The Infection

Chapter 3

John was struggling to keep up with his family. Striker was by his side though, as if urging him on. 'Man this dog is gonna be easy to train.' John had a cramp. His chest hurt. But he kept on going. He didn't stop. His arm still felt numb. His head still hurt. But he didn't complain. His mother had noticed his wounds. "Oh, John. Are you all right?" she had said. "I'm fine," John had replied. The mobs of creatures were far behind John and his family. But there were still small groups staggering along the streets that they had to avoid. As John's family was getting out of the city, a bulldog with a collar around its neck and a broken chain dragging behind it ran up to them. As the dog was passing them, he suddenly stopped and glared at John. He crouched down and let a deep growl escape his throat. Striker did the same. Even thought the bulldog towered over him, Striker stood his ground and seemed unafraid. They sat there standing face to face. John and his family froze. John started slowly backing away from the dog. Then, the dog threw its weight against Striker, knocking him over and causing him to hit the ground. Striker yelped as it happened. The bulldog then leaped forward and sank its teeth into John's the arm opposite from the arm with the glass in it. John screamed in pain. "John!" his dad yelled. He ran up and attempted to pry the dog from John's arm. Eventually, the dog's jaw was pulled open, detaching it from the skin. William threw the dog to the side with a groan as it hit the ground. A chunk of flesh was ripped off of John's arm in the process, and he screamed in pain again. With a yelp, the dog ran away in the opposite direction. Striker slowly got up. He looked hurt. John's dad ripped off part of the sleeve of his shirt and wrapped it around John's wound.

"Hold it there." He said. And John did. "Are you alright?" John's dad asked.

"Not really," John replied through gritted teeth.

"You're a tough kid. I know you can handle it," John's dad said. "Lets go," he said. John and his family continued on. When he saw that Striker looked to hurt to walk any longer, John scooped him up in his arms, holding him. Even though it cause pain in John's arm, Striker seemed like he would be ok. John occasionally fell behind and had to catch up. When they got out of the city, John's family ran on a deserted road.

"Ok. Lets take a little break. I think those things are far behind us," John's dad finally said. John didn't have to be asked twice. He immediately stopped, let Striker down, and collapsed on the road, gasping for breath. Striker lay down and rested his head on his paws. Josie, too collapsed. John's parents were bending over, also trying to catch their breath. How far did they run? One mile? Two? John didn't care anyway. He should be going to school right now. Getting bored to death in reading and language arts. He was just developing an interest in computer science just when the apocalypse happened the next day. In fact, he was going to wake up and get on the computer to research programming. But instead, he woke up driving away from his home and running from man eating creatures to save his life. Not to mention watching his best friend die right in front of him. When he caught his breath, he scrambled up. There was constant pain in both his arms. The dog bite was still bleeding, but not as much now. The trees and bushes on the side of the road started to rustle. "Umm....dad?" John said, not taking his eyes off the bushes. Striker got in a pouncing stance, ready to strike.

"Yes?" his dad replied, walking over. When he saw the rustling, he froze. Right at that moment, John heard moaning. Then, about a dozen creatures emerged from the bushes. "Run! Go!" John's dad said. "Don't stop no matter what!" John sprinted ahead. Its like his wounds weren't there any more. New energy was given to him. It seemed the same thing happened to Striker, because he was sprinting alongside John. Josie was the one falling behind now.

"Come on Josie just a little longer! You can do it!" John urged. When Josie started to catch up, John turned away from her and focused on following his parents. But as he did that, he heard Josie scream. John spun around in time to see Josie stumble to the ground. She had tripped over a thick branch that had rolled onto the road. One of the creatures from the mob started to get close to Josie. "Josie!" John yelled. He and Striker ran between Josie and the creature. "Run!" Josie scrambled up and slowly backed up, not taking her eyes off of the creature. As John helped Josie up, Striker leaped onto the creature, sinking his claws into its brain and slashing it continuously. "John!" William yelled, running up to him. When John got Josie up, they started to run.

"Come on Striker!" John yelled. Striker obediently followed, making sure Josie was okay. The other creatures started to catch up. "Lets go!" John's dad said once he caught up to John. They sprinted ahead to get away from the mob. They all sprinted, and didn't stop, until they got far enough away from the mob again that they were out of sight. John's family stopped to catch their breath, and then started to walk in the direction of the military base again. There was no need to run. They might as well save their energy. After another hour or so, a huge building crept up the horizon and finally, John's family stopped in front of it. There was a big sign in front of the building that said:

Welcome to Fort Bradley Military Base

All survivors go to quarantine area

An arrow pointed to the left, where there was a huge yellow tent, with survivors pouring in and few coming out the other end, heading towards the military base. 'Great. If this sickness is contagious and we go through there.......' John's thought trailed off. His parents didn't look too thrilled to go through there either. 'There has to be another way in.' But John's parents were already walking towards the tent, with Josie right behind them. John and Striker followed them. It was a long line to get into the tent. As John got closer and closer to the tent, he could hear screams from inside the tent. And gunshots. When John got inside the tent, he realized that it was a lot bigger than it looked from the outside. There were people in yellow hazmat suits searching people for weapons and pointing them to different rooms.

"Come on John," Ann said as they got to the front of the line. A man in a hazmat suit searched Ann, William, and Josie first. Then he searched John and found the dog bite on his arm and the piece of glass in his other arm. The man sighed sadly and spoke into a walkie-talkie. As if Striker sensed something was wrong, he let out a deep growl.

"Striker! No!" John whispered.

"I got another that's bit," he said. He then turned to John and said, "Come with me." Confused, John followed the man outside, with his family next to him. The man led them to the side of the tent, where no one else was in site. John's stomach churned and fear flooded through his body. There was a faint trail of blood on the grass. Suddenly, a group of the men in hazmat suits came and grabbed John's mom, dad, and Josie. They started screaming at the men to get their hands off of them. Josie let out a cry of fear.

"What? What's happening?" John asked franticly.

"Take them away. They shouldn't see this," the man in the hazmat suit said. The group of men holding John's family took them out of site as they were screaming John's name. John never felt as much fear in his life. Before he knew what was happening, the men put a leash around Striker and pulled on him. But Striker stood his ground, in a pouncing stance, growling at the man standing face to face with John. He could sense danger. 'So that's why he was growling at this man in the beginning.'

"Come on you stupid dog!" the man with the leash said. When he had said that, Striker spun around and growled at the man, startling him and making him fall to the ground and drop the leash. The man quickly got up and picked up the leash before Striker could do anything else.

"No! What's happening? What are you going to do to them?" John yelled at the man.

"I'm not doing anything to them. But you were bit. You can't live for much longer. You'll turn into one of them," the man replied. At first John was confused. Then he understood.

"You think I was bit? It's a dog bite! I wasn't bitten by one of them! I was bit by a dog I swear!" John said.

"I know the truth. You might as well give up on the lies. I'm sorry. I don't like doing this. But it's what is necessary for the safety of everyone here." The man replied. He then took out a gun from the back of his suit and aimed it at John. As soon as he saw the gun, Striker started barking furiously, pulling on his leash. John stared down the barrel. 'A bullet is going to come hurtling out of that whole and slam into my head. I never thought I would die this way.' John thought. 'I won't graduate from high school, never get into a good college, never get a good job. I'll never get a girlfriend. Or a wife. Or kids.' John closed his eyes and waited for the bullet to come and take his life away. 'I wonder what it feels like to die.'

Thank you so much for all the views! Chapter 4 will be out soon!