The Forest

The 3 chapter in my book of horror and friendship.

            Then, in an instant, I was back in reality. The sounds of horror came roaring through my ears once more. I picked myself back up off the blood stained streets and headed for the walls. One last hurdle to freedom and possible safety, I ran past one portion of the wall and then the next. I could see it, the world beyond; it was beautiful compared to the solitude and confinement that I had come to know. Then I saw the true unspeakable horror of what was truly happening. I should have expected this from the government. They weren’t providing safety and freedom; they were rounding up the survivors and throwing them into vans and military vehicles and jeeps.  

            They were loud and scary. They grabbed us and threw us aside, like the Nazis with the Jews and their concentration camps. I saw a man running towards me, an EPA agent, probably coming to throw me aside, as though we were trash. Then the man that saved me earlier had appeared, to save me again. He grabbed me and pushed the agent aside, then led me into the forest that was near the city. The forest had been a ravaged field for years because the workers had nearly tore all of it down, but it had recently began to grow back after all these years.

            “Keep running! Don’t stop �" you can’t stop! Follow me! I’ll get you to safety!”

The man had spoken to me as if I had known him all my life. But his voice was very unsettling, as though I was not to follow this man.  

            We had finally gotten away from the horrors of the city, but the horror itself was not going to stop anytime soon. Although the forest did seem much calmer, compared to the raging city, and it seemed to go on forever

            “How �" huh �" much longer do we have to run?” I said with much exhaustion. “This should be good here, we should be safe.” He said to me. “Gee, for a 14 year old, you sure aren’t much of a runner, huh?” “Well how old are you?” I said back in an aggravated tone. “16. What’s your name, by the way?” “Mike, Mike Jones.” I answered hesitantly. He said back in a proud voice “Nice to meet you, Mike. I’m John, but my friends call me Shade, after my stealthy personality.” “Are you alone?” I asked quietly. John had a saddened look on his face as he said “I’m not sure.

            “What do you mean,” I questioned him, “you haven’t heard from them?” His saddened look turned to an aggravated and angry look, “They took some of them, the feds. When the outbreak happened we were ready, but, we weren’t ready for the government to take us. They took five of my friends and the last three of us escaped back

into the city. We then decided we weren’t going to be taken by those b******s, and we began to look alternate routes out of the city, you know, sewers lines, underground tunnels, you get the picture. But I guess the feds didn’t want any of those things getting out of the city and infecting other people, so they sealed all of the possible routes of escape, barred up, barricaded, you get the idea. We finally had no choice but to make a break for it, by running with the others. When people began to flood out of the city, we followed, but, we were separated in madness. The chaos was so big, we had no way of knowing if we would live, or die. That’s when I saw a helpless kid cry for help and I drew my pistol and saved him.”

            “Oh, you’re talking about me �" hey! I was not completely helpless! I had my pocket knife on me and I could have saved myself!”

“A pocket knife isn’t gonna do it. You need something bigger, a machete at least, or better, a gun.” He pulled out a large, well-polished machete; it only had a few spots of blood on it. “It’s my grandfathers. It was a cherished heirloom for Vietnam, but I’ve decided it has a better purpose then just hanging on a wall.”

            He stood there with a tough-looking smile on his face and said “Come on. I know of small town with a nice weapons shop just on the other side of this forest.”

 

                                   ~

            We had traveled for about an hour, my legs were killing me, and we came to a sudden stop in front of a river bed. John stopped me and told me to follow him but be quiet. I didn’t know what was wrong or what got him so surprised. We lurched forwards towards the river bed and I had begun to hear a faint sound. It sounded hungry and like it was eating. We pocked our heads out of the tall bushes and peered out over the river bed. “Look, out over there, a zombie!” I glanced over but turned my head back as a whiff of rotten meat caught me by surprise. I coughed in disgust and John quickly covered my mouth and quietly whispered to me “SHHHH! Do you want it to hear us?! I know it smells bad but you’ll have to ignore it. Do you have any knowledge of killing?” I nodded my head back at him, still trying not to breathe in. “OK good, now, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to creep up while its back is turned and kill it in one blow.” he instructed me as he handed his machete.

            I shot him a “dude, are you crazy!?” look and I guess he got the message. “Don’t worry, I have your back.” I crept out of the bushes and thought to myself, “This guy is nuts.” I walked silently along the soft sand of the beach, the water covering my sounds. I crept up behind the zombie and I was almost ready to vomit, drew back the machete and in an instant the zombie got up of the ground, turned, and began to lurch towards me. I froze up for a second and then John yelled at me to swing, I loosened up my muscles and swung the machete. I hit it right in the side of its skull, blood spewing out from the gash.

            The machete slid out of the wound and blood spit out on me, hitting me right in the face. I couldn’t hold back and vomited. I wiped of my mouth and face in disgust. Then an unfamiliar voice spoke aloud, “Dang it! You ruined my observation subject.” A man then jumped out of a nearby tree. He was cloaked in green to hide himself. “Why did you have to go and kill it? That was my subject that I was studying.”

Author's Note

um, i dont have one, haha