Chapter Text
“Shit…” Mike muttered as he backed further away from the door. He quickly put Fleur in a swaddle, so she was strapped safely to his torso, before uncovering his sword.
A swarm of infected had been attracted to the sound of Fleur’s cries. She was only a year old and no matter what Mike tried, she would still sometimes cry for a multitude of reasons. Ever since his boyfriend, Danny, had turned into a zombie, Mike had become absent minded and less alert. Those two things combined led to situations like the one they were in right now.
Mike anxiously looked at the door. There was no way it was going to hold the infected back for much longer. He had to find a way out of this room before the inevitable would happen.
Looking around, the gravity of the situation really set in. The only way out was through the locked window. Only problem was that they were on the second floor, so jumping would injure both Mike and Fleur.
Fighting was off the table as well. There were far too many infected at the door to kill with just a sword. Even if he would hypothetically manage to kill every single infected at the door, the risk of getting bitten or scratched was too big. They were not about to risk losing their daughter as well. Fleur was their last token of hope in these trying times.
Panic rose in Mike’s chest, gripping at his throat and clouding his judgement momentarily. They were trapped. Was this the end for them? Getting cornered and then torn apart by a horde of hungry zombies. What a terrible fate…
The door creaked threateningly as another infected threw itself against it. Any moment now the hinges would give out and the only barrier separating those monsters from Mike and his daughter would be gone.
Mike shook their head to silence the thoughts. No, he was not going down that easily. There had to be a way out of this mess somehow. Maybe they could find a way out of the window that was safer than jumping.
Still hyperventilating with panic, the eighteen-year-old ran to the window. They stuck their head outside, looking up and down for any ways to escape. Maybe he could reach the gutter with his cane and pull himself up onto the roof?
There was no time to think anything through. As soon as Mike put his sword back into the other part of his cane, the door burst to pieces and zombies came spilling into the room. It was now or never.
Mike climbed up on the window sill, pushing down their fear of heights to their best capabilities as they hooked their cane onto the roof gutter. Just as he was about to jump and pull himself up, a zombie grabbed his leg.
A guttural scream came from Mike’s mouth as he forgot to realise that he had no real legs to be bitten into. Just prosthetics. They pressed their lips together and watched as the infected chewed on the metal hook, hoping to satisfy its insatiable hunger.
“Oh, right.” The young man muttered, kicking the monster in its ugly face. Its jaw came off, forcing it to let go of the prosthetic leg. Mike swung themself out the window, hanging on to their cane like a scared monkey on a branch. He tried to pull himself up, but simply did not have the core strength to do so.
Mike winced with a mix of annoyance and fear. “We’re so dead…” They muttered, looking down at the toddler strapped to their torso.
Fleur had stopped crying by now, staring at her father with those adorable brown eyes of hers. She had no idea of how horrifying the situation she was in really was. Once she locked eyes with Mike, Fleur giggled, exposing her one little tooth. Mike smiled back and kissed their daughter’s head gently.
That simple smile filled the boy with a newfound hope. He had to find a way out of there. If not for himself, then for his beloved daughter.
Looking around again, Mike quickly assessed the situation. They were hanging on their cane, hooked to the gutter of the roof. There was no way up, because they weren’t strong enough to pull themself up. So the only way to go would be down. He couldn’t jump. The fall would surely cause significant injury to the both of them. Meaning he had to find a way to climb down somehow.
The drain pipe wasn’t all too far away. They could probably reach it with some effort. If they could just…
It took some time before Mike was able to firmly plant his feet against the wall. He had decided to try and hop a little closer to the drain pipe before trying to reach it. That would be the safest, most efficient way to get down from the roof injury free.
Once their feet were firmly pressed up against the wall, Mike jumped up and to the right. His cane lifted off the gutter for a moment, before hooking back on a few centimetres to the right. The shock from the not-so-graceful landing made Mike very aware of his tired, aching arm muscles. He was not going to be able to hang there much longer. Better hurry.
After taking a few deep breaths and mentally pushing away the pain, Mike hopped to the right a few more times. Finally they were able to reach the drain pipe. With trembling arms they grabbed on to the rusty, old pipe.
He unhooked his cane from the gutter and quickly slid down the pipe, praying that it wouldn’t break. Not that he was necessarily a heavy set person, but the pipe was made of aluminium and had a concerning amount of rust covering its seams. The fact that the pipe creaked and wobbled as Mike slid down was also pretty concerning.
Fortunately Mike and his daughter managed to get down to the ground unharmed. The young man sighed, leaning heavily on his cane for a moment to catch his breath before sprinting towards the nearest car. They were not out of danger just yet.
The place was crawling with infected. Apparently, while Mike and Fleur were asleep, a horde of zombies had stumbled into the town. A few were attracted to Fleur’s cries earlier, which is what got the two into this whole situation.
Mike slammed the car door shut and sat back with a sigh, closing their eyes. Slowly they calmed down a little. Until the realisation hit that he had no idea how to hotwire, let alone drive, a car.
“Oh, fuck me in the ass- Klote auto!” The teen swore in half English, half Dutch. They slammed the steering wheel with their hands, causing Fleur to giggle again.
“Y’done raging, kid?” A masculine voice came from the backseat. “You really shouldn’t say those words in front of children.”
Mike could swear he felt his heart stop for a moment. Before they could even properly process what was going on, they had already pulled their sword out and pointed it at the man in the backseat. “Who are you? Identify yourself!”
The man in the backseat gave Mike an annoyed look. He had brown hair, some stubble on his chin and he had the most beautiful emerald green eyes. He appeared to be in his late thirties.
Scoffing, the man pushed the weapon away from his throat, adjusting the dirty, green bandana around his neck. “I should be askin’ you the same thing, kiddo.”
Mike scowled and pushed his sword against the man’s throat again, nonverbally urging him to answer the question.
“Toby. The name’s Toby.” The man finally answered. He sighed in relief when Mike put his sword away. “And your name is?”
“Michael. Call me Mike.” The teen answered. “My daughter is named Fleur. Touch her and you’re dead. Understood?” Toby decided he wasn’t going to argue, so he just nodded his head in silent understanding.
“Are you looking for a safe place to stay? I can take you to our camp.” The man said calmly. “Get in the passenger's seat and let me drive. We have food, supplies, safety and community.”
Mike remained silent, but did crawl into the passenger’s seat. They didn’t really have much of a choice in the matter either way. They had no food, water or supplies anymore. Mike had been starving for days, barely able to feed Fleur as is. He didn’t trust Toby, but that man was his only hope.