Sightless

What the Heck

We had been biking for about three hours and hadn't seen any other people for quite a while. We finally reached the outskirts of town and decided to take a rest stop. I unstrapped Norah and we sat down on the grass. I pulled up my Ethernet, wanting to do a little research on these so-called "zombies."

Apparently, in addition to tearing your brain cells apart, the bacteria caused a very intense itching in the infected area. It itched so badly that it caused them to tear their own eyeballs out in a desperate effort to relieve the itching. Other characteristics included twitching, insane giggling and drooling. You'd think that they'd be slow and dumb, but that wasn't the case; according to my research, they were actually fairly agile and were perfectly capable speech. I reported what I had learned to our team. "We should call them the Sightless." I said. "You know how they have Walkers on the walking dead, and zombies everywhere else, so why shouldn't we have a name for them?" They all nodded in agreement and I posted it to my Ethernet. Pretty soon, everyone was calling them the Sightless. I know it was only a minor thing, but I felt pretty proud of myself.

All too soon, we got up and remounted our bikes. Norah was constantly chatting with the others as we rode along. She would ask them questions, make hilarious random comments and overall just kept our spirits up. After awhile I noticed that the constant chatter had ceased. I glanced behind me to see that she had fallen asleep. I smiled to myself; what a little angel.

Kyle cruised up beside me. "Adorable sister you got there. I never had one." He commented. "Thanks. Right now she's the only family I've got." Kyle gave me a sympathetic look. "What happened, or would you rather not talk about it." I sighed and told him. "-and then he said that they were all..." I couldn't go on. I felt a lump rise in my throat. I swallowed, but I couldn't stop the tears from spilling onto my cheeks. I felt him pat my back, not a very easy thing to do while on a bicycle. "It'll all turn out alright." I nodded, not really believing him, but it still made me feel better. "Thanks." I said. I was glad that Norah was asleep. When she was older I'd tell her the truth. But she wouldn't understand properly right now.

By the time the sun had set we had gone quite a distance, but it would take at least three or four days for us to get there. We found an old abandoned barn and set up camp. We ate some of our rations, and then tried to sleep. I sang softly to Norah and lay down by her. It took a long time, but finally I drifted off into a dark, dreamless sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That morning I awoke to find at least five large mosquito bites on my arms and legs. I thanked the Lord that I didn't live in the deeper south, where I surely would have gotten many more bites than that. We had breakfast and hung around a little before moving on. After all, it was a nice place; flower fields filled with bluebells and daisies. I picked one, winding it in my braid.

We left around ten. My legs were really sore from yesterday and I could imagine them screaming with every pedal. I distracted myself by getting to know the other members of my team. Reina was the weapons expert and quite the marksman to boot. She and the others had been planning what to do in this kind of circumstance for ages, but my idea blew theirs out of the water. She also was crazy about Ashton. Personally, I didn't really know what she saw in him. He was a self centered bossy pants. But he did have leading skills, so that's what really matters I guess.

Evan was orphaned from the age of three. He had lived with his grandma since then but she died of old age when he turned seventeen. He was a kindhearted person and was always the first to help someone in need. He became Kyle's best friend only a year ago but now they were inseparable. Kyle seemed nice enough; a bit cocky but overall not that bad. He had guns but preferred his katana; "You don't have to reload a sword after all."

We passed through several small towns. In one of them, we saw our first Sightless. It was meandering around; twitching and scratching at its face. It turned when it heard our bikes and jogged into the centre of the road. We swerved around it and it snatched at us but to no avail. As we passed by it, I swear I heard it giggle. When Norah saw it she started crying. We rode for another five minutes eventually slowing to a stop. I hopped down and stood by Norah, who was still crying. "Stay away from those things okay?" I said. She nodded. "They are bad, but as long as you're with me, you're safe. I promise." She calmed down and I climbed up on my bike. I just hoped to God that I could keep that promise.