by Pero, Sara
Chapter 8:
Kevin caught up to the other truck, everyone seemed fine except for George who was still knocked out from the crash. Yuri couldn’t tell if the injuries were from the crash or if the wolf had gotten to him. George`s head and arms were bleeding badly, Kevin wasn`t sure George would make it through the night. The two trucks drove on until they ran too low on gas, up ahead they found a small veterinary clinic and decided to stop. Greg figured there would be medical supplies and possibly a small bed they could put George on so they could work on him as best they could. They pulled in to the parking lot and hopped out o the trucks. After their run in with the animals at the farm house everyone got ready for anything. Greg and Kevin walked in first, they checked in every room but only found cages that had been ripped open and the ripped apart bodies of cats and small dogs laying on the floor. As they searched the rest of the building they heard something drop in the back room, Greg held up his gun and headed to the back. When he opened the door the creature ran behind a curtain and hid, Greg walked toward where it had gone and cocked his gun. He slowly pushed back the curtain, a small cat probably about six months old hissed and tried to hide deeper in the safety of the curtain. Greg didn’t see any injuries on the cat, its eyes gleamed a green color in the light that was streaming in from the other room. It was skinny, like it hadn`t eaten in days. Greg found a small bag of kitten food and poured some on the desk hoping the cat would come and eat. Kevin walked in, “what was it Greg?” Greg pointed to the curtain, “there`s a cat back there that hasn`t turned, its scared and hungry so I`m trying to lure the poor thing out. I figured if it hasn’t been infected I could keep it, make it our little mascot. I think it`s been locked in here since the whole thing started.” Soon the little cat made its way out and started eating the food Greg had set out for it, Greg started to pet it and let it know everything was going to be alright. While Greg played with the kitten Kevin and Yuri brought George inside and laid him on a table, Britney and Jennifer searched for medical supplies while the rest tried to clean up the body parts and blood off the floor. George had a fever and his breathing was labored, Kevin did all he could to keep his childhood friend comfortable. Britney brought back some medicines she had found going through the cabinets in the surgical room, she went to give George a shot but Kevin stopped her. “Are you sure this stuff is safe for humans?” Jennifer walked up with more she had found, “Kevin it’ll be fine, I used it once before on myself once when I didn’t have money to buy the meds the doctors put me on last year, it may say for use on animals only but it’s just the same as the stuff we get.” Kevin nodded and allowed his sister to give George the shot. The girls looked over his wounds, George had cuts and scrapes but they didn’t appear to be from the wolves. They covered him up with warm blankets, Jennifer looked at Kevin, “These should help him sweat out any infection, I don’t know how long it will be before he snaps out of this but in the condition he’s in now we shouldn’t move him for a few days.’ Kevin nodded, “alright so we will stay here until he’s well enough to travel. We can’t eat dry dog food for the time we are here so I’m going to have to take a team out to find some food, someone is going to have to stay behind to make sure nothing happens to him while we are away.” Greg walked in, the kitten latched to his arm. “I can stay here with the girls while you and the others gather food, I saw a sign a couple miles back for a super market down the road and you should be able to find what we need for these few days there.” “You won’t have to worry. Me and Mr. Frisker will take good care of everyone here.” Britney walked over and scratched the cat behind the ears, “I feel a lot safer now that Mr. Frisker is around and he’s so cute.” The kitten started batting its paws at her hand. Kevin nodded, “alright I’ll take a couple people and some weapons with me, you guys keep an eye on George, and stay safe.” Kevin gathered up Yuri and Bruce, “we are going to the market for supplies, gear up and meet me in the truck.” Kevin walked over to Veronica who was laying a sleeping Sunshine in a make shift cradle. “I’m sorry I left you two alone in the truck, I should have been there for you but I wasn’t and I feel bad.” Veronica turned to Kevin, “just come back to us safely like you did at the cabin, don’t worry about us Kevin the girls will protect us while you’re gone.” Kevin nodded and bent over to kiss Sunshine on the forehead, “she’s as strong and beautiful as her mother.” Veronica went to say something but Kevin had already walked away. The three guys jumped in the trucks and headed to the super market for supplies and hopefully some fuel, they weren’t going anywhere on only fumes. The three guys had been gone for a few hours, Britney was starting to get worried. George was still in a coma state, the sweat dripping from his brow. They had cleaned and dressed his wounds a few times, he was bleeding pretty badly still. Jennifer was worried that if they couldn’t get the bleeding to stop soon George would die. Suddenly he started having convulsions, Greg helped Jennifer try to hold him steady. Mr. Frisker ran under the table, while Britney tried to give George a shot of seizure medicine. Kevin had found a fuel station in the parking lot of the market, he filled the trucks while Bruce and Yuri headed toward the store. The place seemed like a ghost town, the eerie stillness made Bruce shake. They pried open the sliding doors and slowly walked inside, clothes and food were scattered all over the floor. Yuri grabbed a cart and they walked down the isles stuffing what they could inside, when the cart was full they headed outside. Kevin had pulled one truck up to the doors and headed back to fill the other. Yuri and Bruce unloaded the cart and went back inside for more, Bruce grabbed Yuri by the arm and pointed. “There’s a pharmacy over there in the back, you grab what you can out here and I’ll go get medical supplies.” The two men split up heading separate directions, Bruce reached the pharmacy and hopped over the counter. As he was gathering medicines he heard something move in the back, Bruce grabbed his gun and walked toward the noise. Slowly he turned behind a shelf and stopped, slowly backing away. Behind the shelf was a rotter eating off of a body of one of the pharmacists, its teeth grinding on the intestines, while its hands dug into the half rotting flesh. Dark blood puddle around the corpse, its face eaten away. Bruce hit a shelf as he backed away knocking a pill bottle from its perch, he tried to catch it but it slipped passed his hand landing with a thud onto the floor. The rotter lifted its head and looked around, it caught a glimpse of Bruce and stood up. Bruce reached for his gun and took a shot hitting the charging rotter in the face. The rotter fell to the ground in a pool of guts and rotting blood, Bruce grabbed what he could and hopped back over the counter. The shot was heard throughout the store, rotter’s got up and started searching for whoever made the loud noise. Yuri had been gathering food when he heard the gun go off, he pushed the cart full of food toward where Bruce had gone. Yuri walked around a corner and ran into a small horde of rotter’s, he grabbed his machete and fought his way through. Slashing through their skulls, blood and brain matter splattering to the ground. Once Yuri had killed the rotters he grabbed the cart and rushed toward the door. Bruce was slashing and shooting his way to the doors with his basket full of medicine. Rotters were everywhere! Yuri and Bruce were trying their hardest to keep alive. Suddenly they heard a loud crash, Kevin had drove one of the trucks through the doors smashing into the horde. He grabbed the semi auto from the passenger seat and started taking down rotters left and right. The last of the horde had been taken out, Kevin helped Bruce and Yuri load the trucks with all the stuff they had gathered, he drove the truck out of the store and they headed back to the clinic.
Chapter 9:
On their way back the truck started smoking, Kevin figured he must have done more damage to the trunk then he originally intended. He waved over the other truck and pulled off to the side of the road. Kevin lifted the hood and a ream of smoke barreled out, Kevin waved the smoke away and saw that the radiator and fan had been pushed into the engine, the belts were busted and fluid was leaking through the valves. The truck was completely shot, Bruce walked over to check it out. Kevin put his hands i
n his head, we are going to have to load everything from this truck into yours. Yuri drove the second truck next to Kevin’s and they began to load the stuff into the back. After everything was loaded the three men jumped back into the truck and took off again. Britney and Jennifer sat watching over George, the seizure medication they had given him finally got through his system. Greg was looking for Mr. Frisker with a bowl of kitten food. Mr. Frisker jumped down onto the desk and cocked his head looking down into the cradle at Sunshine. The baby giggled and reached out for the kitten but Mr. Frisker took off toward Greg when he heard the bowl of food wiggle. Outside they heard the truck coming down the road, Britney looked out the peep hole in the board that was blocking the window. She watched the guys hop out of the truck and she ran to push the desk away from the door. Greg and Jennifer ran out with Britney to help the guys unload the truck, they hadn’t seen so much unspoiled food for so long their mouths were starting to water. Kevin handed Britney the medications they had found and she rushed in to find something they could use for George. They unloaded the truck and closed off the door, Kevin checked on George, Britney told him about the seizure and them being unable to stop the bleeding. “But I found a medication in the basket you gave me that should help him, I administered a dose to him a few minutes ago. Hopefully he will pull through.” Kevin nodded, “it’s getting dark outside, use the candles and lanterns we found to keep light in here, I’m going to see if I can find some blankets in the kennels.” Kevin walked back into the kennel area, blood covered the walls and the floors inside the cages. Kevin scrounge up what her could find to help create warmth for everyone and headed back up to the front. That night while everyone was sleeping Trent showed Tina the note their parents had left, “the bug out spot isn’t too far from here, we could make it on foot as long as we take along a few weapons and some food.” Tina shook her head, “what about the rotters outside, besides I’m starting to like it here with the others, Veronica let’s me help take care of Sunshine and I’m starting to feel like I’m apart of something now. You can go looking in the woods for parents that might not even be alive still.” Trent huffed and stood up, “Tina you’re my younger sister so you have to do as I say, your coming with me to go find mom and dad now” he bent down to grab Tina by the arm and she pulled away. Greg heard the ruckus but laid there listening to the two teens, “fine Tina if you want to die with complete strangers then that’s up to you, I’m out of this dump.” Trent walked over and grabbed a rifle from the cabinet and stuffed some food into a back pack. He opened a window in the office and threw his bag to the ground, Tina walked over and pleaded with Trent one last time, “Please just stay here, it’s dangerous out there.” Trent glared at his sister, “I’m going to find mom and dad if I never see you again just know I love you sis.” Trent slipped out the window and took off, Greg walked up behind Tina and put his hand on the crying girls shoulder. “You did your best to stop him but when a boy feels he is right there’s no stopping him. Just pray he finds the answers he needs, hopefully we shall see him again soon.” Greg closed the window and walked back into where everyone was sleeping, Tina stayed awake the rest of the night thinking about her brother. Tina was playing with Mr. Frisker when George started moaning, Tina rushed over to him and started talking softly to him. “Mr. your safe here with your friends, you had an accident and you was hurt but we patched you up.” George opened his eyes and started to sit up, the wolves what about the wolves, Tina put her hands on his shoulders, “the wolves are gone, and you’re safe now.” Greg woke up and wandered over to help Tina, “George it’s Greg we are in a clinic, everyone made it safely out of the farm. Your truck slammed into a tree and you hit your head, you lost a lot of blood but Britney and Jennifer patched you up.” George finally calmed down, “Kevin where’s Kevin?” Greg pointed toward the floor, “he’s sleeping over there George.” Suddenly Mr. Frisker jumped next to George and started rubbing his face on George’s arm, George jumped but when he looked and saw the kitten he calmed down. Mr. Frisker crawled into George’s lap and laid down, his purring noise made George lay back and fall to sleep while he pet the kitten. Tina smiled, “looks like our mascot is also a comfort pet.” Greg chuckled, “I have never seen anything like that in my life, a tiny kitten calming down a fully grown man.” The next morning George woke up with a small fur ball curled up on his chest, Greg and Tina were fast asleep with their heads on the table next to him. George slowly moved his hand up to grab the small kitten so he could carefully sit up. He set the cat on what was his pillow and stretched his good arm, his head hurt pretty badly but he felt like he had been asleep for a week. Kevin sat up and stretched, he looked over toward George and smiled, “Britney’s going to be happy when she sees her and Jennifer saved your ass.” George threw a rag and hit Kevin in the face, “thanks for getting to me before I became wolf shit.” Both men laughed causing everyone to wake up, Kevin stopped laughing and started giving orders. “Alright everyone here’s the plan, we are going to try and stick it out here one more day to give George here enough time to get his bearings, Yuri,BruceTrent and I will go look for a new mode of transportation.” Tina and Greg stopped Kevin there “Trent is no longer here Kevin. He left last night.” Kevin looked at Greg, “you didn’t try to stop him? Tina he’s your brother why didn’t you try to convince him to stay?” Tina started to cryGreg hugged her and shot Kevin a glare, “she did try to stop him but he’s like any teenage boy, stubborn as all hell.” Tina wiped her eyes, “at the cabin he found a note from our father saying they had gone to their bug out spot, Trent went to look for them there.” Kevin nodded, “where is the bug out spot located Tina? If he’s still there we may be able to bring him back.” Tina started crying and shook her head, “he won’t come back with us, not until he finds out what happened to our folks.” Kevin shook his head. “Stupid kid, alright new plan Bruce and I will go find a new vehicle and while we are out we will search for Trent, Tina your coming with us because you know which way he went, Jennifer you Britney and Yuri stay here and gather what you can, George you take it easy but if you feel up to it you can help the others.” George began to protest, “I’m coming with you guys and help look for Trent.” “Alright fine you can come, but any sign of trouble and you come straight back here got it.” George nodded and hopped off the table, the four of them walked out the door and hopped into the remaining truck. They drove down toward the market and stopped in the parking lot. George saw another motor home off by the front of the lot, “there’s what we need right there.” Kevin pulled up close to the motor home and they all hopped out, the motor home moved a little like someone was inside. Everyone readied their weapons in case whoever was inside was a rotter, Kevin grabbed the handle and ripped open the door. On the floor of the motor home in a puddle of blood laid a woman’s body, the wound on her head suggested she had been killed by a blunt object. The smell of rotting meat came rushing out from the open door, Kevin went to check out the rest of the inside when someone rushed toward him. “I’ll kill you if you come any closer”, Kevin held up his hands to show he wasn’t going to harm the person. “We aren’t going to harm you, we just want to help.” “Are you from the government?” Kevin shook his head, “no we are survivors from the infection trying to find a big enough ride to hold our group, we thought this motor home was empty and decided to check it out.” The man put down his weapon, how many of you are there, Tina recognized the voice. “Derrick it’s me Tina, these are my friends Kevin, George and Bruce, is Trent with you?” The older man walked toward the door, “Tina? You’re alive? I knew all that training I gave you and your brother would pay off. What do you mean is Trent with me? I haven’t seen him.” Tina started to tear up, “he found your note with the guns, and last night he went to find you and mom at the bug out spot.” Derrick hugged his daughter, “your mom and I had gone to our spot but it was over run with those rotter’s, when we tried to escape she got scratched, we thought at first it was from a sharp corner or something but when we made it here and
hid in this motor home your mother turned, I’m sorry sweetheart I had to send her home. If Trent took off to our spot we need to find him quick, otherwise he’ll end up like she did.” Kevin helped Derrick remove his wife’s body from the motor home, George started to work on the motor home to make it run. Kevin told Bruce and Tina to stay with George while he and Derrick went to look for Trent. While George was working on the motor home he stopped to talk to Tina, “why do you call your dad by his name?” Tina looked over the engine at George, “Derrick isn’t my real dad. My father died when Trent and I were little, our mom remarried and Derrick adopted us as his own.” George nodded, “I hope they find your brother before it’s too late.” Tina sniffed, “Trent may be a stupid boy but he knows how to get out of a sticky situation.” George told Bruce to try to start the motor home, it sputtered and roared to life. George shut the engine compartment and they drove off toward the clinic to meet up with the others. Kevin and Derrick reached the spot where Trent had gone to search for his parents, rotters were everywhere wandering around the area. A few rotters were surrounding the gated entrance of a service tunnel trying to reach in to someone that was trapped behind the bars. Kevin and Derrick grabbed a few guns and looked for a vantage point to where they could get to the tunnel. Derrick couldn’t see any other way but to run through shooting and slicing till they reached the tunnel, Kevin shook his head. “We would end up getting killed before we even reach the meadow down there, I have a plan we can use the truck as a ramming device, smash through the rotter’s that we can and save whoever is stuck down there.” Derrick nodded, “I’ll drive you do the shooting.” They hopped into the truck, Derrick hit the accelerator and they sped off down the hill toward the tunnel. Kevin leaned out the window shooting at the rotter’s that were heading toward them, Derrick smashed into a line of them that were reaching into the gate, snapping their reaching arms in half. They both jumped out of the truck shooting and slicing at the horde, blood and guts flew around splattering onto the grass and bars of the gate. Kevin looked behind him to check on the person who was trapped, on the floor of the tunnel Trent laid there, Kevin didn’t know if he was asleep, knocked out or dead. Derrick started calling to Trent, “son wake up we have to get going.” Trent’s body moved a little bit, Derrick kept trying to wake his son, “Trent you need to get up we have to go now.” Finally Trent looked up and over, his face was bloody and his clothing was torn. “Dad?” Trent stood up and walked up to the gate, “those things almost grabbed me. I killed a few and locked myself in here. I thought I’d find you and mom here but instead I ran into rotters.” He tried to open the gate but it was stuck, “you and Kevin get out of here, I’ll find another way out somehow.” Kevin shot a rotter and looked at Trent, “I have a better idea there’s a chain in the truck, well hook it up to the gate and pull it down.” Derrick kept shooting rotter’s while Kevin reached into the back end and grabbed the chain, he wrapped it around the bars of the gate, and then he wrapped the other end around the hitch. “Derrick get in the truck and drive as quickly as the truck will allow, soon as we get Trent out of there we get the hell out of here.” Derrick jumped in and hit the accelerator, the truck pulled and pulled, suddenly there was snapping, the bolts on the gate hinge started coming loose. Soon the gate gave way and Trent was free. Kevin and Trent hopped into the back end of the truck and they took off, rotter’s followed, reaching for the passengers in the back as they sped off, they forgot to take the chain off so the gate was following the truck, digging into the dirt and knocking over rotter’s as it passed. Finally the chain snapped and the gate became a projectile taking out rotters in its path. It was dark by the time they reached the clinic, George and the rest had most of the supplies already loaded into the motor home. Tina rushed out and hugged Trent, “I’m so glad you’re alright.” Trent pushed away and walked inside, he sat in a chair and fell asleep.