Eyes of the infected ✔ [COMPLETED]

Chapter nine

CHAPTER NINE


Bang.
Oh god, not now.
‘No’ Keith muttered exasperatedly, slamming on the accelerator.
‘You said we had at least 5 more minutes about, oh, 2 minutes ago?’ Percy panicked, looking to me for help. I was in my own frenzy of panic though, the car had juddered to a stop in the worst of places. We’d just left behind the town which was now practically dead of life and well, dead, but now we were on the border of a new town and more and more infected had been showing up in the last few minutes. Keith had just swerved only seconds ago to avoid what looked like a family staggering towards us, their faces decayed into almost nothing.
It broke my heart and almost made me throw up at the same time, I only mananged to avoid the latter by stuffing my face into my lap.


‘I haven’t even finished school yet’ Percy cried to no-one in particular, beginning to mutter to himself about something or other.
‘Me either’ I cut through him quickly, trying to reassure him, ‘There’ll be plenty of time for that’. At my words he seemed to mellow a little.
‘Sorry. I just.. I just don’t believe it’.
‘Neither can we’ Lucas turned around, interrupting his muttered conversation with Keith, ‘We just have to struggle on like everybody else. It’s not supposed to be this easy’.
‘I wasted so much time’ Percy carried on, looking as though he was ready to cry, ‘With my head in books, revising and revising. Every day was just about passing exams and pleasing my parents. I don’t even know where they are now, I don’t even know!’
And as if by magic, I could relate.
Shimmying over slightly, I reached a hand out and clasped his own in mine in an act of impulsiveness which I would not normally follow. For a second he seemed taken aback, before awkwardly squeezing my own hand back.
‘We’ll figure it all out. We will’.


Joel Sawyer
Mummy doesn’t want me to open my eyes. I want to but she says no, Daddy says no too. I don’t know why, I’m usually allowed to open my eyes when we drive except for when we go in tunnels, I don’t like the dark, it’s scary.
Everything is scary now, mummy says I’ll wake up soon but Im still asleep. I think I’m awake though, I think they’re lying. Mummy keeps crying and daddy keeps holding her hand. They keep talking about Lucas and Harley; Daddy keeps telling her they’re fine but Mummy keeps worrying. I know they’re fine because Lucas told me that he is like a superhero, he can live forever no matter what. I remember one time I fell over and my knee kept bleeding but Lucas gave me a Spiderman plaster and it didn’t hurt anymore. Harley was there too, Harley is funny. I miss them but Daddy says we’ll see them soon, I don’t know where we’re going. A lady wearing red told me that it’s where the helicopters take us away but I don’t believe her. Helicopters are really big and I don’t even think Mummy would let me get in one because when Lucas got a car, mummy said I wasn’t allowed in it. Lucas said he’d teach me to drive. Harley said she would too but Harley always spills things on the floor so I don’t think she could drive a big car.
I miss them. I only want a hug but everyone is busy or crying.


Harley Sawyer
The backpack weighed me down as I stepped out of the car, marvelling at how cold the air was at only 8pm. The sky had darkened massively in only the space of an hour and while the sky was almost blacked out, the dim streetlights which by some miracle were still running aided us on our way.
‘Got everything?’ Keith glanced to each of us who all had at least one of the bags we’d carried this far on our backs. When we all nodded, he shot us a small smile and began to walk. He caught my eye after we moved a couple of steps and sent me a reassuring wink to which I smiled with probably obvious fear in my eyes and not a lot of conviction. After glancing towards the boys behind us, he took a step towards me and quietly told me a story about something so irrelevant he once did at work that I couldn't help but laugh - it was crazy, but I felt a little more at ease.

 ‘Are we going somewhere?’ Percy asked, keeping stride.
‘Just looking for anything we can use as a weapon at the moment’ Lucas replied, kicking the ground for anything useful. Although I wouldn’t have admitted it, I was absolutely terrified. Driving along in a car at 30mph with a steel barrier was one thing but walking along a path at night without a weapon with deadly creatures staggering everywhere was another. I was actually so scared that walking was becoming difficult with the erratic pace my heart was beating. The only noise I could hear among all of us were my unsteady breaths, distinct among the silence.
‘Breathe’ Lucas took my hand in his, walking along with me. I could see Keith glancing at me from next to Lucas and I didn’t want to be the liability so I tried to bring some vigour into my voice.
‘I’m okay, let’s just go find Mum and Dad’.
‘And get the first boat out of here’ Percy shuddered, looking behind us.
‘And get the fi-‘ I never got to finish my sentence though, because a loud cracking from the bushes to our right caught my attention. Out of whatever human trait we all had, we halted simultaneously and stared down the shrubbery, eyes wide and breathing heavily. Keith and Lucas took and step slightly forward but Percy only glanced nervously to me and took a step back.
‘Come out’ I heard the fear in Keith’s voice, for just this once he couldn’t hide it.
‘Lets go’ I mumbled, trying to tug Lucas backwards but he stayed firm, eyeing up the darkness in front of us.
‘Speak to th- shit!’ Lucas cried as something rustled the bush and then flew upwards into the air, soaring above our heads in what I could only describe as mockery.
‘A bird’ Keith said, bemused, ‘It’s a bird’ he began to laugh as I exhaled, wondering how we would have fared against an infected without any protection.
‘Let’s go’ Lucas began to walk again, stopping dead at the same time I did.
‘Where’s Percy?’
Wait, what?
It was true, he had simply disappeared from beside me and as I scanned the darkness around us, I couldn’t see him. Panic swelled up in my stomach as I called out his name time after time.
‘Shit’ Keith muttered, raking a  hand through his hair, ‘Where is he?’


Our question was suddenly answered as a harsh wailing echoed around us, screaming in only a way a car alarm would. It was the loudest noise I’d heard in days and after my initial shock, I realised just how loud this noise waS in the dead silence.
Everything, everything would hear.
‘Shit!’ Lucas cried, turning towards the noise, ’shit!’
‘Is it Percy?!’
‘it has to be, come on!’ we all started running towards the noise, and after moving no more than ten metres, I could make out Percy frantically trying to open a car door, cursing to himself.
‘What the fuck are you thinking?’ Lucas yelled over the alarm which was still shrieking for miles and miles. He tackled Percy and wrenched him away from the car, yelling at him to stop.
‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was trying to get us a car!’ Percy yelled over the screaming and the alarm which seemed to be amplifying by the second, ‘I’m sorry!’
‘Didn’t you think we’d have thought of that?!’


I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t talk,  could only imagine the infected who would be sprinting towards us now, hundreds and hundreds of them. Our luck was out, it was so out.
‘Oh god, look’ Lucas released Percy and pointed to the road ahead of us, where I could vaguely see a mass of shadow moving towards us up the hill we were on in the very distance. If I really concentrated, I could actually hear the shrieks from the shadows over the car alarm.
‘Oh no’ I breathed, goosebumps raising all over my body, ‘Oh god, no. Lucas!’.
‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry’ Percy began to panic again, turning to each of us, ‘What do we do, what do we do goddammit?’
‘I don’t know!’ Keith replied, eyes fixated on the shadow which seemed to be getting closer much much faster than it should. I could make out individual bodies now. So so many of them, so many. Shrieking and clawing, clawing at us. I didn’t know what to do at all but I knew we couldn’t die, it simply wasn’t an option. And so I frantically scanned around, looking for anything that would give me some kind of inspiration.
And then I saw it.


I took off in a quick sprint towards the side of the road where a mound of concrete lay, broken and discarded. Blanking the shouts from the three boys behind me, I grabbed a piece of concrete in both of my hands, ignoring the fact it was slicing my hand and the wetness of blood began to spread around my palms.
‘Harley, come on, we’re gonna run!’ Lucas tried to grab me and pull me in the opposite direction but instead I moved towards the crowd in which I could almost make out whole individuals, the colour of their torn clothes coming into focus. It wasn’t them I was heading for though, it was the police car I had seen in the centre of the road as I looked around before, making out the distinct shape of one of the only car which seemed to have wheels.


I didn’t even consider it; one second the concrete was in my hand and the next I was launching it through the car window, setting another siren off screeching. Lucas looked at me in complete bafflement while realisation suddenly dawned on Keith’s face.
‘Smart girl’ he muttered, running to my side, ‘We pushing?’
‘Yes!’ I shouted, relieved he understood, amazed he understood. In a second I was behind ther car, keith at my side and Lucas and Percy following us in complete confusion.
‘Push it!’ Keith yelled, shoving all his weight against the car. I joined him and despite their complete lack of understanding, Lucas and Percy threw themselves at the car, pushing with all their might in the same way I was. I could see the infected moving up the fairly steep hill we were at the top of now, could make out the blood smeared over their bodies, clothes, faces.
‘It won’t work’ my mind screamed as we heaved against the car which was near the edge of the hill now, ‘they’re too close’. We carried on shoving as the car moved closer and closer to the edge, to the infected. There were so many hundreds of them, it looked like a whole town of them were ready to come get us.
‘Yes!’
I barely realised what was happening as the strain was suddenly released from my arms and the huge weight which was the car slowly tipped over the edge and began to roll down the hill towards the massive group.
‘Move back’ I ordered, knowing we were in full vision of them at the moment. In my mind, the car would roll and roll, the sheer volume of it countering the screaming from the car behind us. I hoped it would hit some of them, keep rolling and rolling till the infected changed their direction and left us alone. Keith must have seen the hill too because in only seconds, he’d figured it out.
‘Go, go’ I willed the vehicle to keep on moving as I noticed the infected heads snapping towards it, starting to screech and claw at the car, the siren, the noise, ‘Don’t stop’.


Suddenly the car smashed into a group of them; the sound of bones cracking and wailing sent shockwaves through my spine but there was no other option, there just wasn’t.
Them or us.
It worked though, because even though the rolling car was slowing down, the infected had turned 180 degrees and were chasing it down the road, ignoring us and the still wailing car alarm completely.
Safe.


‘Oh my lord’ Percy muttered, wiping his brow, ‘Oh my lord’.
‘You did it’ Lucas breathed, yanking me towards him in a tight embrace, not letting me go, ‘You are a little genius, my baby sister. Genius’.
‘Definitely' Keith squeezed me on the shoulder, sending me a half smile, ‘Quick thinking sunshine, I think we were all ready to run and get eaten’.
Suddenly Percy was next to me too, shivering and looking guilty. ‘I really didn’t mean it, you know’ he apologised again, tears in his eyes. I simply nodded to him with a smile, nobody meant any harm. Even if he hadn’t set the alarm off, they would’ve gotten to us anyway, somehow.
I was just about ready to start walking in another direction again when something awful caught my attention, something which made the hairs on my neck stand to attention.
Oh god, no.
‘Wait, is that..?’ Keith trailed off, his head slowly turning towards where we’d let the car drop.
‘Yes’ I breathed, staring in exactly the same place.
The car was dead silent, in our celebration we hadn’t noticed it silently smash into a tree.
Silently.
Which meant the only noise which could be heard for miles was again, coming from us. The alarm which was still echoing around for god knows how far. And the severity of the situation really hit me when I noticed that the shadow of the infected were once again sprinting up the hill and we were in fact, the most unsafe we had ever been.
‘Agh!’ Percy let out a wail and gripped onto my arm, apologising again and again, ‘Oh god, I’m such a moron, that’s what everyone always tells me, good grades but no common sense I’m so sorry..’


Genius didn’t strike me twice.
I didn’t know what to do, where to go. Their growls were closer than they had been earlier, I could see their twisted expressions and decayed bodies as they moved towards us at alarming speed. They couldn’t be more than 100 metres away and the narrow road had nothing but barriers on either side, the houses were much further up ahead and I was sure they could outrun our limp and tired bodies if we were to race. The car alarm couldn’t be turned off because the car itself was in pristine condition but wedged tightly in between two other cars; so bloody stuck.
‘Wait’ Keith’s eyes suddenly widened as he looked towards the only other car facing the hill, ‘Can you push another?’ he shouted, already picking up another piece of concrete and aiming it.
‘No!’ Lucas cried, reaching for him, ‘We can’t do it again, it’s too loud!’
‘No, no’ Keith waved his arms, ‘That’s not what I mean!’ With a corner of the concrete, he hit a small section at the back of the car roughly, sending liquid spurting out onto the road. I was still frozen and confused but I knew I trusted him in the same way he’d instantly trusted me and so like Lucas and Percy, I dove to the back of this car too and heaved with all my might for the second time.


‘Push!’
This one was heavier than the last.
‘Push!’
They were getting closer, so much closer.
‘Go!’  and suddenly in a déjà vu moment, this car was too rolling down the hill again, reaching the infected much more quickly than before and prolonging their attack. I still didn’t understand though, because in a few seconds they would recover from the blow and continue to run right at us.
‘Lighter’ Keith choked out the words, turning to look at us, ‘Do any of you smoke?’
‘Oh’ Lucas’ face lit up as if he understood before falling as I could practically see his heart dropping to his feet, ‘No, we don’t’.
‘I have one’ suddenly Percy was passing a golden brown lighter to Keith who was rigid in shock.
‘You smo..’ He trailed off, remembering where we were, ‘Thanks’.


I didn’t have to wonder for very long if he was doing what I think he was because with the infected back on their feet and no more than 30 metres away, Keith flicked the light and sent the tiny flame soaring towards the car fuel which was now spread all over the road.
‘Oh wow’ Lucas muttered as the flame caught onto the liquid and suddenly flew high up in the air in all it’s brilliance, catching down the road until the infected pummelled right into our very own pyrotechnics show which now covered so much of the road that I could only hear the pained wails screaming ahead of us, drowning out slowly as the flames heightened. For only a second I was relieved that we had once again saved our own lives, but that soon turned into dull sorrow as I realised we were true murderers, no better than the people on the news who I once loathed for hurting others. I don’t know how many minutes we stood there but it must have been a long time because the flames began to die out and all that was left were a heap of bodies all piled on top of one another, so many that I began to wonder if there were any even left in the town before us.
Bittersweet sorrow.
We were all breathing heavily, letting the night capture us in it’s pure darkness. The streetlights seemed to be dimming out and I was sure if we didn’t begin to walk soon, we’d be shrouded in complete darkness for hours. If that was the case, we’d surely die.
‘We’d be dead if it wasn’t for you both’ Lucas breathed, looking guilty, ‘Jesus, I told Mum I’d look after you but I feel like I’m the one being looked after’.
‘I’d be dead without you’ I whispered, reaching for his hand. At the same time I did that, Keith slowly reached for my own hand, enclosing it in his. He looked me in the eyes with such sincerety that I actually lost my breath for a moment.
‘Thank you. I might just see my family again because of you’ he smiled towards me, his emerald eyes glimmering in the light in such a way that I felt almost as though I was being pulled into them. For the first time I could breathe long enough to really look at this boy, not just look but look at the guy who was a little taller than me, a little broader than me and whose skin was a little more tanned than mine. His deep red lips were pulled into a soft smile and small dimples graced his face which only added to the feeling that I felt like I’d known him a whole lot longer than I had. His hair was a mess at the moment, falling slightly into his eyes, masking long eyelashes which made him look that little bit more feminine.


It was strange, but despite the chaos there was still time to notice that Keith, who had recklessly saved my life more than once was the kind of person you’d stop to look at twice and still be amazed. I’d known him only days but already I owed him so much.
‘No’ I replied, squeezing his hand, ‘thank you’.



                                                                          *****


We were wrong.
The town was crawling with the infected.
We’d spent the last ten minutes sneaking down alleyways; shuddering at the sight of packs of at least ten infected at a time, all staggering aimlessly through the streets, bent over ripping at animals. Percy and I both jumped as we noticed a woman with half her face torn off pulling at the leg of a dog which was screeching to get away. I almost moved to help before stopping myself, realising that if I did that, we’d all die.
So I left the dog. I left the people who were in the same predicament as us, other survivors who I noticed were bolted into shops and running down the roads to avoid certain death. We’d quickly debated trying to grab some of them, get them to join us but they were all moving too fast.
Dying too fast.
I very nearly shouted to a young blonde girl a little younger than me but before my lips could even move, she was plucked from the road by an infected and as her own group tried to help her, we used the distraction as a way to duck through bushes and side roads. Our sick luck couldn’t keep up though, it was a matter of time before we became trapped in one of these alleys and we all knew it.


‘Wait’ Lucas suddenly halted, sending us all careering into him. We were tiptoeing through yet another off road, avoiding bodies and upturned cars alike.
‘What’s up’ Keith looked concerned, ‘Are you alright?’
‘Yeah, yeah fine. Better than fine, actually’ his face broke into a grin as we all stared at him. I was beginning to worry, there was literally nothing to smile about. Nothing.
‘Is he okay?’ Percy’s eyebrows were raised, ‘I have anti-depressants in my bag if you like’.
‘No, no’ Lucas laughed a little, gesturing in front of us, ‘That’s a police station, if you squint you can see the sign. It’ll be packed full of guns, weapons, food, drink. Everything we need’.
‘I see it’ Keith acknowledged, grinning towards Lucas, ‘Nice one’.
‘No problem’.
‘One problem’ I countered as we moved a little closer, ‘About a hundred of them actually’.


Realisation dawned on the boys faces as they followed my gaze, no doubt marvelling at the sheer amount of infected stood gazing at the large Police station, many clawing at the windows to get in, many just wandering aimlessly around. Blood covered almost the entire floor as it dripped from their clothes, their bodies. I was reminded of a horror film I’d once seen and tried to remember how they got around these situations.
I couldn’t. In fact, I couldn’t even looked at the walking bodies any more; growling and spitting, clothes and skin ripped, discoloured.
The eyes of the infected were the worst. Empty. So empty.
Dead.


‘Police car’ Percy whispered, pointing towards a car which seemed untouched by the whole ordeal, ‘You said yourselves earlier that we’re okay for food, your parents packed enough at least for us to get to the evacuation. The lemonade in there is okay too, let’s just get in a car’.
‘I think he’s right’ I agreed quietly, ‘let’s not just get trapped again. If we keep pushing forward, we’re bound to find something to help us somewhere’.
‘And if the door is locked?’
‘Oh’. I was reminded in a flash of earlier, my door being locked, nearly getting myself killed, torn to pieces from the inside out. I could never face that again, never would I have the courage to see those faces looming over my body one more, ready to take me away from the world I was once in love with despite it’s flaws.
‘We run’.
And so we stood in that alleyway for no more than ten minutes, attempting to find the best path for ourselves. We each knew that in this new environment, plans would go awry more often than not and so for the first time in my life, I prayed and actually wondered if somebody was listening.
Let us get to that car. Let the doors be unlocked. Let us find Mum and Dad, let us find Joel.


We ran.
Keith said he’d go ahead, get to the doors for us. The infected were crowded around the building rather than the car park and so only a few infected were sparsely stood around the empty spaces. The road to the car was clear but once they caught sight of us, we’d be swarmed.
Oh god, it was a death trap.
‘Stop!’ I pleaded but Keith had already set off running towards the car and I was being tugged along by Lucas, fighting tears. How could this possibly end well?
‘Think of our baby brother’ Lucas panted as we sprinted, moving almost silently along the roads. Percy was struggling to keep up so I gripped his hand and pulled him to make sure he kept up. The car got closer and closer, Keith was practically there already.
Then they spotted us.
And infected cracked his head to the side, a growl emitting from his lips which alerted everyone else.
‘Go, hurry!’ Keith yelled as they all seemed to screech at once, running towards us. This wasn’t like earlier, we didn’t have minutes to escape, we had seconds.
‘They’re behind me!’ Percy whimpered, boosting his speed. The Police station was too our left so they came from every angle, fast. Keith was at the car, yanking on the door.
‘Please’ I heard Lucas plead as our feet thudded along the ground, ‘Please’.
Miracle.
The door opened and Keith yelled at us to hurry, opening the back door too.


‘Keith!’ I screeched as an infected ran up behind him, the first to reach the car. He whipped round and managed to grapple away from him, shoving the man to the floor. They kept coming after that as we reached the car, they were no more than a step behind us and the stray ones from the car park were coming after all of us. Keith managed to keep kicking the stragglers away but the big group were closing in on us.
‘No!’ I cried as I felt a rough hand grip my shirt, attempting to yank me backwards while Lucas and Percy pulled me forward. The T-shirt let out a sickening rip as only relief flooded my body that it wasn’t skin. I caught my breath and in a millisecond we reached the car where Lucas shoved me roughly in the back seat as he joined me, yanking Percy in too. Keith was still fighting away a young girl but backed straight into the car, slamming the door behind him.
‘Shit!’ Percy yelped as a bruised and bloodied woman with an eye missing pulled on the door so he couldn’t close it, growling and spitting in his face. She attempted to clamber in the car, baring her teeth at us while others joined her.                          
‘Drive, drive!’
‘I’m trying!’ Keith yelled, turning the key in the ignition again and again, ‘It wont-‘
The car suddenly jolted backwards while the infected woman clung on, snapping at Percy who was trying to kick her off.    
‘Get off!’ he yelled a final time as he kicked her roughly in the face, shaking and shivering as he reached to slam the door closed. The cur lurched backwards once again as Keith turned the wheel and we screeched from the parking lot, the car juddering as we ran over person after person. The road soon smoothed out as the running crowd fell into the background, leaving us all gasping for air in the car I realised nearly became our coffin.