Blake was simply listening to her, happy that she had at least stopped acting strange.
"You have to run Blake… run…"
"Huh? Mom, what do you mean?" Blake muttered. At this point he was starting to get confused, was something wrong; he didn't know.
She didn't even call him "Timmy" as she usually do, instead called him Blake.
Sarah kept on staring at the ground, as if there was something important on it.
Her long hair fell and covered the side of her head, so Blake couldn't clearly see her face to know the expression she was making.
All he knew was that she was breathing very heavily for some reason and her skin was also pale.
"Just leave me Blake… and run." She mumbled again.
"No, I can't just leave you here. We'll get out of this—" Blake's words were cut short when his mother suddenly turned her head towards him.
He gasped in shock at her appearance and subconsciously moved back a little, however, he calmed down when he saw that she only stared at him.
Her eyes were sunken, the white part of her eyes seemed to be non-existent as it was completely covered with small blood red lines.
Some parts of her skin had a pale ashen colour, and right in front of his eyes, Blake could see the pale ashen shade spreading to the rest of her body; slowly, but surely.
Just by looking at her, he could already tell what was going on, and it brought more tears to his eyes.
From her pale ashen skin to her red eyes, it was obvious that she had already been infected and was slowly turning into a zombie.
"M-mom…" Finding no words to say, all he could let out was a mutter with cracked voice.
Sarah's voice croaked as she tried to bring out a few words. "I-I'm sorry…"
"I don't think I need to explain to you what's happening to me…" She mumbled, slowly stretching her hand to touch the side of Blake's face.
She caressed it softly while staring into his eyes with a sad and painful expression.
"Just leave me here, g-go… and don't die… the world might have changed, b-but…" Her voice croaked once more as one of her hands slid down to grip his hand, while the other kept caressing his cheek.
Her hands were very cold and even from her touch, Blake could feel the coldness, but still, at that moment, it felt like the warmest thing he had ever felt.
"Please… d-don't die." She mumbled with tears streaming down her face. "P-promise me… that…"
Seeing the expression on her face, even Blake didn't know when tears also started pooling in his eyes.
Watching his mother like this broke his heart. He could feel a tightening pain in his chest and it felt like it was becoming harder to breathe.
Despite knowing that she was right, he just couldn't bring his legs to move and leave her alone.
It felt like they were made of steel, not just his legs, but even his whole body.
He couldn't bring himself to abandon his mother…
"N-no… I—"
His words were cut short by the loud growl that reverberated some distance away from them.
Hearing that growl, nothing needed to be said between them as they both immediately understood what was coming.
"You have to leave me here…" His mother mumbled with her head facing downward.
Meanwhile, Blake remained in the same position with his face frozen and tears sliding down his cheeks.
Just then, a huge zombie with pale ashen skin and a bony structure appeared at the other end of the alley.
Its eyes were sunken and its long slender arms were dangling at its side. Its eyes gleamed weirdly and it let out a deep growl when its saw the two people in the alley.
With its two slender and bony legs, its slowly strutted towards the duo with drool dropping from its mouth.
"Go!" His mother suddenly shouted, her voice more croaked and sounding more hoarse.
Seeing the expression on his mother's face, and the slender zombie that was slowly strutting towards them, Blake slowly stood up, taking one last look at his mother with tears in his eyes and started running towards the other side of the alley.
A sad smile appeared on Sarah's face as she stared at the zombie that was already closing in on her.
She could feel the zombie infection spreading throughout her body and could also feel her consciousness slipping with every passing second.
However, she stood despite her feet quaking with every step, and stared at the approaching zombie.
"Let me protect… you one last time… as a mother should." She mumbled as the ashen colour finally covered all part of her body.
Just before he left the alley, Blake heard the last words his mother said and more tears streamed down his face.
His sight turned misty and his mind was overwhelmed with so much guilt and pain that he felt like he would burst.
Each step he took felt heavy, and it was as if he would come crashing on the ground anytime, but still he kept running… remembering his mother's last wish for him… to live, and not die.
The zombies on the road had dispersed and scattered everywhere, so they weren't as concentrated as before.
But there were still zombies loitering the street, some of them started chasing after him, but due to their slow speed, they weren't able to catch him.
*
Sarah's sunk in and became hollow, but with the last bit of reason she had, she swore to take down that beast… no matter what.
With a loud growl, she immediately rushed towards the beast, with her hands outstretched.
However, just as she got close to the zombie, it immediately swung one of its slender bony arms towards her.
The arm hit sarah at the side of her body, sending her crashing into the wall at the side.
The wall cracked due to the force at which she slammed into it and blood dripped down her nose and head.
The bony zombie ignored her and only kept running forward, it was more focused on eating Blake than another zombie.
But just as it was about to take another step, it suddenly someone grip one of its legs tightly.
The hold was so strong that the moment it tried to free itself, It tripped and fell to the ground, with its bony structure crashing into the ground with full force.
Feeling something rapidly digging into its flesh—or rather, bones, it slowly turned its head around and its eyes met with that of the same zombie it sent crashing earlier.
***
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