Chapter 2
4 weeks after initial infection.
Bryce, Skim, and Grace wandered the roads of the city, alongside the family. Bryce held a shotgun, Grace held a rifle, and Skim held two pistols, one in each hand.
The three were silent, the only noise being their footsteps as they continued down an abandoned street.
"This was ours." Lilly said as she and her husband moved next to Grace. "We'll only need a second."
"Take as long as you need." Grace told them.
"Fuck, that." Bryce whispered in urgency.
"Language." Grace corrected her son. "Just because the world has gone to crap doesn't mean your manners do, too."
Bryce hissed under his breath as he scanned the streets.
"We're risking our lives for some scraps, at best." Bryce whispered. "Every house has been picked clean."
"Quiet!" Shaun hushed him. He brandished a fireman's axe and survival knife on his hip.
As the couple searched for food and spare belongings, one single deadite began shambling towards the group.
"We have one." Bryce said as he tapped Skim on the arm.
"I got it." Shaun said as he tapped the ground gently with the axe to get the lone deadites attention. Stumbling towards Shaun, the boy raised the axe and brought it down on the deadites shoulder. It fell to the ground, allowing Shaun to stab it with his knife.
As he ripped the blade free, Shaun noticed a strange liquid on his weapon instead of blood. Sniffing the blade, Shaun quickly pulled it away as he gagged.
"Oh, what the fuck?!" He covered his face with his elbow. "Gross ass shit." Shaun cleaned his blade on the deadites shirt before heading back to the group.
"I think something's wrong with them." Shaun said. "That last one's blood was… like, green. And thick."
"What does that mean?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know." Shaun looked to the house. "We should leave."
Lilly and Mercury emerged from the house with a few photo albums and both backpacks stockpiled with food.
"Got it." Mercury said as he rejoined the group. "Should be enough to get us through for a while."
"Good. Now, let's get going before-"
"We got another deady." Sarah pointed one out that had emerged from between two houses.
"Dibs." Bryce said as he walked up to Shaun. "Care to share?" He asked as he motioned for the knife.
"Don't hurt yourself."
Placing the shotgun away, Bryce took a step towards the deadite, only for it to lock eyes with Bryce. Instead of continuing to shamble towards Bryce, it grabbed both sides of its head and let out an ear piercing screech.
Bryce dropped the knife and gun as he covered his ears. Mercury and Lilly turned to the noise and saw Bryce reach for the shotgun, aim, and fire at the deadites head.
The deadite hit the earth with a "thud."
"Why'd you shoot?!" Mercury shouted. "You're gonna bring the entire city down on us!"
"I think that thing's scream did that!" Bryce shouted back. "We need to bounce!"
The group burst into a sprint back the way they came to enter the city.
As they ran, deadites emerged from homes, from under cars, the bushes.
"Fuck!"
Seeing a deadite wander into the way, Skim raised his left gun and shot a single bullet into its brain.
"C'mon, we gotta-" Skim was cut off as a deadite ran out of a house on the left and tackled him. Skim pushed the deadite up with his arm but it kept swinging at him, trying to bite him.
"Skim!" Bryce and Shaun both rushed over to help. Shaun stabbed the deadite as Bryce pulled the body off him. "You good, man?"
Bryce helped Skim to his feet.
"Yeah. C'mon."
Continuing to run for the city outskirts, the group rushed across a set of train tracks and towards a fence. Reaching a hole in it, Skim pushed through and held it open for the others. Once on the other side, Skim closed it as the group vanished into the woods.
"Shit that was crazy!" Skim held both sides of his head as he tried to calm himself. "That fucking thing RAN at me!"
"We can discuss it back at camp, keep moving!" Mercury ordered.
Finally making it back to camp, the twins were met by their little sister.
"You're back!" She hugged her older siblings.
"Always." Shaun said as he ruffled her hair. "How have things been here?"
The camp was lively. Multiple people were walking around. A few tents were setup, some even using vehicles as part of their shelters.
They were in a clearing in the woods with four people watching the tree lines, and a few more hiding in the trees. If anything emerged from the forest, there's no way someone would miss it.
"You ok?" A girl with reddish hair approached Bryce, checking him over.
"I'm fi- what are you doing?" He asked her.
"Checking you for bites."
Bryce pulled away, somewhat uncomfortable at the sudden attention and physical touch. "I don't get bit. Why do you care?"
Grace watched her son's interaction with crossed arms.
"Your son's clueless." Mercury told her as he joined her side.
"Apparently so." She agreed. "But I know a lot is on his mind."
"Thankfully there's some hint of normalcy at this little camp." Lilly stated as she joined her husband's side. "People acting like people."
"Alright!" A voice came from the forest as a dirty man with a scruff stubble emerged from the trees. Tied across his chest were a variety of dead animals. "I got squirrel, raccoon, oppossum, all you can eat. Anyone wanna help me prep?"
"Yo." Bryce stepped up. He was always eager to find new ways to help out and build skills. Much needed in this new world.
Before anyone could do much more, Skim approached Mercury, Lilly and Grace.
"Are we not gonna discuss that runner?" Skim asked. "I've never seen any like that until today."
"One of them ran?" Mercury asked the others.
"I think they're changing." Shaun added, overhearing the conversation from nearby. "I stabbed one, but it didn't bleed blood. Some… gooey… green shit."
"That doesn't sound good." Lilly looked to Mercury.
"And what about that screamer?" Sarah also chimed in. "They only ever groan and moan about. But that one alerted the others of our presence."
"We need to tell the others." Grace looked at the camp.
"Yeah." Mercury got moving. "I'll do it."
Walking through the middle of camp, Mercury stopped and turned, clearing his throat.
"Can I have everyone's attention!" Mercury began. Voices began to quiet as gazes fixed on Mercury. "This last run we went on, we found something out about the deadites. They appear to be changing."
Murmurs went around the camp.
"What do you mean "changing?" One of the other men in the group asked.
"We came across two… irregular deadites." Mercury explained. "One of them ran at Skim." Mercury gestured to Skim. "And the other alerted the others we were there."
Murmurs spread amongst the others.
"What do you mean it alerted the others?" A woman asked. "They can communicate with each other?"
"It made a loud screech. Loud enough that we had to cover our ears." Mercury explained. "The deadites emerged afterwards. Now, I know you have countless questions, unfortunately I can't answer any of them. Tomorrow, a small group will go out as reconnaissance. The only objective is to observe. Find out what other kind of deadites there are. I'm sure these aren't the last… variations."
"I'll go." A man raised his hand. "I'll write everything I see down for ya." He raised a journal. "Maybe try to get a few drawings down for visual reference."
"I'ma go with him. Been a while since I done any work and I'm getting restless." Another man chimed in.
"Alright. A team of two for recon should be fine. Will you two be good?"
"Should be." The men agreed.
"Alright. That's all I wanted to share with you." Mercury stepped down.
Once done, Bryce headed over and began to busy himself by assisting the hunter. They were currently slitting the throats of the dead animals to let the blood drain. Before, Bryce would never have had the stomach to do this. But he was numbed to it after killing so many deadites.
"You run into any deadites while hunting, Xan?"
"A few." Xan answered as he hung up a rabbit. "Nothing I couldn't handle. But what were those variation deadites you ran into? A runner and a screecher, huh? You get scared?"
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't." Bryce answered truthfully. "The screecher definitely threw me off my game a bit."
As the day went on, nothing too eventful happened at camp.
In the city, however, the deadites were riled.
One of them suddenly began writhing on its feet. Its right arm began to elongate as its fingers extended. Bones cracked and snapped as the limb grew and grew until it was dragging behind the deadite. The fingers twitched a bit before the hand began to act as a third leg.
A few handful of deadites around the city began to experience similar symptoms. Some of their mutations were similar to the one prior.
A child deadite began to writhe as its nails extended to sharp points. Spikey thorns emerged from its back, and it began laughing. Not groaning or moaning, hysterically laughing.
Sitting around the camp fire, the moon replaced the sun in the sky. Darkness dawned amongst the group, but the watchers kept their eyes ever peeled on the tree-line, and ears always open to abnormal sounds.
An older man pulled out his six string and began to pluck a tune. A soft tune, as to not stir any unwanted attention.
Clearing his throat as he tuned his guitar, the old man began gently tapping his foot before beginning a tune.
"How many roads must a man walk down…" he started with a silky smooth, gentle, deep voice. "Before you call him a man?"
Grace stole a glance at the dog tags she still carried with her before tucking them back out of sight.
"How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?"
Bryce glanced around at the other survivors. They were all paying close attention to the musician.
"Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind."
Shaun and Sarah shared their food with their little sister, making sure she had a good meal before bed.
"Yes, and how many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
And how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?"
Lilly leaned into her husband, who wrapped his arms lovingly around her.
"Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind."
Skim was busy rolling a blunt, to which he excused himself away from the kiddos before lighting up. He made sure to still be within earshot of the old timer.
"Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
And how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?"
The group remained silent as the man finished the song.
"Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind."
End of Chapter 2
