6 months ago

The thunder came in a powerful crack that echoed throughout the forest. The rain was coming down in sheets and the thick clouds blocked any sunlight that was left from breaking through.

The sun had already start to set when the unexpected storm had only darkened the sky prematurely. Finn was sure that the duskies would take this as a chance to be out on the prowl.

Only a few months ago, the world had gone to shit and was in the middle of being taken over by bloodthirsty monsters. The silver lining, however, was they only came out at night. Which is why duskies loved storms. The clouds extinguished the sun's burning rays and the noise of the rain made those monsters completely soundless. It made it easy for them to hunt humans and that made Finn and the rest of the group highly vulnerable to an attack.

So stupid, he thought, we shouldn't be out here.

They had been scavenging in a nearby city when they saw the dark clouds forming. He had told the rest of the Runners to go ahead and make it to the boat before the storm rolled in. Finn stayed behind to help his brother Jamie hobble back to the docks so they'd both make it back safely.

Jamie always wanted to come scavenging, and Finn didn't have the heart to tell him no. Jamie could put up a fight, but he couldn't run as fast anymore—not since he tore up his knee during their last soccer season. It hadn't healed properly since, and now it only slowed him down. Most days the Runners only left when it was sunny, and they usually never ran into any problems, so it was okay to be slow, but today the sky was way too dark for comfort.

Finn looked over his shoulder to make sure Jamie was still keeping up. "Come on. Pick up the pace will ya," he egged his brother on. "I think that turtle just lapped you."

Jamie was struggling but he laughed anyway. He was about to snap a retort when he heard a terrible scream rip through the darkness. It was't human. Not anymore. It was something out of nightmares.

Both of their heads shot up in unison. A flash later and there was a duskie headed up the slope, impossibly and terrifyingly fast.

Jamie, having heard the duskie, started moving faster. If it was fight or flight, he chose flight.

He must look like an easy target, Finn thought, limping like that. A predator always attacks the weak and injured prey. However, his brother was not this creature's prey.

Without a second thought, Finn pulled out his gun and started shooting. The monster took the hits in the chest but didn't slow down. There was a flash of bloody fangs as it howled in hunger. Its eye were red and crazed. It was going to kill Jamie.

"Jamie! Behind you!" Finn yelled, too far away to attack the monster himself. He pushed his legs to run faster down the slope, but he wasn't fast enough.

Jamie spun to put a machete through the creature's chest, but he was too late. The monster had pounced and latched itself onto Jamie's neck, tackling them both to the ground.

Blood. There had been so much blood. Finn couldn't believe that a human could possibly loose that much blood and still be throwing punches. But his brother fought back. He kicked the monster off of him and it stumbled back.

Finn yelled in fury, a hard ball of rage forming in his throat. He forced it down and shot off more clips at the monster. Finally, one took and went through its heart, causing the monster to fall limp. He emptied the rest of the shots in its body for good measure.

Jamie's body had stopped moving too.

Oh God.

"Jamie!" Finn fell to his knees to meet Jamie's body on the muddy earth. "No, no, no, NO!" He gritted his teeth. His first instinct was to put pressure on the wound, but his mind knew it wouldn't do anything to help his brother. Jamie was bitten. He was infected. He would either die or Turn.

Pushing his hand against Jamie's neck, Finn could feel a pulse. A faint pulse, but it was still there.

His brother's eyes fluttered open, looking desperately at Finn. "Leave me. Go. Before more come." Jamie's voice sounded strained, like it was hard for him to speak. "They'll smell the blood." His face was so pale.

"No. There has to be something Doc can do." Finn said. He wasn't sure if he believed his own words, but saying them out loud gave him hope. He had brought Jamie up into his lap, and now he tried standing. He pulled Jamie up with him and threw Jamie's arm over his shoulder so that his weight would be supported. Jamie held a hand to his neck with what little strength he had left.

"You're going to be okay." Finn repeated as he helped Jamie to the last boat on shore. They had found an island that was safe from duskies and the only way you could get to it was by boat. Duskies hadn't exactly figured out how to swim yet.

The rest of the Runners were anxiously waiting in boats just beyond the dangers of the shore. Their faces went white when they saw Jamie had been bit.

Finn helped Jamie into a boat with two other Runners and laid him in the hull, Jamie's head on his lap and Finn's hand returned to putting pressure on the bite. There's too much blood.

It took him a moment to realize they weren't moving. Everyone was staring at Jamie in shock. "What are you waiting for?" Finn ordered to the other Runners. "We need to get back. We've got a bloody human practically sending out a smoke signal to every duskie out there. Get paddling. Now! We need to get off the main land."

They hastily started paddling.

"Finn," one of the Runners spoke up. He gave Finn a warning look. Everyone knew what would happen next. Jamie would turn into one of those crazed monsters and there was nothing they could do about it. What was the point of bringing him back to a place filled with humans that he could attack.

"You're going to be fine." Finn ignored their concerns and was whispering to Jamie, whose eyes were shutting more and more. Finn grabbed his brother's hand and squeezed tightly. "You can't leave me. Not yet. We only have each other, remember? You can't leave." As they paddled, the rain seemed to let up, but the boys were still drenched and sticky with blood. They could hear the screams of the hungry duskies start to burn as the light from the sun returned.

"Dammit! You can't die!" Finn screamed through tears. He brought his head down so that only his brother could hear. Softer he pleaded, "you can't leave me."

...

A/N Hi all, I hope you enjoy this book's re-vamp ;) Remember to comment so I know it's going in the right direction. Thanks! -E