The Living

Chapter 5

     I drove along, a slowly dispersing mob of zombies behind me. My arm started to hurt, and I mean really hurt. Every time my heart beat, I could feel the blood pulse through my shoulder. Then my head caught up. What was possibly the worst headache I've ever felt shredded my thoughts, making it difficult even to drive.

     "You ok?" My new friend sat in the passenger seat, and though I could hardly see, I knew he was looking at me with concern, I could here it in his voice.

     "I'll be fine thanks, just need to get somewhere safe."

     He was quiet after that. I knew he hadn't liked it when I told him I had no idea where we were going, but he didn't ask any more about it.

     I pulled over at a gas station and after explaining that I was getting some painkillers, got out of the car and cautiously walked over to the building. It was dark inside, and quiet. I opened the door slowly, then hit the butt of my gun against the doorframe. Nothing came in the quiet that followed.

     I let my eyes adjust to the dark before entering and walked over to the registers. It looked like the store had been pretty seriously looted, but I was willing to bet that there was a small medical pack behind the counter that most employers kept for thier employees. Finding one, I grabbed it and quickly made my way outside. The bright light, compounded with the headache, hurt my eyes, but not nearly so much as the blow to my head hurt it. Everything went black...

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      I woke up to my face hitting a very solid floor. There was some scuffling behind me, and then someone landed on top of me. I surpressed a grunt of pain, my arm and head now in full blown agony.

     The door somewhere behind me slammed shut and the sound of a deadbolt slidding into place could be heard faintly.

     My new friend rolled off of me, apolagizing, and I sat slowly up, spitting some blood out of my mouth. The room was small and dark, only a single window in the back for lighting. There were shelves lining the walls, which made me think it was a storage closet for things before it was a storage closet for humans. Unfortunately all the shelves were empty.

     And in the back sat a girl. She was maybe my age, wavy brown hair that was currently covering a great deal of her face, and she was sitting balled up in the corner of the room.

     We sat, starring at each other for a few moments. I cleared my throat. "So, uhh, Wouldn't happen to know where the bathroom is would you?"

     Silence. She tilted her head, as if she was trying to decide if I was in fact joking or not. "Ok, I suppose that wasn't a very good joke. Name's Arren, you?" I went to shake her hand with my good one, but when I got closer to her she just shrank back into herself.

     I let her have her space again, and turned to my new friend. "So, Meat..."

     "Mike, actually."

     "Mike. Nice to meat you. Anyway, feel like helping me put my sholder back in joint?"