The Rise

Chapter 3

(Alice's POV) 

 Scrape scrape scrape.

 My eyes shot open and I jumped to my feet, pulling my blade out from its sheath around my thigh. I relaxed as I realized the cause of the noise. I had forgotten about the Risen arm, cut from its owner when I had slammed the door on it. It was clawing its way around the shack. I plunged my knife into the hand. The blade went through and stuck into the wooden floor, trapping the severed arm.  Unable to move, it thrashed out its fingers, clawing aimlessly at the ground.

 A pool of dark crimson blood began to form from the opposite end of the arm; the end where tendons hung loosely and strips of shredded muscle showed. I crouched down to get a better look at it. It didn't make sense to me how the Risen were dead but still partly alive. The hand twitched a few more times and then stopped completely. I tore my knife from the ground and slid it back into its sheath.

Putting my ear up against the door, I listened intently. I heard the faint moans of The Risen, but not too close. As quietly as I could, I removed the wooden latch from the door. The infected were attracted to noise. I poked my head out the door and saw nothing, though the rancid, sour smell alerted me of Risen close by. I turned and snatched up the arm and my backpack. Stepping outside, I closed the door slowly behind me. A thin layer of dew covered the ground. The fresh, crisp air sent shivers up my spine. I was wearing the same thing I had since the day the world had gone into full-on panic mode. My black capris, V-neck and hoodie didn't offer a whole lot of protection from the cold. Unfortunately, the fact that it was now October meant it was just going to get colder. 

Leaves crunched under my feet as I trekked cautiously through the woods. The large branches of the many trees created a canopy above my head, blocking out most of the sunlight. That was good though, it meant I was harder to see. Stopping to look down at the dirt, I kicked away the leaves with my boot. I knelt down and started clawing at the dirt. I could feel the earth collecting up behind my nails. When I was satisfied with the hole I had made, I placed the arm inside of it and pushed the dirt back on top. The Risen might still smell it, but it was a far enough distance from the cabin. 

I scoped my surroundings. Trees, trees for miles. I turned to the one on my right and began climbing. The thick branches offered plenty of support, and the leaves were good cover. I settled onto a branch about three quarters of the way up. I leaned on the trunk behind me for support as I slid off my backpack. I unzipped it, peering inside it at my supplies. The first thing that caught my eye was the small pink watch, and I was suddenly transported to a memory. 

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I had been boarding the subway when the station was surrounded and over taken by the Risen. I had just gone hiking for a few days with some cousins and was heading home. Everything was fine at first, but when I heard that first scream I knew what was happening. They flooded in through every door, moving at a rapid pace towards any victim that was close. I sprinted through the doors of the subway and searched frantically for an exit.

 A bright red exit sign above a large door got my attention, so I sprinted towards it. Everything else around me turned into a blur as I got closer and closer to my escape. Suddenly, I crashed into something, which sent me skidding across the concrete. When I raised myself off the ground and my vision cleared, I realized that it had been a woman. She was still on the ground, and what was with her terrified me. A child. A girl, maybe five or six. She tugged and tugged at her mother's sleeve, crying out for her to get up. The woman was dazed and moving slowly, but the commotion attracted the attention of an infect. 

It ambled towards them; rotting skin hanging loosely from its face and arms. There were two holes where its eyes should have been. With one quick swipe, it grabbed the child by her coat and held her up in front of its face. She screamed and lashed out at the infect, but he just began to shake her wildly. It opened its broken jaw and let out a cry that was equally deafening and terrifying. Then, I watched in horror as it brought the child's face to its gaping mouth and took a massive bite. The screams of the little girl were shrill and high and the infect pulled away. There was a huge bloody gap in her left cheek where her teeth were now visible. Bored of his victim, the infect threw the girl to the ground with such force that the sound of her skull shattering echoed around the station, and sent the girls teeth rolling across the floor. 

The mother, who was still on the ground, screamed and lashed out at the infect. The Risen just brought down his foot onto the woman's throat. Blood spurted from the woman's mouth, her eyes nearly popping out of her head as the infect applied more pressure. There was a noise, a loud POP! Then the woman was still. Satisfied, the infect ran off towards the swarm of panicking people. I didn't understand why the infect hadn't eaten her. That was the scary part; he had killed her for fun. I crawled towards the little girl; her head now looking more like a smashed meat pie. I was shaking so hard. I brought my hand up to my mouth to stop myself from screaming.

 Tears flooded my eyes, blurring my vision. Something by her wrist caught my eye. It was a pink watch. It had probably fallen off when she had been thrown to the ground. For a reason that is unknown to me, I snatched the watch. With shaking legs I forced myself up. Turning towards the exit, I ran, and I didn't stop until the screams were far behind me.

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I picked up the watch from my bag. It was much too small to fit my wrist. I didn't know why I had taken it, but I felt that I had to keep it safe. To keep the little girls memory alive. Putting the watch aside, I did a mental inventory of my supplies. I had to ditch some of my hiking gear about a week earlier. It was too heavy and too much of a hassle to drag around. I had my flashlight with extra batteries and my water bottle, which was half full. I had a few energy bars left along with some packages of dried fruit. At the bottom of my backpack I had two blankets.

 In the other pocket of my bag I had a small first aid kit, which consisted of a few band-aids, disinfectant, gauze, Advil and water purification tablets. In the last pocket of my backpack there was a compass, a few matches,  a pair of socks and my spare pocketknife. The rest of my weapons were either on my belt or strapped to my thigh.

I had quite the collection of knives. I had two automatic switchblades,  a fixed blade dagger, a Columbia river M-16 and five carbon steel handle throwing knives. I guess you could say I was pretty well off, but my food supply was low and new clothes would be nice. Zipping up my bag, I looked off into the direction of the cabin. I admired the safety of it, but I wouldn't be going back tonight. I strapped my backpack on and climbed down the branches, jumping down the last few feet. It was time for a trip into town.