The Immune

7. d & m

"Do you think we should get out" I whispered, agitated and tired of being a sitting duck under the four wheel drive. It had now been about half an hour since we had seen the last ravaged, twenty minutes since we had heard an unfamiliar sound.
"It should be alright,  I'll get Brooke, and you keep watch." he whispered.
We edged our way out from under the car and knelt, listening for any sounds.
I pulled the pistol out from the back of my pants, flicking off the safety. Will didn't look surprised, seemingly more than okay with me having a weapon.
He began to drag Brookes still form out from underneath the car. She let out a whine of pain, but remained unconscious. We listened hesitantly, nothing seemed to be moving.
Will passed his backpack to me, and began to pull Brooke's body over his shoulder.
"We're heading into where those tall building are," pointing to the east, "there's a map. Our focus for now is to get out of these god damn suburbs and find somewhere secure" he whispered. He adjusted his gun so that with one hand he had settled Brooke's body, and the other, if desperate, he could shoot. He handed me a clip of ammo without discussion, and I tucked it into the waistband of my pants.

We slowly manoeuvred our way out of the parking lot, edging our way  from behind the safety of the maze. The zombies had been drawn to a fire further to the north, a few blocks over. Black smoke could still be seen billowing into the sky. It would attract ravaged from all around.
I could feel Will's worry for his brother, It was too early to start fretting. The compound trained their soldiers well, and Jax, their leader, knew what they were doing.
We managed a 6 blocks but Brookes weight was taking its toll on Will. The cut on my forehead, from the fall; which I thought had stopped bleeding, had reopened, making blood drip down my face, distorting my vision.
"This place seems pretty good" he whispered, leading the way through an overgrown garden and onto the porch of a terrace house. The building types were becoming denser as we began to enter the city, large suburban dwellings were morphing into terraces and even small apartment blocks. City streets were often clearer, but often left little places to hide. 

"This seems like one of the last detached dwellings before it eventually turns into solid high rise residential. We need to regroup, I think" he suggested, uncertainly.
"I'll search the house, stay ready," I said, 
He gave me a slight nod, a confirmation I wasn't expecting, but willingly took. I pushed open the unlocked door, noting the smashed lock - the door will need reinforcement.
The small unit had been ransacked, tables overturned, cabinets empty. Any supplies, taken, or used, lie empty. The two bedroom house was only reasonably secure, with most of the windows on the ground floor having been smashed. I was about to propose we should continue looking for a better house when I noticed a little detail.
"There's a little attic that is pretty easily defensible" I said, indicating up the rickety flight of stairs. Between the two of us we managed to get Brooke up the attic loft ladder - Will pulling, and my attempt at pushing.
"Perfect," he said, surveying the small space, "no windows, means we can use a candle."
He set the still unconscious Brooke down on a pile of clothes, feeling her forehead. The young woman had lost most of her colour, and was sweating feverishly.
"Is she alright?"
" She needs medicine. But she also needs surgery to clean, reset the bone and dress the wound" his face strained in concentration as he unwound the bandage. The cuts on her thigh were deep. The bloody mess, oozed a little bit of pus, it had a strange odour. My weak stomach churned, the white bit of bone angled oddly, the skin discoloured.
" Dammit. It's infected." he said
" What can we do? Out here?"
" I'm going to go look for medicine. Antibiotics, ideally.I will take anything though."
I nodded, if she could make it to the safe point, maybe a doctor could help.
Will gave me a long look,
" Can I trust you to look after her whilst I'm gone?", he looked into my eyes, and I felt disconcerted. He was looking for something, wanting to trust me. I couldn't seem to respond, caught like a deer in the headlights. He seemed to find his answer in my gaze though. Nodding his head,
" I'll be back" he stood, taking his backpack and gun.
The phrase made me let out a giggle.
"Okay Arnie, see you soon"
"What?" a genuinely confused expression on his face.
" Didn't you ever watch Terminator as a kid?"
"I don't really remember movies"
" Well, it was an end of the world movie, they believed machines would take over."
" Huh," he said, " hard to believe machines could do much at all these days. No where near the technological prowess they once had."
" It was a different world"
" It was. I'll see ya" he said, as he began walking down the stairs, exiting out into the dangerous world.