This Is Not The End.

Chapter 12

"What the fuck?"

The Infected reached out, aching to grab us, but they couldn't quite reach, especially when the girl stuck to my side like glue.

"What the actual fuck?"

The girl took my knife from my hand and sheathed it for me, sliding her clammy hand into its place.

"C'mon," she said, "The second you stop thinking about it, it wears off,"

I didn't react, "They're literally not moving. How the hell are you so calm?"

"Come on!" she pulled my arm with an unnatural strength for a ten-year-old and I spurred into running, firing glances of sheer disbelief over my shoulder as the two Infected groped for us with decaying fingers. They were as shocked as I was about the whole situation.

What the fuck had I done and how the fuck had I done it?

The girl and I matched our speeds and shot like bullets from her gun back to the market square. I tried to keep my mind solely on the two Infected stuck behind us, forcing myself to snap back to reality when it began to wander, but it was easier said than done.

What the hell was I?

Kai saw me before I'd even noticed him.

"Skye, what the hell?" he sprinted towards us and almost crashed straight into me, "You were gone for ages! We were really worried,"

"Kai was really worried," Jack shrugged, "I've been trying to break these jeans in,"

I could tell he was trying to be funny; it was just a poor attempt.

"Who's the kid?" he gave an incline of his head towards the girl, who merely adjusted her shotgun to try to intimidate him. It worked for me.

"She won't tell me her name," I said, "I found her while looking for supplies. She's looking for this guy named Beck and I promised I'd help her get back to him,"

"What, you mean an emo-looking guy, about yay-high, with a knife collection around his waist?" Jack raised his hand just above Kai's head. Kai was tall, but this Beck guy was taller.

"That sound like him?" I asked the girl. She nodded.

"Where is he?" she kept shooting looks over her shoulder, and I realised that she'd made quite a noise when she shot that Infected – what had she called it? A Mumbler. If this town was overrun, we could be swarmed in minutes. I also had to think of those two Infected, stuck to the floor. They'd have to be free by now.

"I don't know; he was fairly panicked," Jack said, "I didn't pay attention to where he was going,"

"Was it you who let off the shot?" Kai asked, eyeing up the girl's shotgun.

"Of course it was," Jack answered for me.

I glared at him, "I can answer for myself, thanks,"

"Look, I'm just saying that you on your own creates chaos," he raised his eyebrows, egging me to argue with him. The difference between him and I was that he was all bark and I was all bite.

"You've known me for like three days, how the hell can you say that?"

"Oh my god!" Kai threw his hands up in exasperation. "Can we go a day without your pathetic arguments?"

"No!"

"I give up, I actually do,"

Visibly fuming, the girl pumped her shotgun, catching the flying cartridge in her hand, and we snapped around to look at her.