VIRUS - Redemption

TEN

12.09.2038

I was the first to reach London. Patrick took Ezekiel, Drago had Killian and East volunteered to carry Wyatt. Being alone made me quicker, lighter. The bike could go faster, turn sharper. The Watchers on the gate saw me coming and opened the 30ft metal doors, allowing me to ride straight through, but I stopped just before, clutching the break as the bike skidded in the dirt to a halt.

Turning back, I looked at the tree-line; the dirt road I had just appeared from. Any second now, East, Drago and Patrick should come flying from the forest; but they didn't.

I could hear people inside London calling my name, trying to get me to come inside, but my eyes never left the road. A minute passed, no sign of them anywhere; I couldn't even hear the bikes.

"Elle!" I turned to see Anarchy come running out of London, wrapping her arms around me the second she was close enough. "I thought you were dead, two days Elle -"

"They're not back." I shook my head, pushing out of her grasp to look back at the road. "They're not back."

"Where are they? Who?" Ana asked. I turned, walking over to the Watcher closest to me and reached for his gun. He flinched back, hesitated, then handed the rifle to me. "Elle."

"I need to go back in -" I was interrupted by a woman's scream, coming from just beyond the forest-line. Forgetting my bike, I slung the rifle over my shoulder and took off running. It was East, I knew it was East; and she sounded close. "East!" I shouted, my shoes kicking the dirt up from beneath my feet.

"Elle!" Ana yelled, pulling out her pistol and chasing after me. I jumped over the long grass and into the forest, the legs of my trousers instantly becoming wet from the melted snow soaked into the mud. The screaming continued as I ran in East's direction. I started to smell smoke as I grew closer and closer, the sound of the Dead chiming in with her cries for help. "Elle!" Ana called, close behind me.

"East!" I yelled, stopping as a Dead one stepped out in front of me. I leant back and kicked it hard in the chest, it stumbled backwards and over a log, landing on its back. I felt another grab my shoulder, but the sound of a gunshot rang out and its grip loosened as it fell to the mud-covered floor. I turned to see Ana standing there, her gun raised.

"Keep going." Ana nodded, and we both spread out, looking for East. The smell of smoke grew more and more intense. I stood still, turning in a circle trying to hear the direction of the screams, but it felt like it came at me from every side. The forest felt like a copy of itself every way I looked; nothing looked different, there was no telling where I came from or where I've looked.

"Help!" East cried. I felt hopeless, I couldn't figure it out. It was a maze, I couldn't find the centre. The smell of smoke, the screams and the endless number of crowded trees left me disorientated, confused. I needed to figure it out.

A Dead moved from behind a tree, and I lifted my gun. One shot – miss. Two shots – miss. Three shots – chest, not good enough.

I swallowed hard, narrowing my vision and taking a deep breath. It was two metres from me, the smell of rotting overtaking the smoke as it got closer. I pulled the trigger – four shots, head shot. It dropped to the ground, a sense of relief rushing through me.

"Elle, over here!" Anarchy's voice called out to my left, and I kicked off. I ran for another twenty seconds before I reached a clearing, finding Ana shooting at a large swarm of Dead, crowding around East. I lifted my rifle and began shooting, enough rounds to drop them for a few moments. "Get the bike off her." Ana said, nodding at me.

"Cover me." I said, running over to East. She was pinned against the tree, the bent and beaten bike laid on her leg, smoke billowing from the engine. I grabbed the handles of the motorbike, using all my strength as I tried to pull it off her, but it didn't budge. "Can you push?" I asked her.