The Infection

Chapter 11

The next few days were long and boring. Nothing else happened since the incident, and Ed never talked more than a few times since it all happened. John wondered if he would ever try burying Sherlock. 'I might have to do it myself if he won't,' John thought miserably. One morning Ed acted particularly uneasy. Even more than usual.
"What's wrong with you today?" John asked.
"We might have to leave here. Soon. I went out last night a couple of miles and saw a horde of them. Coming our way." John's heart sunk at the news.
"And when did you plan on telling me this?" John asked angrily.
"I just did," Ed replied with a shrug. "Look. There's nothing else for me to live for anymore. My friends back there....I was living on for them. My family was dead before this all started. They were all I had. Now they're gone. Wiped away."
"And you're blaming me?" John asked him, feeling his temper rise.
"No. You need to live on. You have a life to live. Maybe not a very luxurious lifestyle, but you have a family to find. I don't have anything out there. We have a couple of hours, a day if we're lucky. I can teach you how to survive. That's not much time so we have to start working now. You'll have to pick up some skills along the way. I still don't know all that much but I'll show you what I can."
"Then what? Are you just staying behind?" John asked, baffled.
"Yes," Ed replied. "I am."
"But you'll be eaten alive," John said. "You saved my life. I can't let you do that. I've seen enough death the past few days since this whole thing started. I don't want to see more."
"You won't have to. You'll be long gone before you hear my screams."
"What about Striker? How will he get food? Water?" John asked in a worried voice.
"I've noticed the dead don't affect animals. Cook up a corpse and give it to him. That's the best chance you got. As for you, you'll have to scavenge some along the way. There're plenty of streams in the woods. You'll be okay. Find temporary shelters along the way to rest though. That's rule #1. Shelter. It provides cover from the living, the dead, and even nature. There're bears out there and nasty storms around here. And you don't wanna get caught in a horde of the dead without a hiding spot. Walk for a day, rest for a couple of hours. Keep going like that until hopefully you find your family. The problem is we don't know what direction they went in. You'll have to look for traces. Not my specialty but you seem like a bright kid. I'm sure you'll figure it out. So let's get started."