Hush (Venom Epidemic, #1)

Chapter 15 - Under The Headlights.

          Jay watched the lifeless form that was laid on the road that was illuminated by the car's headlights. The guy wouldn't have anymore older than twenty perhaps. He had dark hair and pale skin from his profile.

          "Is it dead? Is it one of them?" Jemma was asking him, looking out of the window. "Let's go then.

          Jay was about to turn away when he caught something. He turned back completely and hunched down to check the body's pulse. "He's alive," he whispered in alarm. Standing up, he motioned for Jemma to come out and inspect it.

          Jemma quickly got out – leaving the keys turned on in the ignition as well as the breaks – and got out. She walked around the car's headlights and hunched down onto her heels. A frown came onto her soft features in trepidation and curiosity. "Gosh, he's alive," she stated after also checking his pulse. "Is he infected?"

          "He doesn't appear to have been bitten nor have any wounds inflicted," Jay observed, also hunched down next to her. He had a look of concentration. "What's this?" he asked himself mostly.

          "What?"

          "Look under his collar on the back of his kneck."

          Jemma pulled the guy's collar back and saw something odd. "Maybe it's a tattoo," she guessed as she leant forward to check his pockets. "We need to check if he has guns. He could be crazy or dangerous." When she didn't find anything she sat back onto her tip-toes.

          "Nothing. Maybe he was running away from something and got hydrated and fainted," He guessed, and ran a hand through his dark brown hair that was lit by the headlights.

          "Hmm..." She nodded. "Let's go."

          "Wait!" He said suddenly and grabbed her arm. "Are you going to leave him here?"

          "Yes."

          "That's not right. He isn't infected! We should take him with us. More people, more strength against these mutants!" He reasoned, letting go of her arm.

          "How many people are we going to save?" She sighed heavily and stood up to head back to her seat. "We should go, Cruise is probably waiting for us at the petrol station and I'm seriously freaking out that not a single human is around to help."

          Cruise stood up to confront her. "Are you seriously expecting help when you won't help another?" he demanded, his brows knitted together.

          She sighed again and looked down at the unmoving body. There was a long bloodied scratch on his white top. The jeans looked untouched. "Fine," she muttered, "but let's just make sure one last time in case he is infected. We can't be too sure."

          "D – Don't leave m – me ... hear ... please..." The laying man on the floor whispered. It was so faint that it could've have been easily misheard. "P – Please!" He repeated and managed to turn himself onto his back.

          "Oh, gosh, you see? He is hurt. Look at his stomach!" She cried and moved back a few steps in horror.

          "No ... t – this ... I hurt myself ... fell down a ditch and scratched myself ... ow! Please help ... me," he whispered tiredly. He was slipping in and out of consciousness.

          "Oh," she gasped. "Thank God. I mean thank God you're not infected, not that you fell down a ditch. C'mon, Jay, let's get him inside."

          Jay rolled his eyes and helped. When the guy was sitting in the backseat, he climbed into the front passenger seat next to Jemma.

          "We need to get him sorted so he can leave as soon as possible," she was mumbling and removed the brakes. She steered the wheel and glanced into the rearview mirror.

          "Hey, man, need water?" Jay asked and handed him a small bottle of water. "You look thirsty."

          After the strange guy finished the bottle of water and gasped to take some air, he looked at Jay and everybody else with a weak smile. His black eyes were studying everyone. "Thank you for saving me, a – and the water, otherwise I – I would've been dead meet ... l – literally," he stuttered.

          "It was our duty. We will get that looked at as soon as we can find a Pharmacy," Jay explained kindly. "Anyway, I'm Jay," he introduced himself.

          "I'm Mark, Mark Hyun."

          "Oh, so you're Japanese?" Fleur asked excitedly.

          "Korean," he corrected, smiling.

          "Oh, sorry," she responded quickly. "I'm Fleur. This is my friend Katrina."

          "N - Nice to meet the both of you," he smiled a little more. He didn't want them to think that he didn't appreciate the help. "Are you Indian, if you don't mind me asking? Sorry, j – just making conversation. I get nervous a lot," he chuckled.

          Katrina smiled for the first time since everything happened this morning. Her hair was blowing slightly in the humid breeze from her window. "It's OK," she smiled back. "I'm Pakistani, born and bred in England. And don't worry; you have a right to get nervous ... especially with what's happening..." Her smile fainted.

          "Yeah ... what is happening?" He asked restively. "I just watched my parents and younger sister get torn to bits by those ... those ... things. This is a nightmare!"

          "Oh ... I'm sorry to hear that," she whispered, suddenly remembering her own parents. She felt guilty for not finding them already. What if they were...? No. NO. They are alive, they have to be. I need to find them soon as we pick up Cruise, she thought.

          "Those things are sort of mutants – or blood sucking mutants," Jemma took the initiative, "And they care about nothing about hurting or killing humans. They care only the lust for human blood. It's their life force, it's what they thrive on and stay alive despite being dead themselves. They can infect you by scratching – that's why I was so adamant to check your wound if you were infected – and they can also infect you when they bite you."

          "Like ... zombies w – we see in the movies?" Mark asked slowly, processing the facts, "...A zombie apocalypse."

          "Yep," Fleur nodded.

          "Only these are blood-sucking vampire zombies," Katrina opted to correct. She shuddered. "They crave blood. Not meat."

          "As far as we know," Jemma added.

          "This is too much to comprehend," Mark groaned, fear showing in his eyes and his face pale.

          Everyone was quiet for the for roughly ten minutes.

          "So," Jay finally broke the silence that was filly with gloominess. "What happened to you, man?"

          Mark sighed and took a deep breath. "A group of those things saw me after killing my family and came right at me," he elaborated in a soft, painful voice.

          Katrina listened sadly.

          Fleur patted his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault," she said gently.

          "Wasn't it? I could have been quicker, more capable ... but I ran for it after I watched them die. I wasn't even able to let them rest in graves! My parents are now dead because of me! I have been running from the morning without food, water, or clothes ... never got the time – I ... I've been running until you guys found me."

          "Mark it's not your fault your family couldn't make it," Jay helped out, turning to give him an understanding look. "You would have helped as much as you could if you had been given the chance."

          "Yeah," Fleur nodded.

          Mark was quiet and didn't say anything else. He wore a grim expression as his parents dead eyes stared back at him pleadingly, the voice of his younger sister screaming for her big brother to save her from the bad monsters and take her away.

          Tears stung his eyes as he stared blindly out the window and bit his lip. I'm so sorry mum dad. I'm so sorry for not being able to save you and Kelli, he thought.

          "Uh-oh ... everyone ... we have company," Jemma announced in a horrified whisper. She slowed down the car to a standstill.

*** 

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