George had to stop and get acclimated to the rapid change in the atmosphere. A sudden blast of humidity caught his breath in his throat. The ground became saturated and sticky with the water that was lapping up at his feet. Somewhere off in the distance, water sloshed and clapped as unseen objects dropped into a body of water George couldn't see.
George was always apprehensive when faced with large bodies of water that he couldn't see through, but his normal hesitancy was augmented by the night's events, he didn't want to go near anything that would require him to swim. He hoped that it was merely a pond off to the side that they would walk by, but somehow he knew otherwise. Everything was always going to be more difficult than it needed to be until he got out of this cursed city.
The darkness seemed to blanket them for only a few short paces as small porch light-like lanterns hung on destroyed poles. Each light cast a small pool of light underneath, causing an eerily lit pathway with only interspersed threads of shadows between the tightly clustered lights. George's eyes had to adjust to the new brightness for only a few seconds, but as soon as they did he wished that he could go back and hide in the darkness.
Before the small group, a large swamp stretched out to all of the ends of the large area. From wall to wall water touched with only a few specks of dry land dotting the otherwise all encompassing swamp. Water bubbled and frothed in areas where small bugs moved and danced on the surface, but quickly escaped from whatever danger they perceived. George wasn't so sure he too could feel some sort of ominous danger underneath the opaque curtain of water. Contrary to George's fears, the area was bathing in a shroud of silence, other than the buzzing of a few annoying bugs not a single thing moved.
An unsettling calm came over George; he wasn't sure why but the place exuded peace. For some reason he felt at ease and on edge all at the same time, as if something was lurking in the minuscule shadows, yet he could see nothing was there. Kevin's pistol was in his hand as he snaked around the broken architecture and looked through windows with the panes smashed in, causing glass to litter the ground where he gingerly stepped.
In the alcove of what remained of an old guard's shack, a zombie stood hunched over where the group couldn't see. As they passed by, he lunged for Alyssa, his keys jingling as he fell on top of her. Her short scream was cut off as Kevin knocked the zombie off of her with a single powerful kick. Now on the ground, the zombie scrambled to get back on top of Alyssa, reaching his hand out towards her arm. Kevin kicked the grabbing hand away and shot the zombie once in the forehead.
Only once the zombie was dead did George realize that it was dressed in a zoo keeper's garb. He reached down when he was sure the zombie was long dead and grabbed the keys on his belt, figuring they would come in handy at one point.
As they moved on, it seemed as though with the sound of the cursory struggle, the peaceful atmosphere had changed slightly. He wasn't sure if it was just the fact that he and Alyssa now held their own pistols out in front of them as they walked or if something on another level had changed, but whatever it was George didn't like it. From somewhere in the swampy area, George could feel a pair of eyes on him, but he didn't know where they originated.
Yoko tugged on her backpack strap, pulling it closer to her body as if it were some sort of shield against the creatures in the zoo. In the dim light, George could see Yoko's jaw trembling causing her teeth to clatter in the overwhelming silence; she noticed him looking and realized that her teeth were making more noise than she had anticipated. Quickly, Yoko placed her bottom lip in between her teeth to soften her uncontrollable tick.
George stepped around the roots of an upended tree, skirting as much of the foliage as he could as they progressed further in what he could only describe as the most ominous body of water he had ever seen. A groan escaped his throat before he could cut it off. Kevin turned to him when he heard the noise.
"We just have to be careful around it, we don't know what else has been transformed by whatever the hell is making everyone and every," Kevin gave a cursory glance around the area, George was almost certain that he saw Kevin shudder slightly. "thing insane."
"Wait, did you hear that?" Yoko stopped biting her lip long enough to speak before placing her lip back in her mouth and biting more vigorously.
"Hear what?" Alyssa asked, looking like she wanted to press Yoko further, but also not wanting to make any noise. As if thinking as one, the four stopped moving, stopped talking, and as much as they could even stopped breathing. George heard the soft lulls of the water, the angry bugs buzzing noisily around his head, and he even heard the slow breeze that he had only been able to barely feel moments ago. Subconsciously George swallowed the anxiety he was feeling and brought up his pistol to chest level while still aiming at the sky. His head turned towards the water as he was sure he heard something moving, but then behind him something else shifted. Trees…no, more zombies…no, something else altogether. He was surely going insane, or maybe he was just paranoid, or maybe everything really was alive in this place and they were just in the middle of it all.
"I don't hear anything!" Kevin whispered a shout at Yoko. The poor girl shrugged her shoulders and mumbled what George took as an apology. They were all on edge already; the last thing they needed was to jump at more invented phantoms. God knows they had enough of them to last the rest of their lives.
The wind picked up, producing a high-pitched wail as it passed through the buildings and trees. They crowded together in a tight knot as they approached a mostly destroyed dock that hung broken in two a short distance into the water.
"It looks like we have to cross the water somehow." Kevin stated flatly. It sounded as if even Kevin didn't feel any courage in the face of the unseen. That if anything shook George to his core. He had taken Kevin for the rock in the river of uncertainty that this night had plunged him into. Yet now he looked as afraid as George felt.
"There's no boat though." Alyssa noted, looking around to see if she could prove herself incorrect.
"We'll have to swim then." Kevin suggested, but looked to George, silently pleading that he could think of a better way. George had none that he felt cowardly enough to voice. Kevin gave a disheartened sigh and scratched the back of his head. He gave one last look at the murky water before rolling up his sleeves and placing his pistol in the holster. "I guess I'll go first then."
Kevin knelt down and dragged a hand through the water, causing a few small ripples to form where his hand went. George saw some quick movements in the swampy water farther away. A little voice in the back of his mind told George this was wrong, that they needed to find another way around, but with all of its warnings it gave no suggestion to a better way so he ignored it as just his own fears relaying fabricated urgency. Kevin was crouched on the balls of his feet, bouncing with anxiety, trying to work up the nerve to just dive into the water. He had tested the water enough that anything that wanted to attack him would have done so already, but he looked as if he couldn't get himself into the water.
George considered just diving in himself to get it over with, but decided that just once he wouldn't act without thinking everything through thoroughly. His rash actions had gotten him in trouble more than once already and he figured that he could take a back seat for a little while at least. He reasoned that he deserved some rest at least since he was already infected. With that thought, he brought himself back into the darkness he had narrowly escaped. Just like David and Mark, George was now infected, he could change at any minute, or maybe he could beat the infection, maybe it can't be transmitted by birds. A thousand ifs swirled around in George's mind that he was so caught up that he almost missed the set of eyes staring back at him from within the water. Snapping out of his self pity, George started to raise a cry, but Yoko screamed first.
"Get back Kevin!" She bellowed as a humongous crocodile exploded out from underneath the surface of the water. Kevin dove to the right, narrowly dodging the rows of razor sharp teeth as they ripped into the remaining bit of dock that stuck out from the shore. With a vicious snap the dock broke away under the strain from the crocodile's mouth. Wasting no time, the crocodile threw the remnants of the dock into the water, creating a small man-made island that marred the water's spotless natural surface.
George heard Kevin splashing around in the water off to the side; he hadn't noticed that Kevin jumped in the water. Quickly, the crocodile shifted its attention onto Kevin, ignoring the prey that remained on dry land. Without thinking, George brought his pistol up and began firing, hoping to distract the crocodile enough to let Kevin get back on the shore.
At first, the crocodile took no notice as the bullets missed their mark, but when George steadied his aim and started to pierce the crocodile's unusually thick hide, it stopped moving and turned towards him. George had gotten what he wanted, but now he didn't know what to do. With unexpected agility, the crocodile shot out of the water and tore onto the land, barreling towards George. As quick as he could, George dove to the side, landing sharply on his shoulder as the crocodile's mouth slammed shut where he had just been moments ago. The crocodile used its momentum to spin and serpentine its way back to facing George. He didn't even have time to get up as it launched another angry attack. He rolled as fast as he could out of the way.
"Shoot it God damnit!" He found himself screaming without realizing. Alyssa shut her mouth and took careful aim at the animal, squeezing the trigger when she had her pistol trained where she wanted it. She didn't want to hit George or waste any precious ammo she had. The crocodile let out an apoplectic growl and turned to her. For a moment it hesitated, eyeing George up again before it leapt at Alyssa.
George saw her roll out of the way as he scrambled to his feet, her feet flailing in the air, trying to right herself, but failing to. He staggered to his feet, fighting the queasy sensation that was filling his head. His hands were unsteady at first but George quickly schooled himself, forcing his hands to stop shaking. Taking a deep breath, George held it in as the green blur snapped and tore at Alyssa as she herself rolled away from its attacks. George took the shot when he got a clear one, dark viscous blood spurted out in chunks from the crocodile as the shot struck its underbelly.
Another growl signified that he had caused the crocodile enough pain to forgo any further attacks on Alyssa. The crocodile spun with surprising ease, twirling a long sinewy tail that slammed Alyssa to the ground as the animal moved. Alyssa fell with a grunt, smacking against a tree root. George could only spare a moment for concern when she didn't get up before he had to slide behind a tree trunk to dodge the snapping, snarling jaws of the crocodile once more.
It was almost like a dance with the crocodile, it would move only enough to get an attack in as George jumped and dove away from those attacks. The crocodile was biding its time, waiting for George to get tired enough to make a mistake. George did everything possible to avoid making that one mistake, but it was all he could do to avoid certain death.
Alyssa was getting up wearily, shaking her head to clear her vision. Groaning she rolled onto her knees and quickly looked around, fully aware of what was happening again. She called something to George that he couldn't hear as he tripped over his feet getting out of the way of the crocodile's razor sharp teeth. Jaws clapped shut each time the crocodile failed to connect with George's body.
Angrily, Alyssa shouted something again, waving her arms to get George's attention. He stole a glance at her that nearly cost him his arm. George leaped backwards, affording him enough space to bring up the pistol and let off a shot into the crocodile's mouth. It roared painfully as blood spurted out of its mouth in steady streams that stopped moments after they had started. The crocodile's lips parted enough for George to see bloodied teeth facing him in what could only be interpreted as a toothy grin.
"Doing something would be helpful right now!" George shouted as he attempted to shoot once more, but was forced to roll to his right. His movements were getting sluggish and tiresome; the attacks were getting quicker and closer to him than he felt comfortable with. While he was still on the ground, trying to get back on his feet the crocodile turned its head and prepared to lunge at him. George threw his arms up, hoping it bit them instead of his face or anywhere vital but he never had a chance to get his arms in front of his face before a shot rang out and hit the crocodile. The beast recoiled and fell back a few paces shaking its head, letting blood squirt onto the already damp ground. Kevin was helping George to his feet while Yoko sprang into action; she jumped onto the crocodile's back and stabbed it repeatedly in the eyes. Rearing its head, the crocodile attempted to throw her off, but she clung on with one arm while relentlessly stabbing it anywhere she could now that it was blinded. Crying streams of dark, nearly black, blood the crocodile started to slow down and protest less. Yoko reached down below the crocodile's mouth and drove the blade of her knife up into the gullet of the beast. Yanking the blade to the side, she slit the scaly throat in a rough line.
George looked away as the esophagus, arteries, and other innards emptied out onto the ground. When the crocodile finally floundered to a dead stop Yoko rolled off of the animal panting and covered in streaks of blood. Despite not wanting to, George stared at Yoko on the ground. He never thought she could be capable of such violence. She had stayed off to the side for the whole ordeal, he never imagined she would even dare to fire a gun let alone take on an enraged crocodile with only a knife.
"Th…thank you both." George stammered as he helped Yoko to her feet. She dusted her pants off as if nothing had happened, but kept her eyes on the ground away from the corpse next to them. Nodding, she picked the knife off the ground and slipped it into a pocket of her backpack, rubbing her nose as she zipped the compartment back up.
"Let's just hope that that was the only one in there." Alyssa noted, pointing at the crocodile with her pistol. "It looks like we're going to have to swim across."
It was then that George noticed that she was right. Bits of the bridge that once went above the swamp for visitors to look down at the animals now lay in the swamp as debris floating around at odd increments. George grumbled but tucked his pistol back into the messenger bag at his side that was lined to keep water out as best as possible.
Kevin was the first into the water, sliding in with ease after already being drenched. The rest of them were more resistant to entering. Freezing cold water enveloped George's body and forced his clothes to cling to his shivering body. He had to force his teeth shut to prevent them from clattering. Alyssa was repeating something over and over again that George couldn't hear, but he assumed it was an admonition to just make it to the shore not fifty feet away, he himself was saying something much the same.
George pushed his hands out in front of him and kicked his legs, pulling his arms back down to his side once his momentum slowed to keep himself moving through the water. It was the only swimming stroke he was comfortable with, since he hadn't been in the water very often since he was a child. Kevin, on the other hand, was pulling himself violently forward in the water, clearing the distance to the other shore in little over two minutes. He stood on the other end of the swamp, offering helping hands to the other three and nearly pulling George out of the water, despite George being capable of getting out of the water himself.
"That wasn't so bad now that that thing is dead." Kevin said with a hint of a smile. George shook his head with his own smile while retrieving the pistol from his bag. "I think the door's over here somewhere."
Kevin led the way around a small thicket of bushes to where a solitary rusted door stood. It opened with a loud creak revealing another smaller pathway that wrapped around the wall of what looked like a log cabin on support beams. Kevin walked through the door warily, holding his pistol in front of him like he was trained, stopping when he heard what sounded like growling.
Instinctually, everyone froze and listened for any signs of animals that might be infected. The last thing George wanted was an infected wolf coming up behind them and tearing out their throats. Kevin raised a fist to halt any movement, despite that everyone had already done so. Slowly, he peered around the corner of the cabin, bobbing his head out as he moved closer. His head drooped and he spun around, resting his head against the wall of the cabin he sighed, dejectedly.
"Two dog like things; they're bigger and seem faster." Kevin answered the unspoken questions. "We can't get a break can we?"
"What do you suggest?" George asked, hoping the man had some sort of plan, or training involving rabid dogs that might help.
"Shoot them; I don't know anything else we can do." Kevin subconsciously checked to make sure there was a round in his pistol, upon finding one he let his hand drop down by his side. George looked at his also, ejecting the clip to see how many shots he had left in the clip. To his surprise it was almost empty. Then again, he had shot the crocodile a lot, but he didn't remember shooting nearly enough to empty the almost the entire clip. He must have forgotten to put more bullets in throughout the night. Rifling through his bag to find the box of ammunition he had, George noticed that Alyssa and Yoko were also trying to check their weapons.
After reloading his pistol agonizingly slowly, George slid the clip back into the pistol and cocked the gun. He nodded that he was ready for the fight ahead and waited for the other two to give their approval too. Kevin frowned and shook his head at no one in particular as he pushed off the wall and brought his pistol up and swung around the cabin.
George blinked; the dogs that Kevin saw were gone. All around was quiet, a shallow breeze blew through the trees, but otherwise nothing stirred. Kevin side stepped to get a better look around the cabin, ready for any sort of ambush and only dropped the pistol slightly when he found nothing of the sort.
"I don't like this." Yoko said to George's right, a makeshift spear that George assumed David had made for her, resting in the crook of her arm ready to use. "Maybe Kevin didn't see anything, but it still doesn't feel right."
Kevin shot her a glare; she must not have been talking as softly as she thought. A small shake of his head was the only admonition she got to remain quiet. Yoko looked stricken, but didn't say anything afterwards. Kevin and Alyssa stepped gingerly around the next part of the winding path in near unison. They hugged the wall of the cabin as they passed through a natural arch of vines and roses.
George could see the stairs now, just off to their left only a few paces away. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the dog –like creature for what it was; a hyena. The hyena was blocking the stairs, snarling at them, but there was only one, certainly they could take one lone hyena. Something gnawed at his mind, something was wrong with the one hyena.
He needed to think, why was it wrong? Obviously the hyena was infected, but that was common place here. What was it about the hyena that was wrong? Did he know something that could help them? Was there a weakness or a strength that they could exploit or care to avoid?
Strengths.
George latched onto the word; they had strength, strength in numbers but there was only one, he couldn't be thinking about their numbers. Or could he? A lone hyena was a strange thing. It was strange because they always hunted in packs!
George turned around just in time to see the hyena leap from behind him; jaws open to rip out his throat. At the same time, the other hyena lashed out at Kevin and Alyssa. George could hear gun shots ringing out, but he didn't hear any yelps or cries, they must have missed. He had more problems to worry about though; the hyena was turning back towards George while he was still laying flat on his back. Scrambling, George tried to get to his feet, but the hyena was faster, it started at a fast sprint, teeth baring and ready for blood.
Yoko jumped in front of George, spinning the spear in her hands so she could thrust with it. In one swift movement, Yoko had the spear in her hands properly and was stabbing at the hyena. The animal changed direction quickly, avoiding the spearhead, but diverting enough to miss attacking George as well. It was enough of a distraction that George pushed himself up to his feet as Yoko took another stab at the hyena. All of her attacks were met by a deft jump to the left or right of her lunge.
Stealing a glance back at Kevin and Alyssa showed a scene similar to their own, Kevin and Alyssa circled the hyena, trying to get it into a position where they could shoot it without it dodging. Yoko screamed as the hyena took an opening she had left it and leapt at her. Dropping his pistol, George wrapped his arms around her, pulling Yoko slightly to the right, dodging the hyena's mouth. She groaned as the hyena dug its paws into her shoulder and scratched roughly leaving trails of blood down her shirt.
Yoko slipped out of George's hands grabbing at her shoulder in agony. George quickly picked up the spear Yoko had dropped and turned to face the hyena. It was already in the air, snapping its powerful jaws. George threw up the spear, brandishing it like a shield. The hyena hit him square in the chest, but the spear forced the hyena's mouth away from George's throat. He fell back with the hyena still standing on his chest, the only thing between him and certain death was the spear lodged in the hyena's mouth like some sort of cruel bit.
Wood bent and creaked as the hyena tried to bite through the wooden handle David must have found from an old mop or broom. George tried to push the hyena off, but it stayed stiff, struggling to get the spear out of its mouth. Its growls became more and more enraged, growing louder and louder until the hyena sounded more like a train than an animal. The hyena pulled to the right and George matched its movements to prevent it from getting free. To the left, then right, swinging its head back and forth it tried to shake the stick out of its mouth, but George was matching it more or less with each turn of the head. He wanted to get a knee under the animal and roll it off, but he couldn't spare the concentration to raise the knee.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as his already tired arms started to fail him. George pushed further with the spear, forcing the hyena's head back, but he couldn't push too far or else the hyena would slip underneath the stick. He slackened as the hyena started to pull away to entice it to attack again without backing away from the spear. It took the bait and pushed on again with what it thought was weakness from George. The hyena stopped when the spear wouldn't budge anymore than it would before George began to push farther away. Realizing the attack wasn't going to work, the hyena started to jump back, hoping to recollect itself for another unguarded attack. George couldn't let that happen, he had to move now.
Throwing his weight into the hyena, he rolled onto his stomach, pinning the beast underneath him, with the spear still in its mouth. Flailing about, the hyena tried to right itself by scratching at his chest and face, but George looked away, sacrificing his chest to keep his face unmarked. Pain ran up his chest as each claw dug into his flesh, tearing narrow fissures into his chest. A soft scream escaped his lips before he could stifle it in his throat, rousing Yoko from her injury.
Quickly, Yoko jumped to her knees next to George, scrambling for the pistol he had dropped. She picked it up and looked at it for a minute, considering something George wished she would hurry up with. After what seemed a lifetime, Yoko pushed the gun into the hyena's gullet and squeezed the trigger. George's ears rang after the bullet left the trigger from being so close to the gun when it fired and blood blew back into his face, but the hyena stopped struggling under his body.
He rolled off, exhausted and hoping they had a bed in the cabin that he could lay down on, when he remembered the other hyena. Groggily, he sat up and took the pistol from Yoko's hand. Aiming at where Kevin and Alyssa had been, he was ready to pull the trigger on anything moving until he saw that they were on the ground panting as well over a fresh corpse.
"There better be something damn important in this lion's den." Alyssa huffed.
"What about this cabin? Maybe there are medical supplies or...something that could help us." George said as he stumbled to his feet wearily. Without waiting for a response, George started ascending the old wooden stairs to the cabin. When he didn't hear any protests behind him, he guessed the others were following. He wasn't sure where he was leading them, there could be another ambush ahead or maybe, just maybe there was some sort of respite. However, he learned long ago that hope this night didn't mean much in reality.