Human inside

If the wolves outnumber you, you would run, because they go for a kill. But if you outnumber the wolf, would you become a wolf yourself and kill him?

Kaden couldn't bring himself to sleep that night. Where did we ended up? As soon as he noticed the dawn, he got up. He exited the house and started walking toward the backyard of the house. He almost slipped, before he noticed the edge in front of him. The house was standing at the side of a huge crater. Right in the middle, there was a big rock, and lot of small ones around it. It was a meteor.

- Holly s**t! - Dean was standing behind him. - Is that a meteor?

- No way! - Donny and Frankie came out of the house. Kara was holding Frankie's hand.

- They lied even about the earthquakes! - Kaden laughed ironically. - It was a meteor shower! Of course... Radioactive meteor shower! Hence the steel wall, and the virus mutation... And we walked right into the centre of it all!

- The wall was there to stop the radiation... - Dean looked enlightened. - And we...

- The radiation lowers your immune system, so you're easier to get sick. - They all looked at Frankie. - We must go back! Go the other way! - She kept staring at her brother and then she looked at Kara's hand. - And fast! 

Again, the silence filled the air as they came back to the city. Black smoke was still raising from one of the districts. Steel gate was sealed and Kaden suggested they enter the city through the tunnels, to take supplies, if anything survived. They found a shaft near the tree, quite easily. The bombing probably lifted the dirt and the hooks were now sticking out. Kaden and the twins entered the tunnel. It was tight and dark, but one of the brothers had a flash light. Tunnel narrowed, and they found themselves in the air vent system inside the military base. Strong smell of rotten meat splashed them, as they climbed down in one of the storage units. Kaden wanted to find the medical section, because they told him about Kara's wound. It has gotten worse since the radiation lowered her immune system. For now, it wasn't changing. Today was the seventh day of their escape. Kara is most probably infected, but Kaden was suspicious about Dean, too. His finger turned black, and Kaden gave both him and Kara the serum. It would only slow down the disease, Kaden remembered Gawenth's words. Kara's state wasn't changing, couple of coughs, exhaustions, and nothing serious, but Dean did have a couple of changes. Kaden noticed his twitches, becoming more often. The veins on his neck turned horribly black. His eyes would sometimes become red, like he has been crying for days. Kaden cursed himself for not giving another serum to Dean, just before they entered the city togehter. They covered their mouths with the necks of their shirts, to lower the risk of infection. 

Kaden almost immediately found the medical unit, and thankfully it was still intact. Doors were whole and it seemed the storage survived the bombing. He took a pass from one of the corpses in the hallway, and his look fell onto the gun besides it. For a second he hesitated. Dean and Donny were in the food storage and Kaden was all alone in the hall. He picked up the gun and realized it was fully loaded. Reluctantly he put it in his pants, beneath his shirt and got into the unit. Everything was scattered. Boxes and empty vials on the floor, fridge and cupboards open wide. Kaden hoped that something was left for them. It was. He found sterile syringes and medications for fever and flu. The serum Gawent gave him was nowhere to be found. He stuffed everything in his backpack and exited the storage. Donny and Dean exited the food unit with their backpacks filled with food. 
- It was scattered, this is everything good that's left... - Kaden noticed shakiness in Donny's voice. Dean twitched suddenly. It was the biggest one yet. It threw him into the wall. His eyes rolled over and for a second they were completely white. Then they rolled back all red. Deans veins were sticking out of his skin, black as tar. Donny and Kaden slowly backed away from Dean.

Dean's mouth overflowed with spit. His demented look wandered around the hall, like he was seeing it for the first time. He slid down the wall, onto the floor, sniffing like an animal. Suddenly he screamed, looking like he was in huge pains. Then he calmed down, slowly crawling towards the corpse on the floor. He took a deep breath, and then turned his insane gaze onto Donny and Kaden. 

- Dean...? - Donny whispered.

The creature's eyes turned back to normal, as he looked around himself in confusion. Then, just as sudden, it came back and walked straight towards Kaden. He pulled out the gun and fired. It happened in a second, but it was the only thing to do. Donny stood there, unable to believe, unable to grasp onto what happened. Dean fell on the ground, as Kaden shoot him in the chest. That didn't bother him too much, 'cause he tried to get up again. Kaden fired again. This time, he aimed for the head.

Kaden went out first from the shaft. Then Donny. His shirt covered in blood. When Dean didn't go out, Frankie groaned. She knew in what condition was Dean in when he entered, and Gawent told her about the symptoms. Dean was infected, and the serum didn't help him. Something happened in the city. Maybe the flesh scent woke up the virus in him. Seeing a gun in Kaden's belt, she knew. He was the one to pull the trigger. Dean barely spoke a word to her since their kiss, but she grew fond of him. Seeing Kaden's and Donny's face being dark, she decided not to say anything. Not to ask anything. Donny was shaken, but he managed to hide it. He carried Dean's backpack and it was filled with food. Kaden then gave another serum to Kara.

- Why isn't she infected? - Donny stared at Kaden with watering eyes.

- Dean touched her wound, right? - Donny nodded. - And neither me or Frankie got infected?

- Yes.

- We were probably one of the carriers in the city...

- And since mother was infected, we probably carried father's gene for immunity... or the tetanus shot he gave us little after mom died... - Frankie continued Kaden's thread of thoughts. - But he wouldn't do that... Kaden?

- That crossed my mind,too. He did say wheels are in motion, and how he wanted to secure our future. Maybe he gave us the cure, or some serum of immunity, so no one would try to kill us,once we're out. So they accept us in another city. So we can survive...

- But where did he got it from? The Resistance?

- Why not? They probably had labs and doctors in their service, and maybe he stole the cure, or someone gave it to him... That's the one thing we will never know.

- What about Kara's wound? - Donny stared at the girl, as she was the only one responsible for Dean's death. 

- Something bit Kara, like a spider or a mosquito... - Kaden was still setting up the bags.

- A butterfly. - Kara remembered her little visitor. It glowed in the dark and it was the most beautiful thing she saw. Also the deadliest. - A butterfly bit me...

- The bite created an opened wound that couldn't heal. That's how Dean was infected. Given your immunity, when your class got infected, you didn't... - Everyone was listening to Kaden, almost not breathing in fear they might miss something. - We were the carriers this whole time, for the type that's transferred with blood or over the wounds... And chips never registered it, 'cause we were immune... Donny mustn't touch our wounds at any time.

He zipped the backpack in his hand and placed it on his back. Everyone saw determination in his eyes. - We must continue forward. Can't waist time. There would be another city near  and we must find it... Maybe our blood can actually do some help, so me must go on... Leave all of this behind, and never look back. 

Without anyone noticing, a wolf approached them with a growl. They all backed away, and Kaden relied his hand on the cold, steel hand grip of his gun. As the wolf made a step forward, they noticed he was limping on the front paw. He could still be infected. Wolf made another step forward, showing them his canines and Kaden slowly pulled out the gun. He aimed it at the animal, but he didn't want to fire it. It was an injured animal, but if he attacks, Kaden will shoot. He didn't wanted to kill it for no reason. Wolf stood still for a minute and then started moving left, towards the shaft in the ground. He jumped inside the tunnel, following the scent of blood and food. He was just like them, Frankie thought. His own daemons chased him all the way out here. Out in this vast empty world, their souls crossed paths. He was beautiful in his own way. Trying to find his place in these wastelands. Free, with nothing to go back to. Loaner and a seeker for a better life. For a place to stay and eat. Away from the terror. From all the pain. From all the suffering. From steel cages and whips of control... Away from hell...

Reviews

[Craig2591]

This is a wonderful story! I really got caught up in it and worried about the characters, especially little Kara.

I like the part about the soldier being unsure just before the riot. I think you should develop that more and maybe even make the soldier be one of the characters and make him feel sorry for the citizens, but he must obey his orders. His inner conflict would make an interesting side story. Just a suggestion. : )

The encounter with the wolf at the end was a nice touch.

[TheSweet]

The little ending section with the wolf certainly gave it the finality it needed and I like how it's been left how it is. I do think the explanation to it all seems a bit sudden and logical, though, it seemed to break from the characters. Perhaps you could slow this bit down and think how they would all say it, rather than them all being on the same wavelength at the same time and things - make it more of a growing process of understanding.

I love the call backs to the simple things that didn't seem important at the time like the butterfly and the earthquakes - classic writing technique. The transition between these last two chapters are the ones that flow best, though I think. It sometimes seemed a bit jarry because each chapter was a new place with a new character happening at a later date - it never really just continues immediately - which especially for a short story - might make a nicer flow. But that's something to think for a future project :)

Overall, I did really like the story. I've genuinely read Zombie Anthologies with many published stories with similar themes to this that are not even as good. Given an editor, this could easily be in an anthology and be better than many of the other stories.

Thanks so much for sharing, and appologies for taking so long to read it. All the best, hope anything I said is useful! :)