Jade Ulrand's The Infected

Chapter Three

As soon as we stepped outside, we were stopped by two additional officers. One was a ginger-haired man with a small neckbeard that was too close to his neck. The other was a woman with a black ponytail and brown eyes. Both of them were wearing police uniforms.

"Aw shit." Proclaimed Michael. He was probably frustrated that we were already caught before we could even make it down the street.

"You're all going to rescue that girl and her boy aren't you?" asked the woman.

At this time, we didn't have much of a choice but to answer her. I looked around just in case we were drawing in some of those things. Luckily, the coast was clear for now.

"You're damn fucking straight we are!" Said Michael. "We're gonna save my wife and son."

She gave an expression that was hard to read at first but quickly became blatantly clear to me. It was obvious by her stern posture and half-smile that she was sizing us up.

"Okay," she said, "we're coming with you. If you four get killed, the station will be short one officer and three civilians, so we're coming along to keep you alive."

"Then shut up and follow me." Michael demanded.

We made our way down the street while ducking behind several cars. The dimly lit streets of the city still remained as silent as the woods were during winter.

"Hey, James," Michael asked, "I've been meaning to ask you, what's that little girl's name?"

I glanced at Hanna for a moment. She was still walking next to me. I pointed my attention back to Michael. "Hanna. Her name is Hanna."

Michael gave me a look. The kind of look that you'd give someone when they asked a stupid question. "Um. Does she have a last name?"

I never really thought about asking her what her last name was. Considering the circumstances, it was never a priority. Hanna has always been enough in terms of names. "Her last name doesn't matter. Just call her Hanna."

Michael agreed with a single nod. "Well, thanks for this. It means a lot to me. You helping me find my family and all. Tell you what, when we find them and leave the city, you and Hanna here can join us. We know of a little town not too far from here. There's probably none of those things there."

I knew it was a good offer but I had to make sure Hanna was okay with it too. I looked back at Hanna and asked, "Hey sweetie, after we find Michael's family, do you want to go to a small town where those things can't hurt you?"

Hanna smiled at the idea. "Yeah. I'd like that."

Michael continued forward after hearing that. "Then it's settled. After this, you'll all come with me."

As we walked further into the city, we eventually came across one of those things. It was slowly moving around the street near a clothing store.

We all quickly hid behind a blue pickup truck upon seeing that thing. "Shit. Did it see us?" whispered Michael.

I slowly rose up and grabbed the back of the truck. I lifted my head above it and got a quick glance at what it was doing before I sat back down.

"Well? What's it doing?" asked Maria.

"It's just walking...slowly." I said.

Maria grabbed the handgun from the holster on her hip. She held it in front of her with both hands. "I think we can take it." She whispered to the other two officers, Nora and Frank.

I put my hand on her gun and slowly started lowering it while whispering, "No, we need to stay quiet."

Maria raised an eyebrow as I lowered her gun. "It's just one of them. We can take it."