The Void

Bullets n' Blood

I feel nothing as I swing over and over again until a cold hand shakes me from my dreaming state. I turn to see Mark with a concerned face and behind him is One who is looking away. I glance at the Infected on the ground seeing nothing but a pile of blood and guts and somewhat of an arm...I think. 

"You sure your alright?" Mark looks at me and for the first time I hear the words clearly noticing that were still on the supply run I had made plans for earlier.

"Yeah...I'm just...stressed" I pull away from him and grab my bloody hatchet on the ground and then look around remembering that we were in a hardware store off the exit of the highway and that everyone else was at the makeshift camp still.

"That looked like more than stress" Mark sounded a little confused now and then One sighed and took a step forward.

"He is bit but he hasn't turned he has been bit since we first came to the old town and he is just now starting to zone out like this" One looks at me showing me that he is sorry for telling Mark.

"Wait your bit and haven't turned?" Mark looked at me utterly stunned and shocked at the same time.

"Yes" That was all I could say without turning away and getting mad or breaking down into tears. I noticed how long it's been since I had cried last and now I wish I could more than ever.

"But that is impossible unless...mabey you could solve all this you know with like a cure or something" Mark looked at me and then One but we both said nothing and he dropped the conversation all together.

"Let's just finish up here" One sounds serious once again and walks off into the far isle towards the 'tools' section. Mark shrugs and heads toward the check out counter finding any edible foods that haven't gone bad or stale.

I looked around and decided to head towards the back of the store not knowing what I would find. I began to get towards the back and since the power had long since been shut off this side of the store looked very dark and unwelcoming. I raised my hatchet as I stepped past a couple overturned display cases and noticed blood smears on the ground. I looked at them closely and noticed they looked fresh as if something happened a few days ago. I then followed the trail till I rounded a corner and saw two dead bodies that looked to be far to decayed to be Infected. I held back vomit and turned around just in time to see a figure step from the shadows and raise a knife. I instantly tackled the figure fighting for my life as the figure tried to stab me. Just when I got the upper hand I feel a gun to the back of my head and I hear the sound of them clicking off the safety.

"Get off our man before we add a hole to your head" the person with the gun to my head whispers. I slowly stand up and look at the voice seeing a woman and two more men behind her both with AR's aimed at me and then I look to see the man I had attacked stand up and raise his knife at me.

"Who are y-" I'm cut off as I hear a couple gunshots from outside and then I look over seeing the glass windows and doors erupt into glass shards.

"Shit! The militia is here" one of the men yell out just before a bullet sends him stumbling to the ground.

I instantly duck down and the other two men run out the back door while the women stays near me still keeping a close watch on me as bullets sail past us hitting products on the shelf's behind us.

"Who are you!" I yell over the gunshots and look at the women.

"My name does not matter just call me Beta" she looks at me with stone cold eyes before standing and firing back. Two of her five shots connect and two men fall to the ground and then a new wave of bullets fly through the windows.

"Well why did you choose to come after us?" I look at her with confusion

"We didn't you showed up so we hide because the Militia was after us but we thought you were them" Beta answered my question while keeping low so the bullets from the incoming Militia didn't hit her.

"Why are they after you guys?" I look at her and she doesn't answer at first and I thought she might have not heard her but then she looks at me with an intense expression.

"My group is being hunted by them because we did horrible things and some of us regret what we have done...but it's the apocalypse and people do dumb things" She then looks at the broken glass again and the bullets still hit the shelves behind us.

"Do the Militia kill anyone who wrongs them?" I'm slightly yelling because the shots are so loud I can't here anything.

"Yes, at first they were tasked to get rid of any infected people but then the Military fell so they went rogue and now they are like bandits who take stuff and kill anyone who is a potential threat." She then looks at me and back at the door.

"We have to go now are you coming?" She looks at me with serious eyes and starts to move towards the door.

"Yeah I'm coming" I sigh following her out of the building but before I do I drop the photo of me and Rainy on the floor hoping One would find it and know that I was sorry for leaving everyone.

We climb onto the top of the building and I see multiple more of Beta's men ducking for cover as bullets hit the store siding. Beta drops down next to them and I follow her move dropping next to them.

"We have two trucks of these guys but there running low on ammo some have them have even stopped firing" The guy seemed to just brush me off or not notice me at all.

"Give the others the order we don't have time for this it will be dark soon" Beta sounded calm but I was curious what the order was and who the others were.

I found out quickly because the guy said a quick word into the radio and before long shots started ringing out and just as they had started they stopped and we all stood up to see five people in gillie suits step from the tree line.

"Good shots" I here the man talk into the radio and I am still shocked at what I saw but I felt something else to, like a fierce sense of victory.

For now at least...