Quarantine

That arm.

I watched through the scope at the rotter a few yards away. The wind had died down, and it moved slowly towards nothing. The rifle was tucked firmly underneath my chin, and I was ready for the shot. I slowed my breathing down, and let it out, raising the guns as it dipped down.

My finger slightly applied pressure before pulling the trigger the whole way. The next thing I knew I was lying on the ground. Pain seared up my left arm, and I felt a warm liquid dribble down my neck. I pushed myself up, and glanced around at what had caused it.

I found the rifle laying in two pieces next to me. The barrel was split sideways. And the butt had flown off of the gun. I looked down range, and saw that the rotter had fallen to the ground.

I looked back at my arm, and suppressed a grown as I pulled up my sleeve. There was no cut, but a big bruise had formed along my shoulder.

"God... that hurts." I mumbled to myself having not spoken in a while.

I tenderly pulled the sleeve back down, and reached up to my chin. I touched the side of my jaw, and instantly pulled back. I let a small hiss escape my lips as pain lanced through my face. I glanced around, and made my way out into the open. I let the rifle lay there since it was now useless, and continued one.

How did it break?

A small memory slipped to my mind of swinging the case at a rotter.

Oh yeah... the force must have cracked it enough to break once I shot it....

I kept walking, and the pain didn't go away. Wind started to blow lightly, and it edged into the open wound. It's fingers clawing around to cause more pain as I slowly walked away. I swallowed my spit as I continued walking, and grimaced as I moved my check.

I walked up to the rotter and looked around. I flipped it over to find a bite mark placed firmly on his chest, and was disappointed when I found nothing. My left arm throbbed again from the sudden use of the hurt muscle. I stood up, and looked around.

Nothing moved that I could see, and the wind had a cold nip to it that would be the beginning of winter. I closed my eyes and started walking the same direction that thing had been. I hoped that something would be ahead besides more trees. I was currently in a small pasture area, and considered this farm ground.

My load was even lighter than before as I walked on, and I thought that I might have been going even faster than I usually have been.

One foot in front of the other.

The blood dripping down my face flowed towards my neck, and slipped inside of my shirt. I felt it coating my sides with its sticky substance, and I stopped walking. My shirt was torn down below, and I pulled away the vest to find it hanging uselessly to my body.

I stood their, looking down, and saw a gash crossing the side of my chest.

How'd you get there? The butt must have spun off my arm and sliced my chest....

I let the vest fall back down as I continued walking. I glanced back as I saw a figure coming from the woods towards me. It slowly came closer, but I changed my course. I could feel the blood soaking into my shirt, and wondered why I couldn't feel anything from the gash on my chest.

I shock it off, and kept walking towards nothing. The rotter didn't seem to mind the chase, and I didn't seem to care about the pain. Only my shoulder hurt now as my check and chest seemed to have gone numb. I turned around to see that three more had appeared slowly over time. I started walking a little faster, hopefully I would get away.

I entered the next thicket of trees and continued my steady paced walk towards an unknown destination. I slowly skidded down a creek bank, and let out a cry of pain as my left arm was smacked by a tree branch. I crawled slowly up the other side, and continued on.

Where am I going?

I didn't know, but I needed to leave that area. The knife was still in its sheathe, and I was glad I still had a weapon. I blinked my eyes a couple of times as blotches seemed to dance in my vision. I kept walking, and found myself in another clearing. This time there was what seemed to be a farm house up ahead.

I could tell that it was a fairly large building as it sported a fancy deck for the second story that I could see from here. That sight however, was slowly disappearing as my vision faded away. I thought I heard something carry on the wind towards me, but I felt numb all over.

I turned around to see a rotter slowly closing towards me. It was walking towards the house as well, and it must have smelt my blood. I fumbled for the knife as it came closer. I stumbled backwards as the world started to spin. I grasped the knife, and pulled it out. The rotter jerked forward, and found purchase into my shirt. It's fingers grabbing the fabric, and slowly trying to tear it off.

I pushed back, hardly ready for a fight, and only managed to get myself entangled with the thing even worse than before. I dropped the knife to the ground as I tried with all my strength that was left to stop its mouth from biting into me. I stayed awake for that purpose, to stay alive. It pushed back, and my balance failed me. I slipped backwards, and watched as it fell sideways.

I lay on my back as the thing pulled itself upright. I slowly crawled away, having seen my knife jutting out of the ground. I could hear it's footsteps behind me, and as I grabbed my knife I felt a hand grab my leg. I kicked half heartedly at the rotter before hearing an ear ringing bang.

The thing slumped against my leg, and I heard voices coming closer. A man came into view, and looked at me in the eyes.

"He's still alive, and breathing! Quick! Go get Ann, and tell her to go get the medical supplies out! He's not bit." Came a gruff voice from the man.

My knife....

I grasped my knife tightly as the world tilted once more. The man looked at me and slapped my face on the right side. It stung, but kept me awake.

"Listen here. You've got to stay awake no matter how bad you want to sleep you have to stay awake! Okay?" The voice echoed in my head.

The world darted from sight over and over again. Something moved in the background, and I saw a rotter. I leaned forward slowly, grasping his arm as my right hand moved for a pistol sitting snuggle in a holster. He looked down at my hand, and grabbed me.

"Stay awake!" He seemed worried.

He didn't notice my other hand, and as I pulled the pistol away and pointed it at him, his eyes widened. I moved the gun slightly and pulled the trigger. A body fell down from behind him, and he glanced backwards to see a rotter on the ground. He looked back at me, and grabbed the gun from my hand.

"We have to move him! It's to dangerous out here! Inside! Let's take him inside." His voice seemed panicked, but with a slight tinge of relief.

He bent down and scooped my light body up. He cradled me in his arms as he slowly trotted towards the house. I looked down to find my knife in its sheathe.

When did I put it away?

I just shrugged it off as his bodies swaying movement lulled me to sleep. I closed my eyes once more before darkness engulfed me, and I was plunged into a dangerous slumber.

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Oh man! I was so excited to write that piece right there!

What will happen to Ethan now?

Will he succumb to his wounds, or live to fight another day?

What will happen afterwards?

Find out in the next chapters to come!