Lavivrus

Chapter 14

Untouched snow covered the silent town. It looked a lot like one of those perfect moments captured by a skilled photographer in the early light of dawn.

Footsteps melted into the ground. They were left behind by a lone figure that trudged through the snow. Black hair escaped her hat. A scarf was wrapped around her neck and she wore gloves to protect her fingers against the biting cold. She wasn't armed. At least not that one could see.

Shai watched Asumi through the scope. Lake was behind him, but Roanna and Mav were nowhere in sight.

"This isn't going to work," Shai heard Lake mutter.

He didn't respond, eye glued to the scope. He and the other boy had taken cover in an alley way that had a clear view of the area before them. To go on the roof with the snow was not taken into consideration – it would also be beyond slippery.

Shai's eyes swept the area again. He wasn't happy at all with the amount of exposure Asumi was facing.

They hadn't come across any infected, and that in itself bothered him immensely. Something just felt...odd. Shifting, he turned the scope back on Asumi. She came to a standstill and turned, as though searching.

Other than her, there was no movement.

Is it even here? Shai questioned. Most likely, he answered himself. There was no real way to explain it, but the moment the teens had come out from covering the feeling had been there. The feeling that they were being watched.

Shai adjusted his grip. The rifle was resting on a trash can he had turned over. The surface helped him steady the weapon when his hands were beginning to already shake from the cold.

Asumi stomped her feet and the sound echoed all around. The infector had to have spotted her by now.

"Come on," Shai murmured.

Asumi turned in a circle. "Hello?" The silence was broken by her yell.

Acting like a prey that got separated from the heard. Shai's grip on the cold gun tightened.

"She's crazy," Lake whispered.

Shai agreed mentally, but he didn't utter a word as he adjusted the scope again. He didn't want to miss a thing. If he did, that could mean death for Asumi. Then again, with the way they had set things up, they should hear the infector if it made any attempt to approach. If thing worked out the way they should. And somehow Shai had a feeling that nothing was going to go as planned.

"Is this going to work?" It looked like Lake was having the same doubts. The boy was holding on to one of the flares.

"If the other two set up right." Shai's attention darted to an alley on the opposite end. They had three corners covered. Three corners, three flares. That left one opening. One place for the infector to enter through...if it hadn't already deemed the flares as none threatening.

"I thin–"

"Shhh!" Shai cut his friend off. He held a hand in the air as he did so.

The two went silent, straining their ears. The wind whistled and the sound of Asumi stomping her feet echoed again.

Shai's eyes narrowed. Did I hear wrong?

The familiar groans hit his ears moments later.

"It's here," Lake breathed.

"No, that's not the infector," Shai replied. Shoot, it's sending in its hounds first. The gun swiveled to the direction of the moans. Is it coming with them?