by L. J. Cuff
Mary watched him and the others behind him carefully. She flipped the knife so it was facing towards the ground. The infected leapt at her. She stepped to the right, punching him as he passed her. She moved back a few steps to keep the other infected in front of her.
The infected quickly recovered and ran behind her. Before she had a chance to turn, he leapt at her again. She flipped him over her shoulder and stabbed him several times. He rolled himself forward and turned around at her. The wounds she’d inflicted weren’t bleeding. He tilted his head left then right.
“Fuck you!” Mary shouted as she leapt at him.
The infected growled as she threw him to the ground and stabbed him several times in the head. She jumped back just as the others came towards her.
“Right… So who’s next?” She called out, glaring at the other infected. They each looked over at one another then back at her. They all seemingly grunted in unison and took a step forward.
“Oh shit,” Mary stated, her eyes growing wider by the minute.
She took a step back for each step forward the group took until she hit a tree. She looked up at the branches then back at the infected that were now walking quicker towards her. Putting her knife in her shoe, she grabbed the lowest branch and pulled herself up just as an infected managed to reach her. Reaching up, she managed to pull herself to another branch level but felt one of the infected grab her left foot.
She tried to shake it off but it hung on tightly. She was losing her grip on the other branches when she got an idea. She braced herself with her left hand and right foot then brought her right hand back. Lifting the rifle slightly off her back, she pulled the trigger.
The infected let go of her foot letting her climb up even higher in the tree. Once she reached an area closer to the top, she sat down on the branch and looked down. The infected were helping one another climb but many didn’t have the strength to do it effectively.
Mary pulled out her knife and climbed down to a lower branch, just above one of the infected. The infected looked up just as she plunged the knife into its head then kicked it out of the tree. She repeated this for the other three that were in the tree. The remaining two that stayed on the ground watched their companions each fall to the ground then looked up at her and growled.
“Fuck you, you little shits!” Mary stated, pulling her rifle out. She quickly took aim and fired a single shot at one of them. The last infected grunted at her, looked around at its companions then growled fiercely. It lunged at the tree, quickly pulling itself up onto the level beneath Mary.
Mary hit it with her gun, knocking it to the ground. She jumped out of the tree onto the infected. She held it down with her knees as she lifted the knife and plunged it into the infected’s head.
“Alright then…” Mary stated as she stood up. She straightened her shirt and used the infected’s clothes to clean off her knife. Slinging the rifle onto her back and putting the knife into her shoe, she made her way past the silo again. She glanced at the open door and shook her head. “Man, this place was bad luck…” She said as she shook her head.
She carefully stepped past the area covered with feces and followed the tire tracks left by Abby back to the road.
As she stepped out onto the road, she looked to her left then to her right then left again. She began walking to the right, glancing back at the walled settlement that was still within reach. “I guess another time,” She said to herself as she made her way down the road. The rifle swung behind her as she walked.
Chapter Five
Mary raised her eyebrow as she looked down at the pavement. There were two very fine straight lines running across from one side to the other. She was about to step across, but paused. She had heard of some areas taking drastic measures to keep quarantine but never saw it in person.
A jeep was coming down the street, heading in her direction. She watched as it took the corner a little too roughly, hitting into a post with the driver’s side door. She cringed slightly as the jeep recovered. Waving her hand in the air, she donned her broadest smile.
The jeep came to a full stop in front of her. A middle aged man stepped out of the passenger side.
“Hello there,” He began, stepping in her direction, careful to stay on his side of the two lines. “Can we help you?” He asked.
“Umm… Hi…” Mary stuttered as she noticed someone inside the car was aiming a gun at her.
“Yes?” He inquired, “You’ll have to speak up… A little run in with the infected left me… Well… It left me hard of hearing…”
Mary raised her voice and stated with confidence, “I came here because I heard there was some help here… My friend, she’s very sick and needs some medicine…”
The man raised his eyebrow and smiled at Mary. “Well then, you’re in luck, the doctor inside would be more than happy to treat your friend…” He said, motioning for Mary to come forward, “Please, come along, don’t be shy…”
Mary watched him carefully and stepped forward. She smiled graciously as she walked, secretly making sure she didn’t touch the two lines. As she approached him, she noticed his smile was retreating. He pursed his lips and let out a long, audible sigh.
“Is there a problem?” Mary asked casually.
“Not at all,” He responded, pulling open the back door. “Please, get in.” He stepped out of the way so she could enter.
“Thank you so much,” Mary stated, reaching out and giving the man a hug. Suddenly, she spun him around so he was in between her and the jeep with his back facing the open door. She pulled his gun out of its holster and shot the driver.
The man raised his arms to push her away but she quickly shot him in the back. The other people got out of the jeep and raised their weapons in her direction.
“It doesn’t have to be like this…” One of them stated, holding her gun steady.
“I wish it didn’t,” Mary stated under her breath as she lowered the gun.
The back door of the jeep flipped open and someone got out. She was wearing a completely black outfit while holding up a syringe. “My dear… Please, don’t make this any harder than it has to be…” The woman stated, stepping closer to Mary.
Mary stepped to the side, keeping as much space as possible between her and the woman.
“Please…” The woman pleaded, approaching Mary.
Mary took another step and felt an electric shock run through her leg. She stood and convulsed for a few moments until finally falling to the ground.
The woman quickly came up beside her and plunged the syringe into her neck. Before Mary could respond, her world began spinning around her. She tried to put her legs under her but they would not listen. Suddenly, the world went dark and her limp body hit the ground.
***
Mary awoke with a start. She turned to her right, watching aimlessly as water dripped into a puddle beside her. One, two, three, she thought as the drips stopped and the puddle became still. How odd, she thought, lifting her knees to her chest and rocking herself to a seated position.
Her head throbbed with pain from the sudden movement. She momentarily cradled it against her knees. Fuck… What the hell did I get into… I should’ve just stayed in my house and thrown those assholes out, she thought.
“Are you alright?” Ted’s voice rang out from across the room.
Mary lifted her head and opened her eyes. She put her legs underneath her to stand. As she straightened them, she hit her head on a metal bar that was above her. Sitting back down, she looked up then around. She was sitting within a wire mesh cage that had extra braces all around for sturdiness. An adult could barely lie down in it.
“Yeah, these things aren’t really built for humans to be sitting in but…” Ted stated, watching Mary.
Mary cursed under her breath. She moved herself closer to what she assumed was the door. She looked out and saw multiple cages all lined up along the wall.
“What is this place?” She asked.
“A sort of pr
ison…” He responded.
Mary paused for a moment and looked out to her right. She could hear Ted’s voice coming from that direction but couldn’t actually see him.
“I guess this is because I killed some people, huh?” She inquired.
Ted let out a little sigh. “If only that were the case then there wouldn’t be a problem…” He stated.
“Great… So what’s going to happen to me now?” Mary asked, still moving around to try to see Ted.
Ted pushed his face against the side of his cage so she could see him. One of his eyes was completely bandaged and the rest of his face was bruised.
“What the hell happened to you?” Mary was horrified by what she saw.
“The same thing that happened to the rest…” He stated then paused. He took in a deep breath and continued, “These people, I’m not entirely sure what they want… They ask us questions on where we came from and how to get there… And what kind of defenses they have…”
“Wait a minute… Were you t…”
Before Mary could finish her sentence, she heard the door open from across the room. Two men entered, carrying a woman in between them. They threw the woman into the cage facing Mary and slammed the door shut. A man who’d been following the trio bent down to look at the woman.
“You can just think about why you’re down here…” He said then stood up. He turned to the two men and nodded. Glancing over his shoulder, he stated, “You can thank Diane here for what’s about to happen… And you should encourage her to tell us everything…” He walked quickly to the door.
Mary reached up to the roof of her cage and lifted herself off the ground. She could feel the electrical current surge through her. As she lifted herself higher, she felt a slight twinge in her hair. What the…? She thought to herself. She could hear the people around her convulsing with the current.
Suddenly, everything went silent and the lights turned off. Mary took in a deep breath and lowered herself back to the floor. As she settled down, she realized what caused the feeling in her hair. She quickly reached up and pulled out her hair tie. She opened it and pulled out a small pen knife.
The door swung open again. Mary retied her hair and hid the knife. The men entered, walking down the corridor in between the cages and stopped in front of Mary. Her cage door swung open and the two men reached down to pull her out. She pretended to resist, allowing them to pull her out.
Once she was standing, she kicked the man on her right in the knee, causing him to fall to the ground. The other man moved in to stop her but she placed the knife in between her fingers as she formed a fist. She punched the man in the eye. He shrieked and fell backwards. She quickly pulled the keys out of their hands and ran to Ted’s cage. She threw the keys to him before the man was able to subdue her.
As she was lifted from the ground, Ted opened his cage door and jumped on the man holding her. The man immediately let go to defend himself. He raised his arm, throwing Ted off of him. Ted kicked him in the knees then in the teeth. The man backed up but tripped over Mary’s outstretched leg.
Ted leapt onto him and began punching him in the face until the man stopped moving. He then picked him up and dragged him over to his former cage.
The other man, still bleeding from his eye, stood up behind Ted. He stumbled forward, trying to grab Ted’s shoulders but instead, Mary kicked him in the ribs. Ted dragged him over to the same cage as the other man. Ted and Mary quickly locked them inside.
Soon, Claire, Dennis, and Diane were standing beside Ted and Mary. They walked together to the elevator but noticed it was descending towards them.
“That can’t be good,” Ted stated.
Mary looked around for a weapon but couldn’t see any. She looked up and saw the cameras. She turned to Dennis and said, “Give me a boost so we get a fair shot at this.”
“I always knew Ted was good at this,” Ryan’s voice boomed over the speakers, “Now I see it’s not just him…”
Mary raised her eyebrow as she listened. She paused briefly but said nothing. Dennis limped over to her and positioned himself against the wall with his hands in front so Mary could get up for the first camera.
As Mary broke the last camera, the elevator doors opened. Mary could see it was completely empty. Dennis put her down beside him.
“That’s right… It’s entirely empty… You have all passed the test…” Ryan’s voice came over the speakers.
“What test?” She whispered into his ear.
Dennis sighed then responded, “Apparently, Ryan thinks that he believes creating an army of infected can be used to defeat the former government as he calls it.”
Mary paused, looking over Dennis’ expression. She shrugged and stated, “I thought there wasn’t a government left.”
Dennis shook his head. “There is one, that’s why we still have some army left as well as one hospital. That’s also why Diane was able to continue research into the cure.”
Mary thought about it for a moment but didn’t respond. She watched over in Ted’s direction but couldn’t see Diane next to him. She nodded her head forward for Dennis to look.
“What is it?” He asked.
“Diane is gone… She’s one of them…”
Dennis sighed and shook his head. “This plan just keeps getting better and better…”
“So what exactly do they want with us?”
“They want us to lead the infected as generals and Diane to create the cure. Once they’ve conquered all they can then they will treat the infected and have a working society again.”
“That’s insane…” Mary said as she looked down.
Dennis shrugged. “I didn’t say it was the best plan or excuse for them… I’m just saying what they said they’re doing…”
Mary rolled her eyes and shook her head. She looked up in Ted’s direction but noticed there was nobody there anymore. She spun around to Dennis and saw two people standing behind him.
“Sweet dreams,” Diane said into Mary’s ear as she plunged a needle into her neck.
***
Ted awoke with a start. He turned to his left and right and saw everyone except Diane tied to chairs. All the chairs were set up in a circle with an empty one directly in the middle. He pursed his lips and tried to get a better look around.
The illuminated part of the room appeared dark, dingy, and empty, except for a table in the corner. Ted could not tell what was on the table. The walls he could see were adorned with peeling paint and the ceiling was covered in mould. Ted furrowed his brow as he looked around.
“See something you like, Ted?” Ryan asked, coming into view.
Ted shook his head. “Not at all…”
Claire, Dennis, and Mary all began shaking their heads and opening their eyes. They were all immediately drawn to Ryan who was sitting comfortably in the center chair.
“Let’s play a game… Shall we?” Ryan began, signalling to Diane to join him. “Whoever plays along, gets a prize…” He smiled up to Diane who approached him. “So who wants to go first?”
Everyone stayed perfectly still, glaring at Ryan.
“What do you think, Diane?” Ryan asked.
Diane stood up and walked around, staring into every person’s eyes. She finally stopped in front of Mary and pointed. “This one…” Diane stated.
“Interesting choice,” Ryan said as he stood. “So here’s how this works, Mary…” He stepped over to her, “I’m going to leave and you ask each person here if they wish to join us… Whoever doesn’t, you kill… Sounds simple no? Well, it is… But remember, if you fail…” He pointed to a vent in the side. “Then I will gas all of you before you can do anything.” He stood up to leave when suddenly the ground began shaking.
“What’s happening out there,” Ryan asked, tapping on his ear. He grumbled angrily as he left the room. Diane watched him leave while Mary glared at her.
“The door is open,” Diane whispered into Mary’s ear. “Quick, let’s get out of here.”
&
nbsp; “What are you up to?” Mary asked.
“I was just pretending so he would have incentive to keep everyone alive, now come on…” Diane stated as she undid Mary’s hands.
Together, they untied Claire, Dennis, and Ted. The five of them made their way into the hall. They saw no guards anywhere along the corridor to the stairs. They quickly made their way up the stairs and out the emergency exit.
Once outside, they saw what was distracting Ryan and his forces. There was what appeared to be an army of infected. They were all dressed in the same uniform with bombs strapped to their chests. Each one had rotting flesh adorning any visible skin. They stumbled forward towards the other infected that Ryan and his men cowered behind.
“Umm… Should we?” Mary began.
“Leave? Yes, I agree, we should get as far away as possible in that jeep.” Ted stated, pointing to a jeep just a few feet away.
Mary slowly nodded.
The group ran over to the jeep and climbed inside. They drove away, past the truck that Mary had seen collecting infected. I guess Ryan’s not the only one to come up with that idea, she thought as the jeep passed it.
***
Between the five people in the jeep, with each one taking a turn to drive, they finally managed to arrive at Abby’s place in complete darkness. None of them wanted to be there but they knew they had no choice. Eric was too valuable not to have with them when they headed back to the base.
As they approached, Mary noticed a lot of smoke coming from the rooftop. Ted drove them closer. There were no infected guards out front like before. The middle of the house was completely demolished from the fire.
Claire, Mary, and Dennis got out of the jeep.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Ted asked Mary.
“With them,” She pointed.
“Why?” Ted inquired.
“Because Eric won’t come with you,” She stated, turning to follow the other two.
Together, they all climbed over the fence.
Dennis used his shoulder to break open the front door. Claire watched from behind to ensure no one could surprise them. They entered what should have been the inside of the house, but now was no more than a charred floor.