10.
Soft voices echoed through the still forest. Chris jolted awake from his uneasy sleep and glanced around frantically in fear of an attack from the creatures that haunted his dreams. After realizing there was no immediate threat, Chris took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Trying to remain calm and composed, he ventured out into the woods.
Chris's mind flashed back over the events of the last hour and a half—a lot had happened in such a short time period. After resting a few moments the last time they'd taken a break, he had picked Jill up again to continue through the forest—slower, this time. Chris hadn't been walking long when they arrived in a clearing. It seemed like a good place to take another break, since it was—for the most part—out in the open. He would be able to see approaching danger from a distance. A wide river raged nearby, framing one side of the clearing.
Chris began to investigate near the center of the clearing, and by chance stumbled into the perfect hiding place: a fort of fallen trees. It looked like it was originally one giant tree that was so ancient, it had eventually fallen down across the clearing. The tree appeared to have knocked over other ones with it when it fell. Together, the trees had fallen in such a way that they resembled a half-collapsed tent. By crawling under the smallest of the tree trunks, Chris found it opened up into a miniature room, protected on every side by walls of tree bark. Branches and leaves, both dead and alive, formed the roof of the enclosure.
He had deemed it a safe enough place to rest until help could arrive. After leaving Jill in the tree fort, Chris reluctantly returned to the forest to cover up the trail of blood their wounds had left. The last thing they needed was another mob of blood-crazed zombies showing up when they were sleeping.
Chris peeked through the leaves of a bush, curious. The soft whispers he could barely make out over the rush of the river seemed to be getting closer. It almost sounded like voices. Human voices. Unless zombies had suddenly gotten smarter, he was hearing people talk. Talking people meant that they were definitely alive, which meant… help was on its way already?
He glanced back at the fallen trees, where Jill's sleeping body lay. "I'll be right back, honey. Stay there…"
Chris stealthily crept forward, headed for the voices. He was sure they were human, but he didn't want to risk it. Could it be Rebecca and her friend? It was painful to admit, but he was sure neither of them could have survived this long.
Taking a few more steps forward, Chris carefully kept himself covered in the trees. Without consciously meaning to, he glanced back in Jill's direction. He didn't feel very comfortable straying too far from her side when she was in this kind of condition. A wistful sigh escaped him, then Chris reluctantly returned his attention to the voices.
"Oh, that's probably my favorite color, too. That or green." Chris easily recognized it as Rebecca's voice. He was about to step out to greet them, but curiosity stopped him. He didn't know who Rebecca's friend was, the one who had saved them with his car. It had been too dark to get a good look at him, and Rebecca had certainly never mentioned any guys. So, feeling like a gossip-happy old woman, Chris remained silent.
"I like green too," Rebecca's friend replied. A single pair of feet padded against the forest floor for a minute longer, as Rebecca and her friend continued to exchange silly chit-chat. Suddenly, they stopped walking and fell silent. "The blood stops here," Rebecca's friend commented, obviously confused by the fact.
"What does that mean? They're nearby?"
"I don't know… Maybe. I guess we'll have to look arou—"
A bloodcurdling scream cut him off. Horrified, Chris's thoughts instantly flashed back to Jill. "Jill!" Chris shouted in horror, abruptly spinning around and sprinting back toward her. The sudden motion reopened the gash on his leg, and blood spurted from the wound. He cried out in pain, but kept running. "Jill…"