When the Clock strikes 12

Chapter 4 [C - Neutral Path] - Day 4 - The Anomaly

Devan woke up bright and early, "5 AM, time to get some breakfast," He said to himself, "today's a big day.". Unlike most days, Devan made the decision of cooking up some bacon along with eggs for breakfast, while Devan could easily make it through the day without it, he inferred that Kathryn would need the extra calories. "Wake up." there was no response, but a few seconds later, Kathryn emerged from her tent, "Smells *Yawn* amazing.". Kathryn was handed her plate of bacon and eggs, which she promptly scarfed down, "Where are we gonna start looking?" "I was thinking we would go to the spot where I first saw them and split up there." "Alright, lead the way.". It wasn't long before the two reached the spot, "This is the spot, I'll search the left side, you search the right." And with that, the two departed once more. 

Though she knew that she was safe, part of her thought otherwise, "I hope that infected isn't aggressive like last time, I don't think I could handle an attack like that.". The ground beneath her crunched, compressing under her leather boots. As she turned around a corner, the scarred remnants of a voice could be heard, "Ň̵͖͝-̷̻͐̈́n̸̟̜̎o̸̤͑,̴͓̖̉̿ ̵̘̯̔I̵̼͛̚'̸̱͎̑m̸͇̅ ̷̺͒͐s̴̥͌ö̴̪̒r̶̢̠͗r̴̘̻̐͘y̸͇͐,̵͚̔̑ ̷̤̟̂̀d̷͉̳̃ó̸̜ṋ̴͂̊'̵̼̤͝t̶̞͑ ̵͉̝͆g̵̫͖̽͝ö̷̳́́.̷̝̍̕" as Kathryn cautiously turned around the corner, an infected emerged into view, "That's definitely the infected Devan was talking about, no doubt about it." "Well, here goes nothing.".

"Uh, hi there!" the Infected, startled at Kathryn suddenly waking them, curled into a ball and started to hyperventilate, tears streaking their chapped face, "Hey, don't cry. I'm not going to hurt you," Kathryn said in a soothing voice, attempting to calm them down, "W̶̞̾h̷͉͆̎ä̶̫́͝ţ̸̪̽̾ ̷͊ͅͅḍ̴̕͝ö̶̢͚́̀ ̷̡̩͗y̴̮̋ō̷̡̖u̸̢͖̍͠ ̴̫̈́͑ẃ̵̮̈́a̷͇̳͋͋n̶̛̰͖͗t̷͉̟̆ ̵̤̊f̸̗̊̂r̶̝͒̕ǒ̷̮͝m̶͕̄̇ ̷͎̬̊̏m̸̳̘͌̇e̴̖͛!?̷̰̼́" "I just want to help.". The infected wiped the tears off of their face and stood up, "I̸̧͆ ̸̣̈́a̷̗͌p̵͙̂o̷͋ͅl̸̹̍ó̸̻g̸̟͛ì̶͎z̸̝̓e̸͆͜,̶̲̿ ̶͇̀I̵̦̽ ̶͚̌m̵̳̑ḭ̶͘ș̸̅ṛ̵̉e̸͚̐å̸̜d̵̘̂ ̸̹͠y̵͕̽o̶̮̐u̶͕̍r̸͔͑ ̷̯̌ì̷̪n̷̗̈́t̶͖̍e̷̘͑n̵̟̈́t̵͖̆i̶̪͝o̴̤̍n̶̦̾s̵̻͗,̶̯̀ ̶̣̏m̸̯͂y̴̭̌ ̶͓̓ñ̵̼a̵͙̅m̶̜͆ě̵̘ ̴̜̃i̶̜͠s̴͚̏ ̴̱̄Ẍ̵͇́a̶͈̓v̷͉͒i̶̜̒ḙ̷̓r̶̻͑." "It's nice to meet you, Xavier! Do you wanna come back to my camp? My friend Devan was the person who decided to look for you, so I think you should meet him." Xavier thought for a moment, "I guess I do not have any reason to refuse, at least it'll make it a bit more bearable." "I̵̜̰̽ ̵̘̃å̸̦̓c̷̨̻̾c̵̬̦̐͝ê̸̛̦p̵͚͚̽t̴̼̻̆." "Great! Follow me.".

"Devan! We're here!" "Hey, I'm Devan. Nice to meet you." Xavier was intimidated by Devan's presence, An effect that he often had during his earlier days. "Um, What's your name?", A bead of sweat trickled down Xavier's face, "X̴̰̎͗ͅ-̷͙͑̀X̶͙̹͋̈́a̷̧̞̙̋̈́̾v̶͂ͅì̸͖̫̤̿e̷̮͍̮͛̋ŕ̶̰." "Nice name, Do you want anything to eat?", "N̸̮̯͈̅̈́̂-̴̣̪̩̀n̵͍̓͂͂o̵̦͋̐́ ̷̻͛̀I̸͎͐'̶̹̥̔m̸̦̼͂̈ ̴̧͓̺͂f̴̣͍̐̏͐ĩ̶̖̹̈́̊n̸̺͉͛͊̈e̵͇̐,̶͇̉̚͝ ̷̨̦̭̍t̵̨̺̿͊͜ḧ̸͚́̇͊a̷̗̔̕ṇ̸̎͆͂k̶͉͝s̵̨̡͚͗̈͘ ̵̜̩̳̍f̶̹̱̌o̷̱͗̌r̶̥̥̘̃͒ ̴͓͊̈a̵̬̐͝ș̵̭́͊k̶̬̩̉͘͜i̴̘͚̰͊n̸̜̲̈́̚͜g̸̝̍̒͂." Devan shrugged, "Ì̴͇͘ ̷̢͍͝g̶̞̽͌u̴͈̙͒͘e̷̛̯͕͋s̷̲̪̑ş̴͋ ̷̘̈͜I̸͉͌'̵̘̜͆͗l̶̻̮͒͝l̴̤̯̍̚ ̸̹̃̎l̵͔͂͗e̵̢͋̿a̸̤̩͐̀v̷̧̨͝e̵̙̕." Xavier waved goodbye and disappeared into the fog. "Wanna have lunch?" "Sounds good.".

Once more, Devan cooked a hearty lunch for the two of them, though this time it was without reason, "I guess I just felt like it," he said to Kathryn, who certainly did not object. "So what do you wanna do today?". Devan thought about it for a moment before answering, "I guess we could plan for tomorrow, it's been a while since we just drove around." "Yeah, I think that'd be a nice change of pace.". And so it was decided, they would spend the rest of the afternoon creating a plan (though it was more of a checklist) for what they would do the following day.

"Should we go back to the village tomorrow?" "Sure! It'll be nice to see them again." Devan was writing down some things on his notepad and occasionally asked Kathryn a question like, "Which road should we take?" or "What should we pack for lunch?". In the end, the two decided they were gonna go visit the village, then they would drive the perimeter of the city to look for anything out of the blue.

"Hey Kathryn, it's 11 O'clock." "Yup almost ready.". Devan sat there quietly, waiting for the infected to arrive, while Kathryn was putting on her cheap plastic suit. "The infected are coming from that way." Kathryn pointed towards the distance, Devan looked that way shortly after. "It's been a nice day, hasn't it Devan." "Yeah, it's been much less hectic than normal." "Yup. It's almost time, I'll go get my shotgun.". Kathryn walked out into the distance and waited for the inevitable arrival of the infected. Just like all the other times, the infected started to shake and convulse, like a bag of organs and blood being shaken by a toddler, an inhuman and ghastly occurrence. 

"Let's make this quick." Kathryn ran into the horde of zombies, forcefully removing what was left of their brains with her shotgun. Meanwhile, Devan was in full focus mode, shooting, waiting, shooting, waiting, never missing a shot, Kathryn on the other hand was not, "I wonder if we'll ever see Xavier again?" she thought, big mistake, this caused her to lose focus, and an infected bit her in the finger, "OW, FUCK!". Devan immediately ran to Kathryn's aid, and recklessly shot all of the zombies, "Oh shit." Devan cradled his companion's head, "Okay, you're a strong woman right Kathryn?" Kathryn nodded her head, giving out a stifled scream, "I'm gonna need to amputate your finger so the infection doesn't spread.". Kathryn started crying, "No, please don't! I can survive this!" But inside, she knew she couldn't, it was this or becoming infected. "Alright, I got the tools, I'm really sorry." with one swift motion, Devan cut off the tip of Kathryn's finger, "AH! SHIT!" Kathryn writhed in pain, and Devan immediately applied a bandage, "Can you stand?" Kathryn nodded through her tears, "Up we go.". Devan laid Kathryn's hand on his shoulder and helped her up, then the two hobbled over to the campsite, "I think we should go to bed for the night." "I completely agree, good night." "Good night."

Word Count: 974