The Silence (GxG)

Chapter 24 - The Reunion

▂▃▅▇█▓▒░ Grace ░

I shot up out of a deep slumber to a loud rattle from one of the walls of the shipping container. The container is pitch black. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but even with my sensitive vision I couldn't make out much, barre a few rough shapes and edges.

I felt unusually drowsy and sluggish compared to normal as I tried to make out my surroundings. I looked at Kenzi who is still fast asleep, topless and serene on the ground beside me, seemingly unbothered by the disturbance.

The presence of multiple bodies lingering around outside, mixed with the fact that I feel drowsy and can't see very well is igniting my senses into a whole new level of sensitivity.

A chill is quickly creeping up my back as I try to focus my hearing and attempt to make out the faint sounds of the infected outside, worrying that the herd might be working their way back, but everything is too overwhelming to focus. Even Kenzis soft snores are starting to become too much right now. My skin began to crawl when every noise suddenly became amplified, my adrenaline beginning to pump wildly out of the blue as my breathing became heavy.

Is this a panic attack? Is it the infection? What the fuck!

I tried to steady my breathing as my heart rate increased, the sounds kept getting louder no matter how hard I held my ears. My head began to pound as the overstimulation triggered a flashback of the beast we encountered yesterday.

-Yesterday-

My heart stopped as the mutation toppled to the ground with a hard thud, its limbs twitching. The screech that it unleashed was intense but something else inside of me felt the pain. As though it was me who took the shot instead.

I fell to my knee from the immense pain, frozen like a statue as a fiery sensation rippled through my muscle fibres. I was breathing through my teeth, my jaw clenched so tight that I could hear the bones grinding harshly against each other.

I watched from my peripheral as everyone exchanged worried glances for a moment, still unable to pry my eyes from the beast as the pain slowly began to fade into a more tolerable tingle. The ringing in my ears finally stopped after a moment and my adrenaline seemed to lessen, but it was still intense enough to have my heart pounding.

I know what has to happen next, and it felt like I was in my own little bubble when I stood with my eyes firmly glued to the twitching and gargling mutation. I drew my knife from my boot and began walking without thinking. The blood was beginning to pool around its body as I approached, announcing to the group that I'll be the one to finish this.

The closer I got, the more intense my sadness became. When I crouched beside it, meeting it's darkened eyes up close, another strange feeling began to buzz in my body. The same feeling I had when I encountered the infected outside The Zoo, after the Wolf attack. Some sort of connection opened up...

It might not be able to speak or fully communicate, but somehow it's able to share its emotions with me, just like the last time.

A mixture of urgency, pain, hunger and confusion was evident... but amongst the whirlwind of emotions taking over my body, the strongest of them all is the dread of feeling trapped. I get the feeling that this poor beast was locked in there a long time ago, probably to ward off any looters, by someone who intended to return for the weapons but never did.

Although it lacks any facial features, thanks to the fungal growths, it's heavy eyes told me everything I needed to know. The look it gave me wasn't one of anger or even fear, it was pleading with me to end its torture. To set it free.

"I'm sorry..." I muttered as I brought my blade to the base of its skull, swiftly piercing the soft tissue and driving my knife upwards to sever the brain stem as humanely as possible, ending the vicious cycle for the poor soul trapped inside.