Claustrophobic | Skephalo

Fourteen Zombies

i feel bad for not uploading for almost a whole week so here's another surprise chapter :)

also, thank you for 2k reads!!!!

•••

Zak

"Darryl, what do we do?" Zak's question unintentionally came out as more of a whine than a whisper, causing the other male to shove his hand over Zak's mouth.

They stayed put like that until two zombies found them, leaving the boys no choice but to kill. Each sliced one undead's neck.

Two down, however many are left to go.

Darryl kills another zombie that was right behind Zak, cutting off a small piece of Zak's hair along with it.

"We gotta make a run for it," Darryl decides, glancing at six more approaching zombies.

"B-But the spider..."

"Come on!" Darryl grunts as he plunges his sword into two zombies at the same time, slicing upwards, instantly killing both. Blood was spilling everywhere, and it was disgusting.

Zak felt like he was going to throw up. Nonetheless, he did what Darryl said and killed another. A can of food slipped from the side pocket of his backpack, rolling down the isle towards a group of even more zombies. Zak winced, trying to count all of them.

They're moving too fast.

One by one, Zak's pocketknife began to get more and more dull as throats were slashed. He eventually shoved it back in his pocket, for it had become almost completely useless. Picking up a small shard of glass from the ground, Zak figures it would work just the same.

That's four more dead. Jesus, how many people could have possibly be shopping when they were infected?

Darryl manages to kill three more zombies that were walking in from the frozen isle. "I think that's all of them."

Zak inhales deeply, resting a hand on a shelf next to him.

No, I hear one more.

Without thinking, Zak whips around and stabs the zombie approaching Darryl from behind. The shard of glass cuts his hand as it is lodged into the zombie's skull. He tosses it to the side, making a small shattering noise.

Zak hisses in pain as blood runs down his arm. He grabs his wrist, clenching it tightly before holding it behind his back. He would wrap it up later, now it's time for him and Darryl to escape.

How many zombies did we kill? I lost count.

"Nice job, Zak. You've got a talent for killing zombies, who knew?" Darryl whispers, placing his hand on Zak's shoulder.

"Mhmm. Now, how do we get past the spider?" Zak spoke through his teeth, wiping blood from his hand on his sweatshirt.

It's still bleeding. God, that really hurt. I am such an idiot for using a piece of glass as a weapon. Ha! Wait till Darryl sees this.

"I have no idea. I'd say we charge it and kill it, but those things are so unpredictable... It took me weeks just to track one down and have a chance of killing it," Darryl responds.

"Are you sure it's even still there?"

"Take a look for yourself. It's spinning a web in front of the doors. Meaning if we don't leave now, we probably never will."

"I'm scared, Darryl."

"We'll be okay. Do you have a weapon?"

"No."

Darryl hands Zak one of his swords. "Be super careful with it, it's very sharp."

Zak nods, pointing the sword to the ground so he doesn't accidentally stab Darryl, who was right in front of him.

"We'll rush it on three. Are you ready?" Darryl asks.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Zak sighs. "One."

"Two."

"Three!"

They charge at the giant spider, who was preoccupied with spinning a thick web in front of the only exit. Each boy sticks a sword in one side, leaving the spider completely helpless almost immediately. Green ooze poured out from the wounds, steaming with a hint of poisonous acid, causing them both to jump back. The acid burned through the floor, leaving behind a smell of blood and burning rubber. The two boys ignore it, push through an uncovered section in the doorway, and make it outside as more zombies head towards the dying arachnid.

A wave of nausea hits Zak once they're safely outside, and he can't help but toss Darryl's sword to the side, double over, and throw up everything in his stomach.

"You did good, Zak." Darryl pats Zak's back, not exactly helping the vomiting situation.

"I never want to do that again." Zak heaves, standing upright.

"Hopefully, you won't have to. We should have enough food to last us the rest of the week."

"Thank god."

Darryl glances down at the blood on Zak's sweatshirt, and his eyes trail to Zak's cut hand. "Hey, what happened to your hand?"

"Oh, I almost forgot. I cut it on a piece of glass in there. It's no big deal."

"No big deal?! What if it got infected?"

"What? Like, by zombies?"

"Yeah!"

"I thought you could only get infected through a bite!"

"Oh my goodness, Zak, come here," Darryl gently grabs Zak by the wrist and sits him down on a bench. Kneeling in front of him, Darryl takes the water bottle they had found in the grocery store and pours some onto a piece of fabric. "Do you have any bandages?"

Zak shook his head. "No, and I didn't see any in there, either."

"Okay, just keep this on your hand, then. I'm going to pour some alcohol on it, so it's gonna burn."

"Okay."

Darryl rummages around in his bag for a bottle of alcohol, and pulls out a mini container with around half left inside. He drips a small amount of alcohol onto the fabric on Zak's hand.

Ow! I didn't expect it to hurt that badly! It burns!

Zak unintentionally cries out in pain, so Darryl grabs Zak's free hand in case he were to try to pull the fabric off his hand. They sat like that for what felt like forever, Zak gripping the piece of fabric in one hand, and Darryl's hand in the other.

"It's clean now," Darryl said, prying his hand out of Zak's bear grip. "If the cut was infected, which hopefully it wasn't, I think it got cleaned in time. I don't really know how it works when you don't get bit."

"Thank you," Zak gulps, swallowing his pain.

"You don't need to thank me. We're a team now, we're partners. I'll always patch you up."

Zak grins as Darryl helps him up.

Partners. I like the sound of that.