Author's Note:
AWWW YE. NEW CHAPTER C:
ENJOY!
~x~
Montgomery Ahead
I was dreaming. Rain flooded down from the overcast grey skies, soaking me to the bone despite my new jacket. I shivered in the cold, finding myself in the middle of a Prattville street. Where was everyone else? I called out before I could stop myself, but all that came out was a harsh shriek. I clapped both my hands over my mouth, but I had already made too much noise. There were people coming down the street, and they didn't smell like the group of survivors I was with, or Lily, or the Duchess.
They stank of bullets, and hot metal, of blood and smoke and other things I didn't want to know about. And I could hear them, talking in code and using a radio. Soldiers! Only the military still had good enough equipment to communicate with radios and have so many guns. I could see them now, just down the street, dressed in wet camouflage, armed with rifles and other weapons.
Bullets clanged on the car next to me, and I froze for a moment, frightened. And then instinct kicked in, and I ducked behind a car, running as fast as I could with the large backpack bouncing against my back. I ducked and weaved between cars, hearing the sound of gunfire behind me and saw the bullets flying past me, hitting cars, windows, the pavement. One bullet passed so close to my face I could feel the little bit of the heat radiating from it, and it took some of my hair with it as well.
The soldiers were calling out now, halting their fire, and asking me to stop running. They had mistaken me for an infected, or so they said. I turned to face them, wary, raindrops pattering down on my welding goggles. One of them took his hands off of his gun and shouldered the weapon, showing him to be unharmed and not a threat. Still, I was wary. The rest still had their weapons out, although not pointed at me, and I was nervous. It was my first encounter with humans besides the survivor group, and I was scared. Terrified, to be honest.
"Sir, please remove the goggles and keep your hands in the air. We will escort you to an enormous military encampment, where you will be processed-" The man didn't finish his sentence, because I was already hopping onto the roof of a nearby car. I lifted the goggles, my yellow eyes glowing with a lightning flash in the distance.
"Monster! Everyone, FIRE! FIRE!" The man shouted, and the others lifted their guns, bullets already spewing. I crouched and leapt up to the roof of a nearby building, certain I could get away….
Something smacked me in the back, and I felt something warm trickle down my back. And then the pain kicked in, knocking me off balance. I was falling, falling, and yet more bullets were hitting me, tearing through my backpack, my skin, and my spine… All was going dark… And as I hit the ground, something dark and hoarse hissed in my ear:
You may fight me, restrain me, hurt me, but you'll never get rid of me, Alex. I'm always here. Once a monster, always a monster…
My eyes shot open as the thunder echoed through the cotton mill, accompanying the flash of lightning. I was covered with cold sweat, and the blanket and ropes soaked through. I was breathing harshly, still recovering from the nightmare. That voice… why did it fill me with such a sense of dread? But it had sounded like the inner Hunter, only this time filled with malign intelligence and a cold tone that had never been present before. Now that I thought of it, I hadn't been hearing the inner Hunter raging inside the back of my mind… it had gone silent recently. I had thought that had been a good thing, but now…
"Oh, Alex? Are you awake too?" whispered Lily, whom I had not even noticed was awake next to me, her eyes open and staring at the ceiling. I nodded, shifting uncomfortably in the rope bindings, adjusting the sweat-soaked blanket. Lily crawled over to me, still wrapped in her blanket as best as she could manage, and carefully untied me. I smiled at her gratefully, and then stretched out a little, draping the blanket over my shoulders and wrapping it around me, creating a small bubble of warmth from my trapped body heat. Rain was pounding on the roof of the abandoned cotton mill, and in a few places rainwater dripped through the boards above and onto the floor. This happened near the bathroom, and I could see that some people had placed buckets under the trickles, and some of the beds had been moved to dryer places. Another flash of lightning, and another boom of thunder echoed through the cotton mill. The thunder was getting louder and louder, a bane to my sensitive ears.
Lily crawled closer, and I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and drew her close, wrapping the blanket around both of us. Lily was trembling slightly, and I knew that she was afraid of the weather. She had always been afraid of storms in the past, ever since a camping trip gone wrong when she had been five years old. I remember hearing her footsteps heading to my parents' room whenever there was a storm, and her hand clinging to my arm when we had to fly on a plane during a storm. Even now, her hand slipped into mine, and I squeezed it comfortingly as a loud boom of thunder echoed above us, following a large flash of lightning. We sat there in silence for a long while, as mostly everyone slept on around us, and watched, as the light grew slightly brighter as dawn approached.
However, most of the other survivors awoke just after the sun rose. The storm hadn't let up, and there was still thunder and lightning, but the light outside had lightened slightly. There was a strong wind blowing outside, stirring up dust and dead leaves while the heavy rain soaked through everything. The Duchess had woken up at last, and she was talking softly with some of the other survivors. Everyone else was already lining up for the bathroom, ready to splash warm water on his or her faces and prepare for the day ahead. Lily had fallen asleep again half an hour ago, her head against my shoulder, and I gently shook her awake, motioning towards the Duchess and the bathroom as she groaned and sleepily opened her eyes. She muttered a quiet 'thanks' before yawning loudly and stretching as she stood up, and then joined the line of people waiting for the bathroom. I decided to stretch as well, folding my blanket after I stood up and worked the kinks from my back and arms. Once the blanket was folded neatly, I slipped it into my backpack. I ran a hand through my hair, again surprised and delighted at how soft it was when it wasn't knotted and tangled. Lily had done a great job with such limited resources, and I was glad my hair was in some semblance of order. I don't know how to explain, exactly, but it made me feel… more human. Less like a savage creature and more like a human being. Silly, I know, but still.
I waited until Lily was near the bathroom and out of sight before I pulled out my breakfast from the backpack. It was packaged raw boneless chicken breast, with three of them per pack. I sliced open the plastic package with one claw, and drew out the first raw piece of meat. I didn't want Lily to see this, my feeding method. My body was now adapted to eat meat of any kind, especially the raw kind, adapted to feed off of other living creatures. I could digest raw meat without repercussions or fear of disease. With the virus inhabiting every cell of my body, I doubt I could get food poisoning or some other sort of disease. But that was beside the matter.
I took a large bite of the raw chicken, relishing the taste of the meat on my tongue. My stomach growled angrily as I took my time chewing the meat, demanding more food, more energy to fuel my body. I devoured all three raw pieces of meat within a record time, and savored the taste afterwards, licking my hand clean before disposing of the plastic package. And then I stood up, heading towards the dwindling bathroom line to wash my face and hands. I passed Lily on the way back, nodding to her as she passed.
Once it was my turn in the bathroom, I splashed water over my face and hands, washing the smell of raw meat off of me. Well, someone could still smell it on my breath, but hopefully I could avoid breathing on someone (definitely not Lily!). Once that was done, and I felt a bit more awake, I cleared the bathroom for the next person in line and went back to my sleeping place, plopping down next to Lily and shrugging on my green jacket. I knew I had forgotten something earlier, and when it hit me I wanted to smack my head against a wall in exasperation.
When getting more clothes earlier, I had forgotten to get a shirt as well. I had gone so long with just a hoodie and boxers I had completely failed to remember to snatch up a shirt. I sighed morosely. All I had was a jacket, boxers, and shorts to stand against the freezing cold weather. I made a mental note to get a longer pair of pants for colder weather, and possibly some boots. Infected though I was, even that would not protect my body against the dangers of cold weather. When winter came by, such clothing as mine could cause me to loose some fingers and toes, perhaps even an ear or a larger limb. My backpack was pretty empty; such clothing would not be a burden in terms of carrying weight. I was stronger than humans, anyhow.
Finally, the Duchess addressed the entire group about the plan for today. "Alright folks," she began, "this is the plan. We'll do one last hour sweep through Prattville before heading down highway 6. This is the fastest route to interstate highway 65, which will lead us past Montgomery before taking us to highway 191, and then using a few more highways to lead us to Talladega National Forest, which is the location of a CEDA base. CEDA has built a giant blockade around a large portion of the forest, which I learned from some of the scientists here, and that they take great pains to remain as quiet as possible and not to attract the attention of the infected, for the most part. Indeed, a lot of the facility is built underground and into large hillsides, allowing room for growing their own food and purifying their own water. They have no other survivors staying there, so we should be fine in terms of space and resources, but make no mistake. We're going to have to work for our keep, whether it is working with the plants or patrolling or whatever they ask you to do. I know a lot of the boys and girls serving there, and they are a decent bunch, ya hear me? Does everyone understand the plan? Any questions?"
Most people nodded assent, but a few raised their hands. The Duchess pointed to one of them, nodding her head to allow them to speak.
"You said we'd be passing by Montgomery, right?" The woman asked hesitantly, and the Duchess nodded before she continued, "Military reports say that Montgomery was overrun, and it's a very large city in Alabama. Doesn't that mean we'll run into hundreds, no, thousands of infected? Wouldn't that be dangerous?"
Others voiced the same worry, fear briefly reflecting on their faces. The Duchess nodded.
"Yes, I know we'll be passing close to the city, but we don't have much choice here. Most of the other roads were bombed by the military, according to radio reports, or completely closed off and overrun with infected. Montgomery is really our only shot for getting to the Talladega National Forest as quickly as possible. Despite our scavenging so far, we don't have much food, water, or energy to take any other route. Any more suggestions for how we get there?" The Duchess asked, and everyone else was silent. There were no more questions after that, and finally, everyone just packed up their bags and set out. We were going to do one more sweep of the town, hitting the remaining grocery and supply stores, and then we were going to leave Prattville, exiting via highway 6.
I was allowed to go ahead of everyone, on the condition that I would meet everyone at the entrance to highway 6 within an hour. It was only after I leapt away from the group and across the bridge that I realized that I had no way of telling time. Whoops. As I leaped from rooftop to fire escape, up the side of a building, and onto another rooftop, I just hoped that I would complete my objectives fast enough to catch up with the group.
Finding another clothing store wasn't that hard, and I quickly found some boots my size. However, I would have to cut the claws on my feet in order for them to fit, but I think Lily would be able to help me with that. I also managed to procure a grey short-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of fingerless gloves. I quickly changed into the t-shirt, and placed the fingerless gloves inside my backpack along with the boots and a pair of socks. Once I stowed that away, I exited the store and quickly located another grocery store. Most of the meat was useless to humans, especially the ones who had already raided the store. They had been after the canned food and other necessities, not after the meat that would spoil very, very soon. However, it was no problem for me, and I could easily see there was still quite a bit of packaged and refrigerated meat. In addition, there was still a bit of dog food left, and it would be easier to carry. Packaged or not, meat would still smell rancid if I didn't eat it very soon. I was hesitant about eating food meant for dogs, but then again my palate had changed so much I wasn't very picky anymore. I piled a bunch of cans into my backpack, along with some boned chicken (maybe chewing bones would help wear down my teeth?), some more bacon, and some pounds of beef. Even with all that, the backpack still felt lighter to me, and about halfway full.
Once that was done, I exited the store, careful to avoid the two infected I found in there, moaning and staggering around. They reacted initially at the sound of my footsteps, but after a moment lost interest again and turned away, growling and moaning and vomiting all over the place. I watched them for a few moments, hesitant, unsure what to do. They had recognized me as infected, so that meant they wouldn't attack, but I was still scared. Although the infection had hit only a short while ago, in terms of world time, but it had felt a lifetime ago, running from ravenous infected that would attack me as soon as look at me. And now they ignored me, like I was a part of the ruined grocery store. The feeling was… odd, and slightly disturbing.
I exited the grocery store quickly, after scouting around the near-empty isles for any sort of supplies I could take for Lily. I found three cans of soda: Diet 7-UP, one of my favorite sodas from before the infection. This would be useful: sodas contained calories and energy, and a body needed such energy to function. The soda had been knocked from the refrigerator (no longer functioning, with no power in the store) and underneath the shelves, which is why they had been missed. There was also a box of Pop-Tarts, and a can of cold chili. All in all, a pretty good haul.
But now I felt that time was running short, since I spent a bit of time crawling around the grocery store, searching under the stands and shelves, looking for items others had missed. That was how I found most of the food and drink, with the exception of a few things still stuck on the shelves. Lily loved Pop-Tarts, one of her favorite junk foods since our mother had allowed her to eat sweets. They were still wrapped in their foil packaging, and they hadn't reached the expiration date on the back of the box.
I exited the store quickly, dashing out of the open doors and quickly jumping to the nearest building, clawing myself onto the window ledge as I got my bearings. From the signs below, thankfully printed in large, helpful letters, I knew I was going in the right direction of the freeway. From that, all I had to do was keep sticking to the signs, traversing above the streets and above the abandoned cars and occasional infected.
I couldn't estimate how long it took, but eventually I saw the freeway ramp leading up to highway 6. The whole ramp and the highway itself were choked with cars, but no signs of infected that I could see. However, as I got closer, I could see cars down the highway were littered with bullets, but more than my survivor group ever had. Slumped over one or two of the cars were corpses dressed in army camouflage, and there were dozens and dozens of bodies on the ground between the cars, all stone cold dead. The military had been through here as well, though a short time after they had slaughtered the citizens of Prattville.
I landed on the roof of a car, perched there while I scouted the surrounding area for my survivors, while staying completely in view the entire time. I knew some of the survivors were trigger-happy, and even with my green jacket I still could pass for one of the infected if I popped out suddenly. Having no desire to be gunned down, I sat cross-legged on the roof of the car. I could still the phantom pain of bullets connecting with my back, from that terrible nightmare…
I shuddered at the memory, and at the cold voice that spoke to me at the end of the dream, when I had been dying at the hands of military. The inner Hunter had terrorized me before… but that dream had been something it had never done before, and before it could only speak in half-words and phrases. Was the inner Hunter that cold voice? If so, I was worried… closing my eyes as rain fell down around me, I looked inside my mind. Sure enough, the inner Hunter was there, but it was silent, no longer ranting and raving in the depths of my mind. I didn't know what to think of it, but I wasn't about to initiate conversation with the inner Hunter. It seemed like a terrible idea.
Footsteps drew my attention away, and I wiped away the rain from my goggles as my survivor group appeared around the corner of a group of buildings, their backs bulging, weighed down by their various supplies. Lily spotted me first, and she dashed over quickly, her smile eminent even from a distance. She arrived next to the car I was sitting on, and I quickly slid down, standing next to her with a smile echoing her own. The others arrived quickly, and the Duchess quickly muttered a plan. Four people would go ahead of the group, armed with melee weapons, quietly scouting ahead and dealing with any infected. If there was a large group or a special infected, they would either return to the group to discuss what to do or shout for help if it was needed. With 30 survivors, there was a high chance of easily defeating one special infected, save a tank. A Tank would be deadly on the crowded freeway, with so many cars and other throw able objects close at hand. The scouts would take shifts, switching out with people from the main group of survivors. With the plan in mind, everyone set out, gripping his or her weapon tightly.
We spent the rest of the day on highway 6, but we managed to get to the entrance of interstate highway 65 before diverting off the freeway into a forest for the night. Montgomery was nearby, just about two hour's walk, less if you used my leaping speed. There was smoke rising from the buildings, but there was no sign of any fires from inside the skyscraper-laden city. Everyone kept glancing at it nervously, as though an entire horde was going to burst forth and charge him or her. Everyone was on edge. And as the sunset sank down below the horizon line, that tension mounted as everyone settled down for the night. However, after a short meal and a quick assignment of who was on watch during the different hours of the night, everyone eventually calmed down slightly. We were all exhausted from walking along with highway in the driving rain and wind. The male survivor tied me to one of the trees, and then Lily draped my blanket over me, tucking in the corners to give me the best protection from the wind. I slid my goggles off of my face and down so that they were around my neck, and pulled the hood low over my face. It took a few minutes, but exhaustion kicked in and soon I was sound asleep, Lily lying down next to my tree.
Screams and gunfire echoed through the forest, driving me out of my peaceful slumber. Dark figures were darting through the trees, people dressed in dark clothes and armed with guns, already firing. My survivor group was under attack! As I watched, the male survivor who kept tying me up fell to the ground, bleeding from a dozen wounds, and the dark figure that shot him run over and snatch the man's backpack right off of him, along with his weapon. This was happening all over the town, and there were so many bodies of my group. I struggled against my bonds, searching frantically for Lily. She wasn't in her sleeping bag, nor was she in the pile of bodies. She, like the others, had apparently fled into the woods with the others. The Duchess was gone as well, and now there were more dark figures than my survivor group. Tears were trickling down my cheeks, watching the others getting gunned down and brutally murdered. They didn't deserve this. No one deserved this, except for the dark figures in the trees.
One of them approached me, noticing the ropes binding me to the tree. He knelt down in front of me, grinning, rifling through my backpack. He eyed the packages of raw meat with something like disgust (the best stuff was at the bottom, where it would be protected). I growled at him, baring my fangs right in his face, my yellow eyes flashing angrily. I fastened my teeth around the man's arm, digging in with all the strength behind my jaw. The man screamed, struggling, trying to unclamp my jaws from around his arm. I wouldn't let go, snarling and growling around his hand, my infected yellow eyes glowering with anger. I would kill him, no, tear him to shreds for what he had done. These hadn't been my friends, per se, and we'd had our arguments and differences, but they had still helped me escape the laboratory and the insane scientist that had tormented me there. They'd shared their lodgings and their bathroom, and had trusted my judgment (for the most part) on the number of infected and the map. They hadn't been friends, but they'd been close as was possible for an infected and humans. And now I was angry.
That's right… kill them, tear them apart! Rip them apart until there's nothing but giblets left, and then you will have avenged them!
But now the man raised a gun, and he aimed it straight at my face. I was too far-gone, too far absorbed in my primal, infected rage. BANG! The man collapsed, his body limp, blood splashing onto my face as the bullet fried the man's brains. The Duchess stood there a few feet away, a pistol clutched in her hands. She nodded at me once as I spat out the man's arm, and then more survivors streamed into the campsite, firing guns at the dark figures. Many of them fell, but the remaining few streamed away under the cover of darkness, leaving behind the corpses of their fellows and survivors behind. After all of them had fled, everyone who was left stood there, shell-shocked. Including me, there was ten of us left.
"Split up and search all the bodies. Take their backpacks and whatever supplies they have, and then separate our group and burn them. The noise will have attracted infected; we need to leave as soon as possible, and we don't have time for a grave. Burning them will be all we can do. Leave the other attackers for the zombies to feast on." The Duchess said coldly, everyone remaining dashing to do her bidding while Lily cut my bonds. I stood up, rubbing my wrists, and then wiped away the blood on my face before picking up my own backpack, shoving my blanket in it, and then joining the search. About thirty minutes later the corpses were stacked and the fire lit, and I had a few more bottles of water and food. Several of the remaining survivors were injured, and we had already used most of the medical supplies. There was a map on one of the attackers, which we had figured to be another group of survivors desperate for supplies, and according to the map there was an outpost station near the highway, for stranded cars and trucks.
It took another hour to reach the station, and while the Duchess, Lily and I cleared the remaining infected there, the others piled inside. Once we were all inside and out of the rain, the Duchess turned towards me, her eyes desperate.
"Alex, I need you to do something. We have a few supplies here, but not enough, and the only place we can get more is Montgomery. You're an infected, something that comes in handy right here, right now. We can wait here three days for you, before infection kicks in or we start going without food. I need you to get whatever supplies, as much as you can, from the city, and bring it to us. Can you do that for me?" She asked, and I could tell the Duchess was on her last legs. She was trembling, and clutching a knife wound in her side, and she was clearly making the last decision she could before she was out of energy.
"Please, please go as soon as possible…" she murmured, relief flooding her expression, before the older woman collapsed to the ground, unconscious. I got her up on the counter, taking out my own first aid and applying it to the wound, before nodding to Lily, who looked worried but nodded back. She had heard what the Duchess said, and although I could tell she was scared for me, there was no other way. I was the only one who could get into the city without bringing a horde on my head, and I was the fastest and most physically fit at the moment. Without another glance, I changed into the longer and warmer pants, and emptied my backpack of everything but a few packs of bacon and a map. I would need the space for carrying supplies. With that ready, I exited the rest stop, and turned towards the ramp heading into the city, crouching and leaping into the night.