infection | D. Dixon

chapter eighteen

otis

We had to run, we had to get out of here. I could hear Otis running behind me, shooting his shotgun behind him at the mass of dead bodies chasing us.

The high school was overrun. Our group had gotten separated. Shane, Otis, and I had been left behind, and were fighting desperately.

There was no where left to run. I ducked into the school, pulling Shane and Otis behind me. As the doors slammed bodies pressed against it. We got ourselves behind the security bars to hold them back for a few minutes but it wouldn't be enough.

I started cutting off arms and heads but there was too many to kill this way. The door was coming loose.

I sat back against the wall, "keep killing!" Otis cried out. He and Shane began breaking into the other door to give us access.

The walkers that I couldn't kill were pulling at our bags and clothes. Shane had an axe on his back.

I grabbed he axe and used it to cut off the arms of the walkers as they stuck their hands towards us.

Shane finished breaking us in and we took off towards the gymnasium.

Otis was still crying, Shane was near his limit, and I had been weighed down with bags of supplies that I refused to drop. We were not going through this for nothing.

"Fire exit," I panted.

Shane peeked outside and shut the door again. "There's a clear path, but it's a narrow one. Once we get out we have to run, no stopping, not for anything," he said, taking one of my bags.

I handed the other to Otis. "Are you good?" I asked him, wiping his tear with my sleeve.

Otis nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm okay. I'm okay," he repeated.

Shane began a countdown from five. On one he swung the door open and ran outside. Otis and I were right behind him.

I pushed Otis in front of me to keep him close. Once we hit the main road, all the departed were behind us. But they were gaining.

Our chests heaved, our muscles throbbed.

If we wanted to make it out of there, we needed a distraction.

"Go ahead! I'll do a run around! Like in Atlanta!" I yelled, stopping and loading my gun.

"Are you insane?" Shane hissed, grabbing me by the arm. "You wanna die?"

I glanced behind us. "We need a distraction, he group needs these supplies," I handed him my bag. "Lori needs these supplies."

Shane sighed. "Otis, give me your gun," he snapped, turning to the crying man.

Once Shane had Otis' gun I nodded. "Okay, I'll start running."

"That won't be necessary. Lori needs you," he said. For a second I thought Shane would do the run around.

But then Shane shot Otis in the knee.

I gasped. "What the hell!?" I yelled.

"Keep your mouth shut!" He yelled, taking the bags Otis had been carrying. Otis began screaming for me to help him.