Chapter 41
We finally switched cars. Even though we were driving for a short thirty minutes before we found a different one, it felt like ten years. My legs are so sore from having to squeeze myself behind the driver's seat. Brianna fit behind the passenger seat pretty okay, but I didn't fit at all. My back is killing me.
Robbie was all sprawled out in the middle of the back seat, trying not to get his blood everywhere. Layke and Cameron sat in the seats beside Robbie, with their legs up so they wouldn't crush me and Brianna. I would have asked to sit on Cameron's lap, but I know he would say no because he hates me right now.
We found a bigger car in the parking lot of a restaurant. And by bigger car, I mean a minivan. It had an infected woman and a girl inside, which Naomi proudly killed with a pair of tweezers. She insisted on no one else touching them because she wanted to "show us her skills". I thought it was kind of weird, but I let her do her own thing.
We hurried and got everything and everyone in the van before any infected got too close. Again, Naomi wanted to drive, and Scooter wanted to sit next to her. I don't know why, maybe because he likes her, or maybe he's just suspicious of her. I'd like to think the latter.
Brianna and I sat in the two seats in the middle of the van, and the rest of the group sat in the very back. We had a lot of room in the truck for our stuff, so it wasn't as crowded as I thought it was going to be.
We've been driving for about two hours now. I have no clue why Naomi would know a place so far away to take us too. And honestly, I think this is pretty sketchy. We don't know anything about her, at all. She could be a maniac that's taking us to a place where she could kill us or something. Maybe she's with the military and knows Brianna's special. I wouldn't doubt it.
I don't trust her at all. She tried to eat Wilbur. I won't trust anyone who puts a hand on an animal, let alone eat one. Well eat a cat, you don't eat cats. But I know where she's coming from. She was hungry and didn't know where else to find food. I'm just mad she fought with me about it. Like what a bitch.
She's also really nasty and rude. Like I know we're not here to makes friends but come on. Be nice. It's a common citrusy. I swear, if she keeps acting like this I'll be the first one to deck her in the face.... well I'd like to think I would do that. I don't really like confrontation.
Robbie isn't getting any better. He's starting to moan in pain every couple of seconds. I feel so bad for him. I wouldn't want anyone to ever go through something like that, even if they hurt me. I don't know why he's not getting better. If he's bleeding internally then he'll need surgery, and I'm almost positive that's not going to happen. If it's just an infection, then he needs antibiotics. Hopefully, that's what's wrong, and I hope we help him before the infection spreads to the rest of his body.
It's crossed my mind that he could be infected, like by the virus that turns you into a mindless cannibal. I know everyone else is thinking it, but no one said anything. It makes sense. If he got scratched by a mutated creature. He would have to become infected. I don't know, I've never seen anyone get bit and waiting until they turned. It's always been a quick thing for me. My mother died so quickly from her injuries that we couldn't see how long it took. Daniel sacrificed himself, and we left right after so we couldn't see how fast he turned. My father was shot, and he wasn't bitten so he wouldn't have turned. I don't think.
I'm just scared that he'll turn when we're all sleeping and bite one of us. That would be horrible.
We're in the middle of nowhere. We keep passing acres and acres of corn. I'm surprised they're still growing since no one's been here to take care of them. It shouldn't be long until it gets cold out and they all die. Maybe we should stop and take some, we could eat as much as we want.
"How much longer until we're there?" Layke says from the back of the car. By the distressed tone in his voice, I can tell he's worried about Robbie.
"Not too long," Naomi says kind of annoyed.
"Well Robbie's not looking good and I want to know how long it will be because if it's going to take too long we need to stop and dress his wounds-"
"Can you like, be quiet? Thanks." Naomi barks.
I can hear Layke's disgusted scoff loud and clear. I guess everyone dislikes her.
"Where are we going?" Scooter asks Naomi with a sterner tone.
"A place where your friend can get help."
"Yeah, but like where?" Scooter rolls his eyes.
"You'll see."
"Okay well is it out of the state? Because we've been driving for so long."
"Out of Kentucky? Nope." She laughs a little. I think she's having fun by not telling us where we're going.
"Then we have to be there soon."
"We are."
"What?" Scooter raises an eyebrow.
"Here. We're here."
The car takes a right turn onto a road between two plots of corn. We drive a mile or so on a bumpy dirt road, and then we stop the car next to a bunch of other ones. There's maybe six or seven, but they're all empty. The cars are at the end of the road, surrounded by corn. There's absolutely no buildings or houses.
I swear if she brought us out here to kill us I'm going to be really pissed.
"Umm, where's this place of yours?" Scooter asks as he opens the door and steps out.
I do the same to stretch my legs, but before I get out I make sure to wake Brianna up. She's been sleeping this entire time. I mean, healing yourself must be exhausting.
The sun is harsh on my eyes. All I can see is corn. The tassels of the plants are about a foot taller than me, so I can't see over them. The dirt road we just came off of looks like it goes on forever. The blue sky stands out against the green stalks, making its color look neon to the naked eye. The clouds scatter the sky, allowing there to be small spots of shade in certain areas.
"What do you mean here?" Scooter raises his voice.
"Do you trust me?" Naomi says as she takes a bag out of the trunk.
"Uh, no!" Scooter says with a small laugh.
Naomi rolls her eyes. "Okay then leave. You either follow me and trust me, or you leave and let your friend die."
Layke steps out of the car, I'm guessing after hearing their conversation. "Let's just hurry. He needs help."
We get the rest of our stuff out of the car, and I make sure to put Wilbur in Brianna's bag. I'm tired of holding him.
The next thing we do is follow Naomi. I say follow but I mean walk in the direction we saw her last. It's getting really strange, she's having us walk through the stalks of corn. There's no pathways or separations in the plants, just corn. I have to push through with my hands, and I swear I've already touched like five spider webs. It's hard to see where I'm going, and who's next to me.
After a good five minutes of walking, I look behind me to see if everyone's caught up. But nothing. No one is behind me.
"Guys! Where are you?" I yell. But no answer.
"Hellooo?! Naomi where the fuck did you go?" I scream. No answer.
I start to freak out. I thrash my head back and forth trying to look through the thick stalks.
This is how I'll die. It was her plan, to get us separated from each other. Then she'll go in for the kill. She'll rip a corn husk from a stalk and shove it down my throat so I can't breathe...
I swing my gun from behind my shoulder to an attack position. I part the corn with the tip of it and keep walking forward.
"Hello! Brianna! Layke! Cameron!"
Very suddenly, I hear a scraggly moan. I instantly perk up and try to look through the corn. But nothing. I can hear it, but not see it. I keep walking the way I was, but it gets louder and louder. I start running. The leaves of the corn slap my face, making it burn a little. That's when I finally burst through the corn, and into a hollowed-out circle.
There's something very special about this circle. There's infected in it. I quickly take my gun off of the safety and start shooting. Two infected fall to the ground, but one catches me by surprise. It grabs my forearm and leans in to bite me.
It's almost toothless smile shows as it inches down. I take my leg and kick it in the shin. The leg breaks in half and sends the old woman falling to her knees. But that doesn't stop her. She still holds on to my arm, pulling it towards her mouth. It's wet, bodily fluid soaked hair touches my arms, making my skin crawl.
I focus on shooting the other infected while trying to pull my arm out of the infected's grip.
The other infected are starting to get too close. There's about five of them, all shuffling their lifeless bodies towards me.
Getting tired of having this infected latched onto me, I push my foot against its body. My shoe sinks into its abdomen, leaving a sticky brown goo covering the leather. My shoe catches its ribs, and I push with all my strength. It's arm slowly parts from its shoulder. Brown blood pours onto the ground next to my feet. The limp arm lessens its grip, and it falls off. The infected finally smacks onto the ground under the weight of my foot. I stomp its head until it's a bloody mush.
Once that's done, I dodge the infected that was seconds away from grabbing me. I bring my gun up and shoot it between the eyes. I take down the last two just after.
I wipe the sweat, and blood, off my brow as I try and catch my breath.
I notice that all the infected have chains wrapped around their ankles. The chains lead to a single post in the middle of the crop circle. It looks like they've been tied up.
"What did you do!" I spin around to see Naomi in the circle with her hands on her head. She frantically scans the ground and all the dead infected.
I look at her puzzled. I don't know what to say. What does she mean? I was stopping myself from dying.
"My father's going to kill me!" She scoffs. "You idiot! Can't you see we use them for protection!"
I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. "Uh, sorry?"
She grunts and throws her hands to her sides with force. She stomps up to me and yanks my gun off my shoulder. "Follow me!"
"You don't have to be rude." I snap.
"You might have cost your friend medical help!" She yells and makes her way through the corn. I try to keep up with her the best I can.
A/N
Hey guys! Sorry for the short chapter! I haven't been able to write lately and I wanted to get something out to you guys instead of pushing it off again. I know it's not the best, and I apologize for that. I've noticed my lack of zombies in the recent chapters so I decided to add some in this one. I hope you guys like it!
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