[Sal refers to zombies as 'monsters' in his own head, just because he doesn't want to believe the world has turned into a comic book. ALSO! WARNING! There will be gore in every chapter, and suicidal thoughts in pretty much every one as well.]
Sal coughed, trying to muffle the sounds and be as silent as possible. It was dark and cold, the boy had no idea where he was anymore, he hadn't really known that in a while. He was alone, sick, and lost, which was terrible considering the state of the world. He wasn't sure if he was near any big cities, he didn't know if any big groupings of monsters were around, hell, he didn't even know if any one else was even left alive.
Ever since his group was attacked, it was like he was constantly moving. Someone, he didn't even know her name, got Sal away. They drove for a long time, with two other people. They were all young, Sal being the youngest. Getting spilt up with them was still a blur. There was a big group of the dead, they wanted to drive through it but Sal thought it was too risky, so he went and hid and convinced the others to do so as well. He must've fallen asleep, because when he woke up he was alone and all the monsters were distracted by something in the road. He got scared and just took off, into the woods, where he wandered for a while.
He didn't know if he felt sad, he didn't know what he felt at this point, he just knew he was scared. He didn't think he was scared of dying, he was scared of being eaten. He had felt what it was like to be torn up by an animal, knew what teeth felt like piercing skin, he didn't want to have to go through that again. He'd seen it happen, a lot, people kept screaming when it was happening, they felt it. He couldn't handle seeing the monsters, he'd always think of the dog, it made him panic, it made him useless. He froze up around the things, he could never fight back, he had to be rescued.
He missed his mom, he had no pictures of her, no videos, he could barely remember what she looked like. He missed his dad, he didn't know if he was alive or not, probably not. He even missed all the assholes from school, because at least when they were around everything was normal.
As he thought, he continued walking aimlessly through the forest, it seemed to go on forever. He tried to stay alert, listening mostly. He couldn't rely on his vision that much, since it wasn't that good.
His legs felt numb and cold, like they were frozen, yet his face felt like it was on fire. A fever. Sickness. That meant he was gonna die, he knew it. He didn't have any medicine, or shelter, or food for that matter, he didn't even have the proper clothing for the weather.
"Gotta look on the bright side, Sal." He spoke to himself, trying to pretend his words were coming from someone else. "It's probably better to die of sickness than being eaten alive, or starving, or getting an infection from a bi—"
The boy was cut off by a groan nearby and he stiffened, his eyes darting around but he only saw trees. There was another sound and he saw them, three of those monsters trudging toward Sal at a rather quick pace, they must've heard him. "Shit, shit, shit." He mumbled, trying to urge himself to move.
How had he not noticed them before? Oh, god, they were so close now. He was screaming at himself to run but his legs didn't listen, he could barely feel them, all he could focus on was the heat in his head.
Eventually he did move, turning and stumbling away from the undead creatures. His thoughts seemed to get almost blurry, he just had to get away, it didn't matter where he went.
The sounds of the creatures died down, Sal only seemed to hear his own footsteps now, not even the wind. He kept forward at a steady pace, scanning the area's he passed for some sort of building, camp, person, anything.
Then he fell. Something had caught his foot, wrapped around his ankle.
He screamed before he collided with the snowy ground, shit. That was bad. Screaming was basically suicide, every monster in the area would be on their way to the sound he had made. He needed to continue moving.
A thorny branch had caught itself on Sal's pant leg. Sal tried to yank his leg free but the curved thorns wouldn't budge from the fabric. Why did he have to have the worst luck.
As the boy reached down to free himself, he heard it again. The groans, the slow footsteps, they'd caught up with him. "Fuck off!" He yelled with a surge of fear, even if he knew they wouldn't. He grabbed the thorny branch with his hands, feeling the sharp plant embed itself in his skin as he yanked the branch and his leg at the same time, freeing himself.
Behind him were more bushes, he wouldn't be able to get through them, but he had to if we wanted to get away from the three monsters in front of him, unless he wanted to risk getting grabbed by them by running to the side. They were closer now, he had to go the opposite way, but he might trip again. He hadn't moved, despite being able to once again, he kept staring at the approaching danger, seemingly lost in thought yet totally aware of how he was just sitting there, almost inviting the monsters to come eat his guts.
If only he had a gun, he'd just shoot himself in the head. He'd be free, no need to worry others trying to stay alive. He wouldn't have to feel being eaten, he wouldn't come back as a monster and eat someone else, he'd just die, maybe there'd be an after life he could go to, who knows?
He forced himself to stop thinking like that, to realize that reality was happening still.
The nearest monster was right in front of Sal when he finally jumped up, so his plans of running were scrapped, instead he was just gonna keep these things from biting him.
The creature mindlessly grabbed at Sal, pushing all its weight on him in an attempt to reach his mouth to the boy's neck. Sal kept his hands pressed against it's shoulders, feeling it's rotting flesh sink under his nails, disgusting. The other two monsters were slower, maybe he could find a way to rid of this one before the other's got too close.
The monster had a surprising amount of strength for something dead, it managed to push Sal over and they both fell back in the thorns. Sal flinched, feeling the sting of many scratches.
The monster was so close now, this was the end for sure, Sal couldn't push it back forever, he should've run, now he's gonna die for sure. He yelped when his hand slipped, breaking the rotting ribs of the zombie and leaving only one hand to push it back, giving the thing an opportunity to lunge its head down.
Sal screamed, he was sure he was going to feel the thing bite his neck, that it didn't matter if he was loud anymore because he was surely dead, but instead he just heard a bang loud enough to drown out his noise, followed closely by a few more bangs. Gunshots.
Sal was confused, taking a moment before pushing the limp creature off of himself. Who had shot off the gun?
"Larry! You fucking idiot!" The voice came from his left, but before he could turn a figure was in front of him.
"Shut up, Travis!" Sal's eyes traveled up, taking in the look of the boy in front of him. He had long brown hair, pulled back messily, he assumed this was Larry. He wore a hoodie and jeans, like any other teenager, but there was also a bandana hanging around his neck that he'd pulled away from his mouth. He had a hatchet on his belt and a hand gun firmly in his grip. The newcomer crouched in front of Sal, looking worried and frustrated.
"Are you bit?"
