Infected

Chapter 9 .~ Who are you?

I woke up with a searing headache, not sure where I was at first. My eyes adjusted to the dim lights of what appeared to be the inside of the station wagon. I was just about to sit up when my little demon dog jumped on me. I petted him weakly, sat up and he jumped off me. I rubbed my eyes and noticed a cut on my right eyebrow.

I looked outside to find my group associating with the police. I tried to hear what they were saying through the cracked window of the car door, but they were too far from the vehicle. I tried to open the door, but found myself too weak to push it open.

I lightly slammed my hand against the window, luckily catching the attention of someone I didn't recognize. She seemed a little taller than the rest of us, even me. As she approached, I noticed the right side of her head was shaved, and the dark brown hair remaining only came down to the tip of her left ear. She was dressed in a snow white wife-beater tank top and a jet black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her skinny jeans were ripped on the lower thighs, and her combat boots were falling apart. She smiled and winked at me as she opened the car door for me.

"Hey, Red-Head." she smirked, with a very noticeable British accent.

"Hello?" I questionably said. "So I see you met that moron, Jared."

"Yeah, that moron." she said, before she walked away. Hoagie followed her, acting as if she was his new owner. I frowned, wondering why my mutt was following a stranger.

Stephen ran towards me as I stumbled out of the car, and he caught me before I fell to the ground.

"Whoa there." he said, as he helped me sit on the ground. "Be careful. You were out for a couple days." I tried to come up with a sarcastic comment, but nothing came to mind.

"I'm okay. Just talk quieter." I said, feeling a pain in my ears from him talking. "Who is that girl who was just here?" I asked, contemplating the strange person's identity.

"Oh! That was Riley!" He said excitedly, shutting up after he realized my irritation with his incomplete answer. "Oh, I'm sorry, she saved you when you crashed into that burning tree. We didn't get there quick enough, so if she didn't show up, you would have been dead!" He exclaimed.

"Really...? Where did she come from... and where are we...?" I trailed off, crossing my legs and propping my elbow on my knee.

"We are between Idaho and Montana. And she won't say much about herself, all we know is she is here to help, and she is bad ass with any weapon." He explained. It sounds like Stephen's pretty fond of her. I don't like it.

"Well we shouldn't trust her! Just because I'm passed out, it doesn't mean you can make executive people decisions without me!" I said in an unreasonable tone of voice. Stephen looked at me with a confused look, probably wondering where my random burst of anger came from. I'm not too sure myself.

I looked over, pass Stephen, to see my group of friends laughing and smiling while Riley talked. I frowned, seeing her crouch down to pet Hoagie, and he began to lick her hand.

"I feel fine now, I wish to rejoin my group." I said holding out my hand so he would help me up. He obliged, taking my hand, and helping me stand. I quickly realized that he held onto my hand much longer than needed. I pulled my hand away from him, and walked towards my group. They were standing with two police officers, while Riley told a story.

We approached the cluster of people, and I shoved my way pass Riley. Ella and Jenessa quickly gave me when confused look. I returned the confused look, wondering why they didn't greet me immediately. Jenessa understood my look right away.

"Lila! You're here. Do you feel better?" Jenessa asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ella walk over to Riley and start a conversation, excluding us. I ignored the rude act and replied back to Jenessa.

"My head just hurts, but I'm okay." I said, not mentioning my unknown anger with Riley. "So Riley and Ella are good friends I see. That's great." I said in a very sarcastic voice, not knowing where my negative attitude was coming from.

"Do you not like Riley? You've only talked to her once. She is nice when you get to know her." says Jenessa in a soft but confident voice.

I shrugged, still not fully agreeing with Riley's innocence.

Hoagie barked from behind me. I turned around to see Ella and Riley side by side. Hoagie was wagging his tail at Riley.

"Give me my dog, Riley." I said in an irritated tone. She cocked her head to the side and raised a brow at my comment as she picked Hoagie up.

"Of course, Red-Head." She said, holding Hoagie out for me to take. I took him from her and held him close to me.

I sighed to myself as the officers talked about some hotel being open to us. I sat on the ground, and held Hoagie in my lap. I laid my head down on top of him and dazed off.

It seemed like hours of me sitting there staring off into the distance. I snapped back to reality when I heard someone scream in front of me. I looked up quickly, and only a few feet ahead, an officer had been bitten from behind, from cannibals that seemed to wander out of the forest.

I sat there in shock, not knowledgeable of what I should do. Hoagie already ran off towards the Station Wagon and my friends ran away. I stared in amazement of how I wasn't the one being killed right now. I scooted back a small amount when I saw one of those things draw it's attention towards me. The creature stumbled my way, and I felt utterly helpless. It started to fall towards me, blood from its eyes dripping onto my feet, when I was scooped up off the ground. Riley cradle carried me as she ran. She was carrying me like a damn child! God damn Riley. She ran with me towards the Station wagon where the others were. She handed me off to my friends and pulled a melee swords out of a holster on her hip.

"You're welcome Red-Head." Riley said with a wink. Her British accent made her sound so cool. But she is still not to be trusted.

I didn't reply, but simply narrowed my eyes. She turned and ran back towards the small hoard.

"Are you okay Lila?" Ella said, for the first time today, actually speaking directly to me. I observed the cannibals in the distance. They look different then what I remember, a lot more pale, and quite a bit more filthy looking. A lot must have happened while I was unconscious.

"Yes," But I'll be better if she is gone. "Shouldn't one of you help her." I questioned, accidentally sounding sarcastic.

"Nope! She fights really well by herself!" Jared said from behind me. I looked back at him and glared. I wanted to yell at him and tell him to shut his face so bad, but I kept it to myself.

"Yeah and she is a damn good aim with a gun! But we ran out of ammo cartridges yesterday..." Julie added. Ok. I'm bout to smack a bitch if they don't shut up.

"And she is so good at navigating!" Ella also added. I closed my eyes and covered my ears with my hands.

"Shh, my ears hurt from you all talking." I said, wanting them all to shut up. I glanced up and my blood boiled as I watched her fight.

The small number of cannibals didn't stand a chance. She gave them no opportunity to come at her. She handled her weapon as if it was a part of her body, swiftly swinging it through the air and maintaining perfect control even during the impact of the sword hitting the undead. And even when there wasn't time to use the blade, she had them beat. She used complicated air kicks and quick punches to keep them back, giving her a chance to ready her weapon for another attack.

With a simple swing of her sword, she decapitated the last cannibal, and everyone began clapping. All but me. She strode towards us with a thrilled smile on her face.

"How bout that for a show?" She asked. Everyone congratulated her on her battle, as I stood looking in from the outside. They high fived her and laughed along. Ella hugged her.

This means war Riley.

I hate you.

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Published October 29, 2015