Dawn of the living dead

Ch.8 In search of safety

I am not a medical expert, nor a student, so things in this might be inacurate

I knew where we could go, but it was far away. I was unsure if Mark could even walk. He had bites along his left leg and right arm. I could maybe get him a pair of stilts, but it would be difficult, I know. However I know of someone who could possibly help, at least with his injuries. She's an old medical student, but later dropped out. A girl whose name is Niki. I didn't only think she could help, I hoped she could help. I begged and pleaded, with all of my heart, because we needed to get away from here.

I called her, and not even 15 minutes later, she'd arrived. I heard her get in through the door, and I suppose she saw the open trapdoor. I saw her climb up, and immediately rush over to Mark when she saw him.

"Oh my, what happened to him?!" she rushed to ask whilst kneeling down to his level.

"Long story short, the zombies broke in.. Can you help him?." I grieved, glancing at Niki while she studied the injuries.

"Can we talk privately?." she insisted, as she stood herself up, giving me no other option than to agree. Confused, I walked with her to the other side of the attic.

"You're scaring me.." I trembled, fiddling with my thumbs to keep me calm.

"His injuries are greater than what I've been able to research so far. This is all so new, I'm sorry! I can slow the turning process, and I can follow along your journey to help more. But at this pace, he wont make it very far.." she informed. I saw the pain in her eyes as she said this, I knew she was sincere. I was heartbroken.

"Please, just do what you can to keep him alive for as long as possible! I insist you follow along, that would be absolutely fantastic." I encouraged. She subtly nodded, and we walked back to Mark.

Niki held out her arms in search of permission from Mark to proceed, which he gave. She insisted he'd lay down, so he did. She asked of him to keep as still as possible, it'd be hard, but she assured him that he could do it. She carefully took off his bandages. Mark flinched, and grit his teeth, but he bared through it like a champion. Niki pulled out a small flask from a handbag, and popped the cork. "Hold Tommy's hand, this will sting.." she said, and Mark rapidly took my hand. She poured the mysterious liquid that was in the flask around the edges of the bites, Mark held my hand tightly. I could feel the pain from just looking at it.

When she was done, she conjoined the flask and cork once again. This time she pulled out a jar containing some kind of cream. She put on a thick layer on the skin around the bites, and moisturized it carefully.

"How do we take him with us though, I doubt he can walk?." I questioned as she was finishing her work.

"That's the least of our worries, I have a small wagon." she ensured in such a soothing and calm tone.

"Can someone tell me where we're going?-.." Mark grunted through the obvious discomfort.

"We're going to Phil's house, we know we're safe there." I answered him, saying it with a smile to not worry him about anything.

"We need to leave, the sooner the better in this situation." Niki stepped in, and we all agreed. Me and Niki packed two backpacks of only the most necessary items. Food lasting for a few days, flashlights, medicine and bandages for Mark, and water. We helped Mark stand up, and skip towards the ladder, slowly helping him down.

When we left, the time was 16:28. We hoped we'd get there in 2-3 days, tomorrow night if we didn't sleep. We took turns helping Mark, he'd sometimes be stubborn and walk but we saw how much pain it brought to him. We kept as far away as possible from cities and highly populated areas, there would be most zombies there.

We walked through fields of already harvested wheat, forests of reds and oranges that accented the mossy ground, rocky terrain that wrapped around small lakes and watercourses. We'd even meet some old people living in their isolated cabins. Once out of the city, the land was almost completely peaceful!

We could point out zombies at the edge of forests, but they were too far away to see us. We cracked jokes, told funny stories and had a surprisingly good time! But however good the atmosphere was, the thought of losing Mark never disappeared. It intruded less at times, but it was always there, unforgettable. Maybe it was noticeable, maybe I was blind.

It was getting dark. "Do we want to set camp here for the night?" I said, pointing at a small cave.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted." Niki replied, Mark nodding in agreement.

And so we did! We somehow managed to make a fire for warmth, which we all sat around. We continued our friendly chatter, whilst eating our dinner. And time went by quickly, me and Niki laid our heads on the two backpacks. I allowed Mark to rest his on my stomach. Niki fell asleep, and so did I fairly quick.

I woke up. I felt Mark's head was no longer on my stomach. I sat up in a panic, to see him sitting at the entrance of the cave, staring up at the midnight sky. I quietly walked over to accompany him, I sat down and rested my head on his shoulder. "It's a beautiful sky, isn't it?" Mark asked, acknowledging my presence.

"It sure is.."
"Why are you awake, Mark?"

He didn't answer my question, "When do you think we'll arrive?" he replied instead, his voice was breaking, like he wanted to cry.

"Answer my question, please."

"Tommy, I'm scared.." he wept, tears beginning to form in his eyes. I pulled up my head. "It hurts.." he continued. My heart was breaking at his weak words.

"It will be alright, I'll make sure of that," I assure him, letting him rest in my lap.

"You promise?."
"I promise.."