Apocalypse

5: Ryan Walker, Marine

"Who are you?" I raised my bow a bit higher. This guy could be infected and I don't know it.

"I'm not infected." He said nervously.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

He put his arms down.

"I could ask the same thing to you. Not to mention you might be infected." He took a step towards me and I dropped my bow then whipped out my knife. I pressed it up to his throat.

"You're not the one asking the questions here." I said through clenched teeth.

There was no longer fear in his eyes. Just anger and confidence.

"Ryan Walker."

"Why are you here?" I asked again.

I was told there were no more people in California. That it had all been bombed. The only explanation was that he came from Oregon or Nevada, but no person in their right mind would take that hike.

"I happened to be dummy hunting and came upon this area." He answered.

"Did you just call me a dummy?" I pushed the knife closer.

"No. That's a dummy." He was looking at something behind me.

I heard a groaning and whipped around. A bloody creeper was limping towards me.

I stabbed it in the eye and whipped back around to put the knife back on his throat.

Dummies must've been zombies.

"You're coming back to camp with me." I pulled his shirt towards my crossbow and I picked it up.

"Wait, I have some stuff in my bag. I dropped it. Can I bring it?" He asked.

I pulled him back towards the trees where he came out. A large duffel bag laid on the ground. I picked it up and we headed back to camp.

I pinned his arms behind his back so he couldn't fight back.

We walked for a while in silence, then I had to ask him some questions.

"Why would you be creeper hunting?" I asked.

"You mean dummy hunting." He corrected.

"Creepers and dummies are the same thing." I said.

"No they're not. Creepers are the evolved zombies, dummies are just, well, the dumb zombies."

This was confusing.

"Why were you hunting for them?" I asked.

"For food."

"Food? Are you crazy?! You would get infected if you ate them!" I scolded.

He laughed. "You know nothing about getting infected, do you?"

We were approaching the main house. I had to come up with a quick excuse for being out in the forest. They couldn't get mad at me, right?

I saw the fire had burned down to ambers and everyone was rushing around frantically. Jim was sitting on the porch, his head in his hands.

Debbi saw me approaching.

"There she is!" She called out.

Jim looked up. Tears streaked his face.

He rushed over to me and pulled me into an embrace, barely noticing Ryan.

"Where were you?" He whispered.

Everyone had gathered around.

"I had to get out."

"You should've told us." Luther scolded.