"it's been almost two weeks since hexicaius left, and i'm beginning to think it was just a dream, that he hadn't visited me and that they really are gone. food is starting to get scarce and i need to take longer trips out to find it. i got a new gun, because now they are faster and my glock was too slow to keep up. i had gotten a mini machine gun, pocket sized you could say, and enough bullets to last me about a year if i use them sparingly. which means i'm going to have to go back to that shop before long. by now, they are about as fast as a car going 100 mph, and can jump the height of a five story building. the cure i have developed by now works longer, but i wish i had someone who was just bitten to see if it works as a cure like i want it to. the corpses have gained hunters' instinct. They hide and wait. i was ambushed earlier and if i hadn't had my gun and hadn't rubbed my 'cure' on before i left, i would've been turned. thankfully, none of them were familiar, but i still shed a few tears as i left them heaped up and burning. that could've been my family, or my friends. at the convenience store i've been raiding, i heard shuffling. as i went to investigate, the noise stopped. i guess they had heard me. i called out "human or turned." from the other side of the aisle, i heard a shaky reply. "human. you?" i hesitated, thinking maybe they were getting smarter. but i shook the feeling off. it already knows i'm here, so i might as well answer. maybe then it would come out and i would be able to see my adversary. "im human. have you been hiding out here long?" it was a minute before they answered, as if deciding whether to believe me or not. "no. i'm just on a raid. Blake sent me out on a scouting mission." my breath had caught in my throat. i knew that name from somewhere. i just couldn't remember where. "is Blake a last name?" he hesitated again, not knowing if he had said too much or not. it didn't seem like he had any inclination of attacking me, so i took a step towards the end of the aisle. there was shuffling on the other side, the sound of him hurrying backwards. then his answer as well as a threat. "stay back, or i will shoot you. i have a gun. and yes, Blake is a last name. he instructed us to call him that and only Kane can call him by his first name." from the tone of his voice, i could tell he didn't really have a gun, and then it hit me. i remembered where i had heard the name before. "Skie?" he went silent. "i'm coming around now. there is nothing you can say to keep me from doing so. i know you were bluffing about the gun." i turned the corner and the barrel of the AK was pressed against my side. "was i?" the air was heavy with the tension between us. he was trying to decide whether he should believe his eyes or not. "so, it's true?" my question was shaky and hung in the dead air, echoing slightly off the empty shelves and tiled ceiling. "yes. we survived." the answer was barely a whisper, and i almost didn't hear him. "but that doesn't mean i'm going to celebrate. i may have just given away our situation to one of them. prove to me you're not one of them. please. amy. we've all been miserable, not just because Blake has been working us to the bone trying to find you before they do, but because we all miss you. you are our friend and we're all worried. so prove your humanity, before i shoot you on the spot." this wasn't like skie. but i guess anyone would've changed in the 87 days since the end. i wonder if ashton will be different. but i don't have time for thoughts like these. "how can i prove it to you?" his stern look disappeared for a second, because the question caught him off guard. "i... i don't know. but i'm sure you'll figure it out." i knew he was starting to believe me, but he still wouldn't accept that after all this time i was still alive, after months. he had lost many, i could tell from the way his eyes glistened when he held the gun to my side. he didn't want to lose anyone else, but couldn't be too careful when deciding who to bring back. he pointed the gun down and shot. the crack of the gun firing echoed back around, and around and around in my head. the bullet entered my bone and stuck, about halfway into my leg. blood gushed out of the wound and i fell to my knees. it all happened in a matter of seconds, but the fall felt like forever. he hadn't even blinked when he had shot me, but the look of horror on his face when he saw the blood almost made me release the scream building in my throat. one thing i learned that i had forgotten to mention was that corpses don't bleed red. their blood is clear, empty of all red blood cells and white blood cells. nothing in them but the clear plasma. he dropped the gun, turned and ran. "wait! Skie! please com back! you can't just leave me here! they'll get me!" he didn't return for several minutes, but when he did, he had a first aide kit and a small stool. he propped my leg up on the stool, and tore my jeans away from my leg. the entry wound was a small circle, but i was gushing blood. he wiped away the majority of the it and wrapped the wound up gently, but tightly. i knew it wasn't meant to last long, but i didn't think to ask where we would be going. he helped me stand and pulled me over so most of my weight would be resting on him. one arm wrapped tightly around me, the other clutching the gun, he had slung his backpack full of rations onto his back. "here, if you came to get rations, fill my bag too. it will last longer." so he left me leaning against the racks in the aisle. he returned a moment later with my bag bulging with food and medical supplies. he took me again, and we headed for the back exit. a van was idling in the alleyway behind the store, but the windows were closed and tinted so i couldn't see who all was in it. the back door of the van slid open, one of the new ones with an automatic opening button inside the vehicle. he picked me up and set me gently in the back seat. a voice could be heard from the front of the van. "is she bitten?" skie answered, sounding kinda excited "no. she's fine. you think Blake will be grateful and give us extra rations? i did get more this time, since i had two backpacks." the voice spoke again. "yeah. maybe. or he might give those extra rations to her. did you think of that?" skie's face fell as he glanced at me. "i guess you're right."
this is amy rose signing off for the first peaceful rest i've had in a long while.
