Chapter 4
“You killed Ryan!” Ackerman shouts, his voice echoing off the walls of the garage. “You killed him without any reason!” he is stepping closer his blade not moving from its point. “Why?” he demands, his word hurt my ears. I try to speak but the words won’t come out. “Why!”
“I had to” I finally say softly “he was-“ he cuts me off
“he was our friend!” he swings wildly at me. “You just murdered him in cold blood!” I move dodging Ackerman’s speedy strikes; he is faster than me; a lot faster. Instinctively I pull my chain whip from my belt and begin swinging it. It whistles lightly in my ear. I hold my ground as he strikes. I catch his blade in my chain and tighten my grip. I pull the blade knocking it aside. I look up and Ackerman had already pulled out his Swiss army knife and was stabbing at me. To compete I pull out the butchers fork and catch his blade.
“Ackerman stop!” I shout through his blind rage. There was murder in his eyes and I was the target. “He was infected!” I say the silence afterwards overwhelms the room. Sam lowers his blade and looks at me, his eyes showed a mixture of shock and fear. I walk towards Ryan’s dead body and turn it over revealing the bloody bite on the back of his ankle. His blood was still warm and I wanted to throw up as I touched him. I look up at Ackerman, his eyes are watering but it is not a full tear. He was close to Ryan they have known each other for many years; they were like brothers.
“We could have helped him Sam.” Ackerman says to me his voice quivers as he speaks
“No, we couldn’t have” I respond coldly
“Well we could have tried!” I look at him
“You know what happens to people who try to cure the infected” he looks down I know what he was thinking about, his parents and sister. That could have been us if we tried to cure Ryan. He knew it was true. I watch him as he looks at the body, his face is red with a mixture of emotions he seems like he is holding in anger and rage as well as tears. He stood there and looked at this body.
“Ackerman,” I reach out and put my hand on his shoulder. He looks up and steps away. “Sean we have to get out of here” he looks up at the garage door. The sound of the infected banging against the door echoed around the room. I watch Ackerman as he picks up his blades, just to make sure he doesn’t go after me again.
I grab my chain and wrap it back around my waist. My eyes catch Sean as he walks over to the garage door opener and hits the button. Behind me the garage slides open and light stress across the floor. Sean is standing with his sword drawn ready for battle. I am not looking to die, not for vengeance. I run and push the button closing the door on the undead.
“Sean what is wrong with you!” I shout at him. He turns and stares at me his eyes burning with a dark flame.
“I am going to avenge Ryan,” he declares “open the door now” his decisions sickens me and sets me off.
“How?” I say getting in his face pushing my force up to the point where I seem much stronger than I am “how are you going to avenge him?” I continue “huh, by dying.” My face is a bright red with rage “You just want to waste your life and waste my time by going and killing yourself,” He looks at me then looks don guilty “then go, go on do it waste your life I don’t really care I will be able to escape easier then”
“Well I have to do something” he says softly, his voice is heavy as though he is holding back tears. “He came to us for help and you just killed him.”
“I did help him, I made sure he did not have to suffer through the pain of becoming infected” I say, my voice is solid “The worst thing is to become infected, Ryan died as a human, and can be remembered for his life as a human.” I walk over to Sean and look him directly in the eyes “you want to avenge him, then live. Just make sure you survive. If not for him for me, so I know I did not waste my time on you” I don’t think he liked my answer but he looked back at me and agreed almost half heartedly. “Now we need to get out.” I say. He turns and begins to walk towards the door into the house. On my way in I grab a large spade with a sharpened edge for breaking ice.
“What is that for, Sam?’ Ackerman looks at me and realizes I have no major weapon and he only has one blade. His house is a mess clothes and garbage litter the floor, it is a very different scene from what it used to be. Sean’s parents were very neat and when they died I guess he did not care anymore. We walk to the front door and see the most horrific scene ever. Hundreds of the infected are smashing up against the garage door. Suddenly there is a large smash and they have all burst into the garage. I don’t need to be there to see what is going on. They are all grabbing and tearing at Ryan’s corpse. The image is sickening in my mind. The banging begins again but closer this time. I turn and look at Ackerman who is standing stiff eyes locked on the garage door. We hear the wood on the other side peeling and cracking. A large crack appears followed by another suddenly the door bursts open and the undead rush in, in a wave of gory disgust. Blood drips from their mouths’ Ryan’s blood
“Ackerman, we have to move” I say, he isn’t listening just standing there. I grab him by the arm “Now!!!” I pull him and begin to run towards the basement opening the door and slamming it shut behind us. Ackerman is looking towards the door. Silent watching it as on the other side the undead push to get to us. I look around and find a door. This door leads to outdoor stairs. This is our only exit. I pull on Ackerman and his legs fall out from under him. He falls and hits the floor hard. It almost seems to wake him up suddenly he is up and running towards the door. I follow him and we burst into the light.
The sun is bright, I run towards the car opening the trunk in front of us there are about ten infected. I move in and swing at the first one smashing in the skull on the side. It hits the floor and my next swing flows into the next stabbing through the throat, decapitating its head from the body. I realize that my weapon is heavy after two swings I am already getting tired. My muscles twinge and then I take a final swing at my third infected and take off half of the face.
I jump in and watch as Sean takes out the other few with quick slices splitting the vertebrae. He jumps in and I close the trunk behind him. Leila licks him across the face. Sean smiles and pets her. I climb into the front seat and buckle up, Sean follows me and takes the passenger seat. I turn the ignition and the car roars to life screaming down the street escaping the hoard living in my rearview mirror. I turn to Sean he is looking out the window and I can see his somber tone in the reflection. He would never admit it but he was hurting. I want to console but I know that nothing I will say could help him. I feel sick looking at him. I feel sort of guilty as though maybe it is my fault. That makes me laugh because well it is my fault. My eyes stay on the road and I know what will make Sean smile.
“Hey Ackerman,” I say waking him up from his self induced stupor. He looks at me, his face was upsetting to look at. It almost made me want to cry. “see that infected” I smile my eyes glistening with a dark rage. He looks at it, a small creature which was once a teenage girl. It stood about five foot two, its face gleaming with a crimson stream of fresh blood dripping from its teeth. He turns and his eyes meet it and they begin to glow with a rage. “Want to see something funny?” He shrugs uncaring mostly because he is focused on the undead in front of the car. I stop the car and look at him. He turns to me almost confused. The infected is in my sights about 30 feet in front of my hood. I grin and hit the gas burning out as hard as I could smashing hard into the infected sending it flying and hitting the ground and sliding across the ground scraping up it’s body. I stop and laugh. I look over and I see a small smile escape from Ackerman’s lips.
The creature rises up from the ground and begins limping towards the sidewalk. Its body is dripping covered in it’s own blood. I smile and laugh as I smash straight into the creature knocking it over. But I don’t stop this time. I run over the infected stopping on top of the body. Sean looks at me with a dark grin much like mine lighting up his face. I hit the gas burning out over the creature destroying its body. We laugh and leave with renewed vigor.
“Sean go into my contacts and find Sarah’s number and dial it.” I ask politely. Suddenly the speakers come to life and with the ringing. Suddenly a ruffled voice comes blaring through the speakers.
“Sam” I lower the volume. The voice is manly; clearly it is not Sarah but her boyfriend Freddie.
“Hi Freddie is Sarah home?” I ask my voice fake and childish “I was hoping to talk to her.”
“Well she is in the bathroom” Freddie replies in his own childish voice “she is taking a shower” he giggles at that like a little child. “What is it about” he says still keeping the accent.
“We…” I want to continue speaking but the words are heavy coming off my tongue I sigh and drop the accent “We are beginning to move” I say the words rush and jumble and I feel sick saying it. I told Sarah when the infection broke out to stay inside and I will come for them when the time is right. Well now is the time.
I listen to the other end and there is a silence on the other. I can still hear him breathing, his breath seems abnormally fast. Suddenly a ruffling sound blares.
“What!” a voice comes through the speakers. It is clearly not Freddie, the pitcher is higher and there is a little drawl to the voice. It is Sarah, one of my closest friends from high school. If I did not know her as well as I did I would think she was mad at me.
“Sorry to interrupt your shower” I say, the sarcasm in my voice is a little obvious. Only a little bit though.
“What do you want Sam?” her impatience for me is always fun. Unfortunately, this is not the time for games. “Hurry it up!”
“It is time to move” I say firmly.
“Where are we going?” That is a great question. I did not really plan a specific location.
“We are meeting at the warehouse, I will text you the address.”
“Ok, I will see you there”
“Wait!” I stop her from hanging up “I will be late Sean and I have to go somewhere first” I say quickly making sure she hears it all. “Ok no you can hang up” Then the call ended.
“Sean text Sarah the address on my G.P.S, then call Matt” I command with a smile.
“Where are we going Sam?” Sean curiously asks
“That is for me to know and you to find out young apprentice” I turn and a goofy grin bursts through my lips. “Have you texted them and called Matt yet for me?” He hasn’t, my phone is still sitting in the cup holder. I glance at it obviously trying to get Sean to pick up my phone. His eyes catch mine and he submits. I smile at that. With in minutes the phone is ringing over the speakers, I listen intently to the hum of the calling signal waiting for Matt to pick it up.
“Hello?” Matt says through the phone, there is music in the background, it sounds like he is driving and I am on speaker phone. There is another person in the car, I don’t ask questions, I honestly don’t really care enough to. I just need to talk to him.
“Matt, you know where we are going right? I ask
“Wait, where are you?” That is never a good response, it is the first day of our unit and we are all lost, it is not a good sign. “I was just at your house and your car is gone.”
“I am on my way towards the Warehouse to meet up with Sarah, Freddie, Kayleigh, Erik, and Casey.” I explain; meet us there I will text you the address” I looked at Sean, he was already texting. I smiled, he learns quickly. “I will be there late; I have to go get something quickly.” Just like the conversation ended like so many before it.
“Are you going to tell me where we are going now?” Sean asks
“Probably not” I giggle. He decides it would be easier to stop asking, that was something I liked about him; he usually went with the flow. I guess it is trust; Ackerman trusts me. That evokes a silent grin; he trusts me and I will not let him down. We sit in the silence as I drive around the familiar terrain hitting turns as I bring us to our next location the police station.
Hen the Infection became bad the police became hunters, they would go out and kill as many as possible. They were also used to protect the doctors in the hospitals. The police were pretty much hired guns up until the end government shut down most police forces disbanded, there was no sense fighting if there was no money involved. They had no incentive to protect the masses. So they went into hiding, protect myself and my family. They were cowards.
I am a coward. That was how I survived as long as I have. The heroes have all died trying to save the world. Only the cowards remain. We sit hiding in our houses protecting ourselves selfishly trying to scratch out some sort of living. The heroes were stupid. They fought to protect cowards like me who did not care if they lived or died. Why would I? I did not know them; I would not die for them. They make guys like me look weak but guys like me are still alive.
“Sam” I hear it is Ackerman, his voice seems miles away. I pull myself out of my daze and turn to him. He is staring at me concerned. I hate that. Do not worry about me, worry about yourself first. Your life is much more important than mine. I look at him and smile. The smile is as fake as any but Ackerman believes it.
“This is us” I point at the old wooden side across the street from us, “Recreational Complex” it reads in a faded yellow coloring. In the back of the complex sits a large building, its bricks tower over the car hiding it in the shadows. Chills run up my spine as I pull the car to the front where the sliding glass doors lay shattered across the concrete pavement. “Someone beat us here” I sigh to Sean “Who would be so mean to beat us here?”
“The police station, what are we here for?”
“Guns Ackerman, guns” I park the car and hop out. The trunk pops open and I pick up my projects. Sean follows me and grabs one of his blades and unsheathes it. He stares at his reflection. I close the trunk and look. The infected are slowly making their way towards us. There is no point to wait and fight we must begin moving. I move towards the broken doors. Glass crackles and breaks under our feet. I walk through the hole in the door avoiding any glass, don’t need any cuts. Sean is close behind me.
The lobby is empty and a cloud of dust fills the air engulfing everything. The haze filled your lungs and with each breath I found myself coughing. I looked through the cloud towards our destination. The large door made of bullet proof glass stood out in front of Sean. The door stood locked with glass still up and frame covered in scratches as though there was once a terrible battle to get inside of it. Behind me the sound of the infected looms closer. Bearing down on our backs, safety is beyond that door. On the side of the door is a panel requesting I.D.
“Sam we don’t have any I.D.” Ackerman complains. He is always so serious it is slightly upsetting to me. I don’t eve dignify his remark with a comment. My mother’s old card does enough. Before the Infection broke out my mother worked for the town, she would move back and forth between her office where she worked during the week and the police station where she worked Sundays. I swipe the card and prepare for a battle. Yet unfortunately beyond the door lies little more than a white hallway with doors and windows upon each side. The silence which lays upon the white walls creates a foreboding feeling as though at any given moment the infected will overwhelm us. My muscles twitch and my body is on edge. At the end of the hallway a large metal door sits open exposing the world to its inner content. I run towards it. The room is dark. To my right a switch brings life to the room in spurts until the whole room is lit exposing the infected crouched over a dead body. It turns to us and screeches trying to keep us away from it’s meal.
One strike with the woodpeckers scythe ends the creature’s miserable existence. The carcass underneath the creature lays bitten and destroyed exposing tissue and muscle. The body was that of a young man, about twenty years of age if I could guess. He looked strong his muscles now torn and ripped. Just for precaution I stab through the throat breaking the vertebrae. I look up and the walls are almost empty. The places where large guns used to stay now lie bare. There are only a few weapons; about three small pistols, two rifles and one shotgun. I grab all the weapons and give some to Sean.
“I don’t use guns, Sam”
“Well learn, now take this pistol” I say shoving a gun into his pocket. He steps back shocked by my actions. He pulls out the gun in his hand examining the dark metal frame. It is something unfamiliar and new to him. He stares at the alien device and points it at the dead corpse lying on the floor.
“Bang” he pulls the trigger. A loud bang echoes throughout the room. A bullet flies out of the gun hitting the dead corpse in the arm. Ackerman stared at the gun in fear, smoke seeped out of the barrel still hot. He looks terrified, his eyes wider than they have ever been. I doubt he has ever shot a gun before.
I laugh, I laugh loudly; nothing was funny but I feel that laughing is all I could to keep myself moving. Sean begins laughing with me. There we were standing over a dead corpse with a hot gun and laughing. If we can not laugh then what can we do? Are we worse off than the infected? By laughing I keep my humanity and my sanity.
I grab a black ammo bag, it is almost empty. So I grab more ammo from other bags. “Time to go” I throw the bag over Sean’s shoulder. I run out of the room, in the hallway I can see the bullet proof glass door now covered with the infected. Their bodies slam against the glass pounding in an almost rhythmic tune. The glass holds itself well. The easiest way out is not through the infected. I look around and find the closest door and open it. We were in a large kitchen with a fridge and table that still had food laid out across it. The fridge was open and the food in it was destroyed, the shelves a mess. There is a door with a light green paint and gold painted knob. It was like most of the office unimpressive, yet I got a feeling from it as though there was something great, behind it. I pushed on the door and it popped open.
Behind it stood a garage, filled with police cars and trucks. I smiled and began breaking into the windows and pulling out guns and ammo. Most cars had either a pistol or shotgun. We need ammo more than guns. I pull the cars apart grabbing as much as I can.
“Sam, this is great but how are we getting out of here.” Sean asks concerned. I don’t pay attention; too busy. There are windows to smash and honestly I really enjoy it. Finally with everything in tow it is time to leave, through the garage door. This was a pull chain garage. I looked at the chain and silently began to pull. Light did not flow in through the cracks. It was dark out and the clouds blocked out even the smallest star. We are in the back of the building. From here we can see the entire recreational complex, the infected wander around the land below. Hundreds of them walk blindly across the land. They live without purpose or reason. The infected wander the world lost in a sea of their own selfish indulgence, feeding only themselves and the virus. They sicken me.
My eyes follow one in particular, a woman large short in stature hair held high as if it were the only thing that mattered. She was probably like this well before the infection broke out; constantly feeding her ego and selfish desires. She probably tanned every day with her orange taking on a leathery orange tone. I am glad she is infected, the world is better off without her. My body begins to move on instinct. Without knowledge or thought I hold the rifle up through the scope the creature’s head lies in perfect view. I slowly squeeze the trigger with my index finger. “Bang I whisper as the bullet flies out and strikes the zombie in the left side of it’s head tearing through flesh and skull then finally emerging from the opposite side. The creature falls and hits the ground hard. Others flock towards the body for a cheap meal. I watch until the body is destroyed almost entirely.
Afterwards I move towards the car. My body is beginning to feel the strains of constant violence. I need to find shelter for the night, the only place I know of is the warehouse. That is where we will stay; I start the car and pull my away, locked and loaded. Running, always running.
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