Spurt is the only sound I hear as a blade slashes through the corpses skull, it stops mere inches from my nose and it sends specks of blood splashing on my face. I push the body off of mine and sit up.
"Are you okay?!" Griffith asks, worry creasing his eyebrows. He drops to his knees and starts to examine my arms.
"I'm fine," I say.
"What took you so long to get that knife?" I ask him as he pulls down my sleeve and checks my calves.
"A simple thank you would suffice," he says.
"Sorry, thank you for saving my life," I say as he finishes inspecting my calves and stands up. He reaches his hand for mine. I take it and he swiftly pulls me up from the floor. Our faces are so close yet so distant. I can feel his sweet breath as he exhales, my heartbeat feels like the loudest thing in the room. My pulse quickens and we just stare at each other for a few minutes.
"Erm... we should go tell them that we've checked everywhere," I suggest as I pull away from the moment. I see a glimpse of disappointment flash across his face as his lips tighten into a thin line for a second. It passes and he smiles at me again.
"You owe me date now," he declares, trying to recover from his pain with his cocky way.
I roll my eyes at him, "You wish," I say.
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I tie my hair up into my usual loose bun and I take off my coat. I hammer the next palette across the window and then drill some really thick boxes on top.
"Have you seen any tape measurer lying around?" Mia asks.
"Nope, I'll search for one," I offer and set off to find a measuring tape. I climb a set of scaffolding that leads to an oak door. My fingers are caked with dust and dirt as I rest a hand on the cool, metal doorknob. I peek through the tiny window before turning the knob and I stop. There are at least ten freakin zombies in the conference room that lies beyond the slim door. Shit, can I get a break?! They start to get fidgety as their nostrils flare and their ugly, contorted mouths begin to seethe as they begin to smell my human odour. I back away and I sense the ground sway beneath my feat. Oh gosh, the whole flipping scaffolding is swaying. I silently climb down the scaffolding and run/sprint to my mom.
"We have a problem. There are at least ten corpses in that room," I tell her, motioning to the door.
"Okay, so what do we do captain?" she asks me.
"Uh... I don't know?! Wait, no, I do, three of us go up then another three and then the other two people climb up. We can only bring axes and stuff though, I don't want us wasting ammo," I instruct. My mother smiles proudly and nods her head.
"First group will be you, Riley and Mia. Second group is Tom, Natasha, and Griffith. And the last group will be myself and Christine," she says.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask Christine, Mia's mom, who seems to be shaking like a wet chicken.
"Yup, I'm good," she says in a quiet way.
"Okay, let's go then," I say. I grab an axe from the tool box. Mia and Riley stay a safe distance behind me as we climb the loosely built scaffolding and I edge along the creaky wooden boards. The third level and we're almost there. The structure begins to oscillate under our weight and we all go completely still. My fingertips skim the bumpy, concrete wall as I try and regain my balance. I sigh in relief and I shimmy my way up to the next level of the scaffolding. I stop in front of the door and everyone else halts behind me.
"Now, these things are fast so I suggest we do a back to back triangle thing. Like all the ninjas and stuff," Riley proposes.
"Whatever gets us through this," I agree.
"One, two, three", and on the third count I jerk the door open and we all swiftly enter the room. We all get back to back as quickly as possible as the group comes charging at us.
"Stand your ground!" I shout over their shrieks and cawing noises. Three more people enter the room and I start to feel a little bit better. Aim for the head, Raine. I stab at an old, jolly man that has clearly had way to many doughnuts over his lifetime. A woman, around twenty years of age snarls and bares her teeth at me. Her business suit is torn at the hems and her jacket is half gone. She has an ugly, bubbly, yellow, mucus-like substance emerging from a large, hollow wound in her cheek. The number of corpse start to diminish and before I know it there are only two left. We slaughter them both in an instant and then there's a moment of weighing silence.
"Well... that was freaking awesome! Did you guys notice that we took out a whole group of corpses?!" Tom asks excitedly, "we're better than the flipping Avengers!" he declares.
"Next thing you know we'll be defeating Loki in Asgard," Griffith says sarcastically. I give them a breathless laugh.
"AHHHHHH!" I hear a shrill shriek and a lot of snarling. I spin around and I find Mia on the floor, a corpse clutched onto her calf. She tries to kick at its face as it tugs on her, drawing her in.
"Here!" I shout, sliding my axe into her direction. She grabs it and whacks the corpse in the head. It's skull splits open and slushy, rotten brains pour out of its newly formed wound. Christine's nose crinkles in disgust and then her mommy instincts kick in. She rushes over to Mia and gently reels her into an embrace.
"Lesson one, it doesn't hurt to smash a corpses skull twice," I advise.
"What do we do with the bodies?" Tom asks.
"We toss them out that window," I instruct, pointing towards a window big enough for a body.
"Shouldn't we burn them?" Christine inquires.
"Bad idea, if there are people around the smoke will attract them and believe me, we don't need more people," I explain.
"Oh gosh," my mother says as though a light bulb has just flicked on in her head, "has anyone checked the bathroom?" she wants to know.
"Ugh, great, I'll do it," Natasha volunteers.
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We all set up blow up mattresses, pillows, and blankets which we've brought with us as we hear the scraping of feet being dragged on the floor. Natasha drops an unconscious body in front of us. It's a male, in his forties I'd say who has grown a rough, sand-papery stubble on his chin and on his upper lip.
"I found him in the washroom," Natasha tells us.
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Sorry it's not that long of a chapter, I need more inspiration! I'll post something in a few days :)
YOU ARE READING
Infectious
Teen FictionLove, an apocalypse, and survival. Three things that should not be combined in a sixteen-year-old's life. Raine was a girl with a picture perfect life. That was until the virus broke out. A tale of sacrifice, secrecy, and the hunt for a cure.
