The Diseased Heart

Chapter 11

I slowed to a walk. My eyes were watering from the bright sun, so I was completely covering my eyes with one arm at this point, and blood flowed down my body in several places, but it was nothing too bad, all things considered.

I was relying on my sense of smell to find Olive and Maple, but I wasn't having any luck. I had passed by their trail several times, only for it to give out. They must have come to this forest often, and I was just rusty at telling an old trail from a new one. I wouldn't dare call out for them given the circumstances. Anyone could be flowing me and I would have no idea.

I wasn't walking for too much longer until I heard footsteps coming towards me. I froze and snarled in that direction, my vision no more than a grey and white haze when I removed my arm. I reflexively got down into a hunting crouch, bracing my Crawler legs around me to launch if I needed to.

It took me a moment to process the voice I heard. It was Maple yelping in surprise. The moment I realized this, I immediately dropped the snarl. Someone else came closer to me, and I recognized their scent as Olive once she was close enough, "Oh my God, you're bleeding so much! Are you also crying? What happened? I knew this was a bad idea, I'm so sorry we caused this, oh my God..."

She went on and on about how this was all her fault and that I was hurt. I wouldn't look at her, considering I couldn't tell where she was, but I responded calmly and sincerely, "Olive, calm down, please. It's fine. I'm not hurt as bad as it seems and my eyes are only watering because of the light. If you think them finding me out is your fault, they were going to find out eventually, so you just sped up the inevitable. No worries."

Her voice was filled with hesitation as she tentatively replied, her voice shaking, "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

She gave a heavy sigh. Maple stepped forward, "Okay...but are you sure you're okay? If a Crawler's eyes water because of light, doesn't that mean-"

"They've been blinded? Yes. It will fade soon enough, but not while I stay in the light like this. This feels like having hot metal pressed against my eyes."

"Right! Come with us, there's an old shack out here we used to play in as kids, no one comes out here but us, so no one will find you here."

I heard Maple start walking off in one direction, so I retracted my Crawler legs and followed as best I could while limping due to the knife in my leg. Taking it out would only cause me to bleed more, and more infectivity was the very last thing I needed. After a few minutes, and after tripping far tok many times over roots and branches, Olive grabbed my hand and started leading me behind her. I hoped she was smart enough to make sure she wasn't touching any bloody patches.

I spoke under my breath, "Y'know, most Crawlers would have eaten you alive right then if you just grabbed them while they were cometely blind. I'm positive that if I hadn't eaten recently I would have just clawed you."

She inhaled sharply, which I thought was in surprise at my explaination, but apparently wasn't. She exclaimed, "So that's why the meat for the carnivores was going so fast! We were wondering why some of it was disappearing!"

I chuckled darkly, despite all the pain I was in, "let's just say that if I hadn't eaten at all for this past week or so, I would have snapped and escaped a long time ago."

Maple sounded incredulous, "So you could have just left at any time?? Why the hell did you stay in there?"

"Well, think about it for a second. What kind of scares do you think it would have caused if I just vanished, they checked the cameras, and saw me walk out the door?"

I swear, I could almost hear her rolling her eyes, "Yeah, because broad daylight with cops around was a much better option."

A low growl came out along with my words, hopefully reminding her who she was talking to, "I didn't quite plan this out."

She shut up.

○ ○ ○

I wasn't sure how long we walked, but I did know most of it was me covering my eyes to try and regain any sight while being dragged along by Olive.

"The tree house is here, but if you still can't see, the shack we went in is right here. We built the treehouse a few years back with help from Jack's dad, so it's really sturdy."

I could smell water soaked wood and moss along with what was likely a small mouse den. I could smell where it was stronger and I was able to walk into the shack there without the humans needing to guide me, though I did still trip many times getting through the foliage.

It was dark there, dark and cold. Exactly how Crawlers preferred it, it was like living in a cave, but smaller and more woody. I nodded slowly, taking in the scents. It was refreshing to smell something other than the museum at last, "Thanks guys, I think my sight is already coming back. Do you think this place is far enough that people won't find me when they come looking?"

Maple replied, "Yes, it should be plenty far enough. There's also some wild animals nearby so you can hunt. Sane Crawlers do still need to do that right?"

I nodded, "Yes, thanks."

"Don't worry about it. We should get going now, our lunch break at school will end soon and we aren't supposed to leave anyway."

I nodded once more and heard them run off. I wanted to wait a bit before trying to tend to my injuries, but I knew they were nothing lethal. None of these people could possibly manage to lethally hit me with their limited knowledge of Crawlers, maybe this whole future thing would help me?

Sure, there were more people around, and cities were now populated and dangerous, but there weren't any Crawlers I had to worry about. There certainly wouldn't be any people hunting Crawlers, and if anyone did see me they wouldn't attack. No one knew where I was, aside from a couple of new friends, I had a good shelter now which I could even add to with it being an old shed, and I was fairly safe hidden away back here.

Yes, the fact I had run in broad daylight was very bad for me. I wouldn't be surprised if there were going to be news stories about me tomorrow, maybe even later today, but I could deal with that by remaining hidden until the hype died down, maybe even try and fake my own death somehow so they don't worry too much about a rogue pretatory zombie running around in the shadows.

My sight was still no more than a mere haze, so I just waited and stared into space with my own thoughts. One thing was for certain though, I was going to sleep soon, and I was going to do it with my eyes closed.