The Last Alive

Chapter Eight - Zombie infestation

Chapter Eight

Zombie infestation

We crept along Fifth Avenue, inching closer to Oakland and hopefully Nathan. There was definitely an increase in Undead the closer we got to ground infestation. I used to love the area. I loved going to the parties and just being there. I only made it to my junior year before the school shut down. Before everything shut down really. Hospitals were nonexistent. Doctors were among the Undead. My former professors were turned, friends, coworkers and my sister.

Meaghan and I ducked behind a PennDOT truck while the others took cover around small cars and debris as a small group of undead lumbered past us. I hated them all so much. That virus that overtook their brains ruined everything. It destroyed my life and this world had gone to shit because of it. An undead straggled behind the rest. His foot was broken. So, broken it faced the wrong way. His arm was missing, and he was quickly decaying. Anger seethed in me as I watched the poor bastard try to keep up with the herd. I felt no pity for it. I did for the man he used to be though. It wasn't human anymore. That man died. He was nothing more than a shell of his former self. Who was he? Did he have a family? Friends? How old was he? I bent over and pulled a hunting knife out of the little sheath around my ankle. I crept to the back of the truck Meaghan and I were behind.

"What the hell are you doing?" she whispered as loudly as she dared.

"Putting the poor bastard out of its misery," I whispered back.

"Leave it be. It's moving on. Don't stir up shit when we don't need it."

"The rest are too far ahead it will never be missed."

"It might not be missed but what if the others hear you?" Taz asked creeping out from his hiding spot.

"They won't if you quit talking."

They both sighed heavily and followed me. "I've got your back."

"Just stay there."

"She's right. They just need to die," one of the other guys said. "I'll do it."

I motioned for them all to shut up. Sneaking up on the struggling Undead was the easy part. My heart pounded, but all I had to do was jam my knife into his head. A quick, swift death for the suffering body. I raised my hand to the side of his head and thrust the knife in.

The death of an undead is rather unnerving. They don't make any noise. Their already lifeless eyes stare out at you. It's almost like the person that used to inhabit the body shows themselves for just a moment; the moment when the body dies and releases the tormented soul. The look is a look of relief. At least I like to think so. You're putting the ravenous monster out of its misery. Then they just fall to the ground. There's no struggle. No pleading for their lives. Nothing. Just merciless death.

I pulled the knife out of his head as his body landed at my feet. He didn't move again.

"Are you finished?" Meaghan joined me next to the now dead undead.

"For now," I mumbled, kicking it with the toe of my boot.

"What if Nathan..." Her voice trailed off.

"He's not," I snapped, wiping the greasy, black blood off my knife.

"Emma, you have to at least acknowledge the fact he might be one of those. Nobody has seen or heard from him in days." Taz squeezed my shoulder.

I didn't want him to touch me. I didn't want any of them to touch me. "He could be holed up somewhere. I'm going to find him, and if he is one of those I'll deal with him."

Meaghan put her hand on my other shoulder attempting to comfort me. "It's not fair to expect you to put him out of his misery."

I shrugged her off though. "Meg, nobody else is going to do it. I won't let anyone else. I promised Nathan a long time ago if he ever turned I'd be the one to put him down."

I laughed bitterly. The thought of putting him down like a dog was horrible. How did it get to this point? We were putting down undead like they were a bunch of rabid dogs. I looked at the bridge and watched as another group of them shuffled as fast as their rotting corpses would let them. They smelled fresh meat. They smelled me and Meaghan. I knew they would never be able to catch up to us as they were so unbelievably slow.

"We need to keep moving. We may be quiet, but we do smell like fresh food to them." I walked away leaving her with the stinking body.

"You can't avoid the topic. What are you going to do if we don't find him? Worse, what if we do and he's not exactly how you remember him? It's possible he's..." Liz started to say.

"I told you to drop it." I cut her off. "Let me deal with this, alright?"

"Fine," she said.

I pulled my bow off my back and kept walking up the road. A rusting bus lay on its side near a stop light creaking as it swung in the wind. Cars were left abandoned everywhere. The owners seemed to just vanish. Things were a complete clusterfuck when the virus spread out of the hospital. People freaked out, they ran, some even killed other people. I walked past one car that had all the doors wide open. A car seat in the back was splattered with blood. Deep in my mind I told myself it was from an adult trying to hide. Kids didn't turn into the undead. The world became cruel and the further we traveled the faster my hope was drying up. I turned my head and kept walking. My heart started to pound. Something was off. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was just something not right.

I was about to say something to Meaghan when I heard her blood curdling scream. I spun around as an undead was taking her down. She was three cars over and the view was blocked. I couldn't see a damn thing happening. The undead's frantic snarl tore through the air as it tried to eat her; or was eating her. Meaghan's screams never stopped, so at least I knew she was still alive even if only for a moment. I slid across the hood of the car next to me and dodged behind the truck next to it.

"Meaghan!" I screamed, hoping I could make it to my friend before she was bit.

I jumped onto the hood of the car that she went down by. She managed to hold the flesh-eater off. I grabbed an arrow out of my quiver and didn't even bother with the bow. I plunged the steel tip deep into the monster's cranium. It collapsed on top of her and neither of them moved. I jumped down and rolled the undead off her.

"Meg?" I whispered, just waiting.

"You owe me big time for doing this." She scrambled to her feet.

"Were you bit?"

She shook her head and I wrapped the girl in a big hug. Maybe I wouldn't be able to put Nathan down.