After They Came (Short Story)

She fell. Shortly after she did he heard her scream, long and blood curdling. She was gone. His legs pumped harder, every muscle burning intensely, tears blurred his vision, their moans invading and pounding on his ears. He'd only met her a few days ago, but he swore he would morn her. His heavy pack jingled loudly as blocks of an abandoned city streaked by, each darkened and empty window seeming like a mouth agape, waiting for someone to tell its grizzly tale to. As he ran by his loud footsteps attracted shadows to the shattered panes, each seeking living flesh. He kept running, his destination near. They were slow, but violent, weak, except in groups. Boney fingers would rip any living body apart without mercy. He was getting tired, but his encampment was close and he didn't want to wait. The moans died away and were replaced by a placid silence. Blocks passed without incident and the gravity of losing her was starting to sink in. Hot tears flowed down his cheeks, reminding him he could feel, even in a world like this one. Since the outbreak he's lost so much and humanity is now just a shell of what it used to be. The dead came back and started eating the living. Zombies. No sound came from anywhere, quiet as the grave. It was overbearing. Something was wrong. He should have heard his settlement by now. Then, like the cry of a raven in the dead of night, a scream tore through the air. He was running again. He reached the front door of the warehouse that he and the other people he had found were living in and it was caved in, bent and ripped off the hinges. A cold calm settled over him as he stepped through and bore witness to the chaos inside. They had gotten in. His haven had fallen to the dead. Red sprays of blood colored the walls and floors, viscera and gore decorated almost everything. The shock was so much that as he watched the last of the survivors fight he didn't feel a dead hand grab him in an iron vice grip. Didn't notice the set of rotted teeth sink into his flesh. The last thing he truly felt was warm washes of his own blood cascade down his body. Right before the world went dark.