"THOMAS MOVE!" Adam shouts at the top of his lungs, quickly picking up his axe with his right hand while his left holds the flashlight. Thomas turns, notices the zombie, and totally freaks out. Actually, freak out is an understatement. The boy tries to run backwards towards Adam but trips onto the floor, flailing and shouting as if he were having a heart attack. Adam raises his arm and chucks the axe at the creature, aiming for the head.
It hits the zombie, but not on the head. Adam's axe is now sticking out from its chest, and the zombie keeps moving towards Thomas, who's still crawling away. Adam looks around and notices a large book lying on a shelf to his right. Without hesitating, he grabs it and hurls it towards the zombie, managing to knock it in the head. The creature falls down and Adam dashes over to Thomas.
"Hey you alright?" Adam checks him over. No bites, good. He doesn't respond, just keeps trembling. Adam helps him up. His flashlight shines through the pitch black basement, and he realizes with a jolt of panic that the zombie is back up again. How much can that thing take?! His axe is still stuck in its chest and it doesn't seem to notice it at all. Adam checks the side of his backpack and finds his hunting knife.
"Here," Adam quickly hands Thomas his flashlight. "Keep that thing on so I can focus."
Adam didn't have to tell him twice. He turns back and the zombie is about eight feet away, quickly shambling closer. It's just like every other zombie he's faced, except there's something different about this one. It's just so...quiet. It's not growling and shrieking like the others. It stares at them not making a sound, observing. And its eyes. They're glowing with a faint yellow light. Zombie eyes shouldn't glow like that. There's something wrong with this one.
Adam grabs another book to throw it as a distraction as he sprints forward. The zombie loses its balance when the book hits, and Adam swiftly lunges behind it. He thrusts the knife into its head, and the glowing eyes go dark. The corpse slumps to the ground as Adam step back, putting a hand against the back of a couch. His breathing is fast and heavy.
Footsteps thunder down the stairs.
"What happened?!" Carter shouts out, Luciana following behind him. "Please tell me no one got bit."
"We're fine Carter," Adam sighs with relief. Carter quickly hugs him. He's taken aback for a moment but then Carter steps away and punches Adam's shoulder.
"What was that for?!"
"Next time I'm coming with you. We could've lost you there," Carter crosses his arms, almost sounding angry.
"Umm," Adam shrugs, letting out a small laugh, "It was nothing I couldn't take care of. The damn zombie snuck up on Thomas," he motions to the corpse on the floor a few feet away. "It was so quiet," he pants, "I've never seen anything like it before. And, and the eyes. They had this yellow glow."
Thomas stands next to Adam, looking at the ground, still trembling from shock. Carter crouches down and nudges the body with his machete, turning it to look at its face.
"Glowing, yellow eyes you said?" Carter glances up at me. "It looks pretty normal to me. Well, as normal as one of these bastards can look," He stands back up, "You sure you weren't seeing things?"
"He's telling the truth," Thomas mutters. Everyone looks at him, a little surprised that he said anything at all.
"Ok, we'll take your word for it then. We should find what we need and get going don't you think?" Luciana speaks up, nodding her head towards the two older boys in an almost prodding gesture.
"Right." Adam agrees, tightening the straps on his backpack, "We still have that rations reward for the taking."
Well, they didn't win. All they found were some medical supplies and a small box of cigarettes, plus a rusty kid's scooter that Thomas happily rode back to camp. He seems to have recovered from that terrifying experience in the basement. Caesar decided that the winners were Rowan and Jade. Of course it was them. Stupid power couple. They brought back a car. A freaking car! Apparently they jumpstarted the piece of junk and it had like half a tank left. And Adam thought they could make something useful out of that scooter. Ugh...a car...give me a break.
"At least we all made it back in one piece," Carter offers positively. The majority of Hunters were in the bunkhouse at the moment. All of the trainees were dismissed and have the day off. There were two deaths though. Two trainees who weren't being careful and got themselves killed while searching houses. Thankfully the trainees don't have to be crammed in the bunkhouse with the rest of the Hunters. It's already tense as is with the twelve of them sharing it.
"That's true," Adam admits with a sigh. "I'm just still kinda confused about what we ran into back there. That zombie was definitely not like the rest. Maybe it's a new threat, I don't know."
"Maybe." Carter responds, stretching his arms and yawning. "Wanna get some air? This room is hot as hell."
"Yeah I'm down for that." Adam stands from my bunk, his legs a little sore. They exit and begin walking around. The camp has already come alive, bustling with people doing chores and tending to crops and animals. The base has a small farm, and sometimes on weekends the Hunters get eggs for meals. Caesar and his men of course have some almost everyday. The rest of the population is stuck with bland food. It's much better than starving, but most people are still tired of it. But there's no point in complaining.
"So, where are we off to?" Adam asks curiously.
"Outside the gate," Carter whispers with a mischievous grin, "I've got a surprise for you."
"A surprise? It better be awesome, my legs are dying from this morning," Adam says sarcastically.
"Oh trust me it is. You're gonna love it."
They approach the gate and two guards turn to them. Carter speaks before Adam can.
"We're just going out to check more houses. We'll be back in like an hour."
The guard grunts and signals to another man to open the gate. As soon as we're outside the gate closes. They start walking down the road and take a right down a backroad.
"So Adam," Carter starts after a few minutes of walking, "I'm sorry about freaking out earlier at the house. I just kind of overreacted."
Adam raises an eyebrow, "It's fine man. I get it, you were just worried."
"Yeah. I just...," Carter pauses, "You know how I lost my whole family when the infected turned. I can't lose you too. You and Angie are kinda like family to me ya know?"
"I know." Adam nods solemnly, "We have to stick close to the people who matter the most to us. Which has me thinking..."
"What is it?"
"Angie and I might not stay here much longer."
"Wait what?" Carter stops walking and turns to Adam. "What are you talking about? Why?"
"We don't really trust Caesar. I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before the camp turns into chaos. A ton of people don't get along with each other. We just want to go out on our own. Find somewhere to make a new home. One where we can start over without someone ruling over us with guns and thugs."
"Wow." Carter is speechless. "Well, you're definitely not wrong about the camp. I bet in a few months it'll be a nightmare. There's only so many places to scavenge nearby until we run out of supplies. And with winter coming..."
"That's the problem. Between Caesar and the low supplies we figured it would be best to cut ties with the camp soon."
"You know Caesar won't like that right?"
"Which is why we're not giving him a letter of resignation. Slipping out will be a lot easier if he doesn't see it coming."
Carter is silent for a few seconds and looks around the forest. "When?"
"Angie and I haven't decided yet. But probably this month."
"Who else is leaving with you?"
"It's just Angie and me right now. I was wondering if you want to come with us."
Carter turns towards Adam. "Of course I will. I'd hate to stay at the camp and watch everything go to hell. Count me in." Carter looks around the forest again before pointing, "There it is."
Adam follows his gaze and see a small cabin hidden partially by trees. It looks pretty sketchy, and he looks at Carter with suspicion.
"Seriously? That looks like the place in a video game where the zombies would spawn out of."
"Just trust me all right?" He pleads. Adam laughs and gives a nod.
"Ok then, lead the way."
We tread through the forest and the overgrowth towards the cabin. There's no zombies in sight. Adam's hunting knife is sheathed at my belt, ready in case there's danger. They make their way towards the door and Carter bars an arm across the doorway, blocking Adam's way in.
"I'll check inside for a sec, wait here."
"Why can't I come inside too?" Adam crosses his arms.
"Can't risk another zombie sneaking up on you," he picks up his knife and twirls it around with a smirk, "Let the professional handle this one."
"All right. Knock yourself out."
He opens the door silently and moves inside. The cabin is pretty dark, the sun being blocked by the canopy of trees. He moves further into the cabin and opens a door. Adam looks around the forest and suddenly hear a racket from inside the house.
"Adam help!" Carter shouts from within the room. It sounds like furniture is being crashed into and thrown around. Adam's heart beats faster with panic and he dashes in, throwing open the door...to see Carter dying of laughter.
"You should've seen the look on your face," he grins. Adam walks over and quickly punches him hard on the shoulder.
"That wasn't funny Carter," Adam hisses through gritted teeth. Well actually, it kind of was. He can't give him that pleasure though. "Let's hurry up here and leave, I'm starving."
"All right all right," he laughs some more, "Just calm down. That's actually why we're here."
He walks into the living room and opens up a rusted cabinet. Revealing an entire row of preserved beef jerky packets lining the shelf. My eyes widen.
"You're kidding," Adam looks at Carter in shock. "When did you find this?"
"When I was on a supply run earlier this week. Made Nick swear on his life not to tell anyone about it. It's our secret stash." He smiles proudly.
"This is amazing!" Adam rummages around. There's so much in here. And not just beef jerky. There's a ton of granola bars, salt crackers, and other food. He's at a loss for words. This is way better than the food at camp. Carter rips open a bag of jerky and tosses Adam a large piece.
"To a better future," he raises a piece like he's making a toast, "and great food."
Adam looks at Carter. His short blonde hair is messy as always. Adam doesn't know how he always seems to be smiling, but it's contagious. He can't help smiling back. Adam raises his piece of jerky. A realization hits him. This is the first time in forever that life hasn't seemed terrible. He actually feels happy. For real.
"To a better future."
The figure stands in the forest about a hundred feet away from the cabin, listening. Its jagged ears pick up everything, even though the boys are far away. It lets out a quiet, raspy laugh.
Too easy. They must be survivors from the large camp in its territory.
The creature's pale skin is lined with dark black veins that spread throughout its body. It's eyes glow with a faint red hue. Strong muscles make up its arms and legs, and it's hands end off in sharp, dagger like claws.
I will show their people what happens when they settle on unwelcome land.
The creature looks around. Spotting five mindless ones, he rallies them close. Once they are gathered, a bright flash of light emits from the creature's eyes and shines on the undead.
Moments later each one of them begins to change, their limbs shifting to become more thin and agile. After the transformation, each of their eyes give off a white glow. The normal growling of the mindless ones is replaced by a low clicking noise. Like crickets in the night. They are ready.
These humans kill our weaker kind too easily. Let's see if they're ready for a real challenge.
The creature arcs it's head back and let's out a blood curdling screech. The newly transformed infected all hear and on cue begin swiftly dashing towards the cabin, the only faint noise coming from the rustling leaves as they speed through the forest, locked onto their two targets.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
