Everything is a blur, a horribly slow and awfully deliberated and detailed blur. I feel someone tug me back from the monster, until I tumble back onto the muddied ground. The creature doesn't screech, it doesn't make a sound as it looms above me, and fear floods trough me as I helplessly search for my gun. Where the hell is the gun?! Dammit!
I hear a loud gunshot, and then the creature's back arches quickly, its wings stretching out as it lets out a strangled, gargling growl. My heart is beating wildly and erratically in my chest as I look up at the monster; someone fires at it again, and it reacts in the same way as before, back arching. Another gunshot to its chest has it dropping to the ground, and then the gun is thrown by Jim out of the window.
"Get back in the goddamn van, now!" Crilly yells. Jake tugs me to my feet, and we scramble towards the van just as the creature stirs again. I dive into the passenger seat and slam the door closed just as Jake clambers into the back beside Barrone and Alex.
"What the hell was that?!" Alaya squeaks as Crilly drives forward quickly, as fast as he can and as far from the monster as possible.
"How are we meant to know?" I gasp out breathlessly. "It had wings and it...it didn't have a face, and...and..." Fear continues to course through my veins as we speed on through the night, and then we break out into the countryside. Loud screeches can be heard in the city behind us, and I shudder, not able to get the image of that dragon-like creature out of my mind, or the words on its leg.
"It had a thing on its leg," Jake tells everyone, "but I don't know what it said. I-"
"RedempCorp." Everyone looks at me. "It said RedempCorp. Which proves that they're making these monsters."
"You could have read it wrong, or it could have been put there deliberately as a way to frame-" Alaya protests, but I interject quickly.
"It was branded into its leg." I tell her snappily. She blinks in surprise. "RedempCorp may seem like a lovely bloody ray of sunshine to you, but I'm not convinced. There's some kind of a link between RedempCorp and this outbreak, and I'm getting to the bottom of it."
"You're not getting yourself into more trouble, Leigh. You might have a deathwish, but dammit we don't." Barrone growls. I roll my eyes at him.
"Even if it was RedempCorp that made that thing, what reason do they have for unleashing that kind of thing, or creating it for that matter?" Alaya asks.
"Well, what if they're saying they're making a cure, when in fact they're making these things?" Jake suggests. "It's possible, right?"
"Maybe we shouldn't make assumptions or come up with any theories until we actually have a better idea of what's going on." Crilly says as he drives on. We all quieten down and just sit in silence, and I can hear the radio static fizzing, monsters screeching in the distance. I close my eyes as tight as I can, trying to block everything out, and bunch my knees up against my chest as I curl up into a ball.
"Go to sleep, Leigh. You've hardly slept." Crilly says quietly, his tone full of concern.
"I can't." He cocks an eyebrow. "I'll relive all of this." Nightmares always warp reality; they know how to make things a billion times worse than they already are. I don't want to relive anything that's happened, and if that means fighting exhaustion then so be it.
"Leigh. Go to sleep." The blackish-brown-haired man repeats, more firmly this time. I shake my head, but even as I do that my eyes are drifting closed, and unconsciousness is quickly creeping up on me.
* * *
Looking around me, I can see that I'm in the middle of a crumbled, vacated street. The small country-style cottages are visibly empty, doors missing and windows smashed, blood streaked against walls, bodies lying motionless in front gardens. I shudder at the gruesome sight, before walking slowly and hesitantly forward. I'm alone, no one else is in sight in the silent night. As I walk on, my surroundings begin to change; buildings begin to get taller, roads get wider, the destruction around me gets worse with every step that I take forwards. I don't dare make a sound nor study my surroundings too much as I walk. Who knows what I'll see if I do. For a while, everything is silent, until-
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The Divine Infection
FanfictionTerror has broken out in the world; an apocalyptic epidemic, thought for years only as a myth, now a horrible nightmare which billions have had to endure. The entire world suffers, all because of the once-fictitious curse known as the undead: zombie...
