I love zombies. I love Spashley. It was only a matter of time until this happened. This is NOT a zombie story. It's a story about survival in a world that will never offer a cure. I hope you enjoy.
I do not own South of Nowhere.
"Run!" I pumped my legs harder urging them to ignore the searing heat that rose up my calves, the action fanning the flames of pain sending the fire licking up my thighs.
"Dont Stop!" I tried not to waste any of the precious oxygen my aching muscles desperately needed. But she is always too many paces far behind, always out of reach of my hand. I can hear her behind me, her labored breath and unsteady feet pounding behind me drifting farther and farther. I can also hear them behind her. I need her to pick up her pace. Without her there's no point in running anymore. I need her to run so we can both keep running.
The muscle in my chest aches as I feel the distance between her and I increase, the emotional response from sensing the ever growing gap seizes my heart in a vice.
"Dammit" I slow my pace and so does she in response to my actions and they gain on us. I fall back behind her keeping her close and them closer still. Using myself as a barrier between them and the only reason I have to wake up anymore. They're less than 50 feet behind me and they don't have throbbing organs and protesting muscles to slow them down or hold them back.
"Keep moving Casey!" Sweat is coating her shaggy blonde hair and back and I know we're not going to make it into the tree's at the pace we're going.
"Come on!" I urge her on through heavy pants while my lungs beg me to keep my mouth shut."Almost there Case" My vision begins to blur around the edges with each wasted breath.
We have been running faster than we ever have for the last hour through rough terrain. The 25 lbs of gear on her back and stifling heat from the California sun slowing her down. Hills that seemed small when we first traversed them hours ago feel like insurmountable mountains now and I curse my stupidity again.
I made the mistake of cutting through hilly acres of open field and after about 4 miles Casey literally stumbled on one of them. Hidden by the tall grass, you would have thought they were napping. It was a mine field of infected. Why we're they just lying there? Did they collapse from not feeding? I didn't have time to ponder these questions as sensing a food source he latched on to Caseys leg and slammed his jaw shut on her ankle.
Always too slow to react she stood there while I drove my rusty knife into his skull. "Are you ok?" I asked her as I wiped the gelatinous blood that coated my knife against his tattered shirt.
She rolls up the pant legs on her military grade pants and knocks on the soft leather of her calf high boots.
"I'm good." She looks back up at me "Ashley Run!" she hisses out. A lousy attempt at not drawing more attention. It was too late and I can hear their hungry moans and the wet sounds of their jaws smacking down expectantly. You never get used to it. The way their skin creases like old leather, the way the flesh tears and emits a sticky slapping sounds as it creaks and slaps itself back together again. I look around us and see dozens of them rising from the hidden safety of the overgrown field.
"Shit, Shit, Shit! Come on!" I grab her hand and yank her back towards the direction we came in. There is no point in going forward with a hundred of them chasing us if we run into another mob. The only safe bet is to retrace our steps because I know that area is clear.
Did I get us killed? Isn't this how we all go out in the end. A simple mistake, you let your guard down for a few seconds and its like they know it. My vision starts closing in on me but I wont stop. If I can just get her to the tree line she'll be fine. I can see the top of the Pine tree's in the distance.
Every part of me is throbbing with over exertion. My heart beats wildly in its confines as my lungs stretch to absorb as much oxygen as they can but falling short. I shake it off and ignore the pain. Just a mile or so more.
"Drop your pack" And she does without hesitation. I leap over it as it falls in front of me. And it helps as I see her renewed stride as the tree Pines gets closer.
I force my muscles and heart towards her, attempting to close the gap that had begun to build between us. I'm spent and I can't drop my pack, we wont survive without it. It's a forty pound test of my will to survive and I'm afraid I'm failing as the gap between her and I continues to grow. I look at her retreating back and I make that my goal. Just keep running to her. I grit my teeth and I run to her.
The world is silent except for the pounding in my head and the heavy breaths that are escaping my chest. My vision is narrowing but it doesn't matter. We're almost there, she's almost there. I see her look over her shoulder and the fear reflected in her eyes tells me they're closer than I thought and to my horror she slows down.
"Go!" I urge my heart to finish this as I draw upon the only thing that's been driving me for the last 6 months. My vision clears slightly and I'm within arms distance of her now and I plead with her to push on.
Sweat burns my eyes as it falls in heavy drops. I run along side of her now "Come on Case" I huff out as I reach for her hand and pull her forward. "Come on!"
I hear their pounding feet and snarling faces snapping at the only dinner they've come across in probably months. The stench that always surrounds them is overwhelming especially when there is this many of them. And my nostrils keep taking heavy breaths filled with their putrid scent.
"There!" I pull her to the right a little picking up on the trail we had taken through the dense woods earlier today. We dart into the tree line dodging fallen logs easily as they stumble over them. I weave through the familiar trails shaking some of them but not enough.
"The river Case, just a little more!" They've slowed down their chase but we can't let up until we've lost them. I can hear the river up ahead and hope begins to pump my legs faster. And then the unthinkable happens. Casey stumbles and I feel her hand slip through my sweaty fingertips as I continue running. I look back and react the only way I know how to. Theres four of them that will be on her in seconds.
I pivot my body and charge at them as fast I can using my entire body to drive into them and knock them back away from her. I collapse on a pile of them while dozens more begin to catch up. I feel their teeth bite into my arms and body tearing the soft flesh painfully. The scent of blood in the air sends them into a frenzy as they grip and claw at me each trying to get a piece.
"Ashley!" I feel her yanking back on my pack trying to pull me away from them but they're not letting go of dinner.
"Run Casey! I'll be right behind you!" I beg her trying to hide the fear that's tearing me apart much like them.
"No!" She drives her knife into two of them while I fight off another.
A disgusting and filmy face snaps and launches itself at my face and neck trying to get a bite anywhere he can. I pull away from him as much as I can. My gloved hand creates a barrier between my face and his bites. I feel him clamp his mouth around my fingers and they break under the pressure of his grating teeth. I brace my broken hand on his face and bring my other hand behind his head snapping his neck.
With fewer hands pulling at me she's able to pull me up and the mob is right on our heels. I grip her hand in mine tightly and will drag her ass behind me if she falls again. We've lost our momentum and they keep gaining on us. I don't dare look back fearing that the second it would take to do that would be too much time lost.
I see the drop about one hundred feet ahead of us and we both muster what little energy we have left to run towards it. The occasional tugs on my pack and snarls that feather along my neck tell me we're almost out of time.
"Jump!"
We fall over a fifty foot drop into the river below us followed by dozens of the Infected. Teeth snapping and arms still desperately reaching for us as we fall. Casey and I hold on tightly to each other as we brace for impact. We break apart as our bodies crash into the icy river water, my pack immediately drags me down under farther than Casey. I keep sinking as the pack that is keeping us alive begins to drown me. My lungs burn as I exert too much energy undoing the clips before I slip and arm out of it and propel myself to the surface using energy reserves I didn't know I still had left, dragging the damn pack up with me.
As I break the surface I inhale deeply and let the chilly air that surrounds the river fill my lungs. My arms and legs feel like lead and I know I need to get us across river fast. We are too tired for the strong current and we'll get swept away. I look around for Casey and I'm relieved to find her already attempting to swim for shore. The infected are all carried down river. The only thing they seem to know or want now is to devour flesh, and for that I'm thankful as I see their heads bob and their hands splash around helplessly. If only they'd drown and stay dead.
I'm struggling against the current because of the extra weight I'm dragging and I continue to drift down river with the infected. The cold water washes and numbs the open wounds that riddle my body making the pain a bearable. The shore is closer but I might be miles down from Casey by the time I reach it. I look back towards her and she's reached the shore and has begun to trek along the rocky banks down river trying to catch up to me.
When I finally reach shore I drag my pack and myself 10 feet away from the river before collapsing. I roll over and don't care that the jagged rocks along the shore are digging and biting into my back, legs, and neck. I lean my head on my pack and close my eyes shielding them from the harsh California sun. I lie there and give my body and organs the break they so desperately need. Mind still alert. Always alert.
I feel the sticky ambrosia that is my blood to the infected ooze out of all the tears they left. Pain emanating from the torn flesh and begging to be tended to. But that reality is not one I'm prepared to face just yet. Not until she's here which should be in about 15. I relish the breeze that glides over my river soaked body cooling it off and relieving some of the oppressive heat thats bearing down on me.
As my body relaxes I wonder for the hundredth time how much longer we can keep this up. But I don't linger on the question too long. The answer has always been the same.
I'll keep running until I fall and when that happens I'll fight until I can't. If I delay it for one more day, one more hour, one more fucking minute its worth it. Its one more second with her.