Infected

The Wreck

Mike

"Up and at 'em, boys." Someone knocked on the door. It was Silver. I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Lying on my stomach had made me sore and I tried to sit up. I fell back down. Wait, it's still early. The sun was barely up. I saw Ben stir.

"Come on, guys. Runners get up early. We skip breakfast and eat on the way. Come on, let's go!" He knocked on the door again. I knew he wouldn't leave until someone answered. I got up, ignoring the ache, and opened the door. His face was almost unseen. He handed me the backpack.

"There are things in here you'll need for today. Tell Ben to leave the other knife here." He said. "Meet at the front in twenty minutes." He shut the door.

"What is it?" Ben asked, wiping his face.

I pulled out the items: our knives(including the SwissArmy), his phone, two granola bars, and two thermoses, one black and one gray, with water.

"Cool. I'm saving mine for later." He said, referring to the granola bar.

"I guess I should, too." I said, ignoring my growling stomach.

We put on our knives and I carried the pack, as usual. It was very light, but I assumed it would get heavier if we found anything. We walked to the stream and cleaned our faces. I found a nearby leaf and used it to brush my teeth a little. I was glad no one was watching. I looked like an idiot.

We opened the door outside and found some people already waiting. Neither Silver nor Collin was there.

"Look. Freshies." One said, twisting his knife in his hand, menacingly. He had an evil grin on his face. He put the knife to his neck and acted like he slit his throat, making gagging sounds and a face of shock. Some of the others laughed. Others frowned and stared.

"See here, freshies. You know how to handle a knife?" He said, walking up to us, twisting the knife between his fingers.

"Yeah. What about it?" Ben asked. I could tell he was getting nervous. So was I.

"Then listen. You see this?" He said, raising his wrist. There was a cut on it. "It's the initiation. Your mark as a runner. You'll never be a runner without it. I suggest you do it soon."

"Leave them alone, Jeremy." A guy said behind him. I remembered his name was Tank.

"We're not runners." I said. "We're just showing him where we're going."

"Yeah, right. That's what Silver wanted you to think. If you're not going to, then I will."

He grabbed my wrist, tight, and put the knife against the skin on my wrist. If I had struggled, it would have surely cut me.

Suddenly, he went stiff.

"Drop the knife." I heard someone say.

He let it slide off my arm to the ground.

"You're not coming today." He said again. "Let him go."

Reluctantly, he released his grip. I rubbed the red spot he left.

"Go in and stay." He said. The teen, because that's what he was, walked away through the door. When he moved, I saw what happened. One of the runners had a knife pointed at his neck.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. Are you cut?" He asked me. I shook my head. "That's Jeremy. He's always trying to get people to cut their wrists. It's a sign of a cult. We don't allow cults here."

"Why did he?" Ben asked.

"No real reason. He has problems. Bad problems. Before he came with us, he would cut himself every day. He's one of the reasons why we don't let anyone have knives around people. I'm Collin, by the way." He said, holding out a hand. We shook it. "I'm the co-leader of the runners. Second-in command, you could say."