Come and Go

Chapter 1 (duh)

     I crouched down and stared at the boot print imprinted in the wet leaves and soaked mulch. It wasn't an Infected, I could tell by how deep the print was. But it was hurt, that much I could tell.
    A faint trail of blood followed the line of 3 pairs of footsteps and I glanced up and saw a faint orange light. That idiot. Who in their right mind would even think of putting a fire up? I jumped up and quietly made a beeline to the bushes sheltering some of that light. Gruff voices drifted towards my hiding place and I peeked over the thorns. Three men, one big and strong, combat boots, military-like outfit, and whiskers fighting to get free of the grime on his face,  walked around the fire with a giant crowbar in his hand. Another was sitting down, eating rabbit stew, which fogged up his glasses. He was scrawnier then the big one, but he looked like he could use the metal bat sitting by his side.
     The last man didn't seem like a threat. Well, at least, not from here since he was tied around the ankles and his hands were bound to one of the many thick tree trunks surrounding the area. Dried, crusted blood stuck to the side of his face and matted his black hair. His eyes were slightly closed and a dirty brown rag was shoved in his mouth. His eyes fluttered open and I caught his gaze.
    Instead of being one of those idiots that usually groan and try to say,"help," past the rag, he just stared at me with barely a shimmer of hope in his eyes.
    "What're you staring at, cowboy?" The big man asked, staring at the boy. He dropped his gaze and stared at his blood-soaked pants. The big guy kicked his knee and the boy doubled over in pain.
    "Ha. That's what I expect." The man turned around and started walking my way. When he got close enough, his face inches from the top of my head, I unsheathed my knife and stabbed him under his jaw. He didn't have a second to register what happened before all life faded from his eyes and I flipped him over the bush.
      The guy with glasses hopped up and looked around, alert flashing through his face. He picked up his bat and I yanked my knife back out of the big guys skull.
    "Malik?" He asked quietly. When there was no response, he glared in my direction and whistled. Once. Then three times. Then a slow, faded out one. I shifted my crossbow from my shoulder and grabbed an arrow from the quiver strapped against my back. Once I clicked it in place, with some struggle, I aimed it at his head. He whistled again, a bit more frantic than the last, and quickened his pace around the woods.
     "Malik!" He whisper-shouted. The tied-up guy behind him gave a small grin in my direction and the guy with glasses stared at him. He pointed his bat in the prisoners direction.
    "You. It's your group, isn't it?" he muttered, his eyes red from the reflecting embers of the fire and his glasses reflecting the light. The guy stared steadily past him, at me and I aimed at the back of Glasses' raven-black hair. When he started vastly proceeding towards the tied-up guy, holding his bat up as if he was going to hit the him. Before he could even think of swinging it down, I pulled the lever that made the arrow whiz through the air. It hit its target, the middle of the guys head, and he instantly fell face first towards the tree where the guy was at.
    As quickly as I could, I jumped over the bush and stomped on the fire so that its flames died down. Everything turned into black, but since I was used to it, I could still see faint shapes and outlines.
    The guy didn't utter a word when I ripped the rag out of his mouth and cut the bonds around his feet and hands.
     When I started walking towards the bushes, I glanced behind me to see if he was following. He was sitting still and staring at me.
    "Aren't you coming?" I asked. He sighed and glanced pointedly at his leg. I quickened my pace towards him and lifted him up as I started hearing groans.
    "Aren't you going to talk?" I whispered as we hurriedly rushed out of the clearing. He didn't respond, just stared at the wet mulch squishing between our feet.
    I glanced at his bare ones and scrunched my eyebrows.
    "Where's your shoes?" He didn't respond. Mud splattered mine and the cold water soaked through my boots.
    "Fine. Be that way." I muttered.
A couple hours later, when it was absolutely pitch black, I gritted my teeth.
    "We have to get some rest." Although I didn't want to admit it, I was tired. And my left side was sore from holding up his body weight. Also, I was freezing, especially on my feet, where my socks were soaked. Even though the guy didn't say anything either, I could easily tell he was cold and that his leg hurt him a lot more since more then 50% of it was leaning on me.
    "Can you climb up that tree?" I asked, pointing to a short oak with branches high enough to keep us safe from the Infected. He gave me a stiff nod and we limped our way there. A figure sat against it, and I heard rattling, rasping breaths. Without telling if it was alive or dead, I stabbed it in the head with a knife.
    The guy stared at me blankly and I looked at him.
    "Can I help you?" I asked, sheathing my knife back in its case. He shook his head, as if he was disappointed, and I rolled my eyes and laced my fingers together and bent down on one knee.
    After a couple of moments of him staring at me, I shifted on my now-wet knee, which squished against the muddy ground.
    "Up. This is to BOOST you," I said as if he was a two year old. His face was blank, not showing any emotion as he stepped on my hands with his dirty bare feet. When he pulled himself up shakily, my hands were covered in blood. I lifted myself on the same, thick branch and patted my belt. When I found what I was looking for, a fabric wrap, I scooted closer to the guy.
    He tried to scoot back, but was already pressed as much as possible against the bark.
    "I'm going to wrap your feet," I said carefully. Geez. This guy. I pulled on the wrap a bit and started wrapping his bloody feet. To keep up small talk, I started asking him questions.
    "So... What's your name?" I asked, staring at my work, every once in a while glancing at him. I couldn't really tell what he looked like, but I DID know that he was kind of cute. He didn't respond.
    "Favorite color?"
"How about favorite animal?" No answer.
     "Food."
"Store."
      "Flower."
"Killing technique?" After a couple of minutes, I gave up. I was just getting used to his silence and staring when my eyelids started drooping.
    "Don't kill me, okay?" I said as I hopped onto the branch above him. He stared at me and I fell asleep, kind of worried, but kind of soothed by his presence. He wouldn't kill me... Right?

Hope you like it! The second one is coming soon! Please comment and star!