We Are The Hunted (Book 1): We Are The Hunted

by Matlin, Perry T.

  “You will stay silent, unless you are spoken to. We will shoot you and all your goddam friends right here and now” he spits at me, as his hand pulls back to slap me again. I turn my head, saving myself from the brunt of the force. He leaves me then, my face a mess of agony. My right eye is still swollen shut from the brass knuckles, my lip is split from the first backhand, and now my cheekbone feels like it’s on fire too. I can feel tears rising from the pain.

  “Please, don’t hurt us mister. We just wanna go home, and those men. They were trying to kill…” Peyton begins, but Chase clamps a hand over her mouth, eyeing the man, as he turns to them. I know hell is about to break loose, if he lays a hand on Peyton.

  “Hi there, what’s your name?” the man asks, as he walks over to stoop in front of Peyton. She smiles at him timidly.

  “Peyton Elizabeth, what’s yours?” she asks him, her smile growing. Peyton could befriend the devil himself, if he let her.

  “Well Peyton Elizabeth, my name is Roy. Let’s make a deal, okay?” he asks, his face breaking into a smile. Maybe this is the key.

  “I like deals. Have you ever done a pinky swear?” she asks, making a few of the soldiers laugh in awe of the conversation. Chase is still tense beside her.

  “I have. All the time, with my own daughter” he says, reaching out his pinky for Peyton to take. She does so.

  “I promise that if you all follow my lead, and comply with our orders, then I won’t kill them all right in front of you” he says, his voice still filled with the untethered joy, but his words make his face look crazy.

  Peyton looks as if she may cry, as she completes the pinky swear. I stiffen there. Did he just get on a child’s level, and threaten to kill everyone she loves? What a sick bastard. He stands up straight then, pulling Peyton by the hand. I think Chase will argue, but he seems to like Peyton behind the line of fire.

  “Please don’t hurt her” he says simply, and the man actually nods, a kinder smile on his face, as he walks Peyton to the group of men. She looks back at us, as she goes to stand beside Lana and Thomas. They look unharmed, other than a cut on Thomas’s cheek. I exhale with relief.

  “I’m going to get each of your names now. One at a time, move over here by me, so we can register you” the commander says, and we gather into a single-file line. I look around, antsy the whole time. I’m going to ask him about Riley as soon as it’s my turn up there. I look down at my feet anxiously, as the line slowly moves forward.

  “What’s your name son?” he asks me, as I come to a stop before him. The others are now gathered by the back door of the building. I wonder if we will finally get to help Riley now. I turn to him, trying to be as friendly as possible. I look him right in the eye.

  “Benjamin Stuart. Do you think one of your men can go get my sister outside? She’s probably injured” I say, hoping he will relent now. I’m complying. He looks up at me, a frown prominent on his face.

  “Did I ask about your fucking sister Benjamin?” he demands, his voice dangerous, as he grips my wrist tightly. I can feel the bruise already rising to the surface of the skin. He yanks me forward then, slamming my face into the side of the car.

  “Leave him alone. Get your goddamn hands off of him. Ben. Ben can you hear me?” Paul yells, before I hear him gasp in pain. Someone punched him in the stomach. I want so badly to hit the man before him. I know I could. I could kill him.

  “No, sorry sir” I say, my voice dead. He looks at me briefly, before breaking into a smile. He likes that I’m being compliant. I hear Paul’s body collide with something, before silence continues around us. I turn back to the man before me, his eyes filled with danger. My gaze travels to Paul. He’s okay, he’s still breathing, still conscious.

  I’m herded over with the others to wait for the check to be completed. I don’t move. I don’t speak. A few minutes later, the man straightens up, and turns to our group. I remember then that he told Peyton his name was Roy. He claps his hands, coming over to us.

  “Let’s move them outside. We can clear the building and then get going” Roy says, sending the soldiers into action. Half of them herd us to the backdoors. The other half leave us, heading back up the stairs. I turn to look for Emily, but all the bodies are covered with white sheets. I frown, a tear escaping down my cheek.

  “Don’t make any sudden movements, got it Benjamin?” Roy tells me in my ear, roughly pulling me by the arm out of the door. I look around as soon as we come out on the basketball court. I see that it is completely fenced in, then I see that Riley is off in the left corner of the building, the night sky casting a purple tint on the concrete.

  I see immediately that she has been backed into a corner, around eight infected surrounding her. I can see that she’s struggling to move, so she must be pretty badly hurt. She’s going to get devoured by them if something isn’t done. I scream out for her, but she can’t hear me from all the way over here. That’s when I feel Roy’s hands slacken on my arm. He turns from me, looking the other way.

  I take off running, as my sister is hunted by the infected. I can hear voices screaming after me, but I pay them no mind. I just have to get there fast enough. I have to save her. I have to get her through this because I couldn’t handle it if she were gone. I can’t handle it, if Riley dies today. I need her.

  I’m about ten feet from her, when she finally notices me. Her lips pull back in a scream of terror, as she realizes there’s no way out. She is going to die, and there is nothing I can do. They have officially found her, and there is no amount of speed or skill that will save her in time. I scream once more, hoping she can hear my words.

  “Dive under their feet” I let the words fill the court around me. I’m sure everyone heard them. She does so, diving face down onto the pavement, and squeezing through their legs. Just as they figure it out and begin to reach down, she has escaped their clutches. She smiles up at me, as she goes to move onto her feet. She struggles, a slight limp to her left leg.

  Gunshots roar into existence then, making me jump in fright, throwing my hands over my ears. Why are they shooting? Who are they shooting at? That’s when the dead behind Riley fall to the ground. I realize it’s about to happen, before it does. Riley jerks backward, before taking another step. A web of fresh crimson blood spreads across her shirt, as she limps forward. When she’s hit again, she falls back this time.

  I run over to her, not knowing what to do. There are three spreading blossoms of blood on her clothes. She was shot in the neck, in the chest, and in the stomach. I can see her blood soaking through everything. I can see her life fading before my very eyes. Her eyes are dimming, her voice is soft.

  “I love you. Tell… Tell dad I love him” she says, her voice wet with the blood coming out of her mouth now. I pull her close to me, not wanting to let go of her.

  “Don’t leave me. Riley, no. Please stay with me.” I’m vaguely aware, as Ryan joins me on the pavement. We sit there beside our sister, as she struggles to breathe beside us. I feel her body jerking in my arms.

  “You… are worth it Ben… you are worth everything. Don’t let him make you doubt that again… just don’t let…”

  At that moment, she goes still. I look down again, her face slack with death. Her eyes dim, empty of everything that was there minutes ago. They are the same, but so different.

  I begin to cry, as the rest of the group joins us around the body. That’s when Roy comes over as well. I turn my head to him, as I reach for the gun beside her body.

  “Drop your gun Benjamin. Right now!” Roy yells, but I don’t listen, as I point the gun that fell from the roof at my dead sister. I close my eyes, ignoring all the warnings, I pull the trigger, saving her from waking up as one of them, saving her from turning into what killed her boyfriend.

  Her blood splatters on me, just like Drew’s did. I’m grabbed roughly then, pulled to my feet. I barely notice, as I’m dragged from the building, leaving them behind. Emily, Riley, and Dan all died here. I’m vaguely aware, when we ar
e taken over to a truck. There is a cage hitched to the vehicle.

  We are shepherded into the cage, followed by two of the soldiers with their weapons. I am thrown to the floor, where I crawl dejectedly over to Paul. He pulls me into his arms. I cry there. I don’t know how to live in this new world. I was always a hunter, we as humans have always been the hunters, but somehow, we find ourselves here. We are the hunted now, hunted by the infected, and even by our fellow humans. Where do we go from here? How do we escape this fate, this future? I close my eyes then, trying to forget the way her eyes looked, after she died. I try to think about anything other than my dead sister.

  I instead think about his warm skin, his strong hand in mine. I think about the rhythm of his breathing. I think about everything I know about Paul because facts, facts have never let me down. Because, it’s better than the alternative. I don’t know where my life is headed, but the only thing I am sure of is him. Paul is the one thing I can hold onto, the one thing I can count on. I ignore the shaking of my body, the fracturing of my very core. I ignore the pain, wrecking me inside and out. as I lean into him. The truck roars to life, and we pull away from the building where I lost my sister, the building where I lost my best friend... I grip Paul’s hand tighter and try to push the memories away. I need them to be quiet now. I need to forget everything about my life, except for him. I need to cleanse myself of the love, the emotions, the memories of Emily, of Riley. If I don’t, then I’ll surely go mad.

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank so many people in my life. To start, the person who made me decide to be a writer in the first place, Taylor Swift. Thank you for showing me what it is to be creative. Thank you for existing. I love you Taylor. To my brother, who provided my first notepad to write on. Thanks Bubba. To my little brother Chris, thank you for bringing out my creative side. Back when my book ideas were just us playing pretend as little kids. To my beautiful fiancée, I love you and your support means everything to me. To my best friend Ally, thank you so much for listening to me vent all the time, thank you for reading my unedited books, putting up with the mess to give me notes to go off of, and thank you for being there. To my sister Ronnie, I love you and you are the light in my life. To my parents, thank you for loving me through everything. Thank you for accepting me for who I am. To Amazon, thank you for this opportunity to share my stories with the world.

  About the Author

  Perry T. Matlin is 26 years-old and lives in the panhandle of Florida. With a love of reading and writing, he joins the ranks as a writer of fiction literature. A cat person with a love of Fantasy novels, Matlin is excited to marry his fiancée next year, and to continue his journey as a published author.