The Road to Nowhere

Chapter 68: Sacrifice

Chapter 68

Before anyone can comprehend what to do, the beast crashes through the tent. Its claws tear at the tarp, making a loud riiipppping sound that reminds me of Jaw's head separating from his neck.

Cameron cocks his shotgun and fires it. The shots echo around the confined space. The sound is so loud that it causes my ears to ring. The bullets hit in the middle of the mutant's chest, but all it does is make it scream again. This time it was different. The noise that came out of its mouth sounded like a cry for help like it was in pain.

I know one thing for sure. The infected don't feel a damn thing. You can rip off their arm and they would still come at you kicking and biting. For some reason, the mutants can feel pain. And we can use that to our advantage.

Black gunk starts to seep out of its wounds. However, it's not smooth and free flowing like normal blood. It looks like it's been trapped inside its body for such a long time that it's begun to spoil in the same way milk does. Similar to a threatened lion, it shows off its needlelike teeth with a nasty snarl.

In an instant, Naomi raises her pistol and pops off two shots. One hits its neck right above the collar bone and the other pierces in between its eyes.

I thought that would do it. It's common knowledge that a bullet to the brain kills infected. But, that wasn't true in this case. The blow to the head makes the beast stumble back. It starts to claw at its face, smearing black all over its rough skin. It lets out another shriek.

"Why isn't it dead!" Cameron screams while frantically putting more bullets into his shotgun.

"I don't know!" Naomi yells back. She fires more shots into its chest.

The beast lashes out, sending its claws slicing through the air. It misses us by a few feet. For a second, it looks confused. It's face-flaps crinkle back into the center of its face, covering its eyes.

"I don't think it can see!" I yell.

Cameron struggles to get more bullets into the chamber of his gun. Just as he's putting the gun back together, the mutant sends a second claw through the air. It collides with the supply bins beside me, making them topple over and spill on the floor. With another slash, it throws everyone to the ground. We all hit the floor hard. I land on top of Brianna's elbow and it digs painfully into my chest. It takes the breath out of me.

Then the real pain sets in. My side begins to sting. My ribs feel like they've been broken and all I can do is roll on the floor in complete agony. My hand grips my side, and I don't realize I've been cut until my hand comes back up covered in blood.

That's not good.

My vision goes blurry. The faint outline of the mutant blindly swinging its arms through the air is the only thing I can see. My head falls to the floor in pain. I can hear Cameron and Naomi's guns going off, the noise making my head throb. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Next thing I know, a hand cradles my face. It's Brianna's, and she's sitting next to me with wide eyes. She looks down at my hand gripping my side.

"Oh my God, you're hurt." She cries.

She presses her hand against my side. I whimper, the pain sends a jolt through my body.

Brianna desperately looks around the floor for something to stop the bleeding. Thankfully, there's gauze scattered across the floor from the bin the mutant knocked over. She grabs the closest to her and hands it to me. "Put this on it, we need to get out of here."

Brianna grabs my duffle bag and pushes is outside the tent. Then, she lifts the tarp high enough for someone to fit through. "Can you crawl outside?" She asks.