Craig of the Dead

16. Ouch

"WAAAAA! AHHHHH!" I screamed, frozen in place for a solid few seconds. Finally, I burst into action. I blindly hacked at the body but only succeeded in separating the head from the rest of it. Now, the severed head hung from my shoulder, it's teeth still deep in my skin, the weight of the skull tearing it to the ground. What made it worse was I could feel the zombie goo trickling down, burning as it seeped into the wound.

"AHHH!" I shrieked again, my whole heroic front shattered replaced with the old crybaby that everyone hated. Including myself. Despite my efforts, I couldn't keep the hot tears from pouring down my face. They dropped on the pavement, mixing with my blood, which was also spilling on the concrete. The head's weight had almost completely pulled down a layer of skin.

"CLYDE! COME ON, MAN! DON'T BE A PUSSY, GET OUTTA THERE!" I heard a voice shout, maybe Kyle. I closed my eyes and sprinted forward, falling on my face once after tripping over a slain walker. I pushed myself off the ground and kept running, ignoring the hands and limbs and gruesome sounds surrounding me. Finally, I broke through the hoard and frantically dashed as far away as I could, like a mad man.

"RUN FASTER, CLYDE! WE'RE JUST AROUND THE CORNER!" The voice yelled again.

"YEAH....OKAY I'M ALMOST THERE!" I screeched back, my vision blurry because of the tears. Suddenly, in mid-run, the zombie head flew off. It had been bouncing on my arm as I ran, but it hurt way too much for me to rip it off my shoulder. However, I didn't have to, as just as I turned the corner the head was flung across the street, taking a large portion of my skin with it.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!" I screeched, my knees completely giving in and my face being sent straight down to the pavement. Everything went black as my forehead smashed into the road.

....

........

........

"....oh god, it's going to happen again. I can't let it happen again." There was a ringing in my ears as a panicked voice spoke rapidly and frantically. I slowly opened my eyes, but immediately regretted it. Everything around me was bouncing and moving so fast, blurring together. My eyes hurt and my head hurt and my arm especially hurt. I tried once more look around, this time getting a slightly better idea of what was happening.

I was being carried by someone. Someone had me cradled in their arms, despite the fact that I'm not the lightest boy around, and was steadily walking somewhere. The boys next to him were all panicking and talking at the same time, making the headache I had pulse even harder. One thing was for certain, though. Everyone was very distraught. Time to lighten the mood. That's why I'm here, after all.

"Hey....hey baby...." I wheezed, weakly putting my good arm around the person's head and giving my best attempt at a smile.

"Shit! He's awake, dude!"

"What the hell happened?"

"FUCK YOU!" The boy shouted in my face, making my ears pop and pound. It's gotta be Craig. "FUCK YOU, CLYDE!" His voice was shaking uneasily, but his face was furious.

"What did I—arrggg!" My shoulder gave a painful throb, stopping me in the middle of my sentence. I kinda wished I had just stayed unconscious.

"Shhhh, we're running back to the hospital. Just hang tight buddy." Token said assuringly, ruffling my hair. It was meant to be a kind gesture, but the simple touch made my head explode with pain.

"Thanks Token." I said grimacing.

"OKAY BUT WHAT DO WE DO ONCE WE'RE AT THE HOSPITAL?" Stan shouted, beginning to hyperventilate. I found this sort of odd, as Stan, along with Craig, always had seemed the coolest one of us. Now, he was completely panicking.