Green Skies

Chapter 2: The Search

Alone, swarmed by vehicles on the derelict bridge with a deceased body at my feet I wondered what my next move should be. With my pistol holstered I walked from car to car searching for supplies only finding some water and canned food. Judging the amount of food I had in my backpack I could ration this quantity for at least a week. My best chance of survival was to find my friends I just knew they would know what to do in a situation like this. My lifelong friend Brad Bushell only lived about two kilometres away on his family farm it was located on the barren outskirts of Warrnambool. He had a few acres of land where his dad raised cattle until ripe for slaughter, earning him an extra income while running one of the biggest building companies in the city. You could say Brad lived in a mansion; well that’s what I’d call it. The double story house has an almost 360 view from upstairs that stretches for miles. It is the perfect fortress to hold up in from this epidemic. I decided to walk on foot; I kept off the main roads walking as discreet as possible trying my best to avoid another monster encounter like back at the bridge.

Walking off the main city roads onto country land brought a sigh of relief, being able to get this far without another encounter. The empty country side looked endless as I trudged down the gravel road, nearing my destination, only a few hundred metres left now. As I approached the farm gate I heard the familiar growling that I thought I had left back In town. Steadily I grabbed for my gun, my steady approach was then sped up when I sighted a deranged man hobbling my way. The man had a long, no longer, white beard and tattered clothing along with his right foot angled 90 degrees away from his ankle socket. He must've been hiding in the bushes there was no where else he could have come from, I thought to myself. Having an easy twenty metres on it, I decided to out my gun away and use my knife, there was no point wasting ammo on a slow moving target. Before the man could even attempt an attack I swiftly took him out, his glowing eyes fading back to a ravaging red colour. I stood over the body flicking blood off my knife back onto him when suddenly I heard growling. Panicking I looked down to the body that I thought I had dealt with but there was no sign of movement. The noise level grew louder and louder as I looked to the bushes aligning the side of the road, I felt like I was being surrounded. All of a sudden a group of about ten growlers came stumbling out of the bushes five metres to my right and crashed into a mangled heap. I quickly reached for my pistol as they began to scramble to their feet, I head shot three on the ground before wasting my other ammo, not being able to hit them in the sweet spot. With no extra bullets I had to resort to my fish scaling knife as the other seven un dead had arisen and were coming for me, fast. The first to lunge I side stepped sending it flying past me then I gauged the next's eye out with my knife, at that point I was beginning to be swarmed and I began kicking my way through the crowd. Seconds later I was tackled to the ground, my body impounded by the weight on top of me. I kicked and screamed 'HELP!' knowing I was done for, they would eat me alive. A woman above me dived in for my neck I head butted her then slashed at her with my knife, splitting her skull open with a crack, rolling her off me I was again left to continuously dodge bites and swipes at my face, I knew I couldn't do this for much longer. The last few were on top of me, I tried pushing them away using my backpack as a shield but they were too strong all at once they lunged in, covering all areas of escape. I prepared for the worst and closed my eyes. That's when I heard gun shots. One, two and then the third echoing through the air, I opened my eyes to see motionless bodies on top of me resting against my chest, all with shattered skulls. Using the last of my strength I pushed the bodies off of me before closing my eyes again, utterly exhausted. My peace was interrupted by the sound of a vehicle approaching, feeling alive I jumped up onto my feet as the car came to a halt. A tall, skinny man stepped out from the ute, he looked at me with a broad grin, I smiled back.

'Brad?'