Chapter Seven: Pain
Thomas Rogan's POV
G and I had been out here with some of our comrades for days on end, killing as many zombies as possible. The land was mostly dirt, as if the grass was so afraid of zombies that it refused to grow. The skies were dark and cloudy, but it did not rain. There was scattered debris of all sorts of things, from buildings to playgrounds to airplanes. In order to preserve ammo, the other agents decided to stop using their guns and picked up anything they could and used their new weapons so it would take longer for me and G to run out of ammo, giving us better chances of survival.
Then, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I checked to see who was calling me. It was Sophie. I knew it was a bad idea to talk to her on the phone while killing zombies, but something urged me to do it.
"Thomas?" Sophie sounded panicked; just like she did 22 years ago.
"Sophie, what's wrong?" I realized how much worry was in my voice after I spoke.
"The whole town is currently being attacked by this… this thing, and it's taking a little while for the police to get together and stop it."
"Well, get to cover in our basement," I ordered.
"I can't, Thomas; I'm trapped and… oh no. No, no, no, no, NO!" After that, all I heard was static. I dropped my phone, paralyzed in horror. It was just like 22 years ago. Sophie was in trouble. If I hadn't acted so quickly, surely she would have become a zombie. And now there is a high chance that she is dead.
Then I stopped zoning out when I heard G yell, "Rogan, look out!" I turned just in time to see a zombie with a club swing at me. I jumped before it hit my head, but then it slammed its club into my right leg. I fell to the ground, clutching my leg in pain. I was sure that I had at least five broken bones in there somewhere. Before it swung again, one of my comrades bashed it in the face with an old lead pipe, knocking the zombie's head clean off.
"You okay?" Everyone else ran over to me. One of the other AMS agents, who had a higher rank, turned to G and gave him an order:
"G, you take Rogan out of here and come back as quickly as possible. In a few weeks, I want Rogan back out here. Understood?" Both G and I nodded.
G helped me up and helped me limp through all the land we had gone past. As we got closer and closer to civilization, more and more signs of life appeared, like grass and trees and flowers.
Several hours after we began our journey, G and I reached the city. Quite a few buildings were burning, a bunch more were heavily damaged, and my house was gone. I broke free from G and limped over to where the house once was.
"Sophie?" I cried out for my family. "Lisa?" G grabbed me and dragged me to the hospital as I kept crying out my wife and daughter's names.
I had passed out once we got to the hospital and awoke in a hospital bed. The whole room was white, and everything looked clean and crisp. "Sophie," I croaked.
"Thomas?" I recognized that sweet voice that came from the other side of the blue curtain to my left.
"Sophie!" I practically jumped out of bed, pulled the curtain aside, and limped over to my wife. She has a few cuts and bruises, and several first to second-degree burns. "Sophie, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, honey," she replied as she reached out and grabbed my hand. "Nothing worse than what you've been through. Why are you here?"
"A zombie broke my leg pretty badly. I hate the fact that I've left the field of battle, but at least I get to see you again." I smiled. No matter what, Sophie could always make me smile. That's one of the things I love about her. Then, something hit my mind. "Where's Lisa?"
"She's out with Daniel. They went to a cute little place called Kurain Village. Apparently, Daniel had something important to do up there. They should be fine," Sophie seemed calm. Those two had better be okay. I nodded in understanding. "Now go back to bed, Thomas. You need some rest."
Normally, I would argue with Sophie to get my way, but I was plumb tired and needed some shuteye. So, I obeyed my wife like every good husband learns to do and climbed into bed. It didn't take long for me to pass out in my bed. I dreamt of that incident 22 years ago. After saving Sophie, G and I discovered the madman Dr. Roy Curien. His own creation, some monster he called the Magician, killed him before we could deal with him. Then the Magician turned on us. Despite a long, grueling battle, it eventually died, vowing revenge on the two of us. Why did I dream of that? I was hoping for something… nicer.
