Infection

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

"Here, catch." Jake whispered as he threw a bottle of water over to Ashlyn, who was seated right behind a door, with her ear pressed to the door. She caught the bottle with both hands while still intently listening to any sounds coming from the outside.

"Thanks." She unscrewed the bottle cap and drank, downing half the bottle in a single gulp. She shook her head. They had lost the men, apparently. An immediate turn around the corner and they had dashed straight up an office building. The front desk had several infected roaming around, but the adrenaline rush of escaping from the men allowed them to push through the crowd unharmed. They were now stuck in a pantry, which thankfully had some basic supplies in storage, like the bottles of water Jake had just discovered in a cabinet under a sink.

Even outside the pantry, the main office had zombies staggering around. The only other option of escaping was through the window, which made Jake hesitant. It hadn't been a particularly pleasant experience when they had to escape out of the workroom back at school, when the creature was charging after them. In any case, he felt that it was better to wait for things to settle a bit first. The men didn't seem like the type who would have given up pursuing them so easily; they were probably still lurking around, searching and hunting for them somewhere outside.

"What now, Jake?" Ashlyn asked.

"We wait a bit." Jake shrugged. "Let things calm down. I think those lunatics are still around outside."

Ashlyn turned her attention to the door. "What do you think they're up to? And did you notice Gwen? She was a bit unnatural... and it was quite weird. She wanted us to go with them, and then she just dashed off somewhere else."

"Not sure. If we ever find her again, then we'll ask her." Jake replied. He checked his watch. "Not much time left to get up North. Shit."

Ashlyn bit her lip. "Think we'll make it up there on time? We're still stuck here with no means of transport..."

"Well, we have to."

In their panic, the both of them had dropped their weapons. They were defenceless as of now. Jake's bag had also been taken by the men, and Ashlyn had no choice but to throw hers away in order to facilitate their escape, or it'd have slowed their run...

Jake walked over to the window. He glanced below, deep in thought, looking at a few infected roaming aimlessly in the streets. Two male and three female zombies, all wearing the same blank, horrified expression on their faces as they staggered around the parked cars and empty streets.

A movement caught Jake's eye.

A boy was running down the streets in a daze, seeming oblivious to the zombies near him which tried to reach out to grab him, but yet alert enough to push them away, though without much strength. As he ran closer to the building Jake and Ashlyn were in, Jake realised that it was Allan.

"What the f—That's Allan down there!" Jake started, and tried to open the windows. He successfully pulled the window up, and waved frantically. "Allan!" He called.

Allan glanced up, a look of horror and loss on his face. "Jake..." He whispered, to which Jake couldn't hear him.

"Get up here, man! Fast!" Jake glanced around Allan, noticing the zombies slowly roaming toward him.

Allan stood still for a moment, seeming lost.

"Dude, what the fuck? MOVE IT!" Jake cried.

Ashlyn had run over to the window. "Come on! Hurry!"

Allan shook his head slowly, but ran into the building, disappearing from sight.