Monster

Nomma nom nom nom nomma nom nom.

Reviews are mah food.

I'm uploading two chapters at once; I was in London for two days. Sorry for the delay! Thanks if you waited!

Six

I stood, breathing heavily, my hands clenched into fists at my sides.

"We can still take their truck!" Ellis stood up from the floor, a smile plastered on his features. Blood soaked his already stained shirt, and the crimson liquid streamed down his coveralls. Blood was even dripping from the brim of his hat. His chest was heaving, and although he was smiling, the warmth didn't reach his eyes. They were as cold and fearful as the soldiers'. Suddenly remembering Chris, I looked down to where the man had been last. He was curled up on the floor, still and cold. Rolling him over, I saw his eyes, blank and unseeing, and his face was flushed. One hand was clutching his chest, and his features were contorted.

"Heart attack," Coach confirmed quietly. I nodded silently.

"Where'd the coward go?" I wondered. Looking up, there was no sign of Stephen. Faint howls in the distance led us to believe that he had been caught by an Infected. Looking at the horizon, I saw the first amber light edging over the land, disturbing the plum darkness of dusk.

"Who cares," Nick growled. "Let's look for supplies and escape in the truck." I walked round to the back of the jeep, pulling the doors open. Ammunition spilled from the open doors, and guns toppled out onto the spare shells. Med kits were nearly lined up behind, and there was a cardboard box wedged in beside them. Upon opening the box, I discovered a dozen pots of pills and several adrenaline shots. In the back seats of the jeep, there was a single box stuffed with pipe-bombs and unused molotovs, and several jars of Boomer bile were crammed into the glove box. If we squashed all the supplies together into the small spaces, we could just fit us all into the jeep.

"There's everything!" Coach was in heaven. He had found a box of stale donuts, a can of soda and a coupon for Burger Tank. He didn't seem to notice that it was expired.

"Let's go, y'all!" Ellis called, almost bouncing with joy in the driver's seat. Nick clambered stiffly into the back seat, and Coach squashed up next to him, still reading the small print on the coupon. I slipped into the front passenger seat, relishing the relief from the cool, supple leather instead of hard dirt and concrete. The engine rumbled into life, and Ellis began reversing onto a dirt track.

"Where does this lead?" I asked, squinting through the darkness.

"Ah remember. It leads to a farm Keith grew up in." Ellis turned his gaze to me. "Ah ever tell you 'bout th'time my buddy Keith tried makin' a rodeo club outta pigs? Yeah, people didn' see much poin', so he had t'go and prove it worked, right? So, he got a pig, an'-"

"Ellis? Is this the best time?" Nick murmured. His eyes were closed, and his head lolled against Coach's shoulder. I frowned as I saw the dark circles under his eyes and his blood-stained trouser leg and bandages. Ellis fell silent, and he began pulling out onto the road.

-Monster-Monster-Monster-Monster-

We drove on in silence. I stared out the window; at the sitting or standing Common Infected, and one or twice I saw a Witch, sitting alone in the shadows. When the truck became stuffy, I opened the window, and we all froze as we heard the ominous sobbing of a Wandering Witch. Ellis braked, and the tires screeched as we stopped on the dirt road. Clouds of dust plumed into the air. Cautiously looking around, I took a sniper rifle and stepped out of the car. The Witch's cries were close, and the hairs stood up on my arms and neck when I saw her. She was standing a few meters off the road, clawed hands covering her face, but I could see the all-too familiar orange eyes burning with sorrow through strands of her pale hair.

"See anythin'?" Ellis whispered. I turned to speak to him, and stumbled back when I realized he was right behind me. What cared me more, though, was the color of his eyes. They were as orange as the Witch's, though perhaps less tear-filled. He looked back at me, oblivious. I shook my head. A trick of the light... Wasn't it? Turning back to the Witch, I saw her staggering up to the road, unsteady steps taking her ever closer to us. I lifted the rifle with steady hands. They weren't shaking as they had when I'd first seen a Witch. Aiming carefully, I lined up the gun's sights with the Witch's head, and fired. The Witch screeched, and spun, blood dripping from a new hole in her temple. I cursed, almost tripping over myself as I tried to run. I dropped the gun, and ran, but before the Witch caught me I heard new gunshots. The Witch's screams faded, and I looked back at the jeep. Nick was holding the rifle, looking down at the Witch's body.

"She seriously sounds like my ex-wife," he spat, disgusted. "Moany bitch." I gave a shaky laugh, running a shaking hand through my hair.

"Let's keep going," I suggested. Nick and Ellis nodded, climbing back into the car. The engine rumbled into life, and we started heading towards the farm again. We were traveling in silence again - well, nearly. Ellis kept drumming his fingertips on the steering wheel, Nick groaned in his sleep and Coach was drinking soda. Ellis' beating of the wheel got more insistent; I noticed that his knees were bouncing up and down on the accelerator, and his chest was heaving. Reaching over to him, I felt his racing pulse and burning forehead. He had a fever - whether it was from his temperature or the glittering in his eyes, and I knew something bad was going to happen.

"Guys, Ellis-" Before I could finish my warning, Ellis' head lolled and he slumped against the window. His hands slipped off the steering wheel, and we began drifting, skidding down the dirt track. I screamed as the windshield shattered; smashed by the debris of fences being crushed under the wheels of the uncontrollable jeep. Then there was a log, and we were flipping, upside-down in the air. Coach hit the ceiling, grunting with pain, and Nick woke from the incessant shaking.

"What the f- Ellis, you moron!" he shouted. "Ro, get the steering wheel!" I blinked and nodded, gripping the dashboard as we landed back on solid ground. I reached across Ellis' limp form, and grabbed the insanely spinning steering wheel. Pulling with all my strength against the spinning, the truck began driving straight again. Then Ellis' foot slipped off the accelerator, and we rolled to a halt. The car was silent, save for our shallow breaths. Ellis' eyes were tightly shut, and he let out a pained whimper through his pale lips.

"Get out!" Nick yelled, reaching across Coach to open the door. He pushed the older man out before rolling out himself. "The bonnet's smoking - it's going to explode!"