The Fallen Party Member

No one is safe

This feels like we are on our way to storm a castle with our group. Despite that we were going to get swarmed by the undead in every direction I felt confident enough that I forgot I had a gun. There were two clips left including the one in the gun but I assume I wouldn’t be fast enough to reload so I plan on using my machete. Before Mackenzie came down a boy with red hair came up to me and looked at me and smiled. He noticed my machete and shook his head, he ran into a back room that was close to the door that the undead was breaking down and he came back into sight and stopped and turned towards the door and flipped it off and was holding onto a sword his smile was even brighter. “A good leader, especially with this big of a group should carry a sword, it would look so cool in stories. Take this it’s a katana, don’t know what type though but it’s cool looking and it fits you.” He handed me the sword and it had a black case with a sling and the as I unsheathed the sword I notice that the sword was also black with a wooden handle.

 

 

I accepted the gift and ask the guy’s name and he replied with Kyle and he wanted to help me with the front line. At first, I said no but he persuaded me saying that he was skilled in a fight and Ray vouched for Kyle but also gave Kyle a weird while he wasn’t looking. Either way, I really liked the sword, I give it a couple of practice swings and it was quick and light but it was also sharp and deadly, perfect for this case. I welcomed Kyle and told everyone to move out, everyone assumed their position and we stepped outside to see Mackenzie, I asked if she could watch our backs and she nodded and moved to the rear flank. She was different somehow, doesn’t matter now we set off to certain death. I raised my new sword and pointed in the direction that we are heading towards. The undead started knowing the potential buffet and shambled towards us. The newly undead were approaching faster than the older ones and with a flick of my wrist, I was able to decapitate one while Kyle bashes another with a cricket bat and Ray coming below with her spear to stab the chin region with the tip pointing towards the brain. It all happened quickly that we came up with a routine.

 

As we went along we tried not to go too fast or else we would get separated from the group. Kyle was smiling throughout all of this while Ray was looking like a ghost, as for me I was in between because I’m either going to get torn alive or I’m going to rescue a lot of kids. Either way, we were fighting for our lives and this was like the adults fighting the undead in the beginning. This felt like a historical event, it was exhilarating. If only we were moving so fast that was not the best part of this plan. The people with Siron in the middle were carrying Paul and were struggling because he was heavy for a guy his age. As much as Kyle was enjoying the killing spree he looked also annoyed that we were going too slow and I silently agreed with him but I didn’t want to think about the choice that could help us.

 

Even with the extra luggage, everything was going smoothly. Until someone tripped.

 

All I heard was a scream and a thumped, I took a risk and looked back and saw that we have stopped because someone fell and brought the whole group down, now we were surrounded and couldn’t lift him back up. Everyone was yelling and it was hard to understand, so I followed what they do in movies. I lifted my sword to signify where I was, like a rally and I shouted for everyone fighting to form a circle around the group. Everyone did that and I can hear Jeremy yell, “What’s going on?” the sound that his voice was barely heard because the panic that we created had made the zeds become more volatile towards us and kept swarming us. I didn’t know what to do but with my adrenaline bursting into my system I sliced as many heads as I could see then rushed into the group and picked up most of Paul the other parts of him was dragging onto the ground. I was struggling and the sound of my grunts was louder than the dead’s moans. I kept on and Kyle was right by my side taking down twice as many people and all I heard for the distance was the cracks of skulls that Kyle was dealing and my hoarse breathings.

 

We were moving faster which pleased everyone and everyone was doing their jobs which please me as I’m carrying Paul he started squirming and I hear him say “Ow” but he doesn’t wake up despite the noise going on around him and I assume he said something was because he finally felt the pain that I caused him which I still need to apologize later.

 

I can see the tree tops and that means we are almost out of here. Hopefully, my friends are safe and I hope that Lexi’s ok.

I didn’t realize that getting to the trees involves going uphill, every step I took up involved me struggling to move my legs. My muscles were burning and aching and the adrenaline was wearing off. Eventually, everyone else was helping me because the zeds were also struggling to climb the hill so the numbers kept diminishing and the panic level of the group also dropped every second we weren’t surrounded by certain death. Once we got to the top I collapsed onto the floor and looked up onto the night sky.

 

Everybody around him was also tired but they weren't carrying a life-size Paul around their shoulders. Some were happy that they got out while others were still dazed by what just happened. Jeremy was by a nearby tree wheezing, for a man who is all stealthy like, he really doesn't like physical exertion. While he's half dead, Ray and her people were together, contemplating what to do next? They've probably lived off of that town and since we came they were forced to move out. But it's not our fault, we didn't steer the horde towards us. Where did they come from anyway? I've never seen anything like this and who knows who've gotten against this group, we probably almost ended up like those who did. This wasn't skill, this was all based on luck.

 

Once I got my breathing down to a suitable pace I stood up and went over to Ray's group, they were all huddled next to Paul, at first I saw that some were crying. I assumed it was because the shock was wearing off but once I got closer to Paul I notice his hand.

 

His left hand, the one hand that was being dragged, the skin layer was torn off and there were multiple scratches and the thing that made me stop was teeth marks on the wrist. The skin was open with the teeth marks but that doesn't mean that the virus wasn't in Paul. That must've been what the pain he was feeling to make him conscious for a couple of seconds. The thing that stopped me wasn't the fact that he was bitten but that this was my fault, if I didn't kick open the door earlier and hit Paul he would probably be awake and virus clean in his body. Also, the fact that Paul could come back was also an issue but Ray and her crew doesn't know that. I casually walked backward to Jeremy and pulled him back into the world of planet earth and not whatever he was thinking about.

 

"What's up?" He asked as he sluggishly came to, I told him my problem with Paul and the part with Raven being bitten and coming back. Jeremy's eye shot up once he realized what was going on. He said, "You mean to tell me that we can get infected now? Before now we could get bit and if we, unfortunately, died of a different type of infection we don't come back! now, your telling me that's changed?" I took my time with Jeremy because he was also looking at the group and back to me and was slowly putting the two pieces together. I told him "I'm not entirely sure what's going on anymore, all I know is if this is true then we need to keep an eye on him if and when he wakes up." Jeremy nodded his head and stood up with me and we both casually walked back to the group.

 

Then one of them said that Paul was moving, that he was waking up.

 

Only he wasn't human anymore.

 

Paul used his bad hand to grab a hold of a little kid and pulled the kid towards Paul. The kid tried to fight back but he was weak against Paul and Jeremy and I were too far away to help. I pulled out my sword and Jeremy had his knife out, but it was Ray to saved the boy. Ray punched the zombie Paul in the temple and that blow was able to stun Paul enough to release the boy but also turned to Ray and leaped towards her. She fell backward onto the grass, pushing Paul back and was frantically trying to reach her spear.

 

She didn't get it.

 

Siron did. She grabbed Ray's spear and jammed the tip into the back of the head. Then Paul went still and flopped down and landed on the right side of Ray. Once Ray was able to push Paul away from her she grabbed her spear from Siron and stabbed Paul multiple times with her spear, she was crying louder and louder with each piercing sound the spear made entering Paul's body. After a while Mackenzie walks up to Ray to stop, once Ray felt Mackenzie’s touch she dropped the spear and tucked her face on and cried as much as she can, in a couple of seconds you can see the sleeve drenched in tears. While Ray was expressing her emotions on the outside Siron was holding her emotions in, she was frozen. She kept looking at her hands, this must've been her first time using a weapon against others, I didn't dare step forward, mostly because I didn't know what to say. I just waited it out with Jeremy.

 

Once everything quieted down I announced that we were leaving to rescue our friends. We turned around and started walking, Jeremy hesitated but followed behind. Once we started to walk away we heard a voice, "Wait." I turned around and I see Mackenzie and Andrew coming up towards us, I didn't know what they planned on doing but maybe they wanted to say goodbye. Mackenzie said, "I'm coming with you." Jeremy was the one who declined her offer, "You don't have to, you should take care of your people." I agreed with Jeremy, "We appreciate your offer but we need to go now." She smiled and pushed us forward, "Then I guess we should get going. Andrew tells Ray what's going on once she calms down." Andrew nodded his head and gave us a salute and walked back towards Ray and the rest of her group. While Mackenzie is stubborn, I'm glad that we have another person coming along. With the sun coming up we started jogging our way back to the store. Back to our group, back to Lexi and Matt and even Travis.