Infected

Chapter 14

Everything that happened at the bridge was a blur. I kept going in and out of consciousness, feeling the effects of the poison spreading throughout my body. I tried to stay awake, I really did try but it was difficult. I fainted about halfway through the bridge and I was sure we weren’t going to make it, that is, until I woke up here. Feeling weak and dizzy at the same time, I had a major headache and I could barely move. I managed to open my eyes, but I could barely hear and I definitely couldn’t speak.

                I managed to hear voices here and there, I had trouble making them out and I could only catch a few phrases of what they were saying. “We can’t…turn…infected…bite…” A few words that made me shiver, or try to shiver as I couldn’t move. I blacked out after someone came in the room where I was. They were carrying something I couldn’t quite see. It could’ve been a knife, an axe, even a glass of water? I wouldn’t know.

                I had a dream that night; at least I think it was a dream. I wasn’t quite sure in my current state. I had a dream that when I woke up, I was infected. I wasn’t me, I wasn’t Austin, I was an infected. I bit Linda, Parker, Alyson, and Briana. I turned them all. We were to roam the earth like all the others, mindless walking cannibalistic beings of pure destruction. We were walking with all the other infected, looking for people, for food. When I heard a voice, a voice I never thought I would hear again.

                “Austin,” the voice said, sounding much like Linda. I turned my head towards her decaying form. She was looking straight at me with those red eyes that were void of emotion and life. “Austin…” Her dead body said again. I didn’t know what to do, I was dead, what did you expect of me. “Wake up…” Again it said, with those yellow rotten, decayed teeth.

                I wish I could’ve asked her what she meant by that, but I was awoken by a shake to my right shoulder. I slowly got pulled of out my dream, every infected fading away as if they were made of sand, being taken away by the wind. The last that remained was Linda, until she too faded away, and then I woke up. Slowly opening my eyes, I came face to face with Linda. If I could utter a single word, they would all be of joy, but since I couldn’t, all I did was cry. I felt the teat slide down my face, I felt Linda’s thumb swipe it away and I felt a tear drop on my cheek.

                Linda was crying. I wish I could comfort her, I really wish I could but I couldn’t and that made me cry even more. “You should’ve just left me you stupid boy!” Linda said through each whimper, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “Why couldn’t you have just left me…” she said again, quieter this time, but still audible. “Why…”

                I tried raising my hand, but to no avail it didn’t lift. I tried speaking, but nothing came out. If I felt like this, I wonder how Jace managed when he was bit. “Don’t speak, you’ll make it worse.” Linda stated, caressing my cheek while tears slid down her face.

                “How you holding up?” Parker said behind her as he walked into the room. His eyes bulged out of their sockets when he looked at me. I must have looked a mess, my skin was probably already turning grey and I didn’t even want to know about my eyes. “Austin…” Was all that Parker said before he left the room without another word. I didn’t even hold it against him; I would have done the same thing.

                Everything was starting to black out. My eyelids were getting heavy; the corners of my eyes were fading to black. I knew that at that moment, that what I was seeing would be the last thing I saw as a human. Linda took notice to my current state too. “I’m sorry,” She said while starting to get up. She looked down at me and gave me a kiss on the cheek before she walked out of the room. I blacked out after that, losing myself into a deep slumber I knew I would never awake from.

                *Authors Message* Well this is the second to last chapter. Both this chapter and next chapter are going to be super short because I have nothing else to put. Say goodbye to Austin, Linda, Parker, Alyson, and Briana. Who knows, I might write a sequel to this with someone else’s perspective and probably even be able to switch POV’s once I master that art.