Annihilation - Book Three

Chapter 5

Help me? Did it speak?

 Staring at the man, it's hard not to recoil from the stench of death. 

"Help you? Help us!" Beta blurts out. 

The rabid beast lurches with a snarl, reaching for Beta in retaliation.

"Oi, here. Look here." Verando whistles, gathering the crazed man's attention. The reddened eyes lock on him, a low growl rumbling in his throat. "We want to help you. But first-" He speaks slowly, in a low tone, careful not to excite him. "We need to get out of this tree."

"You want..to... help.. m-m-m-me?" He manages, rubbing at his eyes with his bloodied palms, releasing Verando's hand. Caked in blood and dried grit, his mangled hands are so frostbitten the ends of his fingers don't seem to want to function. They twitch in a crude fashion as if made from tree limbs instead of flesh and bone.

Helping this creature was the last thing he wanted to do, but triggering the beast could mean that more would come to investigate or worse. They weren't quite sure how to kill this thing; finding out twenty feet above the ice wasn't his idea of an ideal match. 

"Climb down. We'll follow after you." 

He descends, though they don't follow him with much more grace, shaken up from being awakened by the reaper himself. Verando could only assume that the virus worked on the same clock as the change in its primitive form. Perhaps they functioned better during the day while the dead wolf slumbered in their subconscious. 

A startled scream spooks the sick man; he leaps from the tree, gripping Beta's leg and dragging him down the branches with him. Hastily, Verando hurries to catch up with them, nursing the injured shoulder as best he can, feeling it shudder and creak within his body. His arm felt numb in spots and excruciating in others, but at least it seemed to be somewhat functional. 

 "Kill it! It's here! It's found us!" Their horrified shrieks would surely get them all killed. With the accuracy of a trained archer, Verando pitches a rock across the short span and connects with one of the men between his eyes. 

"Would you lot shut it? He's.. he's not friendly but he has some kind of thought trapped in there. This one isn't totally savage." 

The light seems to bother the infected man's eyes. He backs into the shade of the tree and circles a few times before becoming distracted by his hands opening and closing. Crazed, he mutters as he circles, as if he were trying to reason with himself. 

It was a pity, really, watching the inner turmoil.

"Find them. Stop. Stop them. Can't. Alone. Help. Help. Help me." The man's eyes shoot up, and in a swift motion, he leaps across the space to grip Verando's jacket. An arrow whizzes past his head, and Verando curses under his breath at the poor aim and the near miss. "Help me." He pleads. 

This surely wouldn't do. Much more of this, and they'll all kill each other in their own terror.

 "Alpha is infected," Delta whispers, taking quick steps back as if somehow this short distance would protect him. 

Scowling towards the male, he was trapped at the mercy of the infected and didn't dare to move. "You wish. He didn't bite me. He wants help; haven't you been listening? He bloody well keeps repeating himself." 

Beta frowns, dusting off the snow. "What kind of help?" From behind, he gestures as if cutting his throat.

If he knew that, he wouldn't be trekking around out here with a bunch of juveniles. 

"H-h-h-elp me." The man repeats again, giving the taller warlord a harsh shake as if he wanted him to be shorter. Verando lifted his hands, trying to show that he wasn't a threat to the rabid animal, swallowing hard as he pulled as much anxiety from his expression as he could manage.