The Resurrection: Part Four
The beast was still in control and devouring the boy's kill when the arrow whizzed by and stuck into the nearby tree with a deep 'thunk'. It vibrated back and forth a little bit from the force of its flight and its sudden impact into the tree. Before I knew what really happened, our body was up and running- straight in the direction out of which the arrow had flown. The man with short-cropped blonde hair stood trying to reload his bow, which was empty from having just fired.
His hands moved quicker as I moved closer and his eyes opened wide- like he had never seen one of my kind move that fast. He lined the new arrow into the shaft, but it slid out a bit as he instinctively began to move back a step because I was closing in even more. And then I was on him.
We both tumbled to the ground, our bodies twisting together in a grim tableau that looked like an octopus trying to kill itself with its own tentacles. I grabbed the crossbow from his left hand as he reached for a knife strapped on the right side of his belt with his left hand. His hand had just reached it when the crossbow slammed down on his temple with a sickening crunching sound.
He lay on the leaf-covered ground with his head turned to the left, exposing his neck to the fresh air. The beast in me could smell the blood gushing from his new head wound and it wanted to bite down. But the part that was still me heard the distant rustling and stomping sounds of others like the blonde man approaching. Somehow, I got enough control over myself to stand and flee.
The branches whipped at my face as I ran. I almost turned in the direction of town- which I know now would have exposed me and most likely lead to my death- but instead, I ran deeper into the woods. I bounded over a hill and fell over something large and round. I lay there dazed for a second, a strange hissing sound filling my ears.
I shook my head to clear it and pushed down on the ground to stand. I felt even smaller round shapes –rocks underneath my fingers. I stood and saw a river in front of me that stretched all the way into the horizon. It disappeared to the right, houses and buildings littering the shore up in the distance. I turned to the left and moved upstream, where the waters turned and were obscured by banks and hills.
The rapids pulled against me and water splashed around my legs as they pumped, shooting streams of white beads danced around them. Every few steps my feet would threaten to slip out from underneath me as they hit moss and algae-covered stones. One time, a branch grabbed hold of my ankle and started to pull me down. I fell into the water to my neck, barely catching myself from being submerged in the waist-deep rush of the stream.
As I fought the pull of the water, I looked to the right and saw an opening in the rocky shore that was completely obscured by an overhang of branches, stone, and mud. It reached back, large enough for me to wedge in- a perfect hiding spot, at least for a moment.
After a few moments, I allowed myself to imagine that I had gotten away. Then, I heard splashing approaching from the direction I had from which I had come. The splashes came in quick, stuttering bursts, and there were so many of them that it sounded like an army was after me. They slowed as they approached. Then voices rang out.
"He couldn't have gotten this far," said the first voice.
"You didn't see him, man. He was fast! Faster than any walker I've seen before." The second voice sounded frustrated and a bit more frustrated than the first.
"Are you sure he was a geek?"
"Yeah, you should have seen him. He was all messed up."
"I told you," added a third, cold voice.
"Was he bit?" asked the first voice.
"Yeah, but he was gut-shot, too," replied the second voice. "And there was blood. Dried blood."
"He could've been shot after he ran off," said the cold voice.
"I guess, but why would Rick run? I don't want to act like I was a big fan of the dude, but I do know one thing about him; He wouldn't have left Lori and Carl."
"Maybe it was someone else's blood. He did eat Glenn. Maybe he wanted to spare them the pain of watching him turn. Maybe he was just scared. Who the hell cares? The point is that he is done and we are here. Now, what do you want to do, let him go, where he can make more geeks just like him? Or, should we find him and put him down?" The cold voice waited one beat and then continued. "Well, I'm sure as hell not going to let him kill any more of us. I'm going to find him."
Splashes walked away, up the river towards town. They grew more distant, until they were inaudible.
"That dude is full of it. There was blood, sure, but there was a wound too. And not one that was made after he died. Those don't heal. This one looked like it had healed a bit." "Shane might be full of it, but he's also in charge now." "And when the hell did that happen? I don't remember and nomination or election process." "Things don't work like that anymore. Shane has Rick's guns AND he's the best of us with them." "Dale says Shane killed Rick." "And how does he know THAT for sure? He wasn't there." "I trust Dale more than I ever will that guy." "Well, I don't see any tracks off the stream. If he followed it, he should be straight ahead. I'm going on." "Don't you think we should go watch after Lori?" "Dale and Andrea have her. And Carl's still there. I'm not going back till that gets taken care of."
One set of splashes continued up the stream, and the next set continued after a moment later. I sat back and held tight to the inner wall of the space, and knew I was not going anywhere for a long time.
