Akeldama | lrh

eight - down to the second

"I had it all figured out. Life sucks, anyway. Then I met you, and it got weird."

-Keith (2008)

***

The thump of the mans body hitting the ground below us rocks through everybody like a gunshot, and then silence. Luke lowers the gun, shaking his head, and turns his back on Ivy. The poor girl just stands there, staring at the spot the man was just in with blank eyes.

The only sound being made by any of us is Georgia's little boy, who is still gripping onto his mamas leg for dear life and sobbing his eyes out. The women looks utterly exhausted, her dress filthy and ripped, but her eyes are still bright with life. She's strong, that's for damn sure. Very strong.

The lump in my throat threatens to take over, but I swallow it down. My whole body feels numb at this point.

Strangely, there's no noise from down below. Just silence. With little hesitation, I glance that way.

None of the mutants have moved towards the construction workers crippled body. All of them just stand huddled together, staring straight up at us. They're like statues. Extremely creepy, foaming-at-the-mouth statues. Then, to my complete and total shock, the man's corpse picks itself up off of the ground and walks to join the others. His neck is completely snapped, his head resting on his shoulder, but that doesn't stop it from leaning back to fix its red eyes on us.

"Guys." I whisper, my voice cracking. "I think you need to see this."

Ivy seems to snap herself out of a daze, before she walks over to stand beside me. Her eyes widen, lips parting in shock. The wetness in her eyes threatens to tip over.

"Luke." She says, her voice emotionless and strained. "Come here."

He does, and he looks almost unsurprised at the sight in front of him. He furrows his eyebrows, twirling the final knife in his spare hand almost absentmindedly. "That's... interesting."

"And it makes sense." Michael says, and I almost flinch at the sound of his voice right behind me. "They aren't trying to eat each other or us. They would've devoured the mans corpse the second it hit the ground." He shakes his head. "They're trying to turn us. Get us infected. Make more of themselves."

"And why would they do that?" Ivy says, and the wetness in her eyes is gone. She's gone cold now, a stern expression locking away any visible emotion behind an icy door.  "The dogs were all for eating us. Why not the people?"

Michael sighs. "Dogs are predators in the wild. Its their natural instinct. Humans, on the other hand-" He trails off. "I don't know."

"Regardless, they still have to die." Luke says, his voice devoid of empathy. "I'm going to see if I can building hop to the street we started on and find my sheath. You guys stay here and try to drop enough lighter fluid on the bastards to set em on fire."

"Wait." Ivy says, stepping up to him. When he doesn't respond and starts to turn around, she grabs his wrist and forces him to face her. "Are you honestly being serious right now?"

Luke raises an eyebrow. "About what?"

"You just want to slaughter all of these innocent people? That construction worker? What ever happened to saving lives?" She sounds genuinely angry, and it's absolutely terrifying. If I were Luke, I'd be scared of her.