Bitten

Why can't they just leave me alone?

So there I was, jumping out of my window as those bloodthirsty things tried to catch me. As I was falling, I thought, Isn't this the perfect way to end the day?

Suddenly, my thoughts were slammed against a wall as I hit the ground. I groaned in pain, then felt something some what soft underneath me. I opened my eyes, and saw that I landed on a mattress. Just my luck, I thought.

I sat up slowly and held my head, looking around disorientated. It looked like I had jumped to my neighbors yard from my window. I was amazed that I landed on the mattress, let alone survived.

Remembering my house, I turned and saw some of those things fall out the window. They weren't as lucky as me though, and when they fell, I could hear the bones breaking. I shivered, watching them struggle to get up, their eyes trained on me.

I watched them for a few more minutes, then got up and checked myself for wounds.  Other than my arm, I was perfectly fine. I decided to count my lucky stars and accept that I was safe for the moment. Of course, thats when everything had to take a turn for the worse.

I turned around to go into the house, but froze, seeing the huge amount of bodies trying to break down the door and windows. Suddenly, it made sense why I hadn't seen any of the neighbors in my little slice of paradise. They were all here, locked up in this house. But the question was, who did it?

Those thoughts fled my head as those things broke the door and windows. I whipped around and ran to the gate, jumping over it as fast as I could. When I dared a glance back, I saw they were gaining on me.

I gulped and turned my attention back to in front of me, then stopped running and stood there frozen as I saw about 30 guns pointed at me. Someone said, " Get out of the way boy! Those damn infected are gonna get ya! "

My common sense got the better of me and I hit the deck and covered my ears. It didn't help, as I heard 30 guns go off at the same time.

The noise was deafening, I couldn't hear a thing. I blinked my eyes a few dozen times, then sat up and looked around. It was carnage everywhere. The man who had shouted to me was now being devoured, his eyes lifeless, his body shook as his intestines were being ripped away from him. I turned to my left, and saw a woman go down under about three of them. She never stood a chance, even with the people fighting to get them off her.

I turned around, and saw the group of those things had gotten bigger. There had to be at least 100 now, maybe even more. I decided that I had to get up, but found I couldn't. I looked down, and saw a dead child staring at me with lifeless eyes.

I couldn't help it, I bent over and retched. This couldn't be happening, this isn't real. But my ears told me the truth. My hearing was just coming back, and the screams were real. There was no way you could fake those. I turned and saw another child get bitten, but she managed to get away crying. She held her arm as she fell down, looking up scared at the thing chewing her flesh.

I didn't know what came over me, but all I felt was rage. It exploded inside me, and I yelled in frustration. I shot up and raced to her side, then tackled the thing to the side as it went to touch the girl again. I made sure to make it fall, then grabbed a rock and yelled savegely as I beat its head in, putting more and more force into it. Soon, its head was nothing, and I took a moment to look around.

The girl was looking at me with wide eyes, there was a man holding out against about 50 of them with a sword, and a woman had climbed a light pole, sobbing as they surrounded her. I focused on my immediate surrroundings, and saw that the girl was safe.

I sighed in relief and said to the girl, " We need to go somewhere safe, do you know anywhere where we can go? "

The girl shook and shook her head, saying, " I-Is momma gonna die? "
She pointed to the light pole, and the woman looked at me, then shouted desperately, " K-Keep her safe! P-Please!

I gulped, not wanting the child as my responsibility, because that meant looking out for two people, but the better side of me won. I shouted to the woman, " Yes! I will keep her safe! "

The woman sighed in relief, then let herself fall. I stared in shock as the girl cried, " MOMMA! NO!

They were on her in a second, but there wasn't even a scream from her. Just the sound of bones breaking and chewing.

I stood there in shock as the girl cried hysterically, shaking horrible. Some of those things noticed, but left us alone because the new food was closer.

I heard a yelp and turned to the man. It appeared he was down now, because his sword arm was gone and he was laying down, just waiting for them to come.

I couldn't believe humanity had been reduced to this already, and this thing just started. I took a few moments to compose myself, then picked up the girl gently and ran.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is gonna sound crazy, since I know this place like the back of my hand, but I had no idea where we were.

I looked around for any signs, but they were all dark. I sighed and looked at a bus station map. It said there was a hospital in the next mile, so I set the girl down and said, " Hey, do you want to talk about it? "

The girl had been quite for the past hour, but surprisingly, said, " M-Mhmm

I waited as she composed herself, then she said, " W-Why did M-Momma do that?

I was taken aback, I thought she was going to say something different. I composed myself, and said, " There was no way out for her. She knew that to allow you to live, she had to sacrifice herself. It gave us the distraction we needed to get away safely. "

The girl stayed quiet, then nodded slowly, saying, " I-Im proud to be her daughter. "

I said, " You should be, that was very brave of her. I just wish I could've been that brave back at work... "

The girl tilted her, and said, " What happened?

I blushed, then told her. I yelped as she started to laugh. I said " I-It isn't funny!

The girl giggled and said " Yes it is! "

I growled and said " No, it isn't! "

I showed her my arm, and her happy expression died instantly, followed by shock, then by fear." Y-You're bitten?! "

I nodded my head, and said " So are you, and we need medical help. So, even though you're scared, will you follow me? "

The girl nodded almost instantly, gripping her arm tightly. I noticed, then ripped off part of my shirt and wrapped it around her wound, covering it.

She smiled gratefully at me, and said, " Im Vanessa. "

I smiled and said, " Im Jack. Nice to meet you Vanessa. "

I looked around after our exchange, and said, " Alright, the hospital is almost a mile away, do you think you can make it? "

Vanessa nodded, even though she was in pain. I admired her strength, then picked her up and walked quickly to the hospital. It was almost dark when we got there, and I cursed, not realizing my mistake.

I heard a few of them stumbling in the dusk, so I carefully locked me and Vanessa in the building next to the hospital. After checking it, and securing the entrances, I walked back and saw Vanessa curled up asleep.

I smiled at her, then sat down and kept watch, until I slowly fell asleep. As I faded into the darkness, that little voice came back, saying, " Wouldn't it be nice to bite into her? To taste her blood? To kill her?.. "

I shoved the thought away, and banished the voice out of my head, enjoying the silence as I drifted into unconsciousnes.