Chapter 11
I squeezed the trigger on my M4 and it let out a burst of three bullets. An approaching husk's head exploded as the rounds tumbled and broke its decaying head apart. "Come on! let's move we have to go now!" I yelled, urging the others to keep moving. I led the way picking off husks as I did. I had to clear a path for the group, we had to make it out of the swarm and to the hills. We could lose these bastards there. "Will slow down!" Linda yelled, I looked back and saw Kyle struggling with two husks "Kyle!" I yelled "I got it! Just go!" he yelled back.
Mike was carrying Haley, the two of them looked ridiculous. Haley was a small girl, she was only five. She had silvery blonde hair and emerald green eyes, she looked like her mother. Mike was a gargantuan individual, easily towering over me, he must've been six and a half feet tall at the least. He had blue eyes and dark blonde hair. He held an adz in his massive right hand and a large knife in his left hand. Not only was he lugging a backpack along but he had Haley riding on his back. The stark contrast between the two would be almost comical if you didn't know them. Mike adored his daughter, she was the most amazing person in the world to him. And Mike was her hero, in Haley's eyes her father was Superman and he could do anything.
Rosana ran behind Mike and Haley, keeping husks away from them. Rosana had been their neighbor before all of this, and she was treated like family by them. She was sixteen, with long black hair tied back in a ponytail, brown eyes, and a faint purple streak through her hair from before the collapse. She wore mostly black clothing and a pair of combat boots. She held a semiautomatic shotgun in her arms and was not afraid to use it.
Linda was in front of Mike and his daughter, as a first line of defense. She was still wearing her camo uniform with a black tank top underneath the jacket. She had her wavy black hair down at shoulder length, and covered her green eyes with a pair of military sunglasses. The uniform hid her beauty, making her very intimidating. She raised her rifle and picked off a husk next to me "Will! Focus!" she snapped. I quickly raised my gun again and resumed my path-making.
We made our way to the woods and began running uphill as fast as we could. "Watch out for branches Haley." Mike said in his deep, smooth voice. "Okay." Haley squeaked tucking her head down against Mike's back. We powered up the hill and eventually came to a ridge clear of husks. I allowed myself to drop and I sat on my ass, panting heavily. The others sat down near me and we all passed around water and small pieces of food. Rosana sat with Mike and Haley, while Linda stayed standing. Kyle was- where was Kyle?
"Guys! Where's Kyle?" I asked as I jumped to my feet. "Did anyone see get out of the swarm?" I asked. "No, ah shit shit shit!" Linda swore as she paced back and forth. "Should we go back for him?" Rosana asked as she grabbed her shotgun and stood up. If Kyle wasn't here I knew what happened. There wasn't a damn thing anyone could do now. "There's nothing we can do." I said "what?" Mike questioned "if Kyle didn't make it out of the swarm there's nothing we can do. He's gone." I explained. "DAMN!" I yelled kicking a rock down the hill. I had lost too many people! Friends! How could I have managed to lose another?
"Son of a bitch!" Linda yelled sitting down angrily. I noticed a single husk approaching from the woods. Linda saw it too and she stood up. "I fucking hate these things!" she said as she unsheathed her knife and approached it. She delivered a kick to its knee and it collapsed, then she stomped on its back twice. "These bastards have killed so many people who didn't deserve to die!" She yelled as she brought her foot down on its arm and immobilizing it. She screamed and cursed at the husk as she beat the hell out of it, kicking it as hard as she could. Haley covered her ears and buried her face into the side of a backpack. She was whimpering and I could guess that she was crying. I drew my knife, walked over, and stabbed the husk in the head.
"What the hell Will? I wasn't finished yet!" Linda yelled as I pulled my knife from the creep. "Yeah, you were." I said sheathing my knife and walking back to my stuff. I could feel Linda's eyes burning holes into my head as I walked away. "Let's go. We need to find a place to sleep for the night." I said. I grabbed my backpack and began leading the way east. The others grabbed their packs and began to follow…
Leaves crunched under my feet as I walked through the woods "Ian, where are we going?" Jamie asked between heavy breaths. I took time to think about my answer, and realized that I didn't truly know the answer. "We're going for the mountains. It'll be safe there." I claimed. I hoped it would be safe there. There was no way to know if anywhere was safe anymore. "When we get there what'll we do?" she asked "we'll find a cabin or something, live up there." I answered. In between our footsteps I heard a stick crack loudly. "Stop." I whispered as I pulled my hammer off my belt and looked around for whatever was following us.
There were more clumsy and heavy footsteps. The woods took the noise and it echoed around, I couldn't tell where the noise was coming from. "Where is it-" "SHHH!" I hissed harshly, cutting off Jamie's question. I didn't have time to answer, I didn't need the distraction. Where the fuck was this- I heard a growling gargle to my left. "Ian!" Jamie screamed, I turned and saw a creep staggering towards her. "Move!" I yelled as I charged at the bastard.
I swung my hammer down and struck the creep on the head, it stumbled back and growled as it looked up at me. Its head had a small dent on the top where my hammer had hit it, it wasn't a good hit. I swung again and this time I broke through the creep's skull and hit its brain. My hammer lodged itself in the bastards head and refused to come out. "Damnit, it's stuck." I said as I tried to pull out my hammer. There was no way to get the leverage to pull it out, I choked up on the handle with my right hand and pushed the creeps head with my left hand.
"Ian, hurry up." Jamie said nervously "I am." I said as I put both hands on the handle of my hammer and pushed against the creep with my foot. "Ian!" Jamie whined, what the fuck could she want now? I felt the hammer give and I finally wrenched it free. "Okay, what is it now?" I asked as I turned to face Jamie. Suddenly I was aware of the growls and moans of the creeps filling the woods "oh shit, Jamie run!" I commanded, taking off into the woods at a sprint. "Ian wait up!" Jamie called "Keep up! Run!" I yelled back, I was sure as hell not getting eaten. I dodged creeps and ran over fallen trees.
I could hear something through the trees, it was loud and constant. I couldn't place the sound, it reminded me of a waterslide strangely though. "Ian!" Jamie screamed from somewhere behind me, I ignored her, I needed to focus on getting out of this alive. The strange waterslide noise grew louder but no more identifiable. I could see a clearing up ahead so I pushed myself to run faster. As I broke into the clearing I took a step that never touched earth, now I knew what the sound was, a river. The world seemed to move in slow motion as I fell towards the water, but eventually I hit it and was swallowed by the rushing water…
I heard people arguing. Yelling about what to do with the body. "Just burn her." someone said "no, she deserves a burial. She would want that much." Another said. Who were they talking about? "Hey they're back!" someone said. I pulled myself up to a sitting position and opened my eyes. I was in a truck, it was dim and warm. I turned my head towards the window to see where I was. "You're back, are you okay now?" a boy sked someone harshly "piss off." Another boy replied. I could hear footsteps approaching me and I quickly faked sleep. I heard the tailgate of the truck open and a few items clatter to the floor. "Has Steph woken up at all?" a familiar voice asked I sat up slowly "Carl?" I asked "Steph! You're awake!" he said happily, relief was clear in his tone.
"Where's Lauren?" I asked, Carl sighed heavily and let his head drop down. Without looking up from the ground he began to answer "she, got here. But she was bit. I put her down earlier today." He said shamefully. His shoulders were clearly tense and I could see him clenching his hands into fists. "I'm so, so sorry. If there was any other way I-" "would've tried it. I know." I interrupted. There was no reason for him to feel guilty about what he did. I looked behind Carl and saw the rest of the group standing silently.
Andrea was missing. She must've been dead. I wanted to ask how, but I saw Mark and decided against it. I was pleasantly surprised that all the people I saw were alive still. Some of my friends were still alive, the thought relieved me greatly. If I had been alone or in a group of strangers I would be very sad and disheartened. In my opinion you need friends to survive, because friends are people who are there no matter what and they never will turn their back on you. I still had them, it was gonna be alright…
"Are we there yet?" Haley asked tiredly, I turned back and saw her walking. She held Greg's gargantuan hand tightly as she walked. "Almost." I answered as I continued walking. I looked around as I walked, keeping a lookout for husks. Linda was walking out ahead of us, she'd been silent for the past few hours. She was never quiet for that long. "Damnit." I muttered as I picked up my pace. As I grew closer to Linda she tried to walk faster so I wouldn't catch up. I reached out and grabbed her arm "hey, slow down." I ordered.
"Piss off." Linda replied as she shook my hand off and kept walking. "Linda, what the hell's wrong?" I asked, trying to be quiet so Haley wouldn't hear our conflict. "I'm just so damn sick of losing people, and I'm sick of these fucking husks taking them!" she yelled before turning and walking even faster. I sighed heavily and hurried to catch up to her again. "Well don't just run off damnit." I said "I'm not running off. I just want space." She said "yeah, well it seems like you're running off to me." I said gesturing to the group. They were easily fifty yards behind us…
The sun began to dip under the hills. The light began to fade and wind started to pick up a bit. I set up a sleeping bag of top of the truck and sat with my legs hanging over the edge. "Are you taking first watch?" Nathan asked "yeah. I'll wake you up for second watch." I replied as I set my hatchet and new kukri next to me. I waited for the sun to go down and I watched the edges of the field. It was tough to see after the light was gone, luckily it was a moonlit night and visibility was better than normal. I heard some footsteps behind me and I turned to see Bianca with a backpack and a baseball bat.
She was staring out into the field expressionless. It looked like she was trying to make her feet move, but they wouldn't obey her. "Hey, Bianca." I whispered quickly, trying to get her attention. She suddenly jumped and spun around "what're you doing?" I asked, scooting to the other side of the truck. She looked towards the ground and crossed her arms "I was gonna leave." She muttered, embarrassed by her confession. "Leave, really?" I asked, trying not to seem like I was judging her or disapproving her decision. "Yeah. I just, I don't know if I can do this." She replied "if you're having trouble in a group you're gonna have more trouble alone." I stated.
I sighed heavily "come on up. You should talk it through with someone first." I said gesturing for her to climb up. She walked over to the truck and put a foot up on a tire, I reached my hand out and she took it. I pulled her up and she sat down next to me. "So, why do you want to leave?" I asked, Bianca took a few moments to come up with her answer. "A friend died today. I've never been through that ever. And I spent her last hours with her. I think it'd be easier to be alone so I don't have to do that again." She explained in a hushed tone.
"If you'd told me that a few weeks ago I would've agreed with you. Doing all this alone, it seems like it'll be easier. You don't have to rely on others, you don't have to watch anyone's back, or use as many supplies, or deal with people you don't want to. It makes some sense." I said. Bianca gave me a questioning look "wait, aren't you trying to talk me out of running away?" she asked. I chuckled "no. I can't make you do anything. And if you really want to leave I can't stop you." I answered. Now she looked even more puzzled "Okay, what are you doing then?" she asked.
"I'm making sure you know what you're doing. Because when you're out there alone you've got no one watching your back. You've got no one to help you when you're hurt. No one to talk to. I was lucky I ran into Ellie. Bianca, this isn't something you can easily do alone." I said. Bianca laughed a little to herself "I thought you weren't trying to talk me out of leaving." She said "I'm not. I'm just stating facts." I replied.
I looked out to the field and saw a single human silhouette approaching camp. It staggered back and forth as it grew closer. "I'll be right back." I whispered as I dropped to the ground, kukri in hand. I quickly approached the creep and unsheathed my new knife. With a quick, brutishly strong motion I swung the kukri through the thing's head. It went through easier than I'd expected and I found myself slightly off balance. I wiped off the blade on the grass and walked back to the truck. I climbed onto the back of the truck and sat next to Bianca calmly.
"It's strange that we're so casual about all this now." Bianca commented "I know, it's a bit scary." I said. After that we didn't have much to say, we just sat for hours in silence. Eventually Bianca fell asleep and I draped a blanket over her. I could entirely understand her desire to leave, sometimes it was easier to leave than deal with what was going on. I guess that was the reason I'd left before. I probably wouldn't leave now though, I just couldn't go alone again…
Water slowly pulled at my feet. It made a soft gurgling noise as it moved by. I slowly opened my eyes and saw dark sky. I was trembling from the cold, why was I so cold? I must've been in this water for a while. I tried to move but my legs and arms were like stones, it hurt to attempt to lift them. I heard footsteps approaching and tried to force myself to move, I didn't want to die like this. "Is it dangerous?" a little voice asked curiously. "No. I'll go handle it." another voice said, it was a girl's voice. These were people! "help." I managed to plead.
"Oh my god! He's alive!" another voice exclaimed. There was a shuffling of feet and suddenly I felt myself being pulled by my shoulders from the water. "Hey, hey kid, are you okay?" someone asked slapping my face gently. I tried to get my eyes to focus, but it was too difficult, I was too tired. "Let me get a look at him. Greg, you and Haley stay back." Someone said, I heard more moving of feet on pebbles. Suddenly I was hoisted off the ground and being carried away "this better not be a mistake." The man carrying me said…
Hours later
I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes. My head hurt a little, but it was nowhere near as bad as my arms and legs, which felt as though they'd been pulled off by each separate joint. "ow fuck." I cursed as I looked around, I was in a garage. There were no cars and I was on a bed of folded blankets, there were two people across the garage from me. One girl bout my age with long black hair and tan skin, she was dressed in black jeans and a dark grey hoodie. The other person was a man dressed in military clothes, he had a hat over his hair and sunglasses over his eyes. He had an M4 slung over his shoulder and a pistol on his hip in a holster.
The girl glanced over and saw I was up "Will." She muttered as she pointed at me and tapped the guy on the shoulder. "You're up. good." the man said as he walked over towards me "I'm Will." He said as he stopped about three feet from me. "Ian." I said, slowly bringing myself to my feet. Will took a half step back as I did, and I'm sure he was ready to draw his pistol. "What were you doing in that river?" the girl asked as she walked over to me. "Would you believe I fell in?" I answered, giving her a more than friendly smile.
She was cute. She had a nice smile, two beautiful brown eyes, and a nice complexion. She was more on the woman side than the girl side of puberty, and her long legs led to a shapely ass. Her shoulders weren't especially broad but they weren't narrow. And her- "hey, eyes up here." She ordered, snapping her fingers and pointing at her face. "sorry, uh, sooo what's your name?" I asked tentatively "Rosana. My name's Rosana. Not babe, or girl, or sweetie. Okay?" she asked aggressively. "okay, got it Rosana." I replied nodding my head. She turned quickly and left the garage, entering the house through a door across the room.
"You know how to piss them off quick kid. Come on, meet the rest of the gang." Will said as he led me towards the main house. The house was near immaculate and painted white. We walked through a hallway with no doors before we came to a living room with a few others sitting inside. "So everyone, this is Ian. Ian this is everyone." Will said. A little girl walked up to me and smiled "hi, I'm Haley!" she said waving at me in greeting "nice to meet you." I said smiling back. A large man waved his gargantuan hand to get my attention "I'm Mike." He said in a deep firm voice.
A woman about Will's age stood up and without a smile spoke "I'm Linda. Welcome to the group kid." She said sternly. Her crossed arms and cold stare made me uneasy. I saw she was next to Rosana and figured she was her mom or a relative of some sort. So by pissing Rosana off I'd pissed Linda off through the transitive property of social dynamics. Great start Ian, great fucking start…
