be OK.