by Sands, Samie
“Oh, Rhys, oh my God. I’m so glad to hear from you...”
My words trail off as I realize this isn’t the happy reunion, I want so bad, this isn’t the glimmer of hope I need in this mess, this is just another tragedy for me to face. This isn’t so much Rhys anymore, parts of him have been bitten off, shredded from him, eaten by them.
He’s slowly becoming one of the infected as well, it’s obvious just by looking at him. he’s developing a hunger and I’m obvious prey standing right in front of him, waiting to die.
I should run, I know I should, but I don’t. My intense need for this to end overshadows everything else and I remain exactly where I am, paused while Rhys succumbs surprisingly rapidly to this virus, while it consumes him up whole.
I resist my survival instinct and I let him come for me, I let him take my arm, and I allow him to eagerly sink his teeth into me. It’s agony and the guttural scream tearing from my chest nearly makes me take off, but it doesn’t matter now. There’s nowhere to run.
It’s already too late.
I’m dead, just like the rest of them.
Katie
“Help me!” I scream at the top of my lungs, not that I have much sound left in my lungs. I’m running out of voice box quicker than I’m losing air which is awful. “Anyone.”
I need to get out of here, now more than ever. I have to escape because Ryan has gone to make sure Oliver is dead. He’s pretty sure he might be considering the infected have infiltrated the camp, but he needs to be certain since he’s the last thing ‘in our way’ like I would ever go anywhere near that madman again.
I’m disgusted that I ever liked this man. I feel like I brought this on myself. I knew he was slowly getting worse when it came to me, I just didn’t see the signs of him becoming unhinged. Was that always there inside of him and I didn’t see it? Did he always have the ability to be a crazy guy and I just didn’t know? Or did all of this bring it out of him?
“Anyone? Is anyone out there? Please?”
The problem is I can hear the sounds of the infected out there. I know that part of things is true. I don’t believe Ryan’s lies that he was saving me by knocking me out and kidnapping me, but he may well have saved my life. Everyone else could be dead. I could be stuck with him...or alone. I don’t know what’s worse.
“I was supposed to solve this,” I whimper sadly, a hopeless sense of pathetic sadness overcoming me. “I wanted to end this virus, to make this right and I failed.”
I could handle not being a hero when at least I had people to save, others who needed me and my nursing skills when it felt like I was doing something positive, and I have to admit having Oliver by my side helped. I don’t know what I’ll have to live for if all of this is over. Is it even worth it? Should I keep fighting?
To get away from Ryan; yes, definitely.
The rest of it...I’m not so sure.
“Oliver won’t be dead,” I tell myself through determined gritted teeth. “There’s no way. He wouldn’t give up like that. He’s the leader and everyone needs him. He knows that. Me most of all...I need him more than anyone else in the world.”
I need him so bad my stomach hurts without him. I can’t stand the AM13 virus getting to him, much less Ryan. If anything happens to him while I’m stuck in here, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.
And as for Ryan...well, I don’t even want to think about what I’ll do to him.
It’ll be ugly, that I’m sure of.
What was that? A sound has me shuffling upright, trying to get away before anyone can really get to me. That ice-cold fear trickles down my spine once more as I wait for the worst to happen.
The door opens.
Light fills the room.
A shadow appears.
Ryan
Everything is coming together at last. My plan has worked at last. Sure, when I knocked a section of the fence down, I was only really thinking about Oliver dying, not the rest of them, but by this point, collateral damage is needed so I can get my girl.
Katie...the love of my life. Mine at last.
It’s killed me to see her with him. It’s been torture. I don’t even think she’s noticed what she’s done to me over the last year. She has been the monster in my life, not those creatures out there.
“Oliver isn’t here,” I whisper with excitement settling at the base of my spine. “He’s dead, it’s worked.”
Of course, I’d rather shove the blade into his back myself, to twist it around and really know he’s gone, but the chaos has done what I needed it to, and he isn’t in the camp anymore. Either he’s dead, one of those shuffling puss bags, or he ran. He ran off without Katie, leaving her with me.
That’s typical of him, I wouldn’t expect any less, he’s always been bad news and nowhere near good enough for my Katie, but I’m still sickened by his appearance.
I make my way back to Katie, being careful to avoid any of the undead on the way. The last thing I want is for my life to end in this mess, that isn’t part of the plan. The next part is for me to hide with Katie in the pit I’ve created until the beasts vanish, then we can start our lives together just like we’re supposed to.
Me and her are destiny, we’ve always been meant to be. She actually saw it first, I knew she liked me before the end of the world, but I was too preoccupied to date her then. Now, I know exactly what I want, and I can have it finally. It’s all coming together.
“Oliver?”
She whimpers his name as I step into the room, almost bringing me right back to anger. I curl my fists, redness flooding my vision. How can she still want him? Why can’t she see?
“He’s dead.” The words fly out my mouth faster than bullets from a gun. “I killed him myself.”
“No!” She shakes her head, her whole body trembles. “No, you haven’t done that, you wouldn’t, you couldn’t...Oliver wouldn’t let you kill him.”
“He knows that he’s no good for you.” I take a step closer to her. “He gave up easily. He’s finally done one thing right by you. He’s le you be with me at last.”
Katie is crying now, but she won’t be for long. Soon, she will...
“Urgh!” Something buns my skin. It’s a sharp pain in the back of my throat like something has scalded me. I can’t imagine what it might be so when I touch the area to find it wet and weirdly sticky, it’s a surprise. “What...?”
“Blood,” Katie whispers, her one-word rendering me ice-cold all over. “Its blood.”
Oliver
“Oliver?” As soon as Ryan slumps to the floor, finally giving up for good, bringing me into her view, she wails loudly. “Oh my God, Oliver, it’s you. You’re here.”
Even though I’m panting and exhausted, I race to her side and tug the restraints off her, trying not to succumb to the sickness that comes from this sight. We all knew that Ryan was slowly losing his mind and becoming unhinged, but I don’t think any of us knew how bad he was.
To be honest, we’ve had too much else to worry about. Losing Danny in the horrific way we did, then Rachael’s death, a clear unrest among everyone which has been building for a while, and then the infected...it’s left that nasty piece of work to do what he wants, and that seems to be kidnapping my girlfriend while everyone else ends up dying.
But now he’s gone. He won’t hurt anyone else again.
“Oh, Oliver.” As soon as Katie is free, she grabs my cheeks and kisses me like we’ve been separated for a lifetime rather than a short while. Then again, consider all that’s changed in the short period of time, it might as well have been forever. “I was so worried...”
“I wasn’t going to leave you.” I hold her tight against me. “I love you too much for that, Katie. I would wait for you forever. When I spotted Ryan acting all weird, I just knew that he was up to something. So, I followed him, and thank goodness I did.”
I don’t even want to think about what could’ve happened otherwise, it’s just too much to bear. Things could’ve ended up in a really h
orrible, unbearable way...
But they haven’t. I need to concentrate on the good parts.
“What do we do now?” Katie wails sadly as she lies in my arms, pointedly not looking at the body of the man who threatened to destroy us. “We’ve lost everything.”
It leaves me numb, knowing what’s gone, what we can never get back. I already miss it. We’ve been safe and locked away from the outside world for far too long. I don’t know how it’ll be being back out there again.
I guess we’re going to find out.
“We haven’t lost everything,” I remind her in the calmest tone of voice I can manage. “We still have one another. We still have something to fight for.”
Katie pulls back to look at me with tears brimming in her beautiful eyes. “So, we’re going to keep going?”
I nod determinedly. “We have to, don’t we? We need to keep surviving for as long as we can. We owe to everyone who didn’t make it to at least give it a try.” I lace my fingers through hers and hold her tight. “That’s the only thing we have left. We keep going for each other, and for them.”
“Okay.” Finally, she agrees with me, she sees what I’m saying. “We’ll keep on living until...well until something else changes that. Together. Me and you.”
It’s scary, this whole world is terrifying, but at least I don’t have to go through it alone.
At least I have Katie.
For more by Samie Sands, don’t forget to check out the AM13 Outbreak Series:
Lockdown
Leah Watton’s practical joke has spiraled way out of control—all to impress a crush. Now everyone thinks that zombies are coming...
Forgotten
Every attempt to contain the deadly AM13 virus has failed, leaving humanity on the brink of extinction. When it does, you don’t want to be one of the forgotten...
Extinct
Writing books about the horrors of the zombie apocalypse is one thing—but Georgie Blake can’t believe it has become her reality...
Not Dead Yet
The world is divided as everyone tries to work out how to survive.
FIND OUT MORE AT SAMIESANDS.COM