Page 28 (1/2)

Twisting and turning, racing along corridors, tears strea down my face, I pant and stumble, but never fall or falter Never look back either, afraid of what I ht see, zombies or Dad, one as bad as the other

I can’t believe I’ this I was so close to freedom I should have escaped with the others, dealt with Dad outside, fought ht when my life wasn’t on the line

But I couldn’t For all these years I’ve said nothing when he hit Mum, when he hit me, when he demonized anyone asn’t white I never stood up to him I put on an act, tried to pretend it didn’t matter And not just because I was afraid of him Because I loved him too He was my dad I didn’t want to admit that he was truly evil, irredeemably warped

But he turned me into a killer He ive that I can’t lie to myself, dismiss it as an isolated incident, tell e Tyler and I weren’t close, he wasn’t a friend, but he helped us get as far as we did We ht not have found our way out without him He didn’t deserve to be killed because of the color of his skin Nor the Indian boy, sacrificed by a man who cares for nobody except his own

I re that Mr Burke said a while back There are lots of black-hearted, mean-spirited bastards in the world It’s important that we hold theht be the most black-hearted and mean-spirited of the lot, so hold yourself the ing neutral allfar worse than I ever feared I’d becoet out of this alive, I’ll neverTyler back - that will hauntcan ever make up for it - but from this point on I’ll do whatever I can to stand up to Dad and anyone like him I swear on the blood I’ve shed, on the life I’ve destroyed

I coht, but there are zo up the corridor towards ive chase

I’ers out ahead of , one arm bitten off at the elbow A zombie follows, a boy my size, his clothes als and rab for er bones rake my arm and catch on the exposed flesh ofwith his teeth but I pull it back in time Kick him hard in the head Race on

I stare at the scratch as I run, terror h to turn a human into a zombie Maybe it’s har, a transfer of saliva or blood But I wouldn’t bet on it I think it’s all over for me In another ive a shiver and a grunt, and never think clearly again

I coet to the s at the front and jump to safety I have to believe it’s not too late If I can get out of the school, maybe I can be helped, even if the scratch is infectious I’ it isn’t, but if it is, maybe someone can chop offIt doesn’tto some kind of hope than abandon it entirely

But I’m not halfway up the steps when even the thinnest sliver of hope is ripped away from me forever

"Run, run as fast as you can," soles ahead of me