Outbreak

Chapter 15

Jason

It's only been fifteen minutes since we got back on the road when Eric wakes up. I'm talking to Michael and Ivy when he groans weakly, drawing our attention to him. 

"Argh..." he mumbles, clutching his head. He opens his eyes, which are slightly crossed. I bite back laughter.

"Wh-what happened?" he mumbles. Michael twists around. "A shelf fell on you. You've been out for fifteen minutes. How many fingers am I holding up?" He holds up three, and Eric squints to focus on them. 

"Five? No, six." Michael shakes his head, looking worried. "Try again." He hold up two, and Eric's eyes light up. "Four!" Michael looks at Ivy and me. "He's seeing double. Not good." 

Eric looks up at the roof, laughing giddily.

"Ha. Killed a bunch of zombies, but the shelf's the one that beats me."

Suddenly, my phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket and see that it's Emmett. I accept, and as I twist to look back at their car I hold it to my ear. "What's up?" I ask. 

"How's Eric doing?" he asks. "Quinn wants to know if he's awake yet." I look back at Eric, who's drawing on the window with his finger. I turn back. 

"Definitely a concussion," I say grimly. "When we get to the Air Base, he's going to need medical help. Professional medical help." I hear Emmett relay the info back to Quinn. "We'll just have to keep an eye on him until we get to the colony," I hear her say loudly. "Okay, sounds good," I say before hanging up. 

"I'm going to try to sleep, guys," I say, and when Michael holds up a thumbs-up sign I lean against the window and close my eyes.

Four hours later, I wake to the blinding evening sun's rays and Ivy's voice.

"Uh, guys?" she says worriedly. "Slight problem." When I look out the front of the car, I see a barricade-like wall of crashed cars blocking the freeway. Waist-high concrete walls border both sides of the freeway, and there isn't any visible way to get through. Beyond the walls, endless spruce forest stretches out as far as I can see.

The car slows to a stop, and Michael, Ivy, and I jump out, leaving Eric giggling in the car. Ezran pulls up behind us, and their group jogs up to us. 

"What happen--oh no," Ezran groans. Mal limps over, and plops down on the ground when he sees the barricade. "What was even the point of filling up the tanks?" he complains, falling onto his back. "Now we're gonna have to walk in the dark..." As he speaks, the last rays of evening sunlight pass over the glade, and the light begins to dim. A howling, cold wind rustles the trees.

To make matters worse, I see at least twenty of the deformed, grayish limbs the Earth-bitten appear from inside the heap of crashed cars, slowly pulling themselves out at the sound of humans.

Quinn

"What do we do?" Mal asks, heaving himself up from the asphalt. Ezran turns to us, determination in his eyes. 

"Everyone run and grab your bags and weapons. Make sure someone gets the food and supplies. Quinn, stay with Eric and have your medkit close by in case he faints or something. Make sure we stay together, but worst case scenario and we get separated; stay in the two groups Eric and I designated. Go, go, go!" I run to the truck, grab my pack, and run to the other car where Eric is hanging out the door, suspended inches from the ground by only his seatbelt.

"Ok, Eric, time to return to the land of the sane," I mutter quickly, unclipping his seatbelt and pulling him to his feet with my good arm. I run to the side of the road, where the rest of the group is waiting. As soon as we catch up, we run into the forest, Mal just managing to keep up with Emmett supporting his weight. I turn to see the zombies in hot pursuit, and fire at them with my handgun. Ivy pulls the pin from a grenade, and lobs it over our heads. 

There's a powerful BOOM, and a blast of force throws us forward. Eric and I are thrown into the air for a split second before we come crashing down a grassy slope. I yelp as I land on my infected arm when my rolling comes to a stop.

I immediately shake the daze off and take in my surroundings, which... I can't see. 

I pull out my flashlight and switch it on. My light shines over blackberry bushes, boulders, and the tall trunks of spruce trees. I think Ivy's grenade finished the zombies off, but just to stay safe I try to stay stealthy and silent as I collect myself and look around. 

Don't panic, I tell myself. Just call them. I pull out my phone, but frustration fills me when I see that's there's no service.

"Ezran?" I whisper-shout. "Ez! Eric! Taylor! Anyone?" 

I'm met with the howling wind in the rustling branches and the occasional hoot of an owl. I shiver despite the warmth of my two hoodies, and my arm seems to throb even more.

I was always afraid of the dark, and despite the five months I've spent living in an apocalypse, the fear still hasn't eased up. I move forward and away from the slope, occasionally softly but shakily calling out one of my friends' names. 

About five minutes later, I trip over something, and when I shine my flashlight on the object I jump in shock. It's a leg. I shine my light past the leg, hoping that a body is attached, and luckily one is. It's Eric, and his head is lying next to a tell-tale rock. "Oh no," I whisper. Two blows to the head can't be good, especially if his brain was already affected the first time.

I'm contemplating what to do when I see a light appear about two hundred meters away from me. "Hello?" I say, risking a louder call.

"Hello!" a deep, husky male voice responds. I'm filled with shock; I haven't seen another surviving human for a long, long time. "Follow my voice and the light!" The voice commands. I hesitate, but based on Eric's condition I don't think I have much of a choice. 

I grab Eric's arms and edge towards the light.