Hollow Veins

Chapter Six; A Happy Little Vistor (That Was Sarcasm)

Somersaulting, Jaden kicked the Infect over his head and against the opposite wall. It screeched and lunged at him again. Jasper rushed at it, knife in hand. The Infected slashed at him as he pinned against the wall. The others were now trying to help. Jasper stabbed it. He needed to kill it before it hurt them. He plunged the knife into its stomach, ribs, and finally, in the neck. It shuddered and lashed out. Jasper was thrown to the ground. His head met the hard marble floor with a crack. The Infect leaped on top of Jaden. Its blood was everywhere. He stabbed it in the eye. The Infect screeched. Its elongated jaw came down at Jaden. Aaron plowed into it, throwing it into the door. A loud crash met their ears. The creature rose, stumbled, and collapsed. Ren's voice, "Is it dead?" Jasper groaned, "Not so much dead as dysfunctional. Too much blood lost." Prince pulled him to his feet. "You all right, mon pote?" He nodded, "Jaden, you ok?" Jadden sat up and put away his knife. He felt his neck for the sign of a bite, then gave a thumbs up. The thick clothes covered every inch of skin except their face. Not ideal for heat, but for avoiding bites, they were great. Jasper pinched the bridge of his nose, "That was my fault, I heard it breathing and realized it was too late." Jaden shook his head and pointed to himself, then turned to Aaron. He squinted a second and then held out his hand. Aaron shook a little sheepishly. Ari looked at the dead creature that had once been a person, "Someone must have locked it in there when attacked. Explains the blood." She studied it's head, "It's like it sheded any extra body part. Its nose has been reduced to holes, its ears too. Gosh, the ear holes look like they've been tunneled to make it's hearing better. Jaw's wider, good for biting longer teeth, too. No eye lashes. Its eyes are oddly human, but only just. It's really pale, like there's not much blood, y'know before it bled out, it was like that anyhow." She looked up at their silence, "What?" Prince spoke, "It's just you don't talk much and also, well the observation was..." Ari shrugged, "My parents were scientists. They studied biology in partic..." She was cut off by the screeching. Jasper stiffened, "We need to go. That was loud. Too loud." They'd stayed too long.

As they ran, a loud crashing sounded back at the gas station. They were getting farther and farther from it, but that didn't make it any less frightening. The town was
a scattering of buildings, growing thicker as they reached the center. Passing down alleys and through small local shops, they made progress. "Alright, give it a second," Jasper leaned against a brick building. They all panted. "I saw some more back there. Do you think that they'll come after us?" Prince gasped. He crouched down against an abandoned jeep. Jasper pushed his hair back, "I don't know. Doesn't sound like they're coming, but we can't sit here for long." Ren looked around, "Seems a shame. All these apartments, stores, this whole community. All to waste." Ari shrugged, "It is what it is." "I know. It's just... sad." Jaden glanced over at her and shrugged. Another screech broke the air. Aaron stood, "Doesn't matter, we should go." There was a loud series of quick, eerily human sounding footsteps. An Infect crawled around the building towards them.