A Pic is Worth A Thousand Words - Freewriters Challenge

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The challenge by @freewritehouse is to use this picture for inspiration and either tell about how it makes you feel or write a story about it. I am choosing to write a short story.

Hunger rumbled in his empty stomach as he watched the sun sink lower in the sky. Darkness was his friend and would bring a welcome cooling off of his hidey-hole in the basement of the abandoned building. The place he had called home for the past few weeks.

Jake reached down and stroked the matted fur of his only friend, Kelsey, who arched his back and purred his approval of the attention.

The world made no sense these days. Why he alone had survived this madness-inducing illness that had taken his family and friends was beyond comprehension. The creatures that roamed the streets now had no mind, only hunger, and while they were easy to outwit and outrun, there were just too many of them to avoid. At least they were less active at night and it was possible to slip out and look for food.

A faint sobbing drew Jake's immediate attention and he felt Kelsey stiffen beneath his stroking fingers. The sound seemed to come from the opposite corner of the building and was totally unlike the growls and inhuman noises he was used to hearing.

"Hello? Who's there?" he called softly, hoping against hope that there might actually be another sane human being out there.

The sobbing ended abruptly and a deep silence filled the void. No reply was forthcoming but he could feel the other's presence. He tried again. "Hey, there, I'm Jake, I won't hurt you. Heck, I'm probably more scared than you are."

The creak of the old rotted cellar door and a shaft of sunlight let him know his visitor was tentatively approaching. "I'm, I'm, I'm Sa-Sara" she stuttered softly and remained against the far wall as if ready to bolt back outside.

Jake's first smile in days lit his face at the thought of company in this nightmare existence. "Come on in, it's safe here at least. Sorry, I don't have anything to eat but I have some water I can share."

Sara made her way slowly toward Jake and sat down on the bare floor in front of him. It was hard to say which of them looked the worst for wear. Both were dirty and disheveled and wore that same haunted look in their eyes. Kelsey bounded into her lap and rubbed his head against her chest as if in welcome. She cried out and hugged him to her with a rush of emotion. The loneliness had almost been worse than the constant terror and hunger.

As tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes Jake scooted over and put a clumsy arm around her thin shoulders. "It'll be better now, we can be a team and take care of each other."

The crash of splintering boards resounded throughout the basement as the cellar doors gave way beneath the weight of one of the creatures. Another followed upon its heels and shuffling sounds indicated there were more on the way.

"Oh my God, I led them here!" Sara cried out in panic. Kelsey hissed and leaped from Sara's arms and bounded away. Jake froze in position as he watched the ghouls casting about looking for the prey they could obviously smell.

Finally, instinct took over and Jake grabbed Sara's hand and pulled her to her feet. "Run! I have another way out. Follow me!" The pair took off for the opposite end of the basement where a long-unused coal chute door was built into the cinderblock. Jake lifted the rusty door and crawled through to sprawl on the weedy hard ground outside. Thankfully there were no creatures in this empty lot in the back. He reached back through for Sara's hand to help pull her through.

Sara was almost through when she felt something hideous grab her ankle. With a yank, it pulled her partially back into the basement and Jake cracked his chin on the cinderblock as he was jerked along with her. Sara screamed in terror and tried to kick the thing with her free foot. Its head was reaching for her, teeth viciously clamping, eager to claim flesh.

At that moment a whirling dervish of matted fur hurled itself at the creature's head, scratching at the eyes. It released Sara's foot and raised both hands to fight off the attack. Jake was quick to jerk Sara up through the chute and they both landed on a pile in the dirt.

A high pitch squeal of agony came from Kelsey then abrupt silence. Then came sounds of the creatures fighting over their prize and horrible grinding and tearing noises. "Kelsey! Oh no, they got Kelsey!" Jake cried out in heartbroken rage. He was ready to fling himself back into the basement and avenge his beloved friend but Sara was able to wrap her arms around him.

"I know, Jake, I'm so sorry, but we gotta get out of here!"

Suddenly there were the sounds of automatic rifle fire and approaching vehicles. A bull horn was blaring out instructions for anyone still alive to make their presence known. Jake & Sara ran around the building to the street and was astonished to see dozens of dead creatures littering the block and a convoy of jeeps with armed military personnel.

What a welcome sight! Jake & Sara ran toward the jeeps shouting and flinging up their hands. The lead jeep halted and a tall soldier got out and came to meet them. They could see in the following jeep there were a few more bedraggled kids.

"Hello there kids, let's get you to safety. Do you know of anyone else surviving in the area?"

Jake and Sara shook their heads. "No, we didn't even know about each other until today." The soldier escorted them back to the waiting jeep and they sat with the others for their ride out of hell.

Jake took a last look at his former basement hideout as they drove by. A great racking sob shook him as he remembered his good friend Kelsey and how he had saved Sara's life.

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