I clamped my lips shut and stared straight ahead of me, in the hopes that it would stop me crying. It was cold, and all I wanted to do was hug my arms close to my chest but I couldn't. The jacket I was wearing, that I'd taken from some poor, unfortunate man who'd failed to fight off an infected, was practically soaked in blood. But it was all I had keeping me warm. I'd left home that morning, when it was sunny, wearing shorts, a tank top and a pair of flimsy sandals, because I didn't expect an apocalypse to break out while I went to the shops.
I forced myself to carrying on walking forwards. When the infection reached my small village, I'd rushed back to my house and locked myself in the bathroom, waiting for it all to go away. When I thought back to it, I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been. I waited for hours, and when it was completely silent outside, I left, and so had everyone else. I was alone.
I assumed they had all evacuated to the city to find help. I didn't know what to do. I had no means of transportation, apart from walking, but the nearest city was a good few miles away. So instead of going back to my house, like a normal person would, I started walking. It seemed like most people had managed to escape, but there were some unlucky people who hadn't, and were lying dead on the floor, with their killers next to them. I don't know what had killed them, people who were fleeing, I guessed.
I jumped when I heard a noise. It had been mostly silent, with only the wind and the sound of my sandals slapping against the stone pavement. I quickly realised that it was the sound of a mobile phone ringing. I looked around, and saw the faint glow of it in someone's hand. I ran over to it and answered the call.
"Oh my god, Nate, you're okay. I went to your house but you weren't there, have you already gone? Look, I'm at a service station not too far from Terthshire, where are you? I'll see if I can get the others to come pick you up. Nate why aren't you saying anything?" The woman on the other end of the phone gabbled at me.
"I'm sorry, but Nate's dead," I said in a small voice. The woman gasped.
"What? Are you sure? Oh no, no, no this can't be happening." She started crying.
"I'm still in Terthshire, and I need help, my name's Rose, please can you help me?" I asked quickly, but the phone call was terminated before I could finish speaking. I tried redialling the number, but she didn't answer, and I got so frustrated with the phone's touch screen that I smashed it against a wall. I wondered what I was going to do then. I had no option really, I had to keep walking.
I soon became so tired that it was a great effort to put one foot in front of the other. I had to sleep, if only for a few hours. I stumbled over to the nearest house and tried opening the door, and of course it wasn't locked. I would've been surprised if it had been. I walked inside and turned on all the lights inside the house. I used the bathroom, having a quick wash as I sensed it would be my last opportunity for a while.
I went into the kitchen and saw that most of the food had been taken; all that was left was some fruit in a bowl and ice cream in the freezer. I took all of this up with me to the bedroom and sat down on the bed, taking my jacket off and throwing it aside. I decided to have a look in the wardrobe, and the clothes inside it were all much too big for me, but I did take a clean jacket. I ate all of the food and then lay down on top of the blankets and tried to get some sleep.
I was unbelievably tired, but I was so on edge that I couldn't sleep. Every little noise from outside, a gust of wind, the patter of rain against the window, kept me up. Even the sound of myself breathing unnerved me. I looked at the clock on the bedside table next to me. It was half past three in the morning. It was winter, so it wouldn't be light until about eight o'clock. I didn't know what scared me more, the darkness, or the feeling of vulnerability I was getting from just thinking about sleeping.
I somehow managed to sleep, only for an hour, but it was something. I left the house and continued walking. It was still dark, and I still didn't feel any better, but I didn't have much choice. I was nearing the outskirts of the village, and coming closer to the next village. I wondered what the situation was there, the infection would have had to through to get to my village, and after seeing how rapidly it had decimated it, it was likely similar.
I got distracted by a scream that came from behind me. I turned around, but there was nothing there. I began to think I might be hearing things, and I turned back around only to see someone standing in front of me. Something would be more accurate, as this thing was not human, it couldn't have been.
It was tall, about a foot taller than I was, it had tumour like growths surrounding its left eye, and tongues protruding from several places. I backed away from it, and bumped into something else. I didn't turn to look at it, I was frozen by fear.
"Are you unarmed?" The thing in front of me asked, in a surprisingly normal voice. I nodded slowly, but the thing behind me still stuck its hands into the pockets of my jacket, and my shorts. I caught a glimpse of its hands, which appeared to have claws rather than fingers.
"Come with us," it said, the one in front of me. The one behind me pinned my arms back and urged me forward. I walked as it told me to, my heart beating fast and hard. What were they going to with me? Dozens of sick and twisted images crept into my mind, and as I was marched into a house, I couldn't help but let a tear roll down my cheek.
"You can let her go, Hunter, but lock the door," the tall one instructed the other. So the other was called Hunter. I remembered one of the more heavily mutated infected being called that on the news.
"What do you want with me?" I asked, in a high pitched, strained voice as I tried not to cry. The tall one half smiled, and sat down on a sofa and put its feet up the coffee table, followed by Hunter.
"You're going to help us. Name's Cyrus, and that's Hunter, and you?" It sounded so casual, as if this was an everyday conversation.
"I'm Rose. How can I help you?" I replied.
"I'm guessing you've noticed we ain't like all the other special infected. Nah, they're all mindless killers who're doing it for the fun of it. The strain of the infection we got only gave us the physical changes, but mentally, we're the same as we were before. But all these military people don't see it that way, we've gone to a few evac spots and they've just tried to shoot us sight. What we need is someone not infected, like you. You're going to convince 'em to take us as well," Cyrus explained.
"Okay. I'll help you," I said. I could see that no wasn't an answer, as they could easily kill me.
"That's what I was hoping to hear, and don't worry, we'll protect you on the way. Most infected won't even look twice if you're around us," Cyrus stood up and extended a hand. I shook it gingerly, as it was covered in boils.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Because they won't smell you. You non infected have a unique smell, and if your stick close to us, we'll mask it. Hunter, go get her the clothes we put away." Cyrus clicked his fingers. Hunter stood up and went upstairs and came back a few minutes later with an armful of clothes. He dropped them on the floor in front of me.
"What are these for?" I tilted my head to one side. Had they been expecting me?
"For you to wear, doll face. They'll help disguise your scent." He winked at me. I smiled slightly. I picked some things up and ran off to get changed. I looked at myself in a mirror, and ran a hand through my dark hair. This wasn't how I expected things to happen, but I had somewhere to go, and I had someone to protect me. At least I hoped so.
I've been working on trying to get this right for a while now, the first draft of this wasn't very good, and then I kept changing plot points, but I think I'm finally happy with it.
For a little background: I'm pretty sure Terthshire is fictional, and this story is set in the UK.
I hope you guys enjoy it, and tell me what you think of it.