OUTBREAK

Stranded #21

"DAD!" Jacob screamed as he watched through the vent to see his father disappear in a forest of rotting legs. There was nothing other than the tearing and chewing of flesh. The others closed their eyes and looked away.

When the wanderers were finished, they lingered around the building. Their groans were heard through the walls and vents, reminding the group of their presence.

Jacob got up from staring into the vent and walked alone to the other side of the building.

Hugo noticed Adam and Dylan resting against a wall, with Adam's leg outstretched before him. The lower pant leg was partly ripped, revealing some of Adam's leg.

"Adam...what happened?" Hugo asked. He stepped to take a closer look and found a bite in Adam's calf. It had partially torn the skin and dropped steadily with blood. "Oh..."

Adam and Dylan both looked up at Hugo with droopy eyes. They were breathing harder than usual.

"Sorry Hugo," said Adam. Hugo looked into Adam's weak eyes and thought of his brother. He looked down and shook his head.

"Is everything ok?" said Carmen as she walked into the room with Rosy in her arms. She looked down at Adam's leg and covered Rosy's eyes. Glancing back at Hugo, she saw his dimmed eyes. "I'll be in the lounge," she said, turning away from Hugo.

Hugo turned back to Adam, with the dimmed expression on his face. "How do you want to go?"

"What?" said Adam.

"When you get bit, you turn," Hugo answered. "So how do you want to go?"

Dylan chimed in, "How long does he have?"

"For my brother it took several hours, but that's the only time I've seen it happen."

Adam pondered his fate.

—

The wave of wanderers lingered until the night and Adam's condition had worsened greatly. Laying on the front counter before the main doors of the building, he could barely lift his arms. The others waited around him, waiting for him to take his last breath.

"Sorry, Hugo. I wanted to help you," Adam said softly.

"It's okay," Hugo responded. He was plain faced and nodded once to Adam. Adam nodded back, knowing what was about to happen.

Adam's hand fell from his chest and flopped over the edge of the counter. His breathing stopped. Hugo and Jacob began to wrap Adam's limbs with duct tape and stuck him to the counter.

Dylan broke the boards off the front windows and doors. In the parking lot was their car with not many wanderers near it.

"It's time," said Hugo. The others prepared to leave. Hugo stuck a sharpened mop handle into Adam's side, spewing blood and other parts across the ground. Dylan broke open the lock on the doors which triggered the alarm system.

Hugo then pierced Adam's body even more, causing his guts to spew out on the ground.

"Oh man," said Jacob. He seemed almost frozen while staring at the mess.

Dylan placed his hand on Jacob's shoulder. "Come on, hold it together," said Dylan to Jacob. He gently nudged Jacob around the counter towards the hall where the vent was.

With the mop handle, Hugo flicked some organs into the doorway, attracting some wanderers. The alarms of the building drowned out Rosy's cries.

As a group they snuck out the vent and lurked behind the wave of wanderers who crowded into the building.

"To the car, go go go," Hugo whispered. A couple wanderers noticed them and left the wave to pursue.

At the car Dylan pressed the remote on the key's unlocking it for everyone. "Hurry! Get in!" he said. Inside, Dylan turned on the engine, which attracted more wanderers. He put the car in reverse, but he hit a wanderer which jammed the back tires. Forced to go forward, he drove off the pavement and down the side of the hill, onto the ramp and into the lake.

"Ahhh!" they all yelled. The car crashed into another abandoned car, pushing the line of cars further into the water and triggering the alarms.

"It won't move!" said Dylan. The group got out of the car noticing more wanderers coming from the surrounding hills. From the building more wanderers came and tumbled down the hill from the parking lot. Rosy's cries did not help.

Hugo saw how quickly they were getting cornered into the water. He looked at the ramp and saw the boat from before. It was on the verge of dropping into the water. Shaking his head he turned to the group; "On the boat! Now!" he said.

Dylan took Rosy from Carmen to help her climb up the side of the boat. Jacob was second with Hugo third. Dylan gave Rosy back to the group but did not climb on.

"Dad?" said Carmen, fearing the worst.

"Don't worry, I'm right here," Dylan answered. He began to push the boat into the water. As it began to drift away Dylan struggled to hold on. He let go and the water came up to his knees.

"Dad, no!" said Carmen, verging on tears.

Hands started to rise from the water and tried grabbing Dylan's legs and pants. He quickly ran to shore, looking back at Carmen once. "I'll find you!" he said, and he ran from the wave into the hills around the lake until he was finally out of sight.