**CHAPTER XIV**
Jake was running on all fours as fast as he could, away from the blinding lights that were chasing him. His claws scraped the pavement as he fled, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He had fresh blood covering his arms and chest, having just finished a kill inside that apartment building. Needless to say, the attack had been noisy, thus drawing attention. Now he had a fleet of vehicles with flashing red and blue lights on their tops chasing him, and had already gotten shot at at least five times.
They'd been chasing him for well over ten blocks, and he hadn't seen a good escape route until right about now. Skidding sideways, he bolted into an extra narrow passageway, tearing through the garbage that littered its floor. His pursuers sped past, and he began a fast climb up the side of one of the buildings, until he reached the top floor. It was here that he climbed into a wide open window, having to shove a small fan out of the way first.
He met a small double bed on the other side that he was not expecting to be there, and half toppled half jumped off of it, hitting the floor rather hard. The blanket was pulled off by his hind claws, and he kicked it away with a soft annoyed growl.
That's when he looked up and noticed the person sitting on the opposite side of the bed, now with his back pressed hard into the corner, his eyes wide as he stared in shock at what had just come in through his window.
There was a long moment of silence that followed as they both stared at each other. The survivor was the first to make a move, as he flew off the bed for the door. Jake knew he couldn't let this human escape; the others would be alerted, and his clean getaway would be foiled. He spun, his claws catching the young man by the legs, tripping him up before he could reach the door.
The survivor fell face first onto the carpeted floor, and it wasn't long before he let out a loud, frightened scream. Jake leaped on him, grabbing the guy's hair and yanking his head back, before he drew his claws over the survivor's exposed throat. Blood splashed over the carpet, and screaming turned to choked gurgles.
Letting go of the survivor's head, Jake heard it hit the floor as he looked quickly behind him at the open window, half expecting those angry survivors to come in at any moment and start shooting at him again. He stared for a long time, listening, waiting, but no danger came. He looked away with a sigh.
The survivor below him was still twitching with life, but Jake quickly changed that by taking the man's head in both hands, and twisting it sharply. Almost immediately a telltale popping sound was heard, and the body beneath him jerked and twitched as the severed nerves began to die.
Jake let the survivor fall limply to the floor, and watched the body continue to twitch and spasm. He'd only recently discovered this method of killing, and he'd found it out quite by accident. Landing on a survivor wrong the other night proved a quick and quiet kill, and it had become a fast favorite of his.
Not feeling quite safe enough to start roaming the streets again, he decided to hide out in here for the next couple of hours. It wasn't like he had a shortage of food or anything to hold him over. Climbing off of the dead survivor, he crawled over to sit in front of the entertainment stand and stare at the strange noise and picture producing box.
He'd seen television before, but of course, they were never on. Same with the vehicles, he had no clue what they were all used for before now. Anything he had from his previous life, memories, even the kind that would often come to him randomly in dreams, was now entirely gone. He had nothing to go off of when looking at these objects anymore. Still, he'd already gotten used to the odd way the rooms he entered with the survivors would almost always be filled with light.
Climbing up onto the bed, he laid down on it, crossing his arms in front of him so that he could rest his head on them and stare at the television, not quite comprehending it, but finding it interesting nonetheless. He'd been lying there for only about ten minutes, before he heard forceful knocking on the front door, across from this room down the hall.
He jerked and got up on all fours, surprised, and he felt his heart start to pound once again in fear. It was them, he knew it was them. They knew he was here. At the second series of knocks, he bolted for the open window, not caring about the long drop he was about to endure.
He flung himself out of the window and attempted to catch himself on the building opposite. He only half succeeded, before falling heavily into the layers of garbage carpeting the floor of the narrow alley. He composed himself quickly, and walked to the end of the alley to peek around the corners to see if there were any hostile vehicles or survivors around.
Suddenly, he heard a screech, a very definite Hunter cry. There were some men shouting, coming from the front of this apartment building, and then guns firing. Watching, he saw a Hunter, one he didn't recognize, running in the opposite direction down the street. He didn't know where that Infected had come from, but he didn't care. It was proving the distraction he needed; the survivors were going after it, not him.
Jake turned, and ran off in the other direction for the first safe place he could find. He'd had enough action for one night. These survivors were not proving as defenseless as he first thought they were; he should have figured they'd eventually start fighting back, and now he was trapped with them. How long before none of them were defenseless?
Creeping into a dark basement, he hid in the farthest, blackest corner, and began his long wait.
((()))
It was early the next night, Jake had slept for hours with nothing better to do, and was awoken by the terrified screams of a woman outside. Curious, he crawled to the entrance he'd used to get into this basement, and carelessly shoved one of the two wooden doors open.
Peering out, he immediately spotted what was making the commotion. Across the alley and the parking lot, a survivor was being hauled haphazardly up the side of a building toward a window by what looked like an incredibly thick rope. Her screams had been cut off by said rope, for it was wrapped tightly around her head, covering her mouth.
Jake stared in bewilderment for the longest time, trying to shake the sleep from his brain. He had never seen anything like this before in all his travels, and already he was feeling dazed from having slept all through the past day and part of the night.
After a quick glance around, he crawled drowsily from his shelter and approached the odd sight. Eventually he was standing directly underneath the dangling, writhing woman, watching her slowly ascend. It was only when she was finally pulled through that window that he made a leap for the overhang to his left, which brought him close enough to climb into the window.
Having had one too many bad experiences, he went very carefully with this one, peeking inside the window as best he could from his position, which was a little too low. He saw dark silhouettes, both of normal human size, and in the darkness it almost looked like they were engaged in some grotesque dance.
Was that another Infected in there?
Finally, he hauled himself up into the window, perching on its ledge and thus making himself fully visible. Suddenly, the strange Infected shoved its catch down onto the floor and began tearing at her. Her mouth was obviously freed, because her screams were no longer curbed.
What disturbed Jake the most about this scene was the sounds the attacker was making; odd and frantic wheezing, choking sounds as if it couldn't quite breathe.
"Over here!" A sudden voice shouted from outside, causing the Hunter to freeze.
Jake was torn between what to do, run inside and risk getting attacked, or jump back outside to find shelter elsewhere. The warehouse he was previously perched on looked like a good choice, and he turned and swiftly leaped back onto the overhang.
He saw the light of a flashlight, pouring out from behind the building he was just in as someone ran down the narrow part of the alley. He turned to the window to the warehouse he was on, not thinking twice before he crashed shoulder-first through it.
He had to drop a good twenty feet, completing it with a roll, tumbling across the dusty concrete floor. He looked up at the broken window, before getting up to run on all fours away from it, toward the back of the big empty warehouse he'd just broken into. He'd seen the doors on the outside were chain locked, so he knew no one was going to get in here unless they went through the way he'd just come.
Disappearing behind a wall, he was hidden in complete darkness. He noticed a small rectangular opening in the outer wall of the warehouse, just big enough to fit through. He crawled silently toward it, recoiling when he noticed someone was standing just outside. Very carefully, he shifted closer again and peered out at them, noticing that there was something a bit … off about the survivor. Something about the way they just stood there, staring, eyes strangely soulless.
It took him only a second to realize this was a common Infected, something he hadn't seen in quite a while. Determining it wasn't a threat, he slipped out of the warehouse. The common only gave him a confused stare as he passed by, but nothing more.
He paused when he saw dead bodies lying about near the end of the alley, five common and two survivors, blood was splashed about everywhere. A soft 'thud' sounded behind him, followed by the sound of shifting gravel. He spun around to face whatever had just landed, even before he heard the low growls issuing from its throat. A familiar Hunter, the one he'd fought with just the other night.
Jake really didn't have the energy to fight right now, but even so, he wasn't about to run. With a sharp snarl, he took a step forward, crouching low as if ready to spring forth and take the young one down. The new Hunter didn't waste time in pushing off the ground with a powerful kick of his back legs, which sent him forward to collide with Jake before he could react. They tumbled over the already blood-covered ground, and the sound of their roars as well as their clothes tearing was loud in the still, silent night.
They separated after only a few seconds, but already the young Hunter was looking badly torn. His shirt was entirely ripped off leaving him topless, and both his pant legs were badly shredded. Without anything to cover it, Jake could clearly see the long claw marks all over the other Hunter's well toned back and chest from him.
He was almost taken off guard when the young Hunter leaped in for another attack. Jake was just in time to flip over on his back and ready both his hind and fore claws for the defense. The smaller Hunter landed on him, but was immediately flung off by a well timed kick. Jake got up and jumped on him while he was down, and attempted to shred his completely vulnerable torso.
His attacks were fended off with surprising effectiveness, and Jake was soon forced to leap back if he was going to avoid getting torn open himself.
It was at that exact moment that a gunshot was fired, the bullet hitting the pavement right where Jake would have been if he hadn't jumped away. Both Hunters redirected their attention to stare at the two survivors standing right there in the alley, not two yards away. Jake didn't even think before he flung himself at the survivor with the gun. Another shot was fired but it missed, and he had the man on the ground before his partner even knew what happened. Jake didn't see, but he heard the young Hunter leap forth and take the remaining survivor. He was glad that the young one at least had the sense to attack the real threat in this situation, and not keep his attention focused on him.
The first thing Jake did was go for the throat. His teeth met flesh, and as he tore back, the fresh splash of hot blood in his face was signal that he'd just torn the carotid artery. He jumped away only after knocking away the survivor's weapon, far enough that it wouldn't be a problem anymore.
Rather than watch his victim flail around and bleed, he turned his attention to the other Hunter here. The younger male was still ripping away at the man, and judging by the way the survivor was jerking and gurgling, he was still very much alive. Jake watched as the other Hunter shredded and flung internal organs as well as meat and blood, mesmerized by the sheer brutality and carnage.
It was then that Jake noticed something, another survivor, standing a short ways off with a pistol aimed right for the younger Infected. There was sheer terror in her eyes, she was frozen by the shock of what was happening, which explained why she hadn't fired yet. Jake sprang for her, and finally, a shot was fired. Jake heard a yelp of pain that was not his own, and he landed on her and snapped her neck in the next instant.
Turning, Jake saw the young Infected had backed off of his kill, holding one arm off the ground as he stared in surprise at both Jake and the woman he'd just killed. Jake didn't know if the other Hunter realized what he'd done was just save his life, but he guessed by the way the other Infected was looking at him now that he had an idea. The older male noticed the gash on the other Hunter's arm, seeing that the bullet had only grazed him, nothing more.
A moment of understanding happened as their eyes met, and for a few seconds, neither of them moved. Jake was the first to break the moment, and turn to begin digging into the carcass of the woman he'd just killed. He was quite starving after not eating for at least a day and a half straight.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed that one, people. Think I'm gonna draw this out a bit longer than I at first thought, getting a lot of ideas. Either way, I'd like to hear your thoughts, of course, on how you think things are going so far.