The Infection

Jack and Atris and...

I woke up to Jack licking me in the face and dragon breathing me. I swatted him away in my morning frustration and then pet his head. The light shined on my face as I sat up, stretching. The house was still quiet, except for jack’s panting. I got dressed and went out into the living room. Atris was awake already and was tending to the fire.
        “I didn’t know that you knew how to make a fire.” I said, shocked.
        “Yeah, my dad taught me when I was a girl. We used to go camping up in the Rockies when I was a little girl. He taught me how to hunt, fish, and survive.” I thought to myself how lucky I just suddenly became.
        “Wow. That’s amazing.”
        “What is it?” She said, studying my face which was apparently a little ashamed.
        “Nothing, it’s just, I don’t know how to do any of that.” I said hesitantly.
        She laughed out in amusement. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I can teach you.” She smiled at me and reassured me that it was perfectly fine for someone who lives in New York. I smiled back at her.
        “So, uh, anyway, I’m going into town. We need supplies, and we’re not going to survive long without them. Do you want to leave now?”
        Her eyes suddenly got brighter. “Oh yes! Of course I do.”
        “Do you know how to shoot a gun?”
        “Sure, how do you think you hunt?”
        “Great, you can use my revolver then.” I grabbed my revolver and handed it to her, making sure it was still loaded. I emptied my bag and threw it over my shoulder. We left, and I grabbed the hatchet on the way out the door. Atris walked along side of me and Jack followed close behind, occasionally chasing a falling leaf or anything small that caught his attention. We didn’t bring the motor cycle in fear that the noise would draw those things in, so we walked.
        After about half an hour of walking, we reached a small town on the outskirts of the woods. On the side of the road, there was a sign that said “Welcome to Auburn! Population: 412”. The 412 was crossed out in red paint and was replaced with, “7”.
        Atris seemed to be studying the sign. “Well that’s a good sign I guess. Some of the survivors must have put that to tell that people were still here.”
        We kept walking, keeping to the sidewalk and near the buildings. Homes were abandoned and, in a lot of them, the windows were broken, probably from looters, or people looking for supplies like we were. We didn’t bother checking into any of the houses, because we knew that they had probably already been wiped clean.
        Jack started a low growl as we veered around one corner. I held up a hand, motioning for Atris to stop. Jack went over to a whimper like he did the last time, and Atris and I ducked down behind a picket fence at the corner. I peeked around the edge of it and, low and behold, there were four of those infested walking aimlessly around in the street. On the other side of the intersection, the street seemed to be clear.
        I looked over at Atris and whispered to her. “There are four of them, all of which are about the same distance away. We don’t want to use the gun except in an emergency, to keep from drawing in more of them.”
        “So what do we do?”
        I looked around, and in the yard across the street was some old yellow rope. It was long enough to reach across the street, and I got an idea. Motioning to Atris to stay put, I ran across the street as quietly as I could manage. I grabbed the rope and ran back.
        “Hold this rope.” I handed her one end of the rope and ran it across to the other side of the street, adjacent to the stragglers. I then tied it up to the stop sign and then ran out to the middle of the intersection.
        Atris glared at me with a slight puzzled look branded on her face. “What are you doing?!” she whispered harshly to me.
        “Just be ready to cover me.” At this, I picked up a piece of debris and threw it in the direction of the walkers. All four of them look over at me in unison, and they gave me a cold, empty stare. It was as if they had never been fully human to begin with, and a shiver ran down my spine. The one farthest from me took two steps, then sped up quickly to a dead sprint as the other three followed.
        I looked over at Atris. “Keep jack away and stay hidden. Hold that rope tight.” She gave a nod of comprehension. She knew what I was doing. With trembling hands, I held my hatchet in clenched fists. The infected approached at an astonishing speed, and braced myself. The front one hit the rope first, and Atris jerked forward. “Hold it!”
        “I’m trying!”
        His foot got thrown out from under him and he flew forward, sliding as he hit the ground. Two others also hit the rope at about the same time and Atris lost her grip, falling forward. Those two trailed the first, sliding about the same distance. The forth one kept running and came about two feet from me when my hatchet met its head. It stopped and fell to the ground motionless. I quickly ran over and silenced the other three.
        Once I made sure none of the four walkers were getting back up, I ran over to check on Atris. She was sprawled on the ground, face forward. I panicked and picked her up. “Atris! Are you okay?”
        Her face was scratched and her hands were blistered. “Yeah, I’m okay. Are they all dead?”
        “Yeah, I got them all with your help.” I put her down on her feet and brushed her off. “Are you hurt?”
        “It stings a little, but I’ll be fine. Please just tell me next time you decide to make a plan like that.”
        I nodded and Jack walked up to me whimpering. I bent down to pet him, and just as I did, I felt a familiar jolt of pain shoot from my spine to my head. The thoughts clouded my mind again and I fell on the ground, motionless. I could see the blur of Atris’s lips trying to talk to me, but her words could not reach me. Tears were in her eyes and one fell from her cheek and hit my face, but I could not feel it. With as much strength as I could manage, I lifted a hand and touched her face. She grabbed my hand and touched it to her cheek, and again, I did not feel it.
        Behind her, at the end of the street, were two more walkers. I tried with little success to warn her. Instead, all that came out was a soft moan. Finally, Jack got down and started growling. Atris turned to see the walkers, and she took my hatchet. I blinked once, and I saw the blur running for Atris and me. I blinked again, and they were only a few feet away. On the third blink, my eyes didn’t open.