The Infected Mind

Chapter 20

I slowly opened my eyes and yawned, feeling extremely drowsy. I must've fallen asleep at some point.

I sat up and scanned the laundry room, nothing seemed moved or different, except a small bit of light came through the clouded window near the ceiling, which was level with the ground. I had to assume it was morning or noon.

I hopped off the washer and my left knee gave out almost instantly. I put my hands out to try and grab something to stop my fall, but there was nothing within reach. I fell into the ground, and managed to put my hand down first instead of my face, and gladly I did! This place had been used as a tool shed where nothing was organized or cleaned, and bits of wood and metal were everywhere.

I felt a sharp pain in my hand and looked at my palm, there was a screw stabbing through just below my ring finger and a small amount of blood seeped through the spiraling ridges on the screw. I knew more blood would gush out the moment I removed it, but I was not leaving that thing in. Maybe I can't get tetanus, but hell no.

I grimaced and yanked the screw out quickly, biting down on my tongue to keep from snarling. Letting blood roll down my hand, I carefully closed my hand and just tried not to turn it, as I had no immediate way to stop the bleeding. Another injury to add to the list.

I checked the floor around me and sat on the floor with my back to the washer. I saw there were shards of wood and splinters on my knees from falling, thankfully none had gone passed my pant legs. I brushed them off and looked around the room, listening to my own thoughts.

There's still something off about those kids. They seem young enough that they would listen to the adults in their group when they said to stay away from any Crawlers, and old enough to understand the dangers, But they still risked coming down here where there was a Crawler, and an injured one no less! These kids are either extremely stupid or extremely brave, I'll give 'em that.

I wonder what happened to Meg and the others, I hope Raven didn't catch them. If she was anything like me, she wouldn't be able to walk on her Crawler legs as easily because they were slippery with blood, she hadn't built up any muscle, and she wasn't nearly used to them...but she did manage to do all of this to me. Of all the people to be able to mutilate someone, I wouldn't suspect Raven, but anything can happen with the sudden surge of instincts that comes with turning. If I find her, I hope she isn't totally off her rocker.

I shook my head to clear those thoughts. What am I thinking? She's probably just another Feral Crawler.

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It had been a few hours of sitting in silence, when I heard a knock on the window. I turned and looked, the window was hazy and opaque, I couldn't tell if it was a design choice or not. I stood up slowly and went over to it, squinting. The hazy image of Jason was behind it, through the light.

I looked around the window, there was a latch closing it from the inside, I undid it and lifted it up, turning my face away from the sunlight.

"Hi, we found a way you can get out of here without anyone seeing! Wait, are you okay? Why are you looking away?"

My voice was filed with sarcasm, "Oh, maybe it's because Crawlers are sensitive to light and it's sunny out there? Just a thought."

"Right, I forgot about that...wait, is that why there was a pair of sunglasses on the floor?"

"Those're mine. Raven knocked them off while we were fighting."

"Okay, move out of the way then, I'll come in there."

I left the window and went back over to the washer, hearing Jason climb in through the small window, it was a wonder he could fit. I turned back when I heard the window close, he was climbing down the shelves underneath it. When he got to the ground he looked at me, "We found out how you can get out without anyone knowing."

I tilted my head, "Is it possible that this will still work in a few days to a week? I'm in no state to go out in the forest, and I can barely hunt or hide from people."

He nodded, "Yeah, there's a door out of the basement that no one knows about, I didn't even know until I saw it from the outside. If we block it out so no one sees it, you can use it to escape when you can."

I nodded slowly. That seemed like it would work, "If you can, could you get my glasses? If I can go out during the day and try to hunt for something, I can heal faster than eating rats."

"I'll try to get them." He then opened the window again and climbed out, I latched it closed after him. Looking at my recently punctured hand, I noticed the bandages on my arm again, and realized how odd that was. Wait, those kids couldn't possibly bandage me properly, and where would they get these anyways?

Sitting back on the washer, I looked over my arms, there was bandages on any wound in could find. Tentatively lifting my shirt, I realized almost every part of my body had some sort of bandage or binding on it. There were even bandages on my neck when Raven grabbed me before she threw me into the wall.

I quickly reached to my back and felt that the three points I had been hit with the coat hooks were heavily bandaged. The center of my back was too, because that was where my Crawler legs came out. My shirt was ripped there because of my Crawler legs, but there was so much binding on my back I couldn't even feel myself touching it.

That was bad enough, but what was worse was that I knew they hadn't been there before. They must've been put on while I was asleep earlier. So, someone knew I was down here, and they managed to bind my Crawler legs in a way that stopped me from using them, while I was asleep?

My heart dropped. Those weren't painkillers. They were sleeping pills. They're trying to keep me down here, but why? I have to heal and get out. Now.