11

Changing and Learning

"What the fu--" Claire starts saying, but I cut her off by putting my hand on her mouth and shushing her. 

"Don't say anything," I tell her, "It doesn't see us right now, and I'd like to keep it that way."

I inch closer in my seat up to the windshield to see the creature clearly. It looked like it had foam coming out of it's mouth and like it hadn't eaten in a year; it looked like the creature's bones were about to burst out of it's skin. 

"Is that one of the... things... that you were talking about?" I ask Rick as quietly as possible.

"Yeah," He says, "But I've never seen one so close up..." He trails off, staring at the creature.

My chest is beating so hard that it feels like it'll explode out of my chest. "Bob, we need to go faster..." I start saying, "We gotta drive past it... It's really freaking me out. I have a bad feeling about this."

He floors the gas pedal, driving around the creature. It sees us, though (I mean how could it not?) and jumps toward our car, making Claire scream. 

"GODDAMNIT BOB, DRIVE FASTER!" I yell.

"I AM!" He frantically shouts back.

We drive and drive and drive and drive, just wanting to get away from the horrifying creature. It feels like we're driving forever when we finally see a run down factory in the distance. Bob asks if we should check it out, and instantly I respond sarcastically by saying, "I'm good, thanks. I think I'll pass on dying horribly in a probably-falling-apart, potentially-toxic, horrible-smelling, decrepit factory."

"Jeez, okay, it was just an idea." Bob says.

* * *

It's silent for a while after that, and we're all just kind of staring out the window when Claire points out a barber shop and a newspaper stand. I was dying to know what had been happening around here lately, so Bob parks the car on the side of the road, and we all get out. I walk to the stand and grab a newspaper. Apparently it was published on April 2... So I've been gone for roughly 3 or 4 months? That's odd to think of... The article reads:

"WAR HITS THE U.S: Bio Chemics Core Leading Secret Operations"

Below the main title are three articles. The first one is titled:

"BCC WEAPONS UNLEASHED "

It says:

On March 31st, the science corporation Bio Chemics Core lead an operation that could possibly wipe out the entire human race. Authorities aren't quite sure yet why the professional organization would host an event like this, but they say they will inform the public of more information as soon as they can. However, there could still be survivors left who do not remember much of what happened. Reports say that there was a small group of people who were taken, but we are not quite sure yet why those people specifically were taken and, allegedly, what they were used for.

The next article is titled:

"PANIC STRIKES THE U.S."

It reads:

The United Nations have been working recently on hunting down the terrorist group and shutting them down. People all around the country are rioting; shouting and holding up signs that read: "BRING THEM DOWN!" Times Square in New York has had the largest riots in the United States so far. Overall, people all around the world are panicking, and the death rate for each country has increased, as well.

The last article is titled:

"CANADA TEAMING UP WITH THE U.S.?"

It reads: