One Left

Survive

     The hoard began to close in on me. I accepted my fate. Suddenly I was grabbed and pulled out of my trap and carried. Zero had come back for me. He should have kept running. I would have done that.

     Zero placed me down after the hoard was tired of chasing us. He then took off his pack and looked for medical supplies.

     "You shouldn't have come back," I told him as he pulled a first aid kit from his pack.

     "I couldn't just leave you to die like that. Now let me see your ankle," he said holding some gaze wrap in his hand. I lifted my left leg and moved it closer to him. He then rolled up my pants leg and took of my shoe and sock. Next, he wrapped the gaze around my ankle to make an ankle brace. 

     Once he was done, he put my shoe and sock on and rolled down my pants. "Thanks," I said. He looked at me and smiled before putting the kit back. "Zero, you said that your dad named you after something that saved his life right?" I asked trying to start up a conversation.

     "Yep, he never told me what it was before he died," Zero replied going from a happy to sowrrowful tone.

     "Oh. Did he change into one of those things," I said pointing in the direction of our chasers.

     "Yeah. He was one of the first ones to become part of the Changed," he said still facing his pack.

     "Guess our parents are feasting together along with my older sister," I said half-heartedly. 

     "Don't compare him to them," Zero said with a hint of anger in his voice. 

     "Sorry," I said, "Just trying to have a conversation." He turned to look at me with a glare. This is the first time I have seen him mad. 

     "Whatever. I'm going to get some fire wood for the fire. You stay here," he said before getting up and walking into the woods.

     "Didn't know that would hit a nerve with him," I said to myself. What kind of treatment could save someone's life? Well, my parents were doctors for the CDC and sometimes they said that they would make a cure for Alzheimer. Maybe that is what his dad had and maybe he was in an experimental treatment. 

     I can remember that when the outbreak happened, it began in Georgia. More importantly it began in the same area as the CDC building. My parents were on leave and we decided to go to California for the summer, but they started acting differently when everything happened. They started gathering supplies and bought some guns along with their ammunition. I thought it was strange or maybe they knew what was coming.

     Zero came back with the fire wood and started the fire. I looked at him at a glance and saw that he still seemed pretty mad at me. Guess sorry is not enough. Well the word no is too.

     "Zero," I said while nibbling on some canned beans.

     "What?" he said with some annoyance.

     "Did your dad have Alzheimer?" I asked putting down my beans and looking at him. He turned his head to face me with a blank stare.

     "How do you know that?" he asked with a monotone voice.

    "My parents work, I mean worked, for the CDC and always talked about how they would cure Alzheimer," I said, "Meaning your named Zero because your father was Patient Zero. The first one." 

     "You are not as dumb as you look," he said before looking into the fire. "So how much did your parents tell you about what happened?" he asked.

     "All I know is that they probably knew more than they were saying about the outbreak. Other than that, nothing else," I said. Zero nodded.

     "Well you can thank your parents for all the Changed running around," he said. I looked at him shocked. How could he know that? How could he know if it was my parents fault? No. Maybe someone modified the cure into a bio-terrorist substance.