Bitten

What the hell happened while I was gone?

The whole hospital experience left me kinda shocked. It felt like it was just a dream, but the red bite mark on Vanessa gave me some insight. That wasn't a dream. Vanessa really did turn and take off a part of my left arm, or right one. I can't even remember now because I lost parts of both of my arms in the same day.

As I trudged towards the outskirts of the city, I saw a weird symbol on the ground.

It was a hand symbol, but the middle, ring, and pointer finger were missing. The thumb was mutilated, and the pinkie was left unscathed. There was blood surrounding the entire thing, and it caused me to get nervous.

I shook my head and I continued on my merry way, until I saw a huge group of people. I gulped, wondering whether they were infected or not.

I set Vanessa down, positioned her comfortably, then started to scout out the people.

Their clothes were revatively clean, they all wore some weird type of mask.

Sooo, definitely human, 'cause only the weirdest of the weirdest would wear those masks.

I shook the thought away and focused on how I was going to steal their supplies. I was so focused, I barely noticed a twig snapping behind me.

I whirled around and saw an infected about to bite Vanessa.

I yelled in anger and tackled it to the ground.

The thing managed to latch its mouth onto my forearm and ripped off a part of my flesh.

I yelled in pain, then growled and grabbed a rock. I swung it up and hit the thing in its head.

It's head swung back, ripping away more flesh as it fell down. I jumped on top it and started to beat its head out.

After a few minutes, I fell down in exhaustion, the infected dead.

I looked back and saw the people at the bottom of the hill start to walk up, investigating the noise. I panicked and tried to get up.

As I struggled to get up, Vanessa was waking up. She groaned and said, " Jack?..who are those people coming towards us? "

I said, " Vanessa, get by my side! "

She got up and hurried over, kneeling by my side.

As I settled on my knees, the people approached us.

One of them stepped forward and said, " Have you been bitten, good sir? "

I said, " Nooo, I'm perfectly fine!! Not missing parts of both of my arms at all!!! "

Vanessa said, " Jack, no need to be sarcastic. "

I rolled my eyes, then yelped as the one who stepped forward grabbed my arm. They inspected it slowly, and gasped. They put my arm down gently, and said, " Brothers, sisters, we have found one! "

The people near him started to cheer, and I balked at them. Never, in my entire life, had I ever seen people so odd.

Vanessa started to back up a bit, whispering, " Jack, I'm scared of these people. "

I whispered back, " Just stay by my side Vanessa, I'll keep you safe. "

As I turned my attention back to the group of people, they had come closer and were about to grab me. I said, " Hold up! Why did you say you ' found one '? "

The closest one took off their mask and I gasped.

The man was missing part of his face, but still had his jaw. He smiled wickedly and said, " Why, you ask? Because when the lord threw us this apacolypse, he gave us salvation. He said that if we ate the immune, we would gain the power he gave to Jesus and his descendants. He is testing us now with you, and we won't disappoint him! "

I stared in horror, then looked down at the camp again. I saw what looked like normal tents, but now I had second thoughts. I shivered as they grabbed me, making me feel powerless. Maybe it was because I had lost a lot of blood and was weak. Or maybe it was because of the fact that I was about to be eaten by humans. Not the infected, but living, breathing, humans. That's ironic, 'cause I thought it was the infected that were my only enemy.

I suddenly remembered Vanessa, and looked behind me. The others were debating over her scared form.

Vanessa looked at me not fighting, and I saw her eyes harden. She gave me a look that said it all. She hated me, she despised me, and she wanted to get as far away from me as possible. She looked down, accepting her fate.

I growled and started to fight them, trying to speak, but not strong enough to say anything. I felt a needle being stuck into my neck, and the next thing I knew, everything went dark.

When I awoke, I felt numb. I groaned and sat up, observing my surroundings. I was in a huge cage, and there seemed to be no way out. Then I noticed another person sitting next to me.

I said, " Who are you? Why am I in a cage? "

The person said, " Do you even have to ask? I'm 99% sure that those nut jobs said something upon the lines of, ' We have found one! May the lord be praised once again! ' Now, tell me that I'm wrong. "

I stared at the person, and they simply said, " See? I'm not wrong very often. "

I shook my head and said, " Nice sarcasm. Now, how the hell do we get out of here? "

The person laughed, and said, " You think we can leave? Oh, that's sweet, you think we actually have a choice. Listen here bud, you're immune, so am I. They won't be letting us go anytime soon. If you had paid attention when you woke up, you'd see that the exit is above us, but we can't reach it. So, to answer your question, yes, we can leave. But at the same time, no, we can't leave. "

I scoffed and said, " A simple, ' no, ' would have been enough.

The person said, " No isn't in my vocabulary, sorry. "

I chuckled and said, " Actually, it is, because you just said it. "

The person said, " Smartass much? "

I said, " I got a reputation for being a smartass where I come from. Well, now no one but me knows. Except you, of course. "

The person said, " Hm, a full city, and yet you survived it all? "

I nod, saying, " Yeah, but not at the extent of my car, my city, the people in it, and my arms. "

The person said, " Yeah, I could see that. You've been bitten dozens of times, yet you're still here. It shows that you can still go on, even when your body can't. That, my man, is some strong will power. "

I snorted, and said, " My man? Who the hell says that anymore? "

The person said, " Me, dumbass, you'd think you'd know this by now. "

I chuckled and say, " Shut up man. What's your name? "

The person says, " Leo, don't wear it out. "

I rolled my eyes and say, " Jack, nice to meet you. "

Leo said, " Likewise, and also, that girl you had with you, they think she is immune as well. "

I paled, and said, " No, she isn't, she turned. "

Leo said, " No way, is there actually a cure? "

I nod slowly, saying, " It was my blood that cured her. Although now that I think about it, it can be anyone's blood, as long as they are immune. "

Leo said, " And to think, these crack heads think they can become immune by eating us. Wait, if you consume the blood of an immune, does that also mean you yourself become immune? "

I ponder that for a few moments, then say, " No, it has to be directly put into your blood veins. If you consume the blood, it'll take the nutrients, like iron, out of it. Not the white blood cells, etc. You need a direct injection for the reaction to happen. "

Leo nods thoughtfully, then says, " If they find out she is isn't immune, they'll throw her out to the infected they keep in a pen a few meters outside the camp. "

I froze, and said, " Leo, you're helping me save Vanessa. "

Leo nods, then whips around as a shrill scream in heard in the distance.

I grabbed the bars of the cell and yelled out, " Vanessa!! "