The Touch of Infection

Chapter 54: Test subjects

"The earth is dying?" Carisa's questioned unbelievingly. She knew things weren't great but she didn't believe they were that bad.

"I found out around the time I first met you." He stood you and looked out the windows, checking for anything unusual, "The priority of everyone was getting the plants and animals healed... but then you showed up and plans changed. We were all looking for a cure now, things were starting to look good. Little by little things were making sense, progress was being made."

"And then it fell apart." Carisa slightly smiled, "You know I'm glad. As much as I want to feel bad about you I'm glad the infection, affected your kind. Because now you get to feel how we all feel."

Marnik scrunched yo his nose, "Well you suddenly changed your attitude. Does it make you that glad that everyone might die on this wretched planet?"

"In a way... yes." She admitted, she crossed her hands over her chest, "The humans ruined the world, the alaois ruined the humans. In the end, everything's too destroyed to make amends."

"Well, after everything started, didn't you ever even dream about things getting better?"

"Of course I did." Carisa admitted, "But they were just dreams." She looked back down at the floor. She felt stupid saying all those things, she wished she could just go back to surviving on her own. Being alone... but remembering just how much she hated that side of reality as well... she was scared.

Marnik walked back towards her, pressing his hands together before looking her in the eyes, "You can hate me... just let me keep you safe."

Carisa curled back into a ball and didn't answer, hearing him walk closer until standing in front of her. His tail wrapping around one of her legs, "You should head to sleep, I'll, keep a lookout."

He walked off back to look out if anyone had caught sight of them. Some zombies walked by unaware of the vehicle and continued on their way while others lingered around the area. He'd peek out towards her every few minutes finding her sleeping soundly.

The smell of rotting flesh hitting his nose. He got up from his seat looking at the hatch, looking at Carisa to make sure she was asleep before slowly twisting it open. Getting out and closing it on his way, his eyes glistening in the dark. Slowly creepy towards the zombies, it felt like it had been forever since he'd been out like this.

Grabbing the things head he squished it and bit into its neck, as the blood dripped down and stained his clothes. His eyes snapping in a direction to see light. Moving through the trees and slowly coming closer. His eyes lingering on it letting the zombie fall dead to the ground. The sound it made making the far light halt.

Creeping towards it he watched his step, closing in on it to finally spot the humans walking. It looked to be a group consisting of four people. Two men and two women one of the women seemed injured and limping. He didn't care what they did as long as they stayed away from Carisa.

Climbing up a tree he got the upper ground, watching them for a while turning in circles on the same spot. Only catching the attention of zombies to them. The limping woman getting bit and screaming, as the other three left her. She yells for help slowly drowning until completely ceasing.

Marnik looked at the other tree slowly getting closer to the vehicle. And when they caught sight of it they panicked enough time for him to walk up behind them. His taller figure looking down on them, grabbing them by the neck and dragging them away as they struggled.

Their eyes wide and the screams choked out of them. Their attempt to shoot at him a failure from how much their hands shook. Just as he was about to squeeze one last time he stopped. He looked at the vehicle before turning back to them. He needed test subjects now that things changed, and these three would be the first. Knocking them unconscious he threw them up against a tree, the zombies that listened running or walking towards them.

He didn't care if they got bit he needed them infected, needed to see if the experiments he'd managed could work. Opening the door to the vehicle he saw Carisa sitting up awake.

"What were the screams?" She asked.

"Unwanted visit." He said and hoped in closing the door, picking one of the boxes they brought and digging through it. Taking some syringes, equipment, and a gun.

Carisa's eyes lingered on the weapon before looking up at Marnik, "Did they attack first?"

"No... they just crossed a line, don't go outside, the place is crawling with infected. I'll be back in a while." He turned around and opened the door shooting a zombie who attempted to get in. His head having a giant hole down the center, "Stay inside." He repeated as he closed the door.

Seeing the people he threw aside getting their limbs eaten up. Shooting the zombies before they could kill them he looked at the three syringes he grabbed. Making sure they all had been infected he dug his nails into their skin to mark them and identify who had been injected with what.

He got them up in the trees and patching the wounds up as he tied them to the trunk. When coming down he caught sight of Carisa on top of the vehicle, the hatchet open while she walked on top and looked down at the zombies.

"What did I tell you?" He said, climbing on top and standing next to her.

"They can't get me up here." she replied, catching sight of the people tied, "What are you doing to them?"

"An experiment, if it works, at least one of them should be cured, if it doesn't, I blow their heads off." He pushed her lightly back inside before heading in himself, it was soon to be morning.

"You make it hard to accept you when you do things like this." Carisa told him, and looked out watching the zombies roam, "Everyone's just trying to survive, and you along with the rest of your kind... make that impossible."

Marnik crossed his hands, "I know we didn't make the best of choices in the past, I know I'm not making the best ones now... but what I'm doing is to get a cure for you. And once I do... we're leaving this planet behind."