Achievement Hunter: The Broken

Deadly Wounds

Jeremy was wandering through the jungle in search of Steffie. It had been three days of house arrest, but he had finally gotten most of the poison out of his system, and it was an absolute bitch. He still couldn't focus that well, the edges of his vision still blurry, but that didn't let him stop his daily Steffie patrol. Jeremy was thrilled when they told him Steffie had contacted them yesterday, but he had still been bed ridden. He wanted to go look for Steffie immediately, but Geoff wouldn't allow it. So the second he was able to, he left, the third of the radios in his bag.

He looks over his shoulder and spots a moss-covered building. "Huh...what are you?" Jeremy sneaks over to the tall stone wall. Upon closer inspection, he notices the stone has enormous cracks running up it, the moss growing out the side. He ran his hand across it. It's been here a while. Jeremy paused for a moment, then looked into the broken windows of the building. It was pitch black inside, the stones creaked with age. He took a step in where a door had been broken down, and saw a chicken carcass on the ground. "Ugh! Gross..."

Blood seeps out of the chicken as he realizes that it was just recently killed. Something nearby must have done it. There were slashes on the bird's neck, its eyes glassed over, mouth hanging open. Whatever it was, Jeremy doesn't want to stick around to find out.

He's about to turn back around when he hears a rustle within. He turns and spots a small red parrot, tangled in some vines that had begun to drape down the walls. It was flapping its wings frantically, wide eyes darting around the room.
"Hey, little guy..." Jeremy mumbles. The bird looks at him, scared. Jeremy feels a pang in his chest for the little creature. He can't bring himself to leave it stuck alone, so he makes his way over, carefully untangling the parrot from the vines. He is careful to not tear it's fragile wings. Jeremy doesn't mind the bird biting at his hands, or the talons digging at his arm.

Eventually, he manages to free the creature. It sits by him for a moment, looking up at him almost as if to say thanks. At least, that's what Jeremy told himself. Then it flies off. He watches it go, until the bird is out of sight.

There's a low groan in the building. Jeremy's head snaps back to the entryway.
"H...hello?" He calls. The groan sounds off again. It almost sounds...human. Someone needed his help. Unless this was another monster. It sounds too human, Jeremy thought to himself. So did the witch, something told him to turn back. He tries to convince himself to leave, yet can't convince himself to turn away.

Sword in one hand, he sneaks around one of the corners, further into the darkness. He goes against everything telling him, screaming at him to turn back. The building wreaked of death, making his head hurt. He wished his eyes hadn't adjusted before his brain could register what was happening. He spots, in the middle of the room, a man, who now had his stomach ripped and guts exposed. Blood covered his once white shirt, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. Jeremy stumbled backwards, ready to gag. He recognized what had happened instantly.

Zombie attack.

It's just what Lindsay's wounds had looked like, with the claw scratches. The image of Lindsay laying dead on the ground flashed in Jeremy's mind. He saw them, defenseless and scared. Alone. He takes a step back. Jeremy was shaking, and sweat began dripping down his face. The man had blood spewing out of his wounds. There were fresh tears in his eyes, and his skin was still pink. He just died. A charcoal blackness had begun to form on the man's arms. He couldn't move. He hadn't been able to turn around before he heard a growl behind him. A zombie was still eating on some flesh it had dragged from the man.

There had been other survivors. Jeremy's body began responding to his brain, and he slowly began backing up, attempting to not alert the zombie of his presence. It's chewing was loud enough to drown out Jeremy's heavy breathing.