(A/N) Welcome back! And today, I plan to make you slam down your device in rage. Mwahaha! Oh yeah, it's Romeo's turn to narrate. Have fun guys!
A bloater. Of all the types of infected to meet in a tight spot, this had to be the one. With the body of an XXXXL weight wrestler and ability to throw bomb-like spores at you from a distance, it was no walk in the park dealing with these things. Rumour on the grapevine, bloaters were clickers that collected too many spores over time and just turn into the monsters that they are. That's why you kill every clicker you see before it kills you, or become a bloater.
"ROMEO GET DOWN!" Wendy screamed, diving out of the tree. I followed suit, hitting the ground hard and running in the opposite direction of the bloater. The ugly creature snarled and made wild seizuring motions with its arms. Spores on its limbs detached and hurled in different directions. One flew far enough to land in front of my and Wendy's escape.
"WENDY! GET AWAY!" Before she could stop and take cover though, I acted first. I pushed her toward the nearest tree and shielded her body against the trunk with my own. Her face was buried into the fabric of my shirt, no doubt a bit uncomfortable.
The spore exploded and scattered its golden and yellow poison, affecting everything near it. I had to retch at the horrible smell it gave off. Pushing away from the tree, I linked arms with Wendy and pulled my shirt over my face and mouth. Wendy mimicked the action.
Arm in arm, we made a mad dash to nowhere. We flew past trees, bushes, and toppled trunks in our daring escape from the monster tailing us. Thankfully, bloaters were slow when it came to chasing down their prey. The sound of its frustrated growls growing more and more distant every step. Just to be safe though, we still held our shirts over anything that could breathe in the spores.
After running for a little more than ten minutes, we started to slow down. As we slowed down, we realized we had reached the edge of the forest. I soon gave up on trying to stand and decided to sit down to try and catch my breath. Wendy did the same, letting her shirt fall down from her nose.
"W..Well, that was a thing," she huffed. I gave her a side glance. The sweat glistened on her brow, making her bangs cling to her forehead. Her jacket had moss sticking to it, and leaves with twigs stuck to her jeans. Other than that, she was still alive.
"Y..yeah Vogel...a thing." Standing up, I knew we couldn't stay here with a bloater behind us and closing in as we sat back. I extended a hand to Wendy. She stared at it for a moment, before taking it in her own. Her hand seemed so small and fragile compared to my big one. None the less, I knew I couldn't think of such a small detail like that at a time like this. We still needed to put some miles between us and the bloater. There could be more nearby.
"We better get at least two miles away from here. Maybe we should also find a river and wash the spores off our clothes. It might not be much, but we can't afford to be careless," I said. Spores were one of the two ways that you could turn into one of the infected. If we had it on our clothes, it could give us hell later.
"Right, let's get going," she said. Wendy must've dealt with spores before. I hadn't met many city dwellers who understood why you couldn't leave spores on your clothing. They think that just because they live in the city that bloaters aren't something they should be afraid of.
We found ourselves once again walking across an open field. From where we were, there was nothing for miles but tall grass and weeds. Even so, I knew from experience that there were hidden rivers in on open plains like this.
Wendy picked up her pace, turning to walk backwards with her hands behind her head.
"So, you've seen bloaters before?"
I nodded. "Yeah, it was on my first run in fact." I stuffed my hands into my pockets and held a more relaxed pace. "The thing was so uncoordinated though, it fell backwards down a cliff and snapped its neck."
"Stroke of good luck, right?" she asked, turning back around to walk by my side.
"You could say that, or just a fatal flaw in the bloaters design."
"Mayb-"
The crack of a gun made both of us jump and look back at the woods. A pained screech that could only have belonged to the bloater echoed in my eardrums. More gunshots were fired. Before I could say anything though, Wendy took off towards the forest.
"Wendy! Stop!" Her head whipped around as she ran back into the woods.
"We can't just leave the person firing that gun to fend for them self!" She called. "What if they need our help?!"
She soon disappeared into the undergrowth, her form lost in the tangles of tree trunks and underbrush. "Damn it!" I cursed before sprinting after her. Wendy was much faster than I and was way ahead to the point of me losing sight of her. Thankfully, she left a trail in the fallen leaves and mud.
Another scream boomed on the wind. More gunshots were heard and a high pitched human scream was heard. "Wendy!" I called, afraid that the bloater had reached her before I did. I couldn't lose her like I lost Dad. I don't think I bare the pain again watching an infected rip another person I swore to protect away from this life.
Some spores were becoming visible, clouding some of the way ahead. I ran straight through them without thinking if anyone could see me or not. I had to find out who was screaming on the other side.
When I broke through the spores, I saw Wendy. She had her Glock drawn and pointed at the bloater we had fought. Only this time, the bloater was laying face down and definitely dead. Wendy was breathing heavily and I could see her hands shaking.
"Wendy.." I could only breath a sigh of relief. I walked towards her, making her turn at the sound of my footsteps. She smiled, making me calm down even more. "Nice of you to join us."
Us?
"Hi, Rome."
That voice. Looking up across the bloaters body, I saw her. The woman with strawberry red hair and a sniper rifle on her shoulder. That ever present creepy smile she always wore was beaming at me. Her feet shifted under her as her knees pigeon toed in to make her steps look awkward.
Flare of Raven Tail.
"...Hello, Flare..."
Flare smiled even brighter, "You remember me! Good boy!" She cheered, cocking her head so far, it looked as if her head would roll off her shoulders. "I assume you know why I'm here-"
"The answer is no. I'm not going back there."
The redhead made a weird 'tsking' sound with her mouth. "Well, well, well. What am I to do? Why can't you just stop running, Fireball?"
I gritted my teeth and raised my voice, saying, "Because I don't want to be your stupid fake myter! You and that stupid squad of yours!" My voice dropped as my head fell.
"I'm not going to die at your hands like my father did..."
I could hear Wendy gasp. It was a tiny sound, but it was the loudest noise in my ears compared to the silence that clung to the air around the three of us. It was something she needed to hear though. She needed to know what Raven Tail had done to deserve my distrust and dislike for the. Flare just chuckled before continuing.
"Well, I guess I have no choice then." The click of a gun made me look up. Her handgun, no doubt the same ceremonial revolver she always carried around, was pointed right at me.
"Wait, stop!" I heard Wendy say in a panic. "Can't you just let him go?!"
Flare only chuckled as her head cocked even further to the side. The blood hammered in my head as the seconds ticked on. I only closed my eyes. Knowing Flare, she wouldn't kill Wendy, it's not how she rolled. That was the only thing that let me except my death in peace. The fact knowing my friend was safe from Ivan.
BANG!
