Hunting a Dream

I can't really tell why, but I don't fit in. I mean I know that the other's like to go hunting but me personally I prefer to just take in the sights. I should probably point out I'm an infected, I don't know why they call me that, I mean, I don't feel sick. I have a lot of brothers and sisters that are sick though; not like fevers and throwing up I mean they turn a survivor into confetti. They call me a Hunter. I'm not sure if that's a misconception or if they just say it to give a name to something they don't understand. I think we'd be better suited as Prowlers or Stalkers, but that does sound rather criminal. The other infected don't seem to like me too much though. Probably because I'm not soaked in acid, vomit, or blood like they are. I just don't feel like killing though. I mean maybe that does make me weird or messed up, but it's not something I take pride in. I mean I know that I'll have too someday and it's not like I don't kill. I just don't kill anything that smells alive. Those lesser infected are bumbling and a little violent so they try to pick fights from time to time but I just rip them to pieces. I mean it's not like I don't get along at all. I have about two friends, Smoky and Boom. They're alright, they don't understand me but they leave me to my business. They're sort of veterans at killing Livies because they stick to ones that are on their own. I hate the um…what do the Livies call them…Tanks. They're brutish and have no real regard for life in the slightest. But I don't spend all my time focusing on the negatives. A few weeks ago a group of Livies came through and got on a metal bug at the big building with the Red Cross…hospital they called it…Mercy Hospital. Yes. I was happy for them; it was a shame that a lot of my brothers and sisters had to die. Especially Hunter and Smith. But they attacked the Livies when they were minding their own business. To be fair Loud One shouldn't have run through the streets yelling at the metal bug. That's what drew Hunter to him in the first place. Loud One was lucky that Red Witch had come to save him. I liked Old Smoky because he was the smartest amongst them, and the Bald One…he was strange…always with the "I hate this!" or "I hate that!" Could a Livy hate something so much? Well they seemed to hate us enough. It didn't matter though, because I enjoyed what I did. Granted I can't do a lot with these clunky claws, but I'm pretty deft with my fingers. Smoky says I shouldn't waste my time with the colored ooze and paper, but I liked it. I thought they were pretty. I also liked these strange wooden things that made shapes on paper…what were they…Pencils. But I'm rambling now I know. But I mean my head is about all I can articulate in. I can hear some noises outside so I am going to check it out.

Becca heard the cries and screams of the infected as she moved quietly through the alleyways and through stores, trying to avoid the streets and make it through without a hitch. She had lost Tanner and Will because they had wanted to go a different way and Sarah had followed them so Becca was on her own. She kept on moving and didn't focus on it too much. She went inside a grocery store and ran back to the bathroom locking the door as she entered. She checked the room seeing no Infected she pulled out her map and a flashlight. She found where she was and saw a safe house not too far from where she was and she knew that the others had probably made it there by now but she would make it there too. She heard gunshots and Will screaming, "Run!" As she heard the roar of a Tank and the screaming of infected. She hoped they would just pass her by but she heard the Jockey outside before she could move. She heard it pounding on the door and with each hit a dent. More of them were pounding now and she reading her pistol for them to pour through the door. Then she heard the screech of a Hunter and the Jockey went silent and the other Infected screamed with fear and rage. She kept her aim steady and when all had gone silent she began to move towards the door. That's when she heard the rattling of the lock followed by the ping of the knob being broken off as the door creaked open. The Hunter walked in on two legs sniffing around and she held a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. It looked right at her and she yelled raising her pistol. It crossed the room in half a second pinning her against the wall holding her pistol hand against the wall tightly. She tried to break free and it slammed her hand against the wall where she heard it crack and felt a sharp pain. She blinked away tears and bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming. It cocked its head looking at her and raised its hand to its face and hissed. It then let her go and motioned for her to follow him. She tried to move her hand to shoot him but the pain was intense. She switched hands and pulled the trigger hearing an empty click. She looked at her gun and the Hunter held up his hand which contained her magazine and all the bullets. When did he do that? She moved after him cautiously and he led her to a fire escape and up to a studio apartment where he pointed to a couch for her to sit on. He walked up to her with a health kit and looked at her hand. Without warning he shifted her arm. She almost screamed, but instead she hit him with her good hand. He backed up and hissed pointing from the health kit to her arm. He walked over to her and began to bandage her arm making sure it was tight and secure so her broken bones wouldn't be out of alignment and could heal properly. Once he was done he sat down on a chair across from her and looked at her. She felt weirded out by his behavior, and what came next was baffling.

What was I thinking bringing the Livy to my place, but her pack-mates had abandoned her to die and I didn't want to see her become a freak like me so I had saved her and brought her here. She didn't trust me and I had no way of communicating verbally so I picked the next best thing. I picked up a white board and one of the black cylinder's and began to write; the cylinder squeaking as I drew it across. I showed her the sign on which I had simply written, "Hi."

She looked at me quizzically, "Hello?"

I smiled and began to erase and write again, "What is your name?"

She seemed more and more uncomfortable with the situation, "I'm not about to tell an Infected!"

I motioned to be quiet bringing my hands from above my head down to the center of my chest and began to write more, "Please don't yell, my name is Hunter, but I prefer to be called Ray."

She seemed extremely confused, "Um…ok, Ray…my name is Becca."

So the Becca was alone, I began to write more, "Why did your pack-mates leave you?"

She scoffed, "It was the other way around, they wanted to plow through the Infected to reach a safe house and I wanted to go through quietly so we took different paths."

I nodded and continued, "Are you like The Others? Or are you like the One Who Came Before?"

She seemed baffled by the question, "I don't understand."

I tried to put it in words she would understand, "Immune or Not?"

She looked at me, "Well I haven't been dumb enough to let myself get bit so I don't know."

I wrote more, "Bad question, what are your pack-mates like?"

She chuckled, "Will is pretty tough; he used to play football at a college nearby. Sarah's a little shy, and I think she has a big time crush on Will. Tanner's really smart, but he doesn't understand how things work. Like how to treat women for one."

I nodded trying to remember what my life had been like but nothing came to mind. She spoke up, "Jesus this is weird. Why am I telling you all this I mean I thought Infected were mindless monsters?"

I wrote a small response, "I'm the black sheep of my family."

She looked at me quizzically, "Your family? Like all Hunters or just Infected in general?"

I had to think about that for a while, "The Little Ones are just lost and angry, my brothers and sisters are what you call Hunters so I guess you could say a little both."

She looked at me, "What about Smokers, Boomers, or Tanks?"

I hissed when she said Tanks and wrote my response, "Smokers and Boomers are allies, Tanks are Enemies to even us…they kill all things."

She looked a little shocked, "I see…so what about the others?"

I continued, "Others are driven by instinct, they don't think."

She nodded, "So you don't like Jockeys, Chargers, Spitters or Witches?"

I made my response quickly, "I do not. But there is only one Witch I know…she is Blaire."

"Blaire? Like the Blaire Witch Project?"

I nodded furiously grabbing her by her hand and leading her over to my TV to show her my collection of movies. She saw the overflowing piles of boxes and just shook her head, "You don't clean up much do you…do you actually watch these."

I nodded and pulled out my favorite movie, "Fight Club" "That movie was a little trippy." She said. "So what do you do for fun around here?" I pointed towards a curtain and pulled it aside showing her the colorful drawings I had made. She stared in awe at the drawings, "This…this is beautiful. Did you do this?" I nodded and pointed towards the one I had made of a sunrise over the city and she reached out to touch it holding her hand an inch away with a sort of reverence. She looked back at me, "What are you?"