Quarantine

Light trek

"Why aren't you guys seeing the obvious?" I said out loud.

I started to pull my book bag off when Jackson asked, "What are you doing?"

"Something you should have thought of. My book bag should have enough weight to hold the wire down while we leave. I'm not taking any chances." My simple explanation made them all look stupid.

I just smiled as I pulled the bag over to the wire, and put it on top.

"Rose, step off." I looked at the bag with slight fear.

What if it doesn't work..

I shook the thought from my head as she stepped off, and we all relaxed a bit when the thing didn't go off.

"Let's keep going then." Said Charles who had finally moved to the side.

Jackson nodded as he hugged Rose's shaking figure. He held her side with his arm as we left the tube. We started walking down the hill, and saw that Charles was leading us to the van.

"Hey Charles." I asked.

"What is it Ethan?" He said with an arid tone.

"You taking us to the van for a reason?" I wanted to know what we were doing.

"Yes, remember that pistol you threw? It might still be there." He paused. "We won't have any bullets though, but I'm sure we can find some."

I had completely forgot about that, and nodded my head as we had reached the first underside of a highway. The bridge led across a river about 30 feet wide, and maybe around 15 feet deep. When we were in its shadow we stopped for a break. I had nothing with me now that my bag was gone, but I didn't regret it.

Charles handed me a bottle of water, and we both sat down in the lengthening grass. Rose, and Jackson were at the river walking along side of it. Jackson would occasionally pick up a stone, and throw it to the other side of the bank. It always landed short, but he then started to skip the rocks across the water.

I glanced over to the right where another bridge overhang was at. It was about 50 feet away, and the van sat just a little bit closer to us than it did. I wanted to see if the gun was there, and if we had left anything behind.

"Charles, I'm gonna check the van." I stood up without waiting for a reply.

I walked across the grass, and took swift strides. The Rotters corpses were still there, and the stench was horrifying. I walked to the edge of the field of bodies, and began moving carefully through. I made my way to the van's rear, and found the door open.

Where did I throw it to?

It had roughly been a month and a half since this, and I stood on the van's rear bumper. I glanced at the bodies, and tried to remember. I caught a few glimpses, a bang, flashes, and then chucking it hard. I didn't know where it landed at though.

Somewhere close by..

I jumped down, and was greeted by the overwhelming smell of torn open flesh. I looked down, and saw that my foot had caved in a woman's side. The smell was intoxicating, worse than the recent tomato sauce in Jacksons apartment.

I went to pick up my foot when I hit something that wasn't smashed. It was solid, and I bent down to the body, moving it slightly away with my foot. Underneath of it lay the pistol. I reached down, and picked it up, pulled out the clip, and found two bullets in it.

I thought it was empty...

Another memory came. The gun had jammed from the shots. I tried the slide, and it popped a shell out. I looked back at the group, and saw that no one was looking for me. I slid the clip back in, and slipped it into my pocket.