The Infected.

Chapter - 9 -

We sat near the stranger warily staring at his appearance, waiting for him to wake up. His shoulders were slumped forward, head hanging, his damp and greasy hair falling in front of his face, a ridged nose peaking through his straight dark hair. His lips parted and chapped, slightly bleeding. A scar ran along the bottom of his chin, faded and old but prominent.

His wrists were bound to the arm rests of the old dining chair he was seated upon, his stomach was bound to the back of the chair and his ankles to the posts. His wrists already looked red from being bound tightly.
Violet has dressed his wounds with rubbing alcohol, stitches and medical bandages from our first aid kit. I think it's a waste but my dad and Violet agree that we should be the better person, given the circumstances, I obviously disagree.

My dad couldn't find a automobile for us for the time being and said we'd have to go with him tomorrow to look. He came across a hardware and grocery store while looking around and told us we have to learn how to defend ourselves, or in his exact words.

"I won't always be here to defend you." Which given what he came home to, I understand the concern.

The man in the chair began to stir awake, his dirtied fingers beginning to clench and unclench against the arm rests. A groan emits from his lips and he looks up panicked, almost as if he forgot about his predicament. Max has been awaiting this all afternoon, his hands flat on the table as he stared him down.

"You're awake!" Max claims excitedly, "Are you hungry?" He cocks his head to the side, and stares with a smile as if he isn't talking to a stranger that tried to break in.

Sweats begins to build up on the strangers forehead as he quickly scans his surroundings, "What the—" he stutters, taking a deep inhale.

"What's your name?" I mutter, looking at him from across the table directly. My eyebrows raised.

"Why in the hell do you care?" He spits in my direction, his nose flared but his speech slightly sluggish.
My dad comes into the room from the kitchen, the door swinging in the door frame behind him as he sits down, the chair creaking from under him. My dad pulls out his knife and places it on the table in front of himself.
"Maxwell, leave." Max, about to complain gets cut short from my dads stare and excuses himself, joining Violet in the kitchen. He stares at the stranger, his lips rubbing together, looking as if he is contemplating how to approach this.

"What's your name?" My dad repeats my question, the man huffs and mumbles something incoherent

My dad casually places his hand onto the handle of the knife and my eyes widen.

"Houston." The stranger, now Houston, lets out in a shaky breath, eyeing my dads weapon nervously, he looks up at me almost pleading. I calm my expression and look at my dad.

"Why were you trying to break into my house?" My dad doesn't sound like himself, he is angry, no, furious. "I was told you saw me left, so what did you have in mind?" My dads knuckles turn white as his fingers grip themselves around the knifes handle.

Houston stutters over himself. "I had to!" He blurted, his eyes darting around the room. I raise my brows, not expecting the answer. "They told me I had to."

"Who's they?" My dad looks at him to continue.

"I just recently got initiated into a group of people, would probably be considered some sort of gang but its really the only way to survive outside of safe states." Houston says, almost in one breath.

"They need people, young people, preferably women. They take note on who leaves the border and saw your family lose your car at the interstate from the blockade." My dad breathes heavily, his fist clenched at his side.
"Why women?"
Houston breathes heavily, a look of shame crossing his features. "They get bored.." He says softly, making the mistake of taking his eyes away from my dad and looking in my direction. "-And they're easier targets, usually." He grimaces and snaps his eyes at my dad once he lets out a noise of disapproval. "They know I should be here by now. Either making 'friends' or on my way back with some loot." He looks down at the table, no longer able to make eye contact with either of us, his greasy dark hair back in his eyes.
"What will they do if you don't show up in the next few hours?" My dad mutters bitterly, his face becoming red. "Answer me, boy!" He yells, standing up from the table.

"They'll send more people. I wasn't suppose to do this alone but some wanderers got a bite out of my colleague and I didn't want to go back empty handed." Houston sounded breathless with my dads anger, his eyes looking through his hair at the knife on the table.

"We're leaving, now." My dad said bitterly, pocketing his knife.

"What about him?" I finally gain some courage to speak, my eyes drifting upwards to my dads expression. He eyes me, his eyes darting between me and Houston.

"Please don't leave me like this." Houston pipes in, "They'll kill me. Please." His voice is thick with pleading, tears welling up in his eyes as he speaks.

"Why shouldn't I? You were either going to leave my children for dead or bring them as loot." My dad spits on the floor and leaves the dining room. I get up slowly, the chair creaking as I do.

"You're a good shot." Houston says, he peers up at me with a wry smile. "I'm sorry for scaring you." I push my chair in and look at him pitifully, "You didn't scare me." I shake my head and join everyone else in the kitchen.

"We aren't really leaving him are we?" Max says, his shoulders slumped slightly as he sits up on the counter top.
"He's dangerous Max, we don't know him." I say softly, he rolls his eyes dramatically and huffs.

"He did tell us everything though." Violet intervenes, her hip cocked outward, a blonde eyebrow raised.
"We can't stay here and we don't have time to dwell on it." My dad says finally, his arms crossed in front of him. We sit in silence for a few moments, the only sound being a leaky drip on the faucet.

"What if he has access to a vehicle?"

*

Houston stood in front of us awkwardly, rubbing his red wrists and looking at the four of us nervously.

"Any funny business and I kill you, is that understood?" Houston nods at my dad nervously, and we leave out the house, Houston walking in front of us like a herd. Vi, my brother and I are carrying some sort of bag on each of our shoulders. The sun is starting to go down, causing the sunshine to cast directly into our eyes, I squint.

"I can hot wire a car, we just have to get further past the over pass, past the barrier. Hordes commonly cross through there looking for stragglers so we have to be careful." He stutters over his words, talking lightly over his shoulder as if we're all friends.

"How long have you been in that gang?" My dad mutters bitterly, walking him walk and the shadows around him. The overpass where we left out car coming into view.
"Not too long, about a month. I had no where else to go after my family got caught in a horde and passed on." He shakes his head lightly, his eyes nervously looking at the zombies we pass in the locked cars on the overpass.
"That's okay!" Max pipes in, "You can come with us after you get us a car!" Violet grabs his arm and hisses at him to shut up. I shake my head.

We get to the overpass, more dark than light was in the sky when we saw flashlights on the middle of the highway.
"Shit." Houston curses, waving his hands in a downward motion, signally us to get low.
"That's some of them." He says softly, there was about five people, from what I could make out from the lights, laughing lightly as they taunted zombies locked in there cars.
"We can't get past them from here, where can we get to a car?" I hissed in Houstons direction.
"I don't have all the answers!" He says in a panic, his face paled in the soft moon light as we all huddled behind a car. Max against Violets side, a scared expression overcoming his features.

"We need to get to the other side of this highway, and they are right in our way.." My dad ponders in a hush toned, his eyes analyzing the men across the way.

"They are walking this way!" Violet hisses, we all get lower as the group of men make their way towards us.

"Houston better hope to God that he got us some women and brew, I need a full belly and a belly to fill!" One of the men laughs loudly, the others joining suit at the idea. Houstons face seems to pale in the moonlight at their comment, my dad sending a glare his way.

My dad grips my arm, and guides me towards the muddy ditch to our left, signalling with his eyes to get the others down there with me. I signal to Violet, she grabs Max and we make our way as silently as possible into the dark ditch.