Chapter Eleven
I scramble into the field behind the McDonalds. The grass there is tall, almost as tall as I am. It's wild and untamed, and it scratches my skin where it is bare. This is bad. This is so fucking bad. They're after me now. I don't know why. I don't have time to think why. I've gotten about fifty yards, but I still hear them. I just have to keep running. I just-
I trip. My face crashes into the grass and weeds. Shit…
I'm frozen in fear. I can't move. I only listen. I can hear the background gibberish of infected behind me. But… it's not getting louder… It doesn't sound like they know where I am. Do they? I don't know. I want to turn around and check, but I'm too afraid to move. My gun is gone. I can't defend myself if they spot me. My bags of food are gone, too. Is that what they were after perhaps? Something I grabbed from the store? That sounds too ridiculous to be true.
The noises have subsided. Are they… done? Did they give up? Do they ever give up? Damn it, I should know this- I'm infected. Not like them, but… augh! I want to get up. I need to get up. Slowly. I'll do it very… (I move a muscle) slowly…
I can move softly enough that any sound in the grass is masked by the slight wind in the air. Turning around, I lie back on my elbows and crane my head up slightly to see if I can look past the tall grass. I can't. Dangerous… this is very very dangerous… I shouldn't be doing this. I must be getting gutsy… I almost miss being entirely paranoid like before.
I turn back around on my hands and knees and carefully… extremely carefully… rise to a ducking position and begin to wade through the grass, keeping from disturbing its flowing windswept motion. I'm so nervous I can't think about anything other than my movement. Every jerk of the muscle, every slight move in the joints… I concentrate on every bit of it. I hear every stray noise that floats into my ear. The infected aren't following me. They don't see me. At least I don't think they see me. I so hope they don't see me.
I near the edge of the field of grass. On the other side is Herr Lane, and my subdivision. Hopefully the neighborhood is still as empty of infected as it was when I left. I don't remember hearing any screams from this direction when they massed to attack. I peek my head out from the grass. Empty. Holy crap, what a relief. I look both ways before crossing the street, for infected though… not cars, obviously.
The coast is clear. I gulp. "Nothing to it but to do it." I whisper, and make a run for it. Not so much a full out, 'Oh my god there's a monster chasing me' run, but a low to the ground, quiet, 'I'm acting like a ninja' run. There are no cars in the way, thankfully. That would have been too much noise and hassle to get around.
I was right in my assumption that the neighborhood would still be empty. I sneak from hiding place to hiding place, as I did on the way to the grocery store. Damn! I just realized I left my bags. What a wasteful trip. I stop a couple times to catch my breath, and once to stop, hide and investigate a noise I thought I heard. It sounded like a crunchy leaf being stepped on. Could be anything, I tell myself and proceed home.
When I make it to my front yard, I break out of a cautious run and into a casual walk. Never before have I been so relieved to be here. I stop for a moment to catch my breath and regain my energy for a moment, looking at the ground with my palms resting on my knees and my flat hair dangling in front of my face. I let out a sigh and take a glance around the area. To my right is my brother's motorcycle he left here a couple years ago. Damn thing never did work. To my left is… wait what the fuck is that? There something in the distance. A lamppost… or is that…?
SHIT. I spot multiple figures three or four houses down. They spotted me as well, no doubt! They're coming my way at the pace of a brisk jog. I tear open the front door and run in with a speed only instinct could provide. I run to the same hiding place: my room. This time, however I shut and lock the door immediately. Then, I listen. I have to keep quiet. I have to hear… I just lost a mob at the McDonalds because they didn't know where to find me; I know I can do it again. If I just stay hidden long enough, they'll lose interest, just like before. I hear no noises of infected. I lost them! …Right?
A voice, male. "It was this house! I saw them go in here!" No way… uninfected? Survivors? Again? Do I have my… No! My rifle is in the living room! I'm defenseless!
Another voice, this one female and older. "You sure you want to go in, then?"
"Of course, we have to save everyone we can, right?"
"You're too naïve, kid."
Wait… they seem friendlier than the last. Is this a blessing? Should I feel lucky? They still might have guns! No, they have to! They wouldn't survive this long without weapons. Will they shoot me, then? I almost want to… I think… I think I want to speak to them. Should I?
Yes… yes I should.
"H…Hello?" I address.
A second female voice, this one younger. "Hello? Where are you?"
I can barely get my words out. "I… I… I-I uh… um… I'm over…"
The same voice. "I think she's this way, you all. Are you over here?"
"Yes. Yes! I'm- hold on! Hold on!" I don't know what I'm doing. I must be mad. "I haven't talked with anyone in a month, I need… just hold on!"
The older voice spoke up again. "Give her time, Ann. Don't rush her." She then whispers something I can't hear.
"She might be hurt, though." The woman apparently named Ann replied. "Are you hurt in there?"
"I'm fine!" I snap. "I'm sorry! I…" I think for a moment on what to say next. "You all… are uninfected, obviously. You… kinda scared me back there. H-How did you escape infection?"
The male voice speaks up again. He sounds like a teenager. "Oh, we didn't escape it. We're immune."
What.
Immune!? What is this kid talking about? "Immune?" I shout.
"Well, yeah." The kid responds. "Of course we are. Wouldn't have gotten very far if we weren't. Aren't you, too? Isn't that why you're still talking to us?"
"What the fuck?!" I exclaim out loud, without thinking. "How are there people who are…?"
"Wait, um… ma'am?" The younger woman speaks up. "Are you saying you're… not immune?" A pause. "Um, guys… I don't think we shouldn't go near her. We're probably crawling with the virus, and I sure as hell am not going to be the one to infect someone still clean."
"No, I'm not immune, I've already been-!" I stop myself mid-sentence, but I've already said too much.
"Already been… what?"
"N-N-N-Nothing! Nothing! I didn't say anything!" Oh my god oh my god I so fucked up! I let them know something's not right with me! There are people who are immune to the virus? How was I supposed to guess that!? "This door is locked! You can't open it! Don't come near it! Don't!"
"Calm down, missy." The older woman says. "We're not going to hurt you."
"But I- But… Are you all seriously immune? You didn't… you didn't change at all? Not even… like skin turning gray and glowing eyes? Nothing?" I have to know. Can these people actually be serious?
"Of course we didn't. We've been holding a conversation here. The infected don't talk to people, missy, they just kill." Ann shushes her, whispering that she'll fright me.
"That's not true! They don't all mindlessly… um… kill people! And… and uh…" Should I really be telling them this? "… there are some that will talk with you."
"What on Earth are you talking about?" the teenage retorts. "Have you seen an infected before? Yeah, of course you must have! You were out there! We saw you run in the house!"
"H-How much?" I ask.
"How much what?"
"How much of me did you see?"
They pause before anyone answers. Ann is the one to eventually respond. "Not… much, I guess. You ran in the house as soon as we noticed you there."
"Then I guess you didn't see." I can't believe I'm about to say what I'm about say, but I don't think I have much of a choice. They'll find out sooner or later. "You… you promise you won't shoot me?"
"Darling, why would we-" the older woman interjects.
"Do you promise?!" I shout.
"Yes, of course."
"No matter what?"
"Ma'am, we would never shoot an innocent person in cold blood. This may be the apocalypse, but we are human, not monsters." I bite my lip. The monster they're talking about is me, but they don't know it. Can I really trust these people to their word?
Lights dance about from underneath the doorway. "I can see your flashlights under the door. I'm… I'm not opening the door until you turn them off."
"Yes, that's fine," Ann says as I see the lights vanish, "but why-"
"I'm freaking out enough here as it is without-! Just, please… thank you."
I grab the lock on the doorknob of my room with my knuckles and unlock it.