Decaying Life

Chapter 1: Eric

In a country area far from city limits, lays an empty street scorching under the punishing sun. Waves of grass calmly shifted from side to side as a quick wind rushed past. The sound of tired footsteps disturbed nature's silence.

A man, with dark brown predator like eyes, walked in long strides in the middle of the road. He carried a black duffel bag that hung by his side. His grey shirt is soaked in sweat and stained from past struggles. A large machete gripped the belt of his jeans.

His name is Eric, a survivor from where the infection had taken over completely. Eric had barely made it out from his own house as the creatures invaded. He was left empty handed, fearful that he might not make it the next day. But with unexpected luck Eric found the supplies that he carries right now.

Eric heard a loud rustling sound coming from the corn field on his left side. He jumped as a dark large figure emerged from inside facing Eric's direction. It moaned almost as if it was sensing his presence. And in an instant the creature emerged from its corn field camouflage to reveal a crude sunburnt face of decay. The Infected face is filled with valleys of rotten fat rolls that accumulated under the chin.

Eric stumbled back in an effort to create some distance between him and the creature. A farmer? He guessed at the sight of its dusty denim overalls. Those fogged white eyes stared directly at Eric as if contemplating his next move. In desperation, Eric spun around and leaped over the barbed wire fence behind him.

He could hear the panting of creature as it leapt over the fence as well. Eric stumbled as his duffle bag blocked his brisk legs. Feeling hopeless, he dropped the bag which allowed him to increase his speed at a dramatic pace. He heard a howl and a loud thud. The infected must have tripped on the bag, this is his chance to get far ahead.

As Eric raced forward he noticed that the corn field became more spaced out allowing him to see what is on the other side. A large brown barn stood over the field just a couple hundred feet from where he was. If Eric hurried he could make it inside and lock himself away from this mad man. In his head he prayed that a single trip would not be the end of him.

Feeling a fierce lack of breath, Eric reached the two large doors of the barn. With desperation he pushed against the wooden barriers hoping they created an opening to slip inside. Though every impact proved to be a failure as the doors showed no sign of being moved.

And then Eric stopped, he could feel the hair behind his neck pricked upwards in the hair. The sound of crunching corn stalks could be heard behind him. And the sickening breathing of the infected man grew louder behind him.

Eric punched, kicked and shook the doors by their handles. He beckoned them to open almost as if they were living objects. He gave one last blow to the rusty handle with his foot. A small click occurred and the door opened just a bit. Without wasting anymore seconds Eric slipped inside of the barn and leaned back on the door to close it shut. But a loud thud kept it from closing and a pale yellow hand gripped his neck through the opening. Eric gasped for air as he attempted to keep the door closed while catching his depleting breath. There is a burning sensation inside his throat as his wind pipes began to be strained by the creature's force. Slowly his vision began blurring as the hand of death took away his remaining breath. Eric closed his eyes and allowed his body to relax for a peaceful end. But then all of the sudden the air from his lungs returned. He took a large gasp for breath and notices the infected arm laying twitching on the floor. Then he looked up to see a woman with black holding an axe covered in dark red blood. "Get the hell out of the way!" the woman screamed and raised the axe above her head. Eric threw himself away towards the left and landed flat on the dusty floor. The infected farmer had already slipped inside and if Eric hadn't moved he would be gone. Dripping with dark red blood, the creature's remaining severed stump reached towards the woman. It growled revealing its dried yellow decaying teeth.

The woman swung downward and wedged the axe in the middle of the creature's head. With its mouth gaped wide open the creature fell forward and landed on the axe. Its head tore open as the blade of the axe dug in an abrupt direction from the weight and fell out. But luckily the creature showed no signs of movement.

"T-Thank you..." Eric muttered as he got to up shake her hand. The woman pulled out a gun and pointed it at his head.

"Don't move, I am not taking any chances with the likes of you. Especially since we already have to deal with the living dead." She walked slowly towards Eric and ordered him on his knees. Eric obliged and crouched down in a position to show he didn't mean any harm.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to break in or anything. It's just that thing was chasing me and I ha-" Eric paused as he caught sight of a small mobile trailer home behind the woman. Then without expecting it another person bursted out of the door from the home, a blonde girl and her dog.

"Lucy get back inside!" the woman turned and shouted back at the blonde one. Eric took it to his advantage and tackled her from behind knocking her to floor. He held down the arm in which she held the gun and gripped her other arm while pinning the rest of her body with his legs.

"Max!" the woman called. Eric had forgot about the dog for a moment. He looked ahead to see the dog charging with sharp teeth displayed. It leapt in the air and crashed against Eric pushing him on his back. The dog dug his teeth into his arm and scratched his chest with its claws.

"Fuck! Stop! Tell him to stop!" Eric begged as the dog twisted his arm with its jaws. Then he saw the black haired woman standing above him with gun in hand. And instead of shooting, she struck Eric's head with the butt of the gun knocking him out completely. Everything went black and the pain he felt faded away.

Update every Friday or Saturday!