Theory XXI

Chapter 6 - Trapped

There was no way I could get out of this alive. I was going to turn into one of those things for the rest of my life. I fired some shots and knocked down a few but it was no help. I didn't even have enough bullets for all of them. One approaches me and just stops moving. Its eyes start changing colors and I start to feel weaker. It felt like it was possessing me. I lost all control of my body. My hand reaches down into my pocket and pulls out the handgun, while I remain helpless. The infected was controlling my hand and I couldn't do anything to stop it. It uses my own arm to point the handgun at my throat. It was possessing my body so it could use my handgun to shoot myself. All I did was just close my eyes. I was dead from the start anyways. A gunshot fired.

I open my eyes. I didn't feel any pain. The figure fell to the floor in front of me. More gunshots fire as more infected fall to the ground. I had an escape route now. Whoever was firing the shots created a pathway for me to escape. I started running. There were hundreds of figures following behind. They were fast, but I was faster. I ran down many blocks. I heard a voice say, "Hey! Over here! I'm in front of the hotel!" I turn around and see a man waving his arm with a rifle in his hand. I walk over to him and put away the pistol that the infected tried to use on me. "Luckily you noticed that I made a little pathway for you. Those infected get pretty rough sometimes," he says.

"What was that one infected that controlled my whole body to make me shoot myself?" I ask.

"There are many names for it depending on what part of town you're from. But me, well I call them Parasites. It makes sense, don't it?"

"Yeah I guess. What's your name?"

"I'm Tyler Willow. What about you?"

"I'm... uhhhh... Hold on let me check my ID."

I pull out my wallet and read my name off of the ID.

"I'm Maximilian Roamer. I was knocked out and woke up with amnesia. I don't remember anything about my past."

"Yeah, you and 'bout a quarter of the population. I got a nice little base up in one of the hotel rooms up here if you wanted a place to stay for a while. It has two bathrooms, two nice queen size beds, and a balcony for the shootin'. That's where I made that little pathway for you and saved your life."

"Thanks for that by the way. Can we go inside?"

"Sure thing."

Tyler walks over to the door and gives it a pull, but the door won't budge. "Dammit, locked out again," he says. If I still had the crowbar from before, we could get in easily. Instead, I tried to use the knife but nothing happened. Tyler stepped back, almost 10 meters away from the door. He started sprinting in its direction. As he hits the door with his shoulder, thousands of shards of glass fall to the ground. "Well, were in now," he says. I let out a small chuckle as I walked inside. It had a clean scent to it, so it's unlikely that this place is run-down already. We walk down the hallway to an elevator. He presses the button and it opened. "I'm surprised it still works," I said. He pressed the button that said "8" and we started ascending. The elevator was really rickety and it felt like it could snap at any moment. I was afraid of elevators. My memory is slowly coming back. I can remember when I was in my local mall when I was a kid, and the elevator cord snapped. Everyone in the elevator survived with serious injuries, and the fire department had to come pull us out. That's all I remember of that moment. 

"You coming?" Tyler asked. I nodded and stepped out of the elevator relieved. He took out his key-card and unlocked the door that said 172. As we stepped inside, I felt some sort of comfort, like I was safe and the apocalypse had never happened. I saw a mini fridge full of food and drinks. This place was awesome. It couldn't get any better. "Is there running water?" I asked Tyler. "It runs, but whatever comes out, I wouldn't call it 'water.' It's highly contaminated," he replied. "Well if we perhaps found a filter and attached it to the end of the sink, wouldn't that work?" I ask. "Probably,” he said. That had to be our next task. We needed water to clean wounds, or to just shower in general. Maybe running water could wash away the plague that may or may not be in the tear in my skin from the Grappler. I don't know how long it takes to turn into one of them, but it could be soon. Tyler throws me a backpack, and winks at me. Everything I was carrying was put into that backpack. Travelling was going to be easier now. I winked back.