End of the Living

Chapter Three

The gunshot seemed to ring in my ears, along with the piercing scream of anger and agony from the woman. Opening my eyes, I looked up to see the woman on the ground but she wasn't dead. She was laying on her side, her hand and large nails covering a newfound bullet hole on her shoulder like she was in pain and writhed pathetically on the ground. The shot came from behind me, wanting to see what had happened I turned my head to see a person.

The person was a man, probably around my age judging by his looks. He had thick brown hair on his head, grey eyes staring me down almost coldly, and a bit of stubble around his chin that ended just beneath his lip. He wore a black t-shirt that was tight fitting and dark washed skinnies, his dark boots and parts of his pants were stained with mud and blood. On his outstretched arm was an M9 pointed where the woman just was, and he has a few bandages wrapped on his hands and knee being crusted with grime.

He started walking towards me and I remained unmoving, unsure of what to do. I hadn't expected someone else to be in this town. Once he was close enough, he snatched up my hand and started to drag me with him. 

"Come on," His quiet but cold sounding voice spoke out to me. "We have to get moving before she heals herself or more of those things come." He was right, those things were attracted to blood, light, or sound and I'm sure that gunshot might have tipped them off. Just like most monsters or living things, they were simple and brainless and only took note of the obvious. 

He pulled me over to a large black truck that had specks of dried blood on its opaque paint and tires, the rims looking like blood and mud stained silver. He let go of me and heaved himself effortlessly into the large truck as I slid around to the other side and climbed in with a bit more difficulty, the truck is huge. I shut the door and he already had the engine revving to go. We took off, an uncomfortable silence hung through the air inside the vehicle.

I didn't know what to say, should I thank him for saving me? Should I ask why he saved me, to begin with? Why is he taking me with him? Or even who he is?

It was mid-morning still, but it was like the clouds wanted to keep the sun their prisoner for the sky has been painted with grey clouds overhead, which meant there might be rain later. The clouds made the atmosphere outside almost like a horror movie, which made my skin crawl. I was never one for horror, and I'm still not even in this nightmare. I even felt like me and this man was in a horror movie ourselves.

Two lone strangers, a girl not knowing a guy driving up in his truck into a quiet place far from listening ears so he can kill her and feed her body to the-

"I'm not going to hurt you."

I looked at him from watching the passing grey scenery, looking a bit confused from what he said which made him sigh in reply. "I'm not going to hurt you if I was then why would I have saved you, to begin with?"

...That's true.

"Yeah...I guess you're right. Just the outside looked eerie so...I guess I let my thoughts wander." I replied, seeming almost awkward. "O-Oh, I'm Rose, Rose Dane." 

"Hunter, Hunter Williams." He replied a bit gruffly. 

"So..." I awkwardly started, "Where are we going exactly?" It was probably a bit odd to be asking this late, but I needed to know, it's not like I would stay longer to begin with. "We're going to my group's base camp, we'll be safe there." 

His...Group? Basecamp? 

Hearing those words made my stomach somewhat tighten like someone reached in and squeezed it tightly, I had a few run-ins with groups before...sadly they weren't as kind as they appeared to be. Some groups tried to steal my supplies and kill me, but I outran them luckily. Another group invited me to join their group and then use me as a slave as they have with many other survivors, but I managed to escape them as well.

Hearing that the guy just saved me is bringing me to his group brought back earlier thoughts of me being killed. I guess my expression betrayed me because he released another sigh.

"I already said I won't hurt ya, I can't say the same for Cleo, but I promise you we're not going to kill you." He said, his tone was a bit softer now than earlier.

Something about his tone relaxed me and I eased back into the Truck's leather seats, looking back out the passenger's window. I could see a few of those monsters stumbling around or even some landing near the truck's tires only to be crushed under the massive vehicles' weight, the blood spurting out as the crunching of their bones was heard. It didn't bother me either, it never seemed to bother me how they died, just as long as these monsters are dead. 

We drove out from the other end of the town, pulling out onto a long road that stretched out from the town like a long snake, slithering and winding in a few odd directions into a massive forest towering with large pine trees.  The truck turned with ease on the twisty road, my body and possibly even Hunter's swaying with each turn until we got to the tree-line, the massive trees now being like giants to us as we drove under the branches, the pines seemed to brush against the truck's roof. 

The road was dusted in a thin layer of dirt as cracks in the road gave it age, pine needs and grass seemed to litter the road along with what seemed to be a bit of blood and a few animals with their insides ripped out almost viciously. 

It wasn't disturbing to me to see people torn to ruins by these monsters, but when it was animals I felt my heart almost sink into my stomach like a stone. I felt sympathy for the poor things, they didn't do anything to warrant being slaughtered and eaten like cattle.

The further we went, the more my heart seemed to sink and I eventually closed my eyes to no longer see these poor animals. Not long after, I didn't even realize how exhausted I was, because I seemed to feel my mind drifting off to dreamland.  It was warm inside the car, but being in my Father's military coat and wrapped in the scent he once harbored, gun-powder and his cologne seemed to almost comfort me as I drifted off into a comfortable sleep.