The Road to Nowhere

Chapter 5: Cameron

Chapter 5

The Present

"Help!" I manage to scream.

This can't be the end. The infected is about to bite me. I have his head in between my knees and my hands are stopping his head from biting my stomach. I feel a small pinch on my hip. I look down at where the pain was, it's the knife I put into my pocket. I manage to get one hand off of the infected's head and pull the knife out. I separate my knees and forcefully push him off of me. He rolls to the side and I roll on top of him. I pin his arms down with my knees.

"Thanks for the knife," I smirk before sending it into the temple of his head. Blood drains out of the hole and all over the floor. When he finally stops moving, I rip the knife out of his head and throw it on the ground. I get off of him and sit for a while to catch my breath. I can't have an encounter like this again. The next one might be my last one.

I rip the knife out of its head. Then, I clean it with my shirt and put it back into my pocket. Winded, I get up off the floor and pick up the flashlight and crowbar. I limp to the glass door at the other side of the room that I think leads to the lobby. I glance through the door to make sure it's safe. I've learned the hard way. The only thing I see is a desk with a computer and a couple of dead plants in pots. I quietly open the door and slip through. Two elevators are behind the desk. One of the elevators had an arm sticking out from between the doors. I walk to the lobby doors at the front of the building.

The doors are stained with blood and dust. I wipe away some of it to look outside. I don't see any infected, but that doesn't mean they're not out there. I brace myself and open the door, quietly walking out into the road.

The road is littered with cars and debris. All the cars look like they have been broken into. Glass coats the asphalt, looking like diamonds in the sunlight. There's trash littering the sidewalks, as well as an occasional bloodstain or two. 

With my bare feet, I continue to walk down the road in the opposite way of the alleyway I got trapped in before. My toe doesn't hurt that bad anymore. I can walk on it, but there's still a light pain that runs up my foot. I guess adrenaline made some of the pain go away. 

The setting sun warms the air around me. However, the sun is just above the rooftops of the nearby buildings. It's going to get dark soon. No one survives in the dark out here. The street lamps don't work anymore, so it's pitch black at night. When it's that dark, you cannot see where the infected are, and where they jump out of. 

I swing the crowbar as I walk, clicking the flashlight in my other hand. My car is still two blocks away. Once I turn the corner of the next street, my heart stops. I'm face to face with the same horde that trapped me in the alleyway.

The infected stop their mindless shuffling and turn towards me. I freeze. I can't run. I'll hurt my toe worse. What am I suppose to do?  Snarling their flesh-filled teeth, they start to chase me.

I take off, sprinting away from the infected. I pass the alleyway I was stuck in before. I look over my shoulder. There must be over two dozen. There's no way I'm going to be able to kill them all. My feet pat forcefully on the road. My toe begins to hurt again, and I grit my teeth at every step. 

My crowbar feels heavy in my hand, and I can tell that it's slowing me down. I drop it, hoping that I'll outrun them instead of needing to use it as a weapon. 

I reach the road that I parked my car on, and I can't help but smile when I see that it's still parked where I left it. As I approach the driver's side of the car, I realize that the doors are locked. 

Shit. The keys.

I know I didn't get them out of the duffle bag I dropped in the alleyway. I have no way into the car.