Chapter 14

Alexiev Sakorsky

I didn't buy it for a second. Josh didn't look like he was in good shape. He was sweating like he had a fever, his hands were shaking. His eyes seemed to flicker in between recognition and then unrealness. No way some sort of 'raccoon' bite could do that. Besides, Josh had been light about it. He had made it out to be a joke. From what I had seen of him...Josh didn't joke.

"So um...hey Josh. You um...feeling okay there man?"

Salone gently nudged him with his foot. Josh seemed startled. His eyes snapped up to Salone, going wider and then squinting as he tried to focus on him. Josh moved his lips, trying to form words with the shaky breaths that came out.

"Y...yeah. J...just a...I think I...I caught s...s...some...somethin'..."

Quickly glancing over to Salone, we both met eyes. With a slight nod, it came to my understanding that for once, me and Salone were on the agreement of something. And as much as that would be a good thing...I wished this wasn't it.

Josh dropped his eyes again, taking in a gasping in a deep breath as his eyes flitted among the grass, watching it with what seemed the greatest of paranoia. It made me feel uneasy to be so near him. Looking around, my eyes settled on Nikole.

"So, um...vhat do you propose ve do now?"

She blinked. Glancing at Josh, and then back on down the tracks, she swallowed before answering.

"Josh um...Josh said that those...that those things had been following him. And um...I don't think he can walk right now. He doesn't look fit for it. You um...you two should carry him. We should probably follow the tracks, to the next city. See what we can find."

I nodded slowly. It was the only thing I could think of to do anyhow. We definitely were not going to go back, and we would only end up wasting what little we had left here if we stayed...

"Alright zen. Salone, get his legs. I'll get the top half."

I positioned myself behind Josh, bending down and taking hold of his shoulders. Salone stayed planted in his spot though. Looking up, I gave him a scowl. He winced slightly, looking back between Josh's face and mine.

"Aww..come on Alex. Why do I have to carry his legs? I might get- er...rabies or something. Yeah, like a disease."

"Salone?"

"Yes Alex?"

"Stop being such a pussy and pick his legs up. I vant to get out of here."

Reluctantly he bent over, gingerly taking hold of his legs and lifting them upward. We picked him up together, Salone resting Josh's legs on his shoulder, and me wrapping my arms around him to keep his own in place. His skin was unnatrually hot, even too hot for what seemed like a fever. Having him this close to me, literally on me, made me feel nervous.

"Neekole? Can you carry ze backpacks?"

She nodded to me, sliding one on to her shoulder and holding the other, walking calmly in front of us. Awkwardly Salone and I walked, trying to be a bit careful of how we carried Josh. We were gentle, if maybe not entirely him, than for the sake of ourselves. It was bad enough to lose just one person. One person could mean everything. As Stalin once said, "One dead, is a tragedy. One million deaths is a statistic." About right now...that one death was becoming quite a tragedy.

We slowly passed the wreckage of the previous night's train collision. Smoke still wafted up from the jagged metallic mess that had once been two working objects, objects of machinery operated by humans. Humans who probably no longer existed. Humans who would never laugh or smile again. Things that were now just mindless bodies bent on the feeding of human flesh. Human flesh that I personally, wished to keep on my person.

After a few minutes of stumbling and frequently tripping ourselves over the track, the outline of buildings appeared on the horizon. Nothing was said though as we continued on. Everyone was being quiet, they seemed lost in their own thoughts. Nikole had to have known about Josh. I knew about Josh, and Salone...he let on more than he liked people to think. Everyone knew what had happened without allowing anyone else to know. We were keeping it from each other when we knew that everyone else was aware of what was wrong. It was like pretending someone didn't have a disease, yet trying to stay away from them without allowing anyone to know that you knew.

We slowed down as we came upon the buildings. Except for the dull call of the pigeons, everything else was silent. But even for an empty city, it seemed too quiet. Looking up at the skyline, searching across the rooftops of buildings, a glint of light reflected off into mny eyes. I squinted, trying to see what had caused it. As I did, the glare died down enough for me to register the outline of an unmoving, lumped shape...and the scope of a sniper rifle staring down at me. And then, it happened...

My vision seemed to explode. I was blinded. Then as soon as it happened, it was clear again. Only it wasn't my vision. It was me. I saw me. Me, in the snow, in Russia, running for my life. It was everywhere. Flashing, back and forth. Screams, gunfire, the bodies of parents and friends and family, cold corpses etched upon the snow. The glint of a sniper's scope, the loud report of the round as it flew threw the air, the dull sound as the bullet penetrated my sister. The soft brushing sound the snow made as she fell. The fall of snow mixing with her blood, the redness staining the pure whiteness around her, framing her shape into the ground. Scope after scope after scope, light, bullets, sounds, everywhere, everything around me, everyone was dying, screaming, running, bleeding, asking for me to save them. Dying in my hands, asking me to help...

"Alex, get DOWN!"

I came crashing back to my own world, finding my heart was thrusting blood throughout my veins. The loud explosions caused by a hunting round echoed off the sides of buildings, The sound of bullets bouncing off concrete and steel. Nikole was crouching on the ground, pouring round after round from her M4 up at the building where that someone had started shooting. Salone jerked his head at me, and we quickly ducked behind a wall, laying Josh down. I stood up quickly, about to rush to aid Nikole when I felt something warm and wet on my cheek. Rubbing it off and pulling my hand away, I found a streak of red liquid dripping off my finger.

Looking slowly down at Josh, I stood frozen in horror as I took in everything about his face: His half-open eyes..his dark lips...and the sweat, the sweat that was surrounding a small hole in the center of his forehead.