Word count: 3319
"Up ahead," Tyler spoke and we kneeled down behind a garden wall. Houses lined the street and on the opposite side was the massive, block shaped building. There were a lot of infected walking around, mostly teenagers - a few dressed smartly like they were teachers but they were too young to be. I guess they'd come here to escape the undead... odd how we come back to our old 'hell' to escape a new one.
I pushed the thought aside as I began to calculate how to get to the gates without dying. I saw bones on the gate, fingers still clung to the bars. I grimaced as I put the pieces together: that was a piece of Kyle.
I noticed the gate was slightly open and that was where the majority of the infected were coming from. If the gate was closed it would be so much safer. There must've been about one hundred infected on the school grounds, possibly more inside and only about thirty outside.
"Let's go, he's obviously not here," Tyler told us but I wasn't giving up so easy, he could be one of the dead. He could be hiding. He might not even be there yet. I needed to know.
"Idea." I turned to face the group. "If I run up there I can close the gate. We need to be sure he isn't in there, right?"
"That's suicide!" Connor exclaimed and then quickly slapped his hand down over his mouth, knowing what noise did. We heard the infected stop moving, their feet no longer shuffling about. We all held in our breaths and tried to stay calm in the hopes they wouldn't wander over. After a long while, the shuffling started again and terror gripped my stomach, tying my intestines into knots. That was until I noticed they were going further away.
In unison, we breathed out, our fear released into the air.
"Look it's the only plan we have," I continued, begging them not to leave. "Would you guys cover me?"
Tyler let out a long sigh but eventually he nodded. They all held their weapons tighter. Both Tyler and I noticed Connor still had the pistol on him, Tyler shook his head at him.
"Wait until the gates closed, the noise will draw them out otherwise," I said.
He looked a bit sad about it, probably because he wanted some target practice, but shrugged like he didn't care and got out his bat.
I put a thumbs up, swallowed my nerves, and got ready to go out. I looked down the road leading to the school and saw all the creatures, their limbs failing them and a few still looked semi-human - apart from the death that seemed to flow through them, the clouded fog of darkness that was noticeable but I couldn't explain why because it was a figment of my own mind. It seemed like a demon was following their every movement, consuming their bodies, which made sense since I had been thrust into what was basically hell on earth.
"Wait until I'm in there," I pointed to a dip on the opposite side of the road, big enough to cover me if I lay down, "then make a distraction. It needs to be loud but not too loud," I warned.
My legs felt weak as I rushed out, I hoped the group would follow the plan but I didn't wait to check. I was face to face with one infected and took it out easily, another filled its place. I just kept swinging my hatchet, kept moving my feet. I fell into the small ditch and waited for the distraction. I pulled out a piece of paper that I had stashed in my pocket that morning. I quickly had to think of another place to meet, and I had the perfect one in mind:
"Logan, school not safe!
Go to Manchester hosp-"
An infected fell into the ditch next to me before I could finish my note. I almost screamed but clamped my mouth shut in time, my eyes watered over in terror. I tried hard to kick the creature as it hissed at me, its legs were immobile, as it had twisted from the short fall, but it could still move at a shocking speed. In my panic, I was too afraid to pick up my hatchet that lay next to me, scared I word hit my foot rather than the infected's head. It gripped on my shoe and I felt its nails dig into the fabric, narrowly missing my toes. I kept kicking but all it seemed to be doing was taking my shoe off, I got my other foot and starting pushing at the heel. The two fabrics gripping and slipping as I tried to quickly get it off. I felt it loosening slowly as the infected's face was nearing my top cap, mouth open as it readied itself to bit into me.
I felt myself fly backwards as the shoe finally came off. My head connected with the pavement and I groaned. I put my head up quick enough to see the infected bit through the fabric easily. Like a knife through butter. That could've been my foot. I stared at the creature with surprise as it began to hiss and knock the shoe aside. I scrambled on the ground for my hatchet and pushed myself onto both feet. The infected lifted itself up with its hands and I swiped the hatchet downwards, chopping straight through the brain. I shoved my shoe back on and took in a quick deep breath before continuing the plan.
I looked at Connor who was distracting the horde by banging his bat on a lamp post, I couldn't really hear it too well and the noise disappeared completely as I neared the gates. A few of the infected inside looked my way and slowly stumbled towards me. I closed the first half of the gate fully and slid the bar into the hole in the ground to keep it secure. I began closing the second one as the first infected approached. I managed to close it as it reached a hand through the gate. I felt it grip onto my arm and swallowed my scream as I grabbed the hatchet next to me and slammed it down. More hands poked out of the gate trying to grip on me. I slipped the second lock in place and rattled it to be sure it was tightly shut.
As my hand was holding the bar I felt something grip onto me. Fear gripped me. I pushed the weapon forward and chopped the creatures hand off. I felt something on my hand still and shrieked when I saw the decapitated hand still gripping onto me. I shook it off quickly and doubled over as I tried to get my breathing back, whilst also holding in vomit.
"PAT!" Connor's voice rang loud. I turned around and saw Pat trip over, an infected closing in on her. Connor was rushing over to her, he wouldn't make it in time. He knew this, I could see it in his eyes. He had lost all hope. He stopped. Dead in his tracks. I was going to run over to him when he reached into his pockets and did something I told him not to do. He grabbed his gun and shot.
One single bullet that echoed through the streets and hit the infected in the back. It was distracted enough for Tyler to reach Pat and grip the infected's tattered blazer and pushed it to the ground. He slammed his weapon into its skull and it lay still.
Connor wasn't quite so lucky. The infected were going crazy. The ones from the school were banging into the gate, shaking the metal in an attempt to break down the barricade that separated them from getting to the noise. From the bottom to the top of the street, the infected appeared. They homed in on Connor. I tried to stop a few but Connor began to shoot more, trying to prevent them from reaching him but it only drew more to him.
"Connor!" I yelled out, begging him to stop, but it was too late. He screamed in pain as the horde swarmed him. The gun fell to the floor.
I left my spot and ran, swerving out of the reach of infected as I did. Tyler joined and we managed to knock a lot down but there was too many. On the ground, I saw Connor making his way out. Crawling between the infected as they reached down to grab him. He was holding his shoulder, blood was shooting out at a surprising velocity. The blood only seemed to drive the infected, one fell right on top of Connor. He shifted around to knock it off but this made him more vulnerable. I was trying to get to him through the thick of infected but it seemed impossible. I could only see snapshots of the event. When a body moved or was killed I saw a little more of the moment playing out. Another infected fell on top of him, Connor couldn't stop it, he struggled, it clawed at Connor's open neck, there was blood.
The next part played out in terrifying silence as his vocal chord was ripped out of him. The last thing I saw was his eyes fog over as his stared into mine, begging for the help that no one could give. More infected dropped onto his body and began to bite into him. Tyler was yelling something at me, maybe he was telling me to leave him. But I didn't. I kept knocking the infected out of the way until the road was quiet - aside from the infected that were trapped behind the school gate. I expected it to have been harder, maybe I had expected to die, maybe I had hoped to die. If Connor's bloody body hadn't kept the infected distracted I would have died, I would be like Connor.
"Don't you dare die!" I screamed as I fell to my knees, tears pouring into my open mouth. I tried to put his neck back together, his skin felt fake and rubbery. His blood was all over my hands but I kept going, begging him to come back. He had nothing left inside his neck apart from a thin layer of cartilage and a layer of bubbly blood. I saw part of his windpipe but most of it was missing.
No more blood was being released and, at first, I thought that was a good sign until I realised his heart wasn't beating anymore and the blood had stopped pumping altogether. I put my hands together and tried to bring him back to life. I kept pumping but all it seemed to do was make blood run out of his wound and down his neck. He began to grow colder and paler.
"He's gone," Tyler pulled me back and I fell limp, crying into my bloody hands. Tyler crouched down in front of me. "There was nothing you could've done."
I sniffed and looked away from Tyler. I looked around the street. The street that was as dead as Connor. Tyler moved forward and dug his knife through Connor's skull, but at that point, I had stopped crying. I had very few tears left in me. Pat was crying heavily. She stumbled away and ran towards the alley. Tyler dragged me up off the floor and we found Pat lying in a puddle on the cobblestone flooring.
"He's really gone," she sobbed. I didn't speak because I didn't know what to say. I sat down next to her and rested my head on her shoulder, we shared a silent moment. I wasn't sure how long we had been sitting there, our tears had dried up long ago. I shifted on the floor and knocked into Pat.
"Damn," I heard her breathe out. It was then I noticed her grey leggings were becoming a shade of black.
"Pat, what happened? "Were you bit?" I asked and tried to prepare myself for the worst. She shook her head.
"Don't think so." She gasped and bit down harshly on her lip as air connected with her wound. A bright red scratch contrasted harshly with her pale skin, blood was gushing down her leg. As her leg got redder, her face got whiter. I wished I hadn't left my bag at the house so I could treat her and give her proper bandages but, instead, I had to make do by ripping fabric from her leggings. Once it was detached I wrapped it around her leg tightly, as best as someone who had no training in first aid could.
"Can you walk?" I asked her.
"I can try," she confirmed and I helped lift her up. She was too heavy and I felt too much pressure on my shoulder, no matter how hard I tried to walk she inevitably fell back down in a sweat. I put my hand to her forehead, it burnt my hand just to touch it.
"You're burning up," I whispered in a panic. Tyler handed me a bottle of water and I unscrewed the lid, not stopping to thank Tyler. "Here." I lifted Pat's head up and let the lid touch her lips, she sipped it softly. She spluttered and coughed it back out again.
"I-I don't feel too good."
"You're fine Pat, we'll just wait a second. You'll regain your strength and then we'll go back to Em," I said but my tears gave me away. I wiped them away and stood up. We waited a moment longer but Pat only seemed to be getting whiter and she was finding it hard to keep her eyes open.
"Tyler, can you help me pick her up?" He didn't reply. "Tyler-" I turned around to see him holding his weapon in his hand. I stayed silent for a second, just staring at it. I looked at him confused.
"She's scratched," he spat it out like the word was venomous.
"And..." I raised an eyebrow at him, there was no way I'd kill her because of that.
"Don't play dumb... she already has the symptoms!" He snapped and began to list them, using his fingers as counting tools, "tiredness, weakness, fever."
I ran my hand across my face and through my hair, gripping the roots.
"We... we can find a cure!" It sounded overly optimistic but I kept going, "I. No! No one else is dying alright?"
"Look, Rem, if we don't kill her that virus will... look at her," he said it softer, like that would calm me down. It didn't, I flinched at his words. I glanced at the pale, broken down Pat and tried to imagine her healthy again.
"She's a fighter! She can handle this." Tyler looked at me and then held up his hands in defeat.
"Alright. Alright. We just have to stay positive... maybe there is a cure."
"You really think so?" I questioned and perked up a bit at his words. I was happy to know I wasn't going crazy, that someone else thought the same thing. We just had to have hope.
"Somewhere..." I could see the disbelief in his eyes but chose to ignore it.
"We need to find it! For Pat." I looked towards the end of the alley and gulped. "And Connor." He had died for Pat, we had to keep her alive so his death wasn't meaningless.
"Sure," Tyler smiled slightly and I felt a burst of hope flood through me. Maybe everything would be alright after all.
I walked over to Pat and put her arm around my shoulder.
"Ready?" I questioned and she nodded sleepily. I pulled her up to her feet and started to move slowly with her. I tried to carry her for a little bit and Tyler joined me. We walked for a few seconds but tiredness kicked in and I fell over my own feet and to the ground. I stumbled up and tried to keep my eyes open, with the adrenaline fading I could feel the lack energy that I had left in me. I put Pat's arm around my shoulder but Tyler stopped me.
"You're exhausted. I've got this." He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, I felt like something was wrong but my mind was too foggy to make a conscious decision.
"Alright," I nodded nervously and walked behind the pair. I was just about keeping up, my eyes closed. They opened again, I tried to focus on Pat and Tyler. Pat's head fell onto Tyler and the next thing I saw was blood and a blade stick out of her skull.
"No!" I screeched. I stumbled over to them as Pat fell lifelessly to the ground. She looked so fragile, I sighed shakily.
"It's alright." Tyler put his hands on my shoulder and tried to rub them comfortingly, I shrugged him away.
"Don't touch me! Get away from me!" I struggled under his grasp but he didn't release me, he continued to shush me in order for me to calm down.
"I was only trying to help," he said and finally dropped his hands.
My world felt like it had started to crumble away, the hope disappearing slowly and then it went all at once in one massive clump. On the ground, I stroked Pat's hair and stared at her features, engraving them in my mind until it hurt to just look at her. I got up to my feet and stepped over Pat's body, my foot snagged on her side and I fell to the ground. Tyler rushed over to me and pulled me to the ground.
"I don't need your help," I yelled and got back to my feet. "I'm getting Caleb and leaving," I told him as I began to walk away from him.
I felt sick. I didn't plan on getting into his car but he stopped at the door as I walked past it and called me back.
"You know we need you as much as you need us... don't leave." I heard the car door open but didn't hear him go inside. "We won't survive without you."
I sighed, I knew he was only saying that to convince me to go back with him but before I could think about what I was doing I trudged back to the car. I sat in the passenger seat, the seat that Connor had been in on the way there. I stared out the window.
"Look," I said without turning to face Tyler, "never do something like that again, okay?"
"I won't," he promised, although I wasn't sure how much I believed his promises.
"Just know that, if you're lying, I won't hesitate to leave you." My voice was void of all emotion which shocked me as I had been crying not too long before. I remembered similar words from somewhere, the words Tyler had told me that first day: If you're lying I won't hesitate to kill you.
"I promise Rem. I'm truly sorry."
I looked at Tyler and by the looks of him, I just had to believe him. His eyes were glazed over with tears and his lips were pulled into a thin line that wavered slightly. "I shouldn't have done that," he choked out and looked into my eyes for a very long time. It felt awkward and I nearly looked away but I kept looking for some reason. "I was just scared," he said.
I broke away from his gaze and looked back outside. Grey clouds started to fill the sky and I heard a slight rumble of thunder in the distance. The trees waved in the breeze, dropping leaves past the car windows. They floated down carefully, beautifully. Masking the reality of the actual world.
"We all are," I finally spoke.