infection | D. Dixon

chapter five

city girl

Merle exited the building with Daryl right on his heal. I stepped out and looked around. The most promising place for gas was the bus that had crashed into a clothing store. I ran for it, pushing a departed out of my way. I laid the jerrycan next to the bus.

I looked behind me to see the departed I pushed crawling towards me. I ignored it and opened the gas lid and stuck the tube I used into the tank. I glanced behind me. The gas filled my mouth when I sucked it out of the tank. I stuck the tube in the jerrycan and spit.

The departed grabbed my arm and bit the duct tape, but I stabbed it before it could bite my arm.

I looked up to see another departed standing above me. I kicked it over and climbed on top of it. It tried to bite me as I stabbed it in the face. The gas can was filling up.

Daryl was yelling something to Merle. Merle was fighting off two departed. I ran towards him but tripped over a departed body.

The road tore the skin on the side of my face, and my fall had attracted both departed fighting Merle. I scampered back with my knife in my hand until I was on my feet. I stabbed one of the departed in the head.

My knife caught in its head and I fell to the ground with the body on top of me. The other departed fell on top of us and began swiping at me under the other body. "Merle!" I yelled, but when I looked he was still fighting off another departed. "Daryl!" I yelled, catching his attention.

He grabbed the departed off me and threw it to the ground. Daryl began smashing in the departed head. I kicked the body off me and ran to the bus. The gas tank was overflowing so I ripped the hose out.

The departed were beginning to come out of alleys and buildings. I thought for a moment. "Boys!" I called. "Fire escape!" I yelled.

Both men began making their way to the iron ladder. I watched the gas pour out onto the ground and thought on my feet. Once the boys were on the platform with me I took off my hair band and tied it between two rods. "Get down!" Merle yelled, pulling Daryl into an apartment window. I lit a portion of fabric on fire and flicked it across the small parking lot. The gas caught fire as the boys were pulling me into the window.

Daryl crouched, pulling me with him. The tank caught fire and exploded.

Glass rained down on our bodies from the impact of the blast. I slowly released my hold on Daryl's shirt and he let go of my head, which had been held against his chest for protection.

"Remind me to keep you around." Merle laughed, looking out of the now shattered window.

I laughed as he pulled me and Daryl off the ground. "I don't know where that came from." I admitted, flicking my hair off my shoulder.

Merle grinned. "Don't matter now. Let's boogie." He said, opening the apartment door. I followed close behind with my dad's knife in hand. We didn't have another problem as we made our way out of the city.

+

When Merle parked the car, I looked around to see that we were in one of the quarry's outside of the city. The sun was high in the sky but the cold still bit at our cheeks when we climbed out of the vehicle. I tugged on a sweater for under my jacket and flicked my hair out of the way. The wind was light and swept through the trees. The quarry looked untouched.

I took a shaky breath and wrapped a scarf around my neck. "If this goes down we need to find a place like this where we could build a shelter for the winter." Daryl said to his brother. I ignored their conversation and tucked my gun into my utility belt.