Friendship Among the Dead

Chapter 1. Still Alive

      The town was completely Silent. 

     It was like everything was still, as if all life had been wiped away from this ghost town and all that was left were the buildings that remained. Broken glass almost everywhere you would step, with the buildings broken apart with the paint on the walls faded and dull. It was not as alive as it used to be, it was lifeless. It was miserable. 

     Flight hated seeing their hometown like this. However... Their focus wasn't on that detail. It was more on their surroundings. Being quiet was their primary focus, almost unfazed by the painful reminder of what the world had turned into. That didn't matter right now, what mattered was their survival. 

     Flight was careful with every step that they took, looking around as if it were their last day on Earth. And while some would think of them as crazy, it wasn't crazy, it was needed. One wrong move and Flight could summon a horde, and that was no a chance they were willing to take. 

     Flight had glanced around nervously, looking for a sign of life... or the undead of that matter. And after a moment of silence, Flight mentally sighed, adjusting the strap of their backpack before slowly walking towards their destination. And while seemingly simple, it was truly difficult when you think about it. Flight merely needed food, thats all they needed. 

     But with the infected, that didn't make that easy. 

     "God, this is insane." Flight thought to themself, despite being here countless times. Flight froze for a minute, thinking they heard something around them, only to realize it was merely their heartbeat pounding against their chest. But even that scared Flight. 

      The infected had fairly normal hearing, however, if any were hiding, maybe even nearby, one could cause a bloodbath. And Flight didn't want to take that chance, even if there could potentially be no zombies there entirely.  

     Flight wanted to take a deep breath, but they couldn't even take a chance of that. Flight pulled up their mask, tip toeing towards the store they had grown to know since they were little.

     With every step they had taken, the world around them seemed to morph into the past. Flight could remember playing with their family in the park as a kid, shopping with their friends for the newest games that would come out, even simply going to school, or the store seemed so exciting and bright then what Flight had to deal with now. All by themself. 

     ... The loneliness was eating at them.

     So much so Flight didn't seem to pay attention to where they were going. 

      Right as Flight took another step, the blades of a bear trap sharply chomped into their leg. Flight let out a scream on instinct, falling to the ground as they felt tears roll down their face. Where the hell did this bear trap come from?! And most of all, how could Flight let themself get so distracted that they stepped into a bear trap?!

      Flight slapped a hand over their mouth, taking deep breaths in their hand, despite the horrible pain that ran through out their body. They glanced at their leg, whimpering when seeing the blood seem through their pants and onto the blades. Flight took a deep, shaky breath, looking around the area. Until finally, locking eyes with one of the species they feared. 

      An infected stood there in front of them, looking at Flight without a care in the world. Their flesh rotted off their body, falling onto the ground as Flight let out a choked sob. 

     "please..." Flight thought to themself. "please I can't end like this!"

     The infected, without hesitation, ran towards Flight, growling as Flight let out a shriek, trying to grab their weapon from their bag. 

     Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Flight reached for their bag, the infected zombie running towards him, reaching for them with hunger in their soulless eyes. Flight couldn't even think, but before anything can be done, a gunshot ran out though out the empty town.

     Flight watched in shock as the zombie had fallen in front of the., the used to be healthy, vibrant human life crumbling away in an instant. Flight let out a shaky breath, before realizing it was really a gunshot that went off and killed the zombie. Flight looked away from the corpse with wide eyes, but the shock only grew when seeing... People.

     Real, healthy people, looking down at them with a mixture of both concern and weariness. The two people in front of them both held weapons of their own, and both seemed to be even more dangerous then Flight could ever be. 

       The one who had saved Flight's life held more concern then her companion, who glared at Flight despite their wounded form. 

     The one who seemed angry at Flight despite not even knowing them was a somewhat tall boy with guns in almost every part that could hold one on of his form. There were guns in his belt, in his pockets, in his bag, and they all had different sizes and different uses.He had shaggy brown hair, along with his face covered with a bit of dirt and dust. 

     The one who held concern for Flight had medium length pink hair that was tired back into a ponytail, her bright pink eyes holding worry as she put the gun back in her bag, kneeling down towards a slightly panicked Flight. 

     "Hey! Calm down, it's okay!" They tried to say, their tone holding comfort but also a sense of awkward worry that had her tone wavering slightly. Her eyes glanced down at the bear trap, wincing a bit. "God..."

     She suddenly turned towards the boy behind her, glaring daggers at him. "What the fuck, Muffin?!" She yelped, causing the boy to jump, looking away from Flight with nothing but confusion and anger for the girl in front of him.

      "What the hell did I do?!" He questioned, hugging his shotgun to his chest as if it was a sort of comfort for him. The girl huffed, pointing towards the bear trap. 

     "You put the bear trap there! Did you even think about other survivors?!" 

     "No? We're kind of in an apocalypse Astral, the fact we even have a group of people is a 1 in 1000 chance!" He exclaimed back, letting out a huff and slumped down, pouting as he looked away.

      As they argued, Flight let out a weak groan. They were losing blood, their skin turning pale as their eyes became more and more dull by the second. The boy quickly noticed this, his pout quickly forming into an expression of concern and alarm.

     "Uh, Astral?"

     "What!?"

     "They're kind of dying."

      Astral let out a yelp, quickly turning towards Flight, who and slumped down onto the ground. Astral's expression twisted in horror, quickly throwing off their backpack and yelling for some alcohol and bandages. 

     However, Flight's vision became blurred. Not even flinching as Muffin pulled the bear trap apart and off of their wound. Flight's world started to fade.

     And eventually, it all faded to black.