Mad

Chapter 1: 2030

I hit the cold, hard wood floor. Whipping back my hand, I met the attacker face to face. He stared at me with a dead expression, almost as if he was lifeless. He started to laugh and grin. I crawled back inches and inches every second with my hands on the cold wood. The man walked over to my left hand and stepped on it. I felt a sharp pain throughout my hand almost like a shock, but it lasted longer. My hand was crushed between the floor and his heavy dirty boots that smelled horrible. Ugh, the smell. It slowly slithered its way up to my nose and into my brain; to spear the scent in forever.

I threw my head back to the floor. I took a closer look at my hands. The bone had been exposed. I disregarded my hand to focus on what was my prime issue, the attacker. I observed his body movements. He took the pressure off my hand. I let out a shriek of agony. He strolled over to the other side of the room and looked out the window. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an object sparkle in his hand. It was a silver .357 Desert Eagle. Those guns are powerful. I knew I had to do something, and it needed to be fast.

The smell of his shoes still remained throughout the room. I was very woozy because of it and I had a migraine. I felt as if I was going to vomit. He rushed back over to me and stood above me. I needed to make my move now.

With my left hand broken, I only had three available weapons; my right hand and two legs. I lifted my two legs up and kicked him in the chest. He stumbled backward and with the momentum I used to kick, I bolted up with my legs. I punched him in the face with my right hand and he flew back into a window, and out of the house.

I stood in the same position for a minute or two, until I came to the realization that he was probably still alive. I started to slowly make my way out of the house, but then I needed to vomit. I ran over to the other side of the room and vomited on the floor. The smell of his shoes carried on throughout the house and I needed to get out. I needed to be very careful though. I couldn’t let them find me again. I looked down the hallway of the couple’s home. It was coated in darkness. I turned my head to the left. There was a kitchen.

I walked into the kitchen to look around for a weapon. On a counter in the corner of the kitchen was a set of knives for cooking. They will do but, I wasn’t using them for any sort of cookery. It was for protection.

I made my way down the hall. I really felt eerie about half way to the bathroom, which I was trying to find. I needed to wrap my hand in a bandage or some sort of cast, well at least until I meet up with a friend of mine, Hayden. Words cannot describe how much she means to me. I love her. She was a doctor before the whole world went to shit. After Dr. Jinx created the cure to all diseases, she fled town hoping to escape the whole thing all together. The sad part is, she fled right back into it. She didn’t deserve this; not at all. She is perfect.

I finally got the bathroom. The house was steady. What I didn’t realize was a man charging at me from behind. I twisted around so fast my shoes squeaked on the wooden floor. I held up the knife and stabbed the man in his throat. The knife collided with my face and threw me on the floor. I put my hands up to cover the blow of the butt of the knife when it pushed on my broken hand. I let out a scream and bit my tongue. The knife thrust through the man’s throat more till I could see it out of the back of his neck. I rolled the man off of me until he was lying next to me, dead. The man was being propped up by the knife, until it slid out of his throat and flopped on to the ground.

I crawled over to the deceased body. I started to search his pockets in pursuit of a wallet. Nothing. I started to feel around in his coat pocket. An ID badge. The name read “Maximus Nicholson”. I’d never heard of him in my life. I threw the ID badge on the cold floor. I looked up, the shower. Discovering how dirty I was, I hoped in the shower. I would’ve never taken a shower here if I wasn’t so desperate for hot water. I looked around the bathroom trying to find a clock. 

“Damn it”, I said out loud as I realized what time it was. 

“It’s nine.”

I hurried to the shower and turned the water on. Ah, hot water. Back in the city, the closest you could get to hot was your spit without any wind. Here in the country, all the rich people lived here. This is luxury in 2030, hot water. I remember 2023 like it was yesterday. That’s when everyone was dying for the iPhone 7 with hologram. Now, everyone’s dying for food, hot water, etc. Yeah, the world is a major hellhole. 

After I got out of the shower, I didn’t realize I spent an hour and a half going over my thoughts. I needed to be at the safe house at 23h, or I would risk my life for the second time. The first time wasn’t too enjoyable, but that was six years ago. That’s when Jinx had developed the whole “cure” thing. The cure diseased many people and now, the world is dying with one interaction with the infected. The people who carry the disease were infected with it through a syringe, but anyone who is infected with it through the person is killed.  We all call them Carriers. The mad carriers we call Juggernauts. It seems to fit, unlike my nick name, the transporters. Hayden came up with it and so I accepted it into my vocabulary. We built safe houses around the world to protect against the disease. The carriers need water, or they go insane and become mad. That’s what happened six years ago. I had a run in with juggernaut.

I dashed, then collapsed down to the floor. I grabbed the gun off the ground. I wasn’t sure how many bullets were in the magazine so I checked. It was a full house. Nine bullets lined in a row. I slid the magazine back into the gun and got dressed.

I slipped the gun into the back of my pants. I started to walk out of the door when I smelled the dreadful smell again. I rotated around to find the lifeless man sitting up again. He started walking toward me. I pulled the gun out from the back on my pants and held it up. 

“Take another step and I swear I will blow you head off”, I said.

He didn’t stop shuffling toward me. I looked at the gun and then looked at my target. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I put my finger on the trigger and went to pull. Hesitation. I always hesitated. Today, this changed. I pulled the trigger and I flew backward. 

“Holy Hell”, I shouted as the gun dragged me, as a dog does an owner.

“I wasn’t ready for that”, I thought.

The bullet traveled through his head as his brain burst over the wall behind him and on the floor beneath him. I slipped the gun back into my pants and made my way out of the door. 

The thought of infected coming back to life like zombies is just insane. I don’t think anyone ever thought something like that would happen. I exited the front door and it made a deadly squeak. I paused to listen. I examined the door. Rust.

 I breathed in the fresh air and felt the pain of my hand lessen. I galloped down the stairs to meet the cozy meadow. I gripped my necklace that Hayden made for me 6 years ago when we met. Engraved in the fine wood is my name, “Klaus”. It gave me close comfort. I wasn’t affected by killing people because that is why the government is after me.  I’m convicted of treason. The government wants me dead. This is why I fight off masses of Proxies. Proxy, a term I use for agent. I’m not sure why I use nick names for people. Maybe it’s my own comic relief? The government isn’t who I’m mad at, it’s Dr. Jinx.