Tadashi pressed the gauze to his side as he attempted to stand up, hauling the supplies with his free hand. His blood splattered across the dirt and he kicked it with his shoe, attempting to cover it up. Leading a group of rogues to the safe zone with a blood trial was probably not the best of ideas. He cursed inwardly- his new pair of converse was ruined. But he couldn't be bothered any longer; he could worry about the rest of the shit on his shoe if he made it back alive first.
His chest tightened as he lurched forth, the pain piercing his side. He let out a mirthless laugh as he helplessly watched his bloody slowly ooze from the tear wound, realizing that he had put himself into some kind of juxtaposition, where he had the capability to be his own saviour or grim reaper.
Tadashi halted at the bridge and scanned his surroundings. No, not good. He couldn't go back on that path in his current state. There were too many cars and they choked up the bridge. The risks of a lone clicker or runner lurking behind the shadows of the vehicles were high. Tadashi had already spotted one- a young child with matted hair strapped tightly onto a car seat.
The scene might have brought back some familiarity if half of the creature's face had not been eaten away by fungal growth. The grimy mass was beginning to creep into the child's left eye, which was being held limply by a rotting muscle at its decaying socket. It must have sensed Tadashi for it was not thrashing wildly against its seat, eyeball swishing back and forth like a pendulum. It was much too grotesque and Tadashi looked away, helplessness washing over him. There were actually two routes across bridge, one was the highway and the other was a wild path by the sides. Wild because it had been barely touched by humans, meaning lower chances of encountering infected. But it included going through harsher terrains.
He let out an exasperated sigh as he trudged forth. The alternate route back would not be any different from this route either; the debris and clutter posed just as much danger as running into the infected. Tadashi was not new to this environment- in fact he had been doing this run for two years and knew the congested terrain inside and out. But now he could not think cohesively and his head was spinning from the rapid loss of blood. His mind now flickered like a weak flame as blood trickled from his wound with each step. He abandoned the gauze in favour of pure pressure from his arm, stuffing the limp cloth into his pocket.
"All this trouble to gather intel." He let out a watery gurgle. His throat was dry and crackly.
"God knows if I'll still be able to remember all that shit."
Barely a few kilometers after, Tadashi began to become delirious, his steps becoming distracted and sloppy. But the thought of dying in the middle of nowhere somehow kept him alive. It would have been a little anti-climatic to die just like that. At least dying in the infected clusters would make him somewhat more of a hero than the bitch who gave up too early.
He stumbled and fell onto the dusty road, choking and wheezing as he did so. His will to carry on was depleting faster by each second but he scrabbled to continue moving. Somewhere behind him came the rustle of dry leaves and the cracking of twigs. Tadashi's body tightened in apprehension as the noise drew closer, followed by the low, unmistakable moans and pattering of feet. The moment he turned around, he saw the first runner. His hands trembled slightly as he fired a shot at it: the gun was meant to be the last resort, and the runner's fifteen other friends coming in from all directions were his consequences.
Tadashi groaned, holding onto his side as he limped out of the clearing and to the nearest car, a silver indium. He tossed his backpack up onto the vehicle and scrambled up, hoping to gain a clearer vantage point. To survive required the skill of thinking ahead of even neuron impulses themselves. Every action required planning and extreme precision. Tadashi drew in a breath and made a head count- there were about 28 of them crowding around the hood of the car and more were streaming in fast. There was no emotional connection involved, no guilt or pain. Only cold, calculated shots aimed at the infected. It wasn't murder. It was pest extermination.
The whole engagement lasted for about ten minutes, but with the pain ebbing in his sides, it felt as though he was fighting a never-ending battle. Soon thick rings of corpses, smoking at the heads, were lined around the Mercedes. He didn't know how many he'd taken out but it was enough to bring him down. Tadashi lay atop the car, panting heavily. He closed his eyes as his hands felt around his sides for the supplies. He brought the backpack close into him and squeezing his chest towards its warmth to dull the pain beating against his abdomen. His supplies were intact, and most importantly, he was intact. But the gun was now useless: he was entirely out of ammo. Panic shot through his spine and he slid down the hood of the car painfully. He continued on the dirt path for about another twenty minutes, expecting another hoard, but none came.
Soon the camp was within sight and walking distance. Muffled shouts could be heard and Tadashi unbuckled all his equipment, dumping them unceremoniously on the ground despite protests that he was still "outside the zone". He laughed grimly at their warnings. It wouldn't matter if he died now, he had served his purpose to them in the very least and they could easily take him out if he were to be infected. But now that he was still alive and retained his cognitive ability, he had the apex to answer to.
"Where the heck did you come from, Tadashi?"
He grimaced as a man from behind reached out in concern. Dreading the heaviness of bodily contact, Tadashi stumbled past the man, but not before tossing the bag of supplies behind him.
Apologies for the delayed updates. I hope you will enjoy chapters 2 and 3. As I will be extremely busy with school from this week onwards (A levels year! The joy!), I'll be doing updates of at least 2-3 chapters in a go. This is to make up for the lost time. I really appreciate the viewers who took their time to drop reviews/comments and I hope you guys will continue supporting and sharing this story as it progresses! :)