"Lead the way Carter," I said before I hopped into my Dodge Nitro. We all had our own cars, and each was customized now.
The headlamps had UV, and I had gotten a UV spotlight up on the roof, so if the shit ever hit the fan, I was ready. I also had used some car paint to make decals of crosses all along the car. I planned on adding a Star of David and the crescent moon, but that could wait.
In the backseat I kept some garlic in a large box, a radio and a horn. We did use radios, but horns were used just as much; a designated pattern for different meanings and since there was no other noise, we could always tell where it was coming from.
I laid the sword down on the passenger seat, put the key in the ignition and turned it; the engine roared to life and the four of us sped off, Carter and Vince in front, Cassidy and I in back. Over the course of the journey both of our groups of two kept leapfrogging, until we finally came to the grocery store.
Carter kept going for about another block, then he and Vince turned their cars sharply to face a tall office building. Tires squealed as Cassidy and I repeated the action. Time not being on our side, and it not being something we could waste, we pilled out. Four dull thunks! signified everyone was out and ready.
Cassidy started going for the front door, but Carter called him out, then pointed to the garage under the building. Swords at the ready, we followed him and Vince down. Almost immediately, we came across a sleeping Infected. There was a nasty burn on its leg, so that meant it had just barely gotten inside in time.
"We saw this one trying to get inside. My guess is that it got caught in the light before it could get back, and finally got a lucky break and was able to get to safety," Carter whispered.
"Obviously it wasn't that lucky," I said, more about the burn then it getting spotted.
"Guess it wasn't. We saw it," Vince added. I nodded. That was true.
"Well, Vince, I guess you get the honors," I said.
Steadying the sword in his grip, he lifted it above his head and brought it down into the creature's chest. As blood gushed out, its eyes flew open and it screamed long and hard, then fell silent. Its thrashes became twitches, then it moved no more. "Alright, Cassidy is with me. Leapfrog teams on my call," I said.
Cassidy followed right behind me to the stairs. I moved to the side, and he kicked the door off its hinges; I looped around his shoulder and looked up the stairs. He took the back of the stairwell.
"Got one," he said before an Infected cried out. He returned to view, his sword bloody. Carter and Vince came up behind us.
"Uh, no offense, but I don't think groups is a good idea," Carter said.
"Why not?"
"There are at least 200 Infected."
"What?! Why didn't you say 200?!"
"I said it was pushin' class A."
"That means less!"
"That means more! I guess you got lost in translation."
"We both speak English!"
"Well we can't do anything about it now. Best to get it over it."
I sighed. He was right, there was nothing that could be done about it now. Plus they weren't any real danger when they were in coma.
We split up, fanning out across each level. There were by my guess seven floors, and each floor was roughly 500' by 350', so that meant this could take some time.
When we first came up, I realized immediatley how Carter knew there were so many. The stench of death was overwhelming.
At the first floor we split up, and I went right. I realized that I had forgoten to use my flashlight, so I pulled it out of my pocket, flipped it on and continued down the hall until I came to the first office door. It was partially open, so I pushed it open and silently crept in. In two rows sat ten desks; I made my way around them and turned down the center, looking under every desk. At the front, a man and a woman slept silently together, holding each other.
I recognized twin wedding bands around their fingers.
I paused for only a moment, then reached across them and pulled them out from under their cover. They still unconsciously held on to one another, and the woman ended up lying on top of the man. Scowling to myself, I raised the sharp metal above my head, then brought it down.
The cool steel went straight through the woman's stomach, and punctured the man's own. They cried out in pain together, trashing as themselves and each other. And when blood began to flow out of the man's mouth, his wife leaned over and kissed him.
No, not kissing him, I realized, but drinking his blood. His own wife drinking his blood as he died! The monsters deserved to die!
Enraged, I took from my thigh the large Bowie knife I always kept with me, leaned over and grabbed the woman's hair, yanked her head back, put the blade to her throat and pulled back and away. Her own blood spilled out from her neck, bathing her husband in it, and then I pushed her body away and slit the man's throat. It took them both another minute to finally die. I stood and tried to yank the sword out, but it only lurched in their bodies. I pressed my boot against their corpses and pulled again, and like Arthur and the Sword in the Stone, the sword came out with a mighty wrench. I checked the other parts of the office before leaving, then went on to the next.
Before long, I began to lose count of how many of the things I had killed. But I had killed a lot, and that was good enough for me.
We all met up on the seventh floor, every one of us dirty, sweaty and bloody. We all went into the floor together, as I knew from a past job that it was all one office, with only a few private rooms. This would be a good place for some infected to hide because there were only a few windows. This building was in the middle of a renovation that was cut sort because of the plague, so this area was still pretty old.
We all went in together, and the screams of agony started off almost immediately. I went over to the far right area, with Cassidy taking left. An old man and an old woman, a fat man, several young men and a few young women. They all met my blade. I'm not sure, but I think I smiled.
It was completely quiet aside from the death screams.
Silent death.
That's what we were.
Effective hunters, killers that could hunt down and kill any Infected. Because while they slept, we hunted. And there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it.
I did a double take. Inside a private office, I had thought I had seen something move. There was no light; the window was blocked off in a black fabric for the renovation, but the Infected couldn't overcome their slumber during the day, unless you messed with their biological clock like Doc had.
I opened the door, and looked around with my flashlight. Nothing. I turned to go when I thought I saw it again out of the corner of my eye. I turned quickly, my heart pounding out of my chest. The flashlight's light fell upon a girl, maybe sixteen years old. She had long blonde hair that was unkempt, and her long white dress was dirty and tattered. She looked at the ground twiddling her bare feet like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
I faintly heard her singing.
"Ring around the rosies, a pocket full of posies…"
"Don't be scared little girl. I'm here to save you. It's all right," I said. But in truth I was more scared than she could ever be.
"Ashes, ashes…"
"Come with me. Your safe now."
"We all fall down." She looked up at me.
I recognized the teeth.
The canines.
The fangs.
They were red with blood.
She jumped at me, and all I had time to do was stick the sword out as I did a back-step. There was a sickening crunch, and the sword became extremely heavy. I took my arm away from my face to see what had happened.
The girl was impaled on the sword, and a red stain on her dress was growing. I realized how close she was to me.
Her mouth opened and closed, teeth gashing at my neck, not less than a millimeter away.
Her breasts rose and fell, pressing against my own chest.
Her legs wrapped around my waist, trying to pull me closer.
Her hands wrapped around my shoulders, grabbing at my whole body.
Then she leaned in and kissed me, forcefully, full on. My lips struggled, but before I could get away, she went limp. I wrestled her away from me, then lay her on the ground and pulled the sword out of her. The fabric caught on the blade and the whole front of the dress was pulled off.
I looked away, but something caught my attention, so, hesitantly, I looked down again. The girl's bra and panties were ripped apart, and blood trickled down from between her inner thighs.
Something caught in my throat, and my heart started pounding again.
Dear God in heaven, don't let this be what I think it is.
I walked slowly, as if the carpeting was a minefield, around to the end of the desk. Underneath, a man lay sleeping, a twisted and sadistic grin of victory on his face. His pants were ruffled, and on his right two forefingers, there was a tiny amount of blood.
I had to choke back down my heart.
My eyes brimmed with tears, and I clenched my hands so tightly they scratched into my palms.
Even among monsters there were still monsters.
I remember grabbing the man and throwing him towards the window. The plastic ripped, and the thing screamed as it fell to the ground.
I backed away, scared at myself and what I had done. My heel struck the girl's body, and I lurched away when I felt her move. I rounded on her, sword at the ready, but lowered it as I saw the grey patch that was slowly extending out from the wound.
She looked up at me, gesturing at me to come closer with one finger. Hesitant, I leaned down on one knee, then the other.
She seemed to be trying to whisper something; for a moment I forgot everything and leaned in. In a flurry of movement, she grabbed my head and pulled me in for an animalistic kiss, then grinded her womanhood against my waist. I fought back, but one hand left the back of my head and grabbed at my manhood.
We wrestled for barely a minute; I realized that she didn't want my blood, and I may have not fought back as hard as I could have.
Finally with a momentous heave, I pushed her off of me, grabbed my sword and sliced her neck. I was prepared to swing again, but I stopped when I realized how awkward she looked. After a moment, her head swung down to the left and dangled by only a few tendons, her surprised face bobbing up and down in a revolting manner.
So close to death, and she still wanted me. She wanted me!! I was disgusted and enraged; I tasted vomit. Crawling towards her, I swung the sword at her body again, then again and again. Every time the metal sliced, more blood flowed.
In less than a minute, every reason why I hated these things came flooding back into my mind, overwhelming me. I don't know how long I cried, but eventually I felt a strong hand on my shoulder.
----
Everything seemed fuzzy from then on.
I barely remember driving back home.
I immediately went up to my apartment.
Behind me I heard Cassidy shouting out that they were dividing my evening chores; I think I shouted down something about the dogs, but I'm not completely sure.
In my room, I checked the clock.
4:30.
It didn't matter to me.
I went over to all the windows and pulled the large metal and wood guards from behind; they collided with a loud noise I didn't hear, and I pulled the three large braced from behind each guard, securing the windows.
I went up the flight of stairs to my bedroom, and turned on the stereo. From every corner of my apartment, music ranging from My Chemical Romance to Trick Daddy blasted at the woodwork.
I didn't care too much about the music.
Its sole purpose was to drown them out.
Retiring for the day, I crept into bed, stuffed my pillow over my ears, and cried myself into a nightmare ridden sleep.
There you have it. From now on its going to be centered around him and everyone's state of mental health while they cope with this. And there will still be a lot of blood and killing, bu it won't be taken lightly. Review!
