BITTEN

Chapter 4

I was in the front seat, close to the guy who saved us. He was maybe in his early 40s, bald , strong faced. His body was a bit muscular and his beards were long and unshaved. Who exactly is he? I pondered.

"Thanks." I managed to say.

"You kids should be more careful." he responded without any eye contact. We're all above 18,we're not kids anymore, I told myself silently.

"How did you know we were in there?" I asked, diverting a little bit.

"I lost my little girl too. While I was checking on her, I heard you guys so I decided to help."

"Sorry for your daughter."

"It was her birthday." He sobbed a little.

Darn it! It was hard to see a full grown man cry.

"Hey guys, the Zombies are on our tails." Alex warned.

It was getting really worse. The workers and almost all the patients were now infected. We could hear the Zombies snarling on the roof of the car.

"What's your name?" asked the man, quickly.

"John. John Peterson."

"John, do you know how to use this?" he asked, bringing out a gun.

Not everyone on the Island was conversant with the use of a gun, so I wasn't surprised he asked. I took the gun reluctantly and flashed back to when I was just twelve and my mother was cheating on my dad while he was still alive. Even as small as I was then, I knew it wasn't right because my Dad was such a good man. It pissed me off and one day, it got messy. I took a gun nearby, and shot at the man my mother was making out with. He went down bleeding, almost to death. After that incident my mother came to me saying "John, promise me you'll never use a gun again."
I nodded in silence. Till now, the memory of me almost killing someone at just twelve still taunts me.

I snapped out of my past when the man swerved the car, so the zombies lost balance and they hung on, with their faces to the glass. The girls didn't help matters as they screamed on and on. Nathan shot one or two, without blinking an eye. One of the zombies slammed the glass, causing the the car to serve into the woods until it finally hit a tree which made it halt.

"Oh God." I whispered.

One by one we all jumped out of the car, with a few bruises here and there. Fortunately, we had outran all  but one of the zombies which was on the floor, half dead after the accident. We were safe, at least for now. I took a concerned look at Alex.

"I hope you're fine."

"I'm alright. At least I'm still one piece." She replied.

I looked at her left arm. She didn't feel it immediately, but she was badly wounded with a deep cut on her right arm.

"Alex, your arm." I gasped. It was then she saw it. She wanted to scream but I calmed her down.

"Shh.. Relax. It's alright."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Lucinda cut in, "Once you have a gun, you shoot."

She grabbed the gun, and wasted all the bullets on the half dead zombie, who was still limping on the floor. She really took all her anger on the zombie.

"Lemme see that arm." the stranger that saved us said to Alex. He took a good look at it and continued, "It's pretty deep, but you'll live."

"That's good news." Alex confessed.

"Hey, can you check the boot? You'll see a first aid box. Get it for me." He ordered.

Nathan went to get the box, but dilly dallied when he saw the car again.