MUTATION: ZOMBIES AMONG US

Chapter 18: The Days of Despair

     The next few days after that terrible incident were hell. I moved into a deserted hotel and tried my best to attend to Blue's injuries. If I don't find a doctor soon, I was afraid that he may never walk again, and the chances of that was high. I did my best not to be grieved by our present predicament, but it couldn't be helped. The situation got worst in the night, where Blue surprisingly slept like a baby and I was tormented by strange noises from outside. I held the gun so closely that I almost made the mistake to pull the trigger on myself.
     I didn't got enough sleep at all, but yet I made Blue eat whatever food we found and left the damned building immediately. The following days were the repetition of the first. Blue slept without worries, I never had a good sleep, and we would leave the next day, wondering about in the cursed city. No zombie approached us, reminding us of the Wallace incident which was indeed a critical blow to our stomachs. In other words, we were in a hopeless situation.
     Blue's character however was what disturbed me the most. Instead of keeping mute or wailing at the unfavourable circumstances we were in, he was still giving thanks to God and asking Him to protect us. Many at times he would ask me to read a Bible verse to him or pray with him. I did all he asked me to do, but the more and more I did them, the more I disbelieved in God's existence.
     To have a God who just sit back and let's mankind suffer from one man's mistake was intolerable. If He indeed loved us, why let such a disaster come upon us. If it were earthquakes and tsunamis, I wouldn't mind, but an infection that could ravage the whole world was something that needed to be stopped immediately. But why? Why would He let it happen, and make me take all the blame?
     The more I thought about this, the more depressed I became. And the more depressed I became, the more my sanity retarded. There were times I isolated myself in a separate room, and then, for no particular reason, start laughing. I would laugh for a long time, as though I was drunk and was trying to laugh my sorrows away. Then I would become mute for an hour, eyes staring into the darkness, and then the tears would flow, with soft sounds of weeping and sneezing.
     I tried my best to stop it, but I couldn't, so it became my habit. I would make sure Blue falls asleep in his bed, then isolate myself and began the laugh, the silence and the sobbing. My senses were no longer with me, as I was burdened with the knowledge of an unknown presence haunting us from the shadows, seeking the life of my friend. I didn't know where to run to, where to hide, a place of safety was beyond our grip. Danger was everywhere, even though it tried to deceive me with the calmness of the environment. With this in mind, it strengthened my atheistic belief.
     There was one night, however, that I heard a noise in Blue's room. Immediately, I barged in with my shotgun while the assault rifle was over my shoulder. I met Blue sitting upright on his bed, his scared expression obviously seen on his bandaged face.
     " Are you alright?", I asked Blue once I was sure that the perimeter was safe.
     " Y-Yeah, I'm fine Joe. Y-You can go bad to sleep now", he stammered in response and tried to get back to sleep.
     " Are you sure everything is okay?", I asked curiously.
     " Everything is fine Joe. You can rest now".
     I perceived that he was honest with me, and figured he had a bad dream and wasn't willing to tell me what it was. Because of that, I decided to sleep on the couch next to him and made sure to drop my ears down for any unusual sounds. But the only thing I heard after that were the ones depriving me from sleeping.

***

     We stopped before a large house that lost its glory after the outbreak. The inside was nothing but a large mess, with tables and chairs over turned and damaged. The windows were still in good condition though, while the walls were worn out and needed a painter to redeem their glory. On the second floor was a piano that looked very familiar to me, although I decided to pay less details on the house and focus on securing a place to rest for the night.
     Once night fell and Blue fell asleep, I repeated my habit once again, but this time, I laughed more, kept mute for forty-five minutes and cried a little louder than before. Then the noise from Blue's room came again, but this time I could identify it as his voice. Immediately I rushed over to his room and found him sitting upright on his bed, this time shivering with fear. I knew he had reached his limit, so if I pushed him a little, he would spill the beans and tell me what had been troubling him all this while.
     " Is everything alright Blue?", I asked him.
     " Everything is not alright!", he exclaimed and sobbed. Guess he spilled it too soon, I thought.
     I sat beside him and consoled him, trying my best to stop his cries. After that, he sobered up and said," Blue, I have something to tell you".
     " What is it?", I asked in a tone that said it was best if i didn't, because I could see the serious expression on his face.
     " It's best if I tell it to you Joe. I'm scared to death whenever I think about losing you, so much so that I begin to have dreams of being separated from you. I know it would hurt you so much, so that's why I've been asking God to save us from this problem we're in".
     Blue paused and noticed I said nothing while he spoke, so he asked," Joe?".
     I replied immediately with a calm voice," Go back to bed Blue, and stop worrying. Everything is going to be alright, and nothing is going to happen to you".
     He felt a little bit insecure about my response and asked," Is everything alright Joe?".
     " Yes. Please sleep and forget about your fears".
     He hesitated and then listened to me after saying," If you say so". I made sure I stayed with him until he fell asleep, then exited his room, stood in a hallway, hit my head slightly against the wall and placed my right hand on the wall and over my head. I wept bitterly, because I knew that I couldn't guarantee his safety.
     I stopped my crying after hear piano songs from the second floor. It drew my attention, making me to wonder who or what was playing the piano at this time of the night. I readied my shotgun and approached the second floor. While taking cautious steps, my environment became more familiar to me like never before, until it reminded me of the dream I had after Blue and I escaped the zombie highway in Washington D.C. The more I moved, the more familiar it became, until I came to where the piano was, and saw a figure playing it with the same tune back then in the dream.
     " Max?", I asked aloud as I approached the figure, almost convinced that it was him. But unfortunately, it wasn't. Upon coming closer, I saw that the skin was light blue in colour. The figure had no skirt on but torn pants and white hair. Then it laughed the metallic laugh, and I didn't think twice to pull the trigger. Even though I was that close, it escaped and found itself on the wall, then leaped into the air and landed beside me. I tried to shoot it again, but it kicked the weapon again and used the other leg to kick me against the piano. Then it gave another laugh and looked at me with a face of mockery. It was a zombie, there was no mistake about it.
     " It's an honour to meet my creator", it said while giving me a mock bow.
     " Who the hell are you?", I asked arrogantly.
     " My kind are the Vectors, one of the very best of your creation".
     " Go to hell", I replied and brought out my assault rifle to fire. Just as I pulled the trigger, it moved faster than the bullet itself, dodged it and grabbed the weapon. It yanked it from my hands easily, grabbed my throat and raised me high above him. Such incredible speed and strength, I thought.
     " Your range projectiles will do me no harm, creator. So it's just me and you".
     The Vector zombie tossed me to it's right and I fell on the floor, gasping for breath. I held my throat and asked," What do you want from me?".
     " Your death. Nothing more, nothing less", it replied with a murderous intent as it licked it chops greedily.