The Infected: An H1-2M1 Chronicle

Chapter 3

NOW

I woke with a start. There was a hand on my shoulder. I sat up quickly wincing as pain shot through me. We had been traveling for a few days. It was the first time I had managed to sleep. Ben had been quiet. I caught him looking at me a few times. His eyes spoke of curiosity and a bit of longing, but for what I didn't know. There was none of the lustfulness I was used to and feared.

Ben pressed a finger to his lips signaling me to be quiet. I stared at him. His eyes were off in the distance. The air was crisp. I could just make out the silver clouds of breath between us in the moonlight. I heard the crunch of footsteps on the frost covered leaves before I heard the heart wrenching giggles of a small child. My blood froze as my breath caught in my throat.

I reached for the dagger on my hip. If I strained my eyes I could just make out the pale figure crisscrossing between the trees. "Rabbit rabbit snake leaf boom boom boom, hehehehehehe!" I swallowed hard. The hairs on my arm stood on end. The child was dragging something behind him. The ramblings of the infected never made sense, but they spoke with a purpose. It was often difficult to decode, but one of the words was important to the thought passing through their mind. I didn't know what the child was dragging. I was hoping it was either a rabbit or a snake, and not something that went "boom." The size of the shadow made me lean towards the rabbit.

Ben nudged me and pointed up towards the tree. He wanted me to climb. I shook my head no. I wasn't going up there. It was a death trap. Children could climb trees and quickly too, especially when they're not worried about falling. I was fast, but I didn't have the strength or energy to climb. Raising my arms, twisting at the waist, any sudden movement, hurt more than I was letting on. I didn't need a doctor to tell me my ribs were broken. The pain and swelling were obvious. The child didn't stop. It kept wandering through the dark. It didn't look over at us. If it had, it would have charged us. I didn't know if Ben was ready to kill a child. I wasn't, but I would if it meant my survival. I would deal with my morality later.

"I'll stay on watch. Go back sleep," Ben whispered softly when the giggling had stopped for the better part of an hour. I didn't say a word. I laid back on my mat with my back to him. I didn't close my eyes. Not even for a second. "Go ahead and light the fire," Ben said as if he knew I had stayed awake. I jumped at his words. He wasn't loud, but it wasn't a whisper. Dawn had begun to break through the trees casting us in an eerie grey shadow. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small lighter I kept. It had run out of fuel weeks ago, but the flint still created a spark.

I boiled water Ben had collected the night before, and I set it aside to cool. I cringed at the sound of bones snapping. Ben handed me a rabbit leg. I hesitated. "You're a vegetarian?," he said with half a grin. He was teasing me. I was starting to get used to his sarcasm. I had been sticking to drinking a mixture of boiled mashed fruit and vegetables Ben had in his bag. My stomach barely held them. I was farther in the starvation process than I had thought. Ben hadn't been eating anything. I couldn't understand why he wasn't eating when there was part of a rabbit in his bag. I looked up from the rabbit leg into his eyes. The grin disappeared. "You're fucking kidding me! Seriously?"

"I was," I said snatching the leg from him. I eyed it carefully and smelled the meat.

"It's only a few days old."

"I know how long it lasts."

"How would a vegetarian possibly know that?" he asked with a teasing grin.

"No one's a vegetarian after they don't eat for two weeks." I bit into the leg slowly. Meat still made me uneasy, but for different reasons these days. I wasn't sure if my stomach was ready to handle solids, but I was willing to risk it.