Caught in the Riptide {Unedited} {Watty Awards 2013}

Chapter Four

Caught in the Riptide

 Chapter Four:

“Rylie,” I gasped, examining her clothes with a weary heart.

Please not again.

“It- it’s not my blood,” She whispered, only just loud enough for me to hear. “Dad’s.”

“Oh god,” I moaned, wrapping my arms around her as she dropped the bags, hugging me back, her sobs slowly killing some part of me inside -the part of me that still had hope.

I didn’t want to ask what happened because I already had a bit of an idea, an idea enough to give me nightmares for weeks without even having to think about what I had seen today. My guess was that my Dad had been attacked and gone straight to Rylie’s Dad for help, they’d both gone back to my house together and when they were in the study, my Dad had turned and bitten Rylie’s Dad. He’d run out, shutting the door, leaving the hand print and the blood trail, possibly running into the kitchen for first aid or something, knocking everything out of the fridge before he went back to his house and collapsed.

That must have been when we got home and Rylie must have gone in and found him, then knowing that what was going to happen, informed her Dad and had been there when he was killed.

“He died a good man, Rylie. At least he died human,” that was the only comfort I could give her and I knew it wasn’t enough but it was more then could be said about my Dad.

Although to be fair, my Dad was still living –even if he wasn’t human.

She sniffed and pulled away, nodding before leaning down to pick up two of the bags while I picked up the other two. We linked arms and together we walked across the street and put the bags in the back; if we were going to be the last of humanity, at least we had each other.

“Wh-what about your Dad?” She asked, nervously.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, looking up just in time to meet the eyes of my father who was watching me with a hungry look. I shuddered and turned back to Rylie, shrugging.

She followed my gaze but dropped it quickly, climbing into the car as soon as she saw the body of my father, the soul long gone.

“Shame, really, I’m going to miss him,” I said, climbing into the front of the seat.

Honestly, the only thing I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry and scream away the world although that wasn’t really an option right now; if he was here, I’m sure I could handle life but without him, well everything just seemed pointless. Why put off the inevitable? Sooner or later we’d end up like him and why put each other through the horror of the things we had seen and would see.

Even I didn’t trust or love Rylie as much as I’d loved my Dad but I could have lost both today, with the blink of an eye. Instead I lost one and I’d be losing the other sooner or later; unless this virus was controlled, the future of the human race wasn’t going to exist much longer, so why be the last one left?

“Yeah, me too,” Rylie plopped onto her seat, frowning.

Again I ran my hand through my hair, a habit I’d picked up a few years ago whenever I was stressed and put the keys in the ignition, the car rumbling to life. My Dad had been a stay at home writer and although our family or Rylie’s was by no means poor, we only had one car each and Rylie’s Dad’s car was currently, sitting dormant at work because her Dad had caught the train home yesterday, forgetting about it so we were stuck with the piece of crap I called my car. Yay.

“So this goodbye then,” I muttered to myself, not taking a second glance at the figure in my window as we drove away from our houses forever- I decided not to make a comment when I saw movement in Rylie’s window though. As we drove away, I came to the conclusion that there wasn’t something living in only one house now.

Rylie glanced at me for a second before switching on the radio and I sighed, expecting silence –something that we’d have to be getting used to in the future. Only it wasn’t.

So far, no cures have been found and it is strongly advised to stay away from any infected person. Animals are not known to carry the infection, however if they are bitten they will die instantly. No names other then the slang term ‘zombie’ has been given yet and no known safe house has been announced yet. If you are bitten, quarantine yourself immediately as to not cause harm to others and otherwise, it is recommended that you seek shelter as quickly as possible and lock all windows and doors. Do not interact with the infected and as they have been recorded as showing aggression without provocation. So far, the disease is not seen to be airborne however it has progressed to almost all of Australia and parts of Europe, North America and South America; it believed that the virus originated in South West of Queensland. Stay safe and know that you are not alone.

Rylie laughed humourlessly when the radio buzzed out, “Not alone!? They don’t know alone.”

“They’re just trying to help, Ry,” I sighed.

“Whatever,” She scowled out the window and turned back to the car radio, this time putting on some music.

Summer Sadness (by Lana Del Rey) blared through the speakers and I had to step a laugh as I realised that the song was kind of fitting, especially seeing as it was summer.  I edged my foot further onto the accelerator as we went zooming down the eerily quiet neighbourhood streets, winding our way to freedom.

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-Sally