Winter.
"Son of a bitch" I whispered to myself, looking at the puff of breath leaving my body. I had just taken the top layer of skin off of a deer with my arrow.
It's beginning to get colder every winter. This year is the worst so far. I left my Grandma's after Riley's funeral. I still can't wrap my head around his death. It's been four months.
I jump down from the rock I'm standing on and crash against the snowy ground. My knees buckled and I flew face forward into the snow. I just laid there and took in deep breaths, I definitely wasn't ready for that fall. My body is weak and tired.
I pushed myself off the ground and grabbed my bow. The snow blew gently in the air, it was so cold. My deer was right there in front of my face, waiting to be shot. I readied my arrow, pulled it back and just as I was about to shoot, a bullet zips through the air and hits the deer in the neck. The snow turns red as the blood soaks in.
I walk around the tree I was hiding behind. "That was my kill..." I say.
"Sorry" The man said. He's dirty, skinny, tall. His hands were trembling as he held the rifle. He's much too fragile to be a killer.
"It's okay...You can have it" I wrap the bow around me and start to walk off but stop at the screeching of Runners. "Runners!" I yell. "Can you handle that thing?" I ask him.
"Well enough" He smiles and aims in the direction.
I pull out my pistol and wait for the infected to appear. The air was silent, we were silent. Then out of nowhere, a Runner tackles me too the ground, chomping it's jaws at me.
"Fucker!" I hold it back with my arm. It sinks it's teeth into my jacket sleeve, luckily not getting to my skin. A clank rings in my ear and the infected retreats off of me. The man holds a wooden bat in his hand, it's half cracked from previous uses. I shoot two rounds in it's head, just to make sure it's dead.
"Help me with this deer, I'll give you some of it!"
"Shit, fine!" I say.
I grab it's antlers and start pulling "More infected!" I yell, handing him my pistol. "Protect me!"
I pull as hard as I can, but it's so heavy. I start to think it's not worth it, maybe I should leave him and the deer but I change my mind, I can't let an innocent person die. I continue to pull while he shoots. An infected attacks him from behind and tares a chunk of flesh from his neck. He knocks it off and grabs his wound.
"Kill me!" He yells, trying to reach for the pistol he dropped. But I grab it before him and shoot the Runner. There's more infected coming. I grab the deer and start to pull again but it's no use. I can't do it. I drop the deer and aim the pistol at the guy. I close my eyes and shoot. I know he's dead because he stops screaming.
I run for my life, the pistol in my right hand. I start to sink in the snow until I finally fall through. I hit pavement and crack my knee hard. I wince in pain and scoot against the wall so the Runners can't see me. It's dark in here, but I know it's large, I could tell by the echo of my body hitting the ground. I click on the flashlight attached to my coat and look around some. There's dead bodies piled against one side of the room and stacks of lunch trays. It must have been an old teaching area. I crawl a little and a hand grabs my ankle, making me let out a small but loud yelp. I smash my boot against the person's head and take off running, but limping. I know there's infected in here, I hear clickers. Soon enough, they're chasing after me. I continue to run. Infected pour out of every door I pass.
I jump and attach myself to a pipe. I can't get my feet to swing, there's a ledge right near me but my body is too weak to do anything. I will myself to launch onto the edge, I grapple onto it, almost falling, but I make it. I kick out a small vent that has light peering through it. I crawl through it.
The sun reflects light off of the snow and blinds me. I stand up and look at all the mud and grime on my clothes. It seems to have gotten colder. I make my way through the woods, not even knowing where I'm going, but I'll end up somewhere.