Dead Horizon

Infected

One! Two! Three?

"FOUR! On your right! Ellie!" Mateo screamed. There was an invasion of the dead right at the hilltop. He took out his knife and came up to one of the dead corpses. It was bleeding from its neck, almost like it got bitten there. He raised the knife and he was lucky enough that the infected was shorter than him. The kitchen knife went deep into the rotting skull and blood and fluid came oozing out at a fast rate. He struggled to pull the knife out of the head, but managed to anyway. He needed to keep Ellie safe, to keep Ember safe. To keep the youngest one safe, Jackson.

     Jackson stood next to Evelynn and waited for any to come by them. Evelynn squeezed his hand and told him to shout if he saw any coming, little did she know that would bring more over. Ember felt useless, but she was hurt. She was not bit, she was not bleeding, but inside she was all of those things. All at once. She wanted to help, but could barely see straight at the same time. All she could hear was Mateo's voice after he took down three infected ones.

     Jackson saw Ellie, stabbing the dead person, over and over and over again. It felt like a nightmare.

"AHH!" Evelynn screamed. They were everywhere, surrounded by dead people, Jackson left his mother and ran as fast as his legs could trot up a steep hill. He knew that they had to leave. Ellie ran towards Mateo and told him that they had to leave and pointed to the east side of the hill.

"One second, Ellie. Here, take this shotgun, I don't care if it makes noise. Shoot them, shoot them all, protect Jackson and Ember." Mateo left her and ran to the steep side of the hill, with his rifle and aimed carefully to keep Evelynn from getting bit.

"Over here. Evelynn!" He yelped, seeing Ev's blonde hair get pulled by the dead and then ripped out slowly.

"Help! Ember? Anyone." She screamed.

Jackson saw something that would change his mindset forever. His mother was bit, getting bitten, eaten. Mateo quickly shot the infected that was biting her and she tried to run over all of the rocks and sprint up the steep hill. She slipped a couple of times but Mateo grabbed her hand and pulled her up. He put her arm around his shoulder while walking and stabbed some in the head, on the way to ask Ellie a question. Evelynn was bleeding, and badly.

"Ellie! Show us the way...Please?"

"What about everything here? Can't we just shoot all of them down, we have enough bull-"

"No we don't. We have five left and there are millions, we have to go. Now!" He demanded, angrily. Eleanor nodded softly and nodded, she grabbed a black dart, the supply bag and compass as she walked off into the red horizon showing up on the clear road. There were no dead people on that road. Ember got herself up and wiped her tears with her ripped clothing and used her other hand to carry the forgotten bag of weapons and clothes.

"Where are we going?" Asked Ember, when she caught up.

"South Dakota." Mateo directed.

"But this isn't the way." She snapped back. Her voice was fragile, almost like if you were to say anything else to her, she would brake.

"We had to go east, it was the only way to escape the invasion"

"I guess we're not safe anywhere."

Jackson sighed.

"No. No, buddy we are. Just not here. We need to get to farmlands, low population and water sources. Okay. We'll stop at the market when we circle around to go west."

Mateo added, to assure him that there is still hope amongst the living, amongst us.

"Is no one going to talk about what we're going to do with me?"

Evelynn asked, furiously.

"Oh no. Here, take this rag and, um. Does anyone know how to cut off a bite?"

     Mateo looked around and no one answered. Ember was in a nightmare of thoughts, Ellie was still walking east. Jackson was still partially traumatized and how would a twenty year-old guy know what to do in this situation? He ripped a piece of his red sweater off and tied it around Evelynn's wrist, which is where the bite was when they reached a stop sign. She was crying in pain and Ember put her hand over her mouth to reduce the noise. He finished wrapping the sweater around her and started walking further east.

"Look, Mateo! A sign says 'shopping center north' ."

Ember looked surprised, but still in deep agony and mental pain. Was that actually her mother and sister? What if it was just a coincidence, a look-alike? She thought.

"Yea, Ember, but that's north, and it would throw us off of our tracks."

"Well don't you think that South Dakota from wherever we are now seems a bit insane to travel right now. Plus, the shopping center might have what we need for Evelynn. And we are all starving"

"Yeah, okay. Let's go then. Ellie, lead us there, please?"

"What do I look like, google maps? I can not keep directing you guys everywhere. I'm ten! You wanna go somewhere Ember? You take the lead. Also, call me Eleanor, you are not my friend." Ellie was talking more than usual and it didn't feel normal for her.

"Eleanor, I-I would take the lead, but I can not do this right now. I feel like I am going to pass out."

     Ember couldn't hear anything, all she smelt was her mother's cooking and heard Sophie's voice calling her. But that wasn't all, Ember heard her own voice, mocking her family, one by one. Why did you leave me to die Ember? I'M STILL OUT THERE! Help me, we're hurt. She fell to the floor and luckily the grass patch on the road stopped her from getting a concussion.

"Ember?! Hey. Wake up."

Mateo was panicking. Ember was ill, Eleanor was starving, Evelynn was dying and Jackson was useless. The sky turned dark, Mateo left Eleanor in charge while he took a knife and shotgun with him to run across to the convenience store.