I can feel my stomach imploding as I reach for the water bottle.

Is there any food left?

Our stores are empty.

Our stomachs are empty.

My sister and I huddle for warmth in the small bunker.

When the zombies arrived, they took everything.

The food.

The people.

My family.

What are we supposed to do?

We’re only kids.

Are we going to be left here? To die of starvation?

Someone, please, help!

You tell me you cannot.

My sister, she’s only four.

She can’t die so young!

Please, stranger, help us! Help her!

You tell me she hasn’t lived life to her fullest, that she’ll die a peaceful death.

She hasn’t lived at all!

I made a promise.

You reassure me that she will slip away in her sleep, quietly and without struggle.

But I’m getting her out of here. Alive.

That’s why I haven’t eaten in the past week.

So she can.

But now that we’re out of food, what am I supposed to do?

I promised Mom…

Cheyenne will not die! Not today!

Please. Help the poor child!

You say you are sorry, but there’s nothing you can do. At least, nothing you feel compelled to do.

The… The zombies!

They’re here!

I can hear them pounding on the door.

The ground shakes with their stomps.

Cheyenne begins to cry. I soothe her the best I can before I attempt to barricade the door.

James isn’t back yet.

What are we supposed to do?

He might have been taken.

The shaking grows more intense and the pounding becomes deafening as I cover my ears.

Cheyenne’s sobs only get louder.

“Help!” I hear through the door. “Please, I’m not one of them!”

Who is it?

It’s you.

You, stranger.

The one who refused to help.

No, I will not save you.

You refused to help Cheyenne, so why should I save you?

Give me one good reason.

One good reason why I should help you.

Why I shouldn’t let them turn you.

One.

Good.

Reason.

You pound on the door. “I know a way out,” you say. “A way in which you’ve never seemed to conjure up.”

A… A way out?

A way to save her?

“Yes,” you assure me. “To save both of you. To save us all.”

What?

I slowly open the doors to let you crawl in on your hands and knees, coughing up blood.

I slam it behind you as Cheyenne dashes to my side.

What will save us?

Is there anything that will save us?

The pounding of their fists on the steel returns.

Why did they stop to let you in?

Are you one of them?

Have I been tricked?

“No, you haven’t been tricked,” you say. “I’m not one of them… well, not yet. I haven’t fully turned. But I wish to save you both, before I lose my last shred of sanity.”

How could you save us?

Now that you’re here, you will only turn!

You’ve put her in danger!

I scoop up Cheyenne up in my arms and sprint to the bedroom, shutting and bolting the door behind me.

I catch my breath as Cheyenne cowers in the corner.

What do you want?

Why would you do this to an innocent child?

You have doomed her!

“Because,” you explain, “they she has what I never did- a good heart. A good, pure heart. Filled with nothing but joy. And if I can’t have that, nobody can.”

I… I don’t think I fully understand.

“You see, ever since this… this zombie thing happened, everything I’ve ever loved has been taken away from me, all at once. I was only a child when it all happened. I had to grow up fast or I’d get killed.”

And we haven’t?

I gave up everything for her.

You get that?

Everything!

She’s all I have left.

James, Mom, Brandon.

Dad.

They’re all gone.

Because I chose Cheyenne.

I picked Cheyenne over anyone.

Because that’s what they wanted.

They wanted her to be safe.

And I’m sorry.

But I can’t choose your happiness and joy over my sister.

“What they wanted?” you say. “What about what you wanted?”

It never mattered.

She is always first.

“It always mattered, my dear friend.”

Dear friend?

YOU have doomed my sister to destruction!

To a fate worse than death!

“You see, she probably can’t even comprehend what is happening at the moment. You leave her, and she’ll never be the wiser!”

She’ll be dead if I leave her!

She’ll never be the wiser?

“Save yourself while you still can!” you shout. “That door isn’t going to hold for much longer.”

It won’t matter.

If she dies, and I live, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

And I have a few tricks up my sleeve to deal with those zombies.

Don’t count me short just yet.

The fists on the metal grow louder and louder until I can hear it splintering under their weight.

I can hear you moan and groan in agony as you begin to turn.

I could…

No.

I can’t.

I only have so much.

I couldn’t waste it on a stranger when my sister, my Cheyenne, may need it.

But…

I can hear you begin to scream as your flesh falls off your body and your muscles rip apart.

I… I can’t.

But I have to.

I open the door and drag you inside in your pain.

I pull out the last bottle of potion.

The one thing that can turn a zombie back to their pure form.

I hesitate as I see Cheyenne tremble against the wall.

What if she needs it someday?

What if…

Well, someday isn’t today.

Today, I choose someone else.

I choose me.

I dump the disgusting liquid down your gullet as you gasp for air.

Your screams quiet as your body slowly repairs itself.

You turn back to your human form, blinking rapidly as the last of your tears spill out.

Are… Are you alright?

“I think so,” you say. “The room is spinning. I don’t remember much of what just happened, but I’ll survive. I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

You can’t.

Well…

You could help me.

Protect her.

What is your name?

“Just call me Ace,” you say. “And you are?”

I…

I hesitate.

Can I really trust you?

I’m…

I’m…

“I’m Cheyenne!” she says as she bounces up to you.

“I… um… I’m guessing this is the child you’re talking about?” you ask as you point to her.

Yeah.

Yes.

She’s all that I’ve had in a while.

I’m, uh, Skylar.

I guess that’s important if we are to work together.

“True,” you say as you laugh. “But first things first. How are we gonna get out of here alive?”

Well, like I said.

I have a few tricks.

I will it to happen as I raise my hands.

It takes a few moments to heat up, but eventually the lightening is ricocheting off my fingers and onto the steel walls.

If I were you, I’d get away from there.

“Isn’t this… dangerous?” you ask cautiously. “Are you sure it’ll work?”

I’m fairly sure.

It just makes me a bit tired afterwards.

But I can manage.

I unlock the door to find the zombies pouring into the bunker by the dozens.

Go!

Get out!

Take the second exit! Down that hallway!

“But… But what about you?” you ask.

I’ll meet you there!

Take Cheyenne and get out! You may need to fight!

I throw you my machete.

“I… okay!” you say.

I zap the monsters and the lightning bounces between them as if they’re the dos in a Connect the Dots game.

Many are fried on the spot.

You take Cheyenne down the only exit and she cries, sobbing, “Skylar! Skylar! Don’t leave her!”

You only tell her that it is necessary.

Because you owe me a life debt.

And I’m spending It on my sister.

My lightning is effective, but not good enough.

The zombies overpower me. They flood in and I’m bitten.

I can feel the life draining from my limbs as I fall to the ground.

But all I care about is Cheyenne.

She got out.

She will live to see another day.

Even if I don’t.

I scream as the pain shoots up my spine.

My skin begins to fall and my bones begin to crack.

There’s no more hope for me.

I can feel my brain going numb.

Soon, it won’t be there at all.

I shriek.

Something grabs my arm.

A… a human boy?

He jerks me away from the other zombies and many more humans fight them off.

He pours liquid down my throat, much like I did to you.

The pain subsides and so do the zombies.

Did he just save my life?

He pulls me in the direction you went, another boy on his tail.

I can barely stand, let alone run.

The lightning drains me more than I let on.

He finally just picks me up and runs after you.

I see you and Riley at the exit.

I smile, and laugh.

She’s okay.

She’s okay.

He puts me down and I begin to run to her.

I can see your smile, and hers.

Until the zombies ambush you.

You fall to the zombies once again.
This time, my sister is at your side.
And she is bit, too.
NO!
No, please!
Cheyenne!
CHEYENNE!
I run faster to reach her.
But it’s too late.
Why did I save you?
“Please!” I shout to the boy who saved me. “Save her!”
“I… I can’t,” he says. “That was all I had.”
NO!
CHEYENNE!
I fall to the ground in uncontrollable sobs.
Please. Please, let this be a dream.
Let me take her place.
Let me die instead.
No.
NO.
See, there’s a reason I don’t make choices for me.
People get hurt.
It’s part of my curse.
The lightning is the good part.
Losing everyone and everything when I make a selfish choice is what follows.
I started this apocalypse.
And I lost Cheyenne, my baby sister, because of it.
My vision goes red with rage as I pull my second machete and chop off the zombie’s head.
I hear Cheyenne’s tear-jerking screams and howls.
And I know what I must do.
I easily slice down on your neck, knowing that if I don’t, you will kill me.
But Cheyenne…
I… I can’t do it.
I am physically incapable of killing her.
I sullenly pass the machete to my rescuer and close my eyes.
A sickening schlop, and I can’t hear her shrieks anymore.
I break down into sobs.
My savior catches me and pulls me to him as I fall to my knees.
I cry and cry into his chest.
She’s gone.
She’s really gone.
And I did everything.
I looked after her for three years.
Since she was a little baby.
And I couldn’t save her.
We hid time and time again. Fought for our lives.
But it wasn’t enough.
As cruel as fate is, I never expected it to be this bad.
This terrible.
It took everything from me.
My mom.
My brothers.
My dad.
And now my little sister.
Everyone.
And everything.
“But you have that awesome lightning power!” you may say.
I will give that up in a heartbeat.
If it means none of this ever happened.
So next time you think you have it hard, remember this.
This story.
This is hard.
Your life, I would take it. In the blink of an eye.
If it meant I have everything that you have.
You have people you love you.
People that you love.
You aren’t in a freaking apocalypse.
The only thing you’ve ever seen close to this is World War Z.
Please.
This story only started with starvation.
It ended in tragedy.
Be thankful for what you’ve got.
Because someone like me can only dream of having it.
-Skylar