I was thinking…
Nursery rhymes are scary…
They seem like childish tales…
But when you really stop and think about them…
It chills you to the bone…
I slammed my hands down on the rusted door, putting all my strength into closing it as quickly as I could. Tiny flecks of faded red paint fell to the ground around my feet as it closed with a loud slam. I slid the iron bar into place and stepped back as multiple grey-tinged arms shot through the openings and waved around, grasping at air.
"Try to get me now, shit heads…" I muttered in a venomous tone, spitting on the ground in distaste. It had taken hours to get away from the Tank, and even after I managed to escape, I still had to find a Safe House while fighting off the Horde and anything else I had the misfortune to come across. Needless to say, I was irritable and exhausted.
Turning around, I grabbed a bright red Medkit, one of four, and unzipped it. Grabbing some disinfectant and a roll of gauze I plopped down on a pile of boxes containing imperishable food- whoever made this Safe House was well prepared, thankfully. Biting the end, I pulled down one sleeve and began wrapping it with thick gauze, soaking a part of the strip in disinfectant and hissing when it burned.
Outside, the Infected continued to scream and pound on the door, with no results. They weren't getting in anytime soon- these Safe Houses had been from hell and back at this point.
After I finished bandaging my wounds, I dug through the boxes until I found a sleeping bag. Crawling inside it and yelling a hasty 'SHUT. UP.' to the Infected, I closed my eyes, hoping a Tank wouldn't show up.
Don't let the Infected bite… I thought, as the scream of a Hunter rang out in the night, echoing for a few seconds before fading away. Though by then, I was already asleep.
"RUN!!"
"SOMEONE HELP ME!!"
"AAARRGGHH!! IT HURTS!!"
My sneakers pounded on the linoleum floor, a sickly green color, spotted with patches of fresh blood. I tried my best to ignore the screams of agony and fear as innocent people were torn to shreds. It made me feel sick, but there was no other choice. It was me or them, and I couldn't afford to die.
Stepping around a Teacher, writing in pain in a puddle of his own blood as his skin began losing it's color, I opened the nearest door and emptied out my backpack on the bed. Running over to the dresser, I shoved as many articles of clothing inside as possible before opening the window and climbing down a ladder attached to the side of the building 'in case of fire'.
Heh. Fire my ass.
Landing on the ground and deciding if I ever got out of this alive I would need a LOT of therapy, I made a run for it. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done- the moment I hit the ground five of the monsters rushed at me, trying to kill me. Not knowing what to do- What could I do?!- I held my arms up in front of my face and screamed.
"GET AWAY!!"
Droplets of blood splattered my face as I opened my eyes and looked up. "Terra?" The person in front of me was covered in filth ranging from dirt to what looked like grey matter. In one fist, there was a small handgun, clenched tightly. "T-terra…?" My voice was at a very high pitch, like that of a child's. Whoever this was, it wasn't my sister.
She turned around, eyes seemingly burning a hole through me. "Did those assholes bite you, Naomi?" I shook my head frantically. "Good."
"Terra, what happened… Why…" Terra was my older sister and resident 'Perfect Child' of my family. She was smart, athletic and had many friends. I was temperamental, lazy and a loner. We were, essentially, complete opposites.
"Well I couldn't let these shit heads hurt my little sister, now could I?" Her only visible flaw was a tendency to curse under stress. "Besides, they aren't that difficult to kill. A couple shots with this-" She held up the gun, "and they were nearly blown to bits."
"Where did you get the gun…?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
She shrugged. "When I figured out what was happening, I went to the office. The secretary that works at the desk covered in Winnie the Pooh characters keeps a gun in the drawer. Dumb bitch forgot to take it with her."
I blinked, mentally slapping myself for freezing when the creatures tried to attack me. Of course Terra knew what to do. She always did. One step ahead, as usual.
"So what do we do now…?" I asked after a few seconds. "We can't stay here. That much is obvious." Our eyes moved as one to look at the apocalyptic scene of insanity around us.
"Dunno. I'd be perfectly happy sitting around and blowing the brains out of these jerks." Terra muttered viciously. "Guess we should go home." I nodded vigorously in response. "There's one problem, though…"
"What is it?" I asked, instinctively tilting my head to the side.
She sighed. "I don't have many bullets left and…" Her voice dropped to a horse, defeated whisper. "I'm not sure we have a home to go back to at this point. What if it spread? What if the same thing is happening back home, right now? And what if we don't make it in time?"
"So, what, we should sit around and blast the heads off of these… These damn zombies all day long?!" I snapped, as my temper flared up, fists clenching in anger. "I don't know about you, but to me, giving up is just like signing my own death warrant! We have to do something!"
Sighing again, my sister nodded. "I think if we run, we can make it to my truck.. Just don't let these things bite you. I've seen what happens, and it's not pretty."
A sharp nod, and we both began running as the ground began to shake. "W-what's that?!"
"I don't know, but I don't plan on finding out. RUN!"
Opening my eyes, I struggled to untangle my body out of the pretzel-like shape I had been sleeping in. Scrunching my face into a look of deep thought, I tried to remember what I had been dreaming about, giving up a few seconds later. Turning around, I watched the light from the rising sun slowly wiggle it's was into the Safe House through the gaps between the bars on the door. Sitting there in a trance, I waited for the screaming of Infected to start. That was my cue to get moving.
Dimly, in the back of my mind, I acknowledged I should have been scared about my mental state. After all, the highlight of my day had become mass murdering rabid humans with my favorite shotgun. Then again… Did it really matter? I was alone. I was going to die. I had accepted that. The only thing I wasn't sure about was how and when.
With that cheery thought, and the sound of bone-chilling screaming, I grabbed my shotgun and kicked open the door ready for another day in hell. Population? Depends on my mood.
I would have made one hell of a cop… Or a serial killer…
I let out a dry, humorless laugh, before blowing the head off the nearest Infected.
After hours of killing Zombies, the human mind had a habit of drifting off into la-la land while the body went on autopilot. By the time I snapped out of my trance, the sun was in the middle of the sky, and I was hiding in an alley drenched in quickly-hardening blood. With a defeated sigh, I sank to the ground, putting my gun across my lap for a few seconds of thought. I needed to get out of the city. From the posters I had seen, there were a few possible evacuation zones. The problem was, I didn't know which ones were still functioning and which ones were overrun with murderous Infected. And I didn't have the time nor the firepower to check them all.
"Well… I guess I deserve this…" I muttered with a heavy sigh. My gaze drifted down, ending on my scar-covered hands. Some were from the Infected, others from falling. Some wounds weren't even fully healed. It was amazing what the end of the world could do to a person…
The sound of something metal- a can of some kind…?- rolling across the ground made my head shoot up. Out of instinct, I grabbed my shotgun and fired in the direction, the sound of metal hitting concrete telling me that it was a miss, but by the sharp yelp that sounded out, I didn't miss by much.
I paused, looking for the slightest movement. "Come out now, or else I'll shoot. I don't take kindly to people who try to sneak around behind my back." I heard a small whine, before a figure close to the ground crawled out- a Hunter, crouching on all fours. I was dead.
Knowing there wasn't enough time to defend myself when it was so close, I closed my eyes and hoped death wouldn't be too painful. Though when it never came, I opened my eyes and stared questioningly at the small Infected. He sat down, looking at me through the hair that covered his eyes.
"Well? What is it?" I asked after a second. "Just kill me already." Great. I was talking to a zombie. My sanity was beyond questionable at this point.
The Infected sat down, staring. He was small, I realized, and familiar. "You're the same one from yesterday." I muttered in confusion and realization.
As if in response, the Infected bobbed his head happily, like a dog getting praised by it's owner.
"Well? What do you want?" Did he want to finish what he started- no, what was I thinking?! The Infected were mindless killers. This one was no different. After all, he did try to kill me not even a day before.
As I was thinking, the Hunter was looking around, trying to find something. After a few seconds, he walked- trotted…? He was still on all fours, almost like a dog or wolf.- over to a nearby rock and gestured to it with one clawed hand.
I stared at it for a minute before blinking in realization.
My heart pounded in my ears as I grabbed my shotgun and pointed it in front of me, at the Hunter. I paused slightly, staring at him for a fraction of a second, before aiming at the airborne slab of rock and firing. It shattered, showering us with rubble. The small Infected whipped his head around, staring at me in an almost curious, contemplative way.
"I did that to save myself." I said flatly. "I wasn't protecting you from the Tank. I'm your enemy, and as long as I still breathe, we always will be." He let out a small whine of protest, walking over to where I was sitting. My heart began drumming as he reached out a hand and grabbed my gun. He pointed the end at his chest and bobbed his head from side to side.
"Yeah, I didn't shoot you, but I had a Tank to worry about. And compared to him, you're about as threatening as a teddy bear." He whined again, dropping the gun and tapping my shoulder repeatedly like a small child. "Just listen, okay?!" I hissed, shrugging away from the contact as my temper flared up. "I. Don't. Like. You. At. All. GOT IT?!" I got up, grasping my shotgun so hard my knuckles turned white. "In fact, out of all the Infected, you Hunters are the ones I hate the most, and why?! You killed everyone! Not just innocent people, but the people I loved! My friends and family! I'm all alone because of you Infected bastards and what do I have to show for it!? NOTHING! The only reason I didn't blow your damn head off was because I was distracted! So don't try to buddy up to me, just because you think I'm some charity worker that takes in stray pups or some lost little girl, because I'm not!" I could feel tears budding up in the corners of my eyes, but I ignored them. "I can take care or myself!!"
With that, I turned and walked away, shoulders shaking like a leaf.
I didn't need anyone… No, I was fine on my own. I didn't want anyone else.
I don't want to see someone else die because of me…
… Never again…
Oh my... Someone has a temper... o__O