The Wilderness Within: A Fanfiction (Draft)

Chapter 21

We both jumped up and stared in the direction it came from. Several men were running towards us, with shotguns, knives, and batons, with Commander Daniels running at the head.

I was stunned as I heard him shout, "For humanity!"

Trinity let loose a vicious snarl that had me stumbling back. "Get out of here," she said to me, "Now!" She crouched and started running towards the fence.

I sprinted in the other direction, turning around only once I had cover from a nearby building.

One man jumped in front of her with a dangerously sharp knife and swiped at her. She skidded to a stop and grabbed his wrist, sweeping his ankles with her foot and pushing him to the ground.

My heart pounded as I saw another man coming up behind her. Before he got too close Trinity turned and grabbed his arm, spinning him around so that she held him in front of her like a shield, with his knife at his own neck.

The other men stopped advancing.

"What do you want with me?" I heard Trinity growl.

Daniels bared his teeth. "You're too dangerous for this world. We couldn't let you keep roaming around out there."

Trinity wrestled the knife out of her human shield's grasp and threw it in the dirt, the blade sticking straight into the earth. She returned her hand to the man's neck, her sharp nails against her skin. "Release me or I'll infect him."

Daniels stepped forward.

"Just one scratch is all it takes," Trinity jerked the man's hand behind him. I could hear his pitiful whimper from my hiding place.

Daniels shrugged and kept walking towards her. "What's one life for many?"

A man behind him fired a round and their feet. Trinity growled, shoving her captive aside and dashing for the fence. Before she reached it she was hit. For a moment she arched her back in pain, but kept going, dodging other shots. She leapt on the fence and began to climb with inhuman speed, but I could tell she was beginning to favor one arm over the other. Once she reached the top, she jumped to the ground and began to run.

Daniels shouted to his men, "Open the gates, get to the trucks! Don't let her get away!" All but the man Trinity used to protect herself rushed away with him.

I stared at the aftermath for a minute before getting up on my shaking legs and heading deeper into the Stronghold to the kitchens.

I collapsed at our regular table. Alex smirked at me. "Have fun showing around the new girl today?"

Kami frowned at me, touching my arm. "Are you alright? We heard a lot of gunshots. Was there something at the fence?"

My hand curled into a fist. I looked Alex in the eye. "When is Marc coming back?"

He leaned forward. "What happened?"

"What happened," I snarled, "is that Daniels is crazy. He tried to kill Trinity."

"The new girl? You mean those gunshots were inside the fence?" Alex asked.

"They probably would have had no issue with hitting me too if I hadn't gotten out of the way."

"What!" Alex stood up so fast his chair screeched against the floor.

"She was a zombie," I admitted, "But she didn't hurt anyone."

Kami put the back of her hand on my forehead. I swatted it away, "Really. She said she was 'sane'. That's how she was talking to me and how she saved those men from that other raiding group, and they repaid her by shooting at her."

"Are you sure she was a zombie? Did you see her eyes or anything?" asked Alex.

I shook my head. "She wore some serious sunglasses because light hurts her eyes. She also said she was a Nightstalker."

Recognition flashed in Kami's eyes. "Nightstalker, I've heard of those. They're the perfect nighttime predator, and anyone is lucky to get away from one at all."

"But she didn't want to hurt anybody!" I protested.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Maybe she was just crazy."

"You don't understand. The speed she moved at was inhuman. She walked off a bullet to the shoulder. Just being next to her I could tell she was different before she even said anything."

He looked at me disbelievingly.

"Alex shut up!" I exclaimed. "Even though I knew she wouldn't hurt anybody, Daniels didn't care. He would have let one of his own men die. He even admitted it!"

Kami pulled me to my feet. "Let's get you some food, okay?"

I yanked my arm away. "Fine." I gave one last defiant look at Alex before letting Kami lead me to the lunch line.