A green sky, darkened by the gloominess of the infection cracked with thunder as icy rain drops splashed to the ground. Aside from the growling, grunting and screeches of the infected, the roads were quiet. Cars were wrecked and piled on the sides of roads; houses were ransacked and stores were void of mostly anything. A stale scent clung to the air like a leech; it was a sickening, yet familiar smell to the residents of the new, infected world.
A soft flip-flop was heard in the distance down a dark alley way. Pale, dirty shoes trekked down the alley, which was now becoming flooded; the gutters were cluttered with trash and mutilated body parts. The figure stopped, outstretching their hand to the animal behind them, who also seemed to stop. He glanced down at the dog, his light brown eyes flooded with worry for their future.
Sighing softly, he pressed forward with his left hand wrapped around a bloodied pistol. He was trembling; he knew nothing of guns, but was sure that this particular gun was running out of ammo. He shook his head of worry and pressed forward into the open street. His heart quickened when the small dog behind him stepped forward, emitting a low growl barely audible to even the boy a few inches away.
Hands still trembling, he loaded the gun and pointed it to where the dog was growling. "It's alright, dog," he spoke, his voice weak with fear. He shuffled his feet forward, kicking the tiny rocks on the side of the road. He then smirked; an infected, clueless, was lying in the corner, faced against the wall. Finally, with confidence, he walked forward and gave a quick shot to the infected, which let out a shrill screech and fell backwards, blood drizzling out of its gaping mouth.
The boy tucked his gun in its holster and knelt down to pat his dog on the head. "Good, good boy!" he whispered softly. The dog returned his comforting gaze with a wide-eyed look, his tongue lolling out his mouth and his back side wriggling left to right. He continued to pet the dog, until a strange, deep growling echoed from the rooftops.
A flash of long, dirty blonde hair raced to the end of the hall. A young girl; short, pale and bruised, spun around and aimed her heavy rifle at the horde of infected racing towards her. "Goddamn!" she hissed, tightening her grip around the trigger.
Bullets flushed out into the skulls of the infected one after another, their bodies all falling in succession. With a thankful sigh, they paused their attack just in time for a reload. She quickly reloaded the gun and turned around to get some more breathing room.
She was followed by the infected as well as a familiar four legs. It was Amy—an older Beagle who she had met so often before. In a quick decision, she twisted her torso around to back pedal. It was successful; the infected dropped like flies!
Her face flushed, she dropped her gun and stood for a minute, inhaling and exhaling deeply. The blonde tipped her head to Amy, who sat perhaps a yard before her, just watching. "You've found me again, I see," she spoke, her eyes narrowed. She stepped forward, bending on one knee to stretch a hand out to the dog. "Come here, girl," she urged, waving her hand towards her chest. The girl's eyes sparkled; the dog listened.
As Amy stepped closer, she wiggled her stumped tail and allowed the girl to pet her.
"Finally," huffed the girl. "You're now mine, Amy."
The dog tilted her head, her eyes focused and her ears pricked. The girl stopped petting her for seconds; there was an unfamiliar noise in the distance. It was a scream; not an infected scream—a human scream.
Chapter 2
"Oh, please, someone help me!" screamed the boy. He raced down the street, blinding flailing his gun about and shooting at the terrorizing beast leaping after him. He blindly turned left, then right, then left again. This infected would stop at nothing to pounce him.
Fear leapt into his heart as the rat-like dog running beside him suddenly stepped to the side, getting caught between his feet. His heart lurched as his body flew forward, hands meeting the slippery, black road. His pistol was torn from his hand in the quick fall and slid several yards away. Cussing to himself, he pushed his chest off the ground and sloppily ran towards the weapon. He was only a few inches away when sharp, cold claws met his back.
Screaming in terror, he was trapped beneath the weight of the hefty infected. It felt like he was being grind up against a wall; the claws were easily tearing through his clothing, and he could only imagine what next. In a weak attempt to save himself, he tried rolling on his back and swiping the infected with his elbow. He missed, and was only rolled over on his back, making himself an easier target.
The horrific experience seemed to last as long as it started; rather quick. The infected screeched in terror and collapsed onto the boy's chest; bleeding and limp. The boy lay there in repose for a bit, his eyes narrowing to slits as he just took in what happened.
"Damn, you got lucky," purred a soft voice. The boy shook his head and pushed the limp body off of his chest. He wiped his jeans clean of gravel and other debris and finally stood up. He whipped around, locking eyes with this new creature. His eyes grew wide; it was a female human. Not an infected; but an actual, living person. Though in need of some pampering, she was slightly pretty. Round-faced, blonde hair, green eyes and exceptionally pale skin; she was alive and well.
"Thank you so much," he murmured in response. He shook his head and extended his palm. "I mean, thank you! My name's Jayce."
The girl only shook her head, her blonde hair stiffly hitting her cheeks. "You're trying to survive by using this?" As she spoke, she lifted her hand to present his pistol. Jayce frowned when she tightened her grip on the trigger, expecting the harsh sound of gunfire, but it only clicked. He shuffled his feet when he realized it was out of ammo.
"Well, I'm kind of just scavenging off of what I find…"
"Oh, I am too. You just have to know where to look," she said as she raised her other hand, revealing a heavy rifle. "I'm not too good with this, to be honest; my arms are a bit weak, but it does get around."
Jayce nodded, not ready to respond to her; she seemed a bit headstrong and optimistic. He studied her in the quick heartbeat of silence.
"Anyways, Fruits," she started, a smirk on her lips. "That dog seems to give you a lot of trouble; jumping in front of you like that. What was he thinking?" She turned away, outstretching her rifle to aim at the small dog.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Jayce snapped, running forwards to hold her hand down. The girl laughed and stepped back. "Yeah, you're a Fruits, to me."
Now the only thing he felt was confusion; Fruits?
"Excuse me… Fruits?"
"Yes; Fruits. That's your new nickname. I can see you're very inexperienced in this, and kind of soft," she barely paused to make a gesture towards the dog, "So, I will call you Fruits."
Jayce rolled his eyes. "Anyways, would you mind telling me your name?"
"I'm Kelly, and this is Amy, my recently acclaimed Beagle friend."
An almost knee-high dog was standing close to Kelly.
"Nice to meet the both of you, I guess?"
There was an awkward silence until Kelly waved her arm. "Follow me," she spoke, smoothly stepping out of the middle of the road to lead the boy and his dog to a safe area.
It had probably been an hour until the strange group reached their safe area. It was a fairly nice house on the edge of an empty neighborhood. Down the street was a market; it was one of the few that wasn't ransacked or beat up too bad. Most of the neighborhood's inhabitants were flown to safety; it was a gated neighborhood, after all.
Jayce looked about the home; a simple two-story any medium sized family could fit in. Three rooms, a decent sized living room. He nodded with a grin on his face; he could definitely live here.
"…And there's dog food in the pantry, so your rat-dog won't go hungry," finished Kelly, who was giving a weak tour.
Jayce nodded and threw himself over the couch, which spit up a cloud of dust. After coughing and waving the dust away, he took a glance at Kelly, who was rubbing Amy's Scruff on the lounging chair in the corner.
"You thought of a name for him, yet?"
Kelly returned his gaze, confused. "Excuse me?"
"The 'rat-dog'; have you thought of a name for him?"
She chuckled and fiddled with her fingers. "Bagels."
"…Bagels?" he repeated.
"Yes; Bagels. Fruits and Bagels; doesn't it have a nice ring to it?"
Jayce rolled his eyes once more and laughed. "Whatever. So, this place is safe at night?"
"I'm still here, aren't I?"
"Huh, that's actually pretty nice. Oh, thanks for saving me back there, by the way."
Kelly grinned, "That's about the third time, I think, but you're very welcome. Most of the other survivors I've met called them hunters. If you've ever watched one, it crawls on the ground and growls like an animal. It's the weirdest, but most interesting thing." Jayce nodded, letting her continue. "There's also a thing they call a Smoker. I honestly think it's disgusting. It has a long tongue-like thing that stretches over thirty feet. Also, on its face it has huge tumors; they're probably the size of Bagels."
Jayce responded with a quick laugh. "That's pretty sick."
"Yeah; there's also a thing called a Boomer; he's a huge guy who throws up on everything."
"Sounds like what other countries call Americans," Joyce spoke softly, "but I've seen that guy before. I was with my dad and my brother…" His voice seemed to trail, leaving Kelly only to wonder what happened, as if it wasn't all that obvious.
Kelly sighed aloud and patted her thighs, "Well, I guess we can just kick back for now. I run to the market whenever my food runs out."
"Oh; and what about your ammo?"
This time, the girl was speechless. "To be honest, I don't know of a gun store around here; I've been scavenging, as I said before."
Jayce nodded. "Is that why you were in town, when I was pounced?"
She closed her eyes and dipped her head. "You should get some rest. If I hear you cough once, I might get a little paranoid."
He could tell her tone was jokingly, but he couldn't force more than a weak grin. His mind trailed back to his father, and his brother. Were they dead now, or were they infected? He closed his eyes, letting his thoughts carry him away into a dream, where it was bright and sunny.
Chapter 3
"It's been so long since I've been here," came Kelly's booming voice. Amy walked after her, wagging her tail and gazing up at her master. She turned around, her green eyes sparkling in the sunlight. "Do you remember this place, Fruits?"
Fruits shrugged, a bit embarrassed. "It's been only three months; I think I'd remember."
Kelly turned away from him and looked around, now able to see this place in broad daylight. It was where she met Fruits; the boy who tripped over a Chihuahua and got pounced by a hunter. She chuckled to herself and ran forward, knowingly being followed by her dog. Fruits shook his head and dashed after her.
"You shouldn't be so loud, Kelly," he said, his voice a little above a whisper. Kelly shrugged and ran her fingers through his hair, which was a lot longer than when they first met. "Silly Fruits," she spoke softly. "Most of the infected have been blasted by my amazing trigger action. What's the chance they're going to come back?"
"Well, you can never be too safe, is all I'm saying. Be careful, alright?" She easily ignored Fruits and continued skipping down the road, swinging her rifle around carelessly.
The two were finally doing some shopping; and by shopping, they were stealing and trying to make a living. Fruits made a few trips to the market by the gated neighborhood, but the two had never gone to this particular place; not since they met. It was sort of invigorating, but frightening at the same place. This was, in fact, where Fruits came in close contact with the hunter, which nearly shred him to bits.
"Oh, Mamita Juanita, look at this, Fruits!" Kelly shouted.
Fruits grinded his teeth together and continued walking until he was right next to her. "A gun shop, eh? Instead of screaming, how about you go in and grab some weapons?"
Kelly stuck her tongue out and stepped through one of the glass windows, which was already shattered. Fruits followed, giving hand signals to Bagels and Amy to stay and keep watch. Bagels listened and pricked his ears, while Amy casually turned around, resting her bum next to the store wall.
"I think I'm switching this crappy thing for that!" Fruits spoke, his eyes brightening at the sight of a hunting rifle. He grabbed several handfuls of ammo and stuffed them in his pockets and a small back-pack he found while scavenging around in the leftover houses in the neighborhood. He loaded the gun, hearing a familiar and satisfying click. "I think I could get used to this."
Kelly, on the other hand, didn't replace her assault rifle. Instead, she grabbed several rounds of ammo and loaded them into her backpack. "It's about time, Fruits!" she spoke breathlessly. Fruits grinned and turned to her. "Do I look boss, or what?"
His strange flow of the word left her cackling on the ground. She sniffled, wiped her nose, and stood up. In the silence, she snorted and started up her laughter. Fruits grinned, rolled his eyes playfully, and started heading out of the store.
"Bagels," he commanded. The dog raised his chin to the boy, still sitting quietly. "Good boy," he said, leaning onto one knee to scratch his chin. He responded happily by wagging his tail and slapping his hind paw on the ground.
"Are you ready?" Kelly inquired, suddenly stern. Fruits rose to his feet and nodded, patting his new gun approvingly.
"Good," she said, her eyes narrowed. "I hear something."
Fruits, baffled, looked at Bagels and Amy. He had then noticed their low growls. There was something about. He felt his heart pace quicken.
"It's alright," Kelly whispered to herself. She cast a glance at Fruits, whose eyes seemed to grow wide. She gripped his free hand and nodded firmly. "It shouldn't be too bad; I promise." When he finally nodded to her, she let go of his hand and stepped out of the store, pointing her gun at every angle. She hummed to herself when Fruits did the same, and watched as the dogs kept quiet, but also very alert. They had been through this one time too many.
"I see one!" shouted Fruits. Kelly's eyes widened as the infected fled behind a car; a car which lights still flashed. Before she could say anything to him, he released a string a shots into the car, completely missing the infected.
In seconds the alarm wailed through the streets, and in the distance, there was the terrifying call of the horde. Though her heart thumped in her chest, it brought back memories; memories of when she was alone in this world and had to fend for herself. A grin appeared on his lips. Here goes nothing!
She flared her nostrils when the first infected head came into viewing. She pulled on her rifle and shot rapid fire at the long string of infected racing down the street. Her eyes narrowed with rage as a rough, cold hand gripped her shoulders. Quickly turning around, she thrust the butt of her rifle at the infected to push him off. Cussing at the vile creature, she fired the remainder of her rounds into its skull. Reloading, she returned to the rest of the horde. Where was Fruits?
Her eyes grew wide; there he was, hanging about a yard off the ground, being snared by the smoker's tongue. "Jayce!" she hollered, firing at the smoker, standing on top of a building. Her shots unsuccessful, she bowled through the horde and released him by shooting the tongue off. He gasped for air, but quickly got off the ground to continue fighting with his comrade.
It seemed light forever as the two fired at the oncoming string of infected. Blood splattered their clothes, faces and weapons. It was a mass of body parts, screeches and pain. Punching a lot of infected away for breathing room, she reloaded her weapon and continued fire. In that moment, there was one last shot, and the claws, biting and hisses stopped. They were all dead.
Kelly breathed and clenched her chest, dropping her weapon to the ground.
"Wow," she breathed, turning her head to Fruits. "That was pretty raw."
Fruits grinned, stretching his back with his rifle over his shoulders. "Pretty badass, if you ask me."
Her eyes sparkled, watching the strong boy slowly refresh himself. Her sparkling eyes grew dim when she heard the rupture in his chest. He nearly collapsed to the ground in a coughing fit.
Kelly watched in horror. "Jayce?" she whispers, reaching out her hand.
He only laughed. "It's fine, I think I was choking on my own spit."
Her eyes grew soft. "Thank you, Jayce."
He blinked to her and smiled. "Anytime!"
Chapter 4
"Dang, it's nipply out here," Jayce said through chattering teeth. He rubbed his upper arms as he stared out onto the barren neighborhood. Kelly, on the other hand, sat in her lounge chair, snuggled up next to Bagels and Amy.
"Yeah, well, it is almost winter."
He shrugged and closed the door, returning to his seat on the long couch. He stared up to the TV, which hadn't worked since the infected grew serious. He had a sudden craving for food; a very strong one, but he didn't know what he was craving. Something very warm; like a fresh steak. Licking his lips, he stood up from the couch and turned to Kelly. "What all did we get from the market?"
"Just a couple of things… the last of the things that didn't expire."
Jayce cursed to himself and pushed through the house and made way to the kitchen. There was a lot of honey; they had only gotten it because it was nonperishable, but no one enjoyed it. There were also cans of Chef Boyarde, which Jayce had just decided to eat. The bread was molding, the cheese went bad—or so he thought; cheese always smells bad, so he couldn't tell.
There was warm koolaid in the fridge. He only grew angrier when he found out that their background generator had finally died. They would have to move; fast.
"Kelly," he called from the kitchen. She questioned him back in response, and waiting for him to enter the living room before holding the conversation.
"We need to get out of here, fast. Our supplies are running out and the generator is dead. We won't be able to survive."
Kelly shrugged. "We'll move down the street, then?"
Angered by her lack of concern, he tossed his canned soup to the ground and slammed his fist into the wall. "Kelly, why aren't you caring? We're going to die!"
Kelly's eyes narrowed; she studied his tall, lanky body for a while.
"Are you alright, Fruits? You're not so 'Fruits' anymore," she muttered while absently picking at her nails.
Jayce cussed aloud and kicked the bowl out of the way. "I don't care what you think anymore; I'm leaving. You can come with me and find help, or you can stay here and die."
Kelly's eyes grew soft with realization. "Alright, Fruits. By the way—"
"Don't call me that ridiculous name anymore."
He shuffled about in the kitchen; grabbing his gun and backpack and throwing them over his shoulder. "Now, hurry up, before it snows or something."
Their three hour journey was wordless. Kelly stayed further behind Jayce, unaware of his new, strange behavior. She had fears in the deepest part of her mind; fears that she hoped would never come true in a million years. Trembling, she lacked behind with Bagels and Amy, her two closest friends since the apocalypse. Jayce was more just a traveling companion than a friend; his violent and aggressive behavior was frightening and slightly irritating.
Suddenly, a sputtering noise came from in front of her. Jayce dropped to his knees in another coughing fit. Bagels growled, pricking his ears towards his master. Kelly shrugged the thoughts away and raced towards him. "Jayce, are you sure you're okay?" she spoke rather softly. Jayce's new tone surprised her; he sounded weak.
"No, Kelly, I'm fine. Please, stop worrying so much."
The short blonde knelt down next to him and wrapped her scarf around his neck. She pressed the back of her fingers to his forehead. It was hot—really hot. Her heart thudded in her chest; her nightmare was becoming a reality.
"We're going to find somewhere to rest for tonight. It's too cold for you to be out."
And to her surprise, he didn't resist.
"Drink some of this. I found some tea in the gas station down there. How convenient, eh?"
Jayce forced a laugh and down the drink, falling right back down onto his makeshift bed. He gasped, gripped the blankets and clenched his teeth. His groans were getting louder, rougher, and they started sounding of a growl. Kelly had also noticed that whenever he coughed, Bagels was more on edge than he usually was.
"Kelly, I know what's happening. We can't change it, no matter what we do."
Kelly shook her head, her eyes watering. She had never once seen another person transform into the horrible infected. "No, we can stop it—I promise."
He sighed and reached for her hand. "It's alright. I know I'm going to change. I watched my brother and my dad change right before my eyes. It was the worst thing I'd ever seen. It's really painful, I think. They told me to run; I just stayed behind; my feet were frozen to the ground.." his voice trailed as he picked up another fit of coughs. "But anyways, Kelly… I want you to run. I don't want to meet you as an infected. I don't want to hurt you."
Kelly's eyes streamed with tears as his muscles flexed and fidgeted. It was happening. She clenched his hand as he wracked violently back and forth, growling and ripping the blanket to shreds.
"Kelly, please leave!" he urged through clenched teeth.
Bagels jumped from his seat and started to growl and bark, which soon riled Amy up. Kelly's heart thumped and seemed to fall into her a pit in her stomach. She stood up, watching for a few more heartbeats—her friend, her comrade, her Fruits.
He growled and leapt from the bed, doubled over in an excessive amount of pain.
"Amy, Bagels, come!" Kelly urged, lugging her rifle and her backpack away from the cozy area. She raced down the alleyway with the two dogs close by her ankles. She focused her eyes on the ground, refusing to look up or look back. As if mocking her, his screams grew louder and angrier.
"Goddamn, Fruits," she mumbled under her breath. "Of course, you would be the one to do this to me. My first friend; my best friend, now one of those heartless, gutless little…" she let her mind finish the vulgar sentence as her footsteps came to a slow stop.
Her bright, green eyes looked up to the dark sky. She didn't have to listen to the sound of the chopper's wings beating against the air. Tears streamed down her face once again.
"You couldn't have waited, not even for this?"
She watched it for several heartbeats, amazed. Finally, regaining herself, she waved her arms to the chopped. "Hey! Down here! I'm alive and kicking!"
Her smile widened as the pilot noticed her and prepared to let down its ladder. Kelly suddenly felt a bit woozy. Shrugging it off, she continued to jump and wave, this time out of happiness. Bagels and Amy wagged their tails and the rest of their bodies; unable to keep still at the sudden excitement flooding the air.
Kelly blinked, feeling the excitement fade in her body as another survivor climbed down the ladder. "Look out!" came a barely audible call. She turned around, eyes meeting a hunter; a very familiar one.
"Oh my—"
Her voice was cut off by the ratatat of the man's rifle. The hunter fell to the ground, his body twitching. Kelly turned away from the infected and back to the man, unsure of what to do.
She felt an unjustified anger build up inside of her. The tips of her fingers started to tingle. The tingling turned into a sharp pain. She flared her nostrils at the man. She saw a quick flash of fear in his eyes as she growled louder and louder, her fingertips turning into sharp claws.
The blonde let out a final, harsh screech and rushed forward, her claws tearing the ladder to shreds. The man climbed up as quickly as he could and pushed her down with his foot. His words became gibberish to her as she raged after the chopper, which was now several hundred feet in the air.
Now gone, there was silence in the city once more. Kelly dropped to the floor, her knobby knees meeting the granite with a thud. She sat hunched over in the road, her eyes collecting tears; sobbing.