Again with this damn bitch.
First, she shoots me. Then, she shoves an ax in my god damn shoulder. It's like she's prone to injuring me or something.
Running through the woods, my arm is throbbing like a damn disco floor. I grip it with my hand and I feel the warm blood running through my fingers but try to stay calm and aware. I know that the community isn't far off, and I can surely make it there safely as long as I stay in the secluded woods away from the zombies.
I've come across a few, however, I can run a hell of a lot faster than them. I'm more focused on trying not to pass out than anything else right now, and I finally reach a clearing in the trees.
I see the cars blocking the road and the lights from the walls blazing down hotly on the street, illuminating the cars and my final obstacle towards hope.
I reach the cars and try to start climbing, but my arm can't do it. I raise it up an inch and it fucking burns so badly. A loudspeaker kicks on and a man states, "Stop advancing right now, or we will have to shoot."
I don't give a shit, I think to myself. I keep advancing through the cars, wincing through the pain. "This is your final warning," the voice on the loudspeaker warns, but then stops. Another voice comes through the loudspeaker.
It's Chris. "Steven, have you been bitten?" he asks.
I raise my arm and try to speak as loud as I can. "NO," I scream out. "Please, let me in! For the love of God, I'm going to die!"
The gate begins to open and Chris rushes over to me just as I black out.
☠
I open my eyes to the flooding, bright light of the infirmary. I try to put the sheets over my eyes to block out the light, but no luck. I wait for a while and finally, Chris enters the room, smiling but with a somewhat fake one.
"Hey, man," Chris remarks. "Your shoulder took one hell of a beating. I'm surprised you could make it back."
I try to force a smile and push myself up to a sitting position, but it isn't possible. It hurts too much. "Well," I tell him, "I'm one hell of a fighter. You know that."
"I sure do," he says, then gets up and stares out the window for quite some time. Finally, the silence is broken again when he asks me, "Where did you go?"
"What?" I ask him, confused as to why it matters really.
"I said," he replies, "where the fuck did you go? We had a mission, Steven, and you abandoned us. Sure, we made it work without you but we still lost a couple of men in the process. You could have helped us stop that."
I turn my head down and stare at the sheets for a while. "I'm sorry," I reply.
"You're sorry?" he asks me, with anger in his tone. "You're fucking sorry? That's worth shit, Steven. You listen to me, and you listen to me closely." He begins to approach my bed, and then plops down at the end of it, staring intently at me. "I'm going to let this one slide because I never really explained how things work around here, but understand this. If you ever fucking embarrass me like that again, I'll make sure that the zombies will be the last of your damn worries. Do you understand?"
I've never been intimidated like this before, and it angers me to my core, but I know that I have to accept it. "Yes," I reply meekly. "I understand."
He closes his eyes and breathes deeply, then steps off the bed. "Good," he replies with a smile that is almost too quick to reveal itself. "Well, try to rest up as long as you feel necessary, and then once you feel that you can help out within the community again, come and find me."
I breathe in, and it feels like I'm holding it until he has left the room. Once he's out, I breathe out and close my eyes, turning my head back towards the ceiling. I fall asleep faster than I'm expecting and wake up again to bright light once again. However, it's not as overwhelming so I can tell that dusk is on its way.
I push myself off of the bed easier than my earlier attempt, and bring myself to my feet. I walk over to the window and notice Chris standing in the street talking to a girl. As my eyes begin to slowly focus, I realize the girl looks familiar to me. Almost too familiar, in fact.
My heart stops and I know it's her. The girl who left Elizabeth.
I fling the infirmary door open and run down the stairs as fast as my body can handle, praying that she'll still be there when I make it down. God, this place could use a fucking elevator.
I open the door and the sunlight blinds me for a moment but I adjust rather quickly. I scan the street and notice them walking down the sidewalk. I scurry over and walk behind them.
"I don't think we've met," I announce to them rather loudly.
Both Chris and the girl turn around, and I know confidently now that it's her. Being up close to her confirms my suspicions. I smile a wide smile and look over to Chris. "Could you give us a moment?" I ask him.
"Sure," he shrugs. He smiles back to the girl and says, "I'll see you in a couple hours, Jess. I'm glad you're back." He walks off again down the sidewalk.
I watch him for a while and wait until he is out of hearing distance, then I look back to her and smile again. "I know what you did," I tell her. She looks at me with worry and confusion.
"What do you mean?" she asks me. I don't know if she knows who I am, or she's just suspicious but either way her world is about to come crashing down.
"You left Elizabeth. You guys were in the woods and you left her." She begins to turn her eyes down, trying to hide her shock but I continue to press. "And you know what I did when you left?" Her eyes turn up to me in shock. "I raped her," I respond.
"No," she says. "No, you didn't." I smile and laugh, knowing that I got under her skin now. "Yes," I respond, "and now you and I both have a secret in common. So, you're going to help me."
She looks intently into my eyes, fear and frustration both at play as she says, "Continue."