AM13 Outbreak Shorts

One Year On - Nineteen (Danny)

Danny

My head... I grab onto it, the ache almost unbearable. Why does it hurt so much?

I grip onto it and blink a couple of times, the brightness of the sunlight aching my retinas. I have no idea where I am or what the hell happened, but everything hurts.

Since I can't see much I try to locate my pain, but it's everywhere. My legs hurt, my stomach twinges, one of my arms is in absolute agony...

A growling sound snaps me to life, grabbing my attention, and I flick my eyes around wildly, but there are only fuzzy shapes. Nothing is real or concrete, I'm not totally convinced this isn't a dream. It has a nightmarish quality to it.

"Ah, no!" I cry out as I try to stand. The pain intensifies tenfold. "Help me!"

The growling continues. I don't know if it's getting closer or not, but I do know that it spells danger. I must have a deep survival instinct inside of me somewhere because it pushes me from the ground. I defy everything my body wants and get off the ground.

"Anyone?" Anyone alive, I mean. Where am I? Who am I with? "Help!"

The throbbing becomes so powerful that without me getting even a glimpse of warning, vomit spills out of my mouth. I don't know quite wear it splatters over me but it definitely hits my legs.

"Urgh, God, no."

I stagger forwards, my legs shaking like jelly as I try to move. I reach out and grab onto whatever I can grasp, anything hard to keep me standing upright. I could be grabbing trees, maybe buildings, possibly even the danger...I don't know.

"Help me!"

Fuzzy memories flicker through my mind, but I can't quite place them anywhere. I think about the camp, about the tension, about the potential fallout that was coming...

"Oliver!"

Oh, thank goodness. I recall the name of the person I was out here with. My best friend in this world now. Oliver. We came out to get him away from Ryan to stop them fighting. There wasn't even anything we needed. It was just to calm him down.

Something must have happened. That's the only explanation.

But he was angry and anxious too. He wasn't driving in the best way...

Did we crash? He's crashed a car before with Katie in it when he wasn't driving smart. Did that happen again with me in it? Is that why my body hurts so much? I suppose it makes sense but it isn't a good thought. It actually terrifies the living hell out of me.

If that did happen then where the hell is Oliver? Why isn't he with me?

"Oliver!" I cry out, now so loud he has to be able to hear me. I don't even care if any of the monsters hear me, I just need to know that my friend is okay. "Oliver, where are you?"

Tears threaten to come. I'm not usually a crier but they're there.

I have a feeling that something terrible has happened.