3 A Major Losing Streak

070627

08:19

D A Y 2 7 1 6 S.P

D A Y 1 1 2 6 S.A

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My head'S never been empty before. There's always a thought in my mind but now there's no time to think, it's only do or die. A tall and slim figure with a frighteningly uncomfortable stance is quivering behind me. He spoke, it isn't a monster. My hands waver back behind my head, I can feel my breathing pick up and the two behind me approach my side quickly. Both of them now holding a weapon to my back. Was this planned?

"Listen!" I stutter quickly. My mouth running faster than I can think. What do I say?

"What the fuck? Where did she come from?"

"Barlie! Put the gun down, now!" Shouting echoes through the wood, and I can feel my head rush and my eyes roll back for a moment as I rush to my feet with my hands in the air. Too quick, I got up too quickly.

"She's sick! Infected!" The slim figure in blue denim jeans and a red flannel cries out to his two friends, almost as if he is trying to justify holding a gun to my head. One shot away from ending a life. My vision pulls through again and the first destination my eyes reach is the trigger, his finger itching at it. His second hand holding the barrel of the rifle anxiously. If he fires there's a forty percent chance he'll shoot right above my hand, or fuck up his shoulder. Either that or kill me.

The darker man, I can see lower his weapon in the corner of my right eye, and approach me at my side but about a meter away. Too close. "No Barlie, she's low on iron. We all are."

"You don't get iron from the sun!"

The more tanned man backs me up and lowers his gun too, holding his hands out in front of him to try and get this Barlie kid to cool down. He is young, too young to be holding that thing, let along even know what it is. I haven't seen a boy this young and for a while. His jawline and collar bones stick out of his body, his wrists at the base of the rifle are small too. A common effect on people due to the lack of sunlight we all get nowadays. The people rely on Vitamin D supplements and an injection that was specially developed outside of Alland to replicate and allow our skin to be able to synthesize Vitamin D without the light. All none permanent forms of lifeline. I move my view from the gun to his eyes. The bottom half of his face is covered by a camo designed crappy mask that sits over a proper medical mask. Young kids nowadays have to turn everything into a fashion statement.

The bridge of his nose is spotted with dark brown freckles that shower all over his thin facial features. His forehead, not too big but still covered by a head of dying strawberry blond hair. It covers his pointed ears too, and I don't see any facial hair. His whole facial structure is similar to a foxes, except his eyes are wide and gazing down at his trigger finger instead of the person he's about to shoot. "Barlie, we aren't out here to kill survivors, mate. We are looking for food."

"There's a cattle shortage, Barlie. You're hungry for food, not blood." The darker figure steps into view, his hand out firmly grabbing the end of the rifle. His arm is sleeveless, unlike his other one that is covered in a heavily coated fabric. His chest and back are padded up to the brim, as well as his knees. His dark leather boots rise up to his shins with an uncountable amount of laces and he wears a red maroon-like jumper under the jacket and padding. He is thin too, but has more meat on his bones that the others. "Now, give. Me. The gun." His voice would be terrifying to those who work under him, like this Barlie kid for example. My eyes don't leave his face, his eyes wonder everywhere but my own.

"I told you not to give it to him, he's a trigger happy maniac that's only good at COD."

Marching forward in front of my cold body, the padded up man clenches down into the gun with one hand and used his other to shove the boy backwards. The two exchange a few cuss words before finally diverting questions to me. It seems like they've been separated for a while, seeing as the sun is up and all. The second man arches around me and meets the other two in front, I stand my ground. My blade on the ground under my foot and the corpse behind me. Not a good start.

"Where do you come from? Which settlement?" Typical first question, heard it before ten times already.

"Nowhere. I'm from nowhere."

"You have to be from somewhere," The kid whines in front of me. His tanned friend, the comedic sounding one searching our surrounding, gun in hand to make sure we are alone. The beautiful orange and red colors of the trees dims into a grey-ish blue color, as the storm picks up. Lightening can be heard a while away and the rain blocks out all the sound around us but the wavering trees. Darkness is already great to travel in, but the night is more preferred than a dark storm. The sun could pop out at any given moment in time.

"Do you have a name?"

"Wrench is what it is! We shouldn't be out here, she'll follow us back! We don't have enough food for her mouth."

A fire builds up in my chest, fuelled by a ten year old brat that's too old for his age. "Abbey."

The padded man caulks an eyebrow as me, "Real or fake name?"

"Fake," I respond.

"Fair enough, we'll get it out eventually. In the mean time you have a choice. But you have to make it fast. Luca spotted a freak not too far from here and the storm will pass in no time."

Gathering himself and making sure all of his pockets and zips are locked down, he rests his gun on his shoulder, double checking that we are alone. These guys seem tough, and all business. Could I still be in Candall? How far did they send me out? Although the birch forest and whether does remind me of home, I don't see a mountain nearby. I'd have to be far north in between all four major mountainous zones. It seems unlikely to be home though, about a two days trip from the Barricade. "We're from Four. Winterlen to be precise. You heard of it?"

Settlements are scattered all across Alland, all with quirky and inappropriate names, but most title them as numbers. From the first settlement made closest to when this all began, to the newest one. One, a town known as Hillside. Fair enough, it's surrounded by hills and plains of grass and farmland. Located next to the Xina River, the cause of the all famous Xina flue of which turned into a virus that spread like wild fire. Not the one that caused this mess to appear out of the blue, though. The virus that struck our planet into a worldwide pandemic, forcing lockdown amongst everyone and restrictions that involved military enforcement, work loss and an entire breakdown of the work industry, income and government itself. When a vaccine was created the apocalypse began. A story I tell myself daily to remind myself that I'm still human. And I didn't go through four years of isolation and avoiding cold and flu symptoms to die from some sun powered freak that can't move in the dark. Two, a settlement built underground. A place I'd go back to anytime I needed to, full of the kindest of people who survive to save others. They saved me. They live in the darkness, and thrive in it too. Storm drains cut off from the world outside, although the only downfall to the people of two is the harassment and discrimination distributed from the people on land. Saying shit like 'you sewer rats belong in the ground' or 'you abandoned us for a sewer drain'. Another misunderstanding created by someone who didn't feel accepted into society, felt the need to start and uproar and bring others down with them. Long gone I'd say, I took care of him myself. Three, a high school with a campus big enough to fit six playing fields and a whole hospital. I've never been there myself but I've heard stories of the smartest doctors and scientists thriving up north at the school. Building torn down and replaced with residential areas and farmland. And occasion event for leisure in the giant arena they use for marketing. The place is a living kingdom full of all of the medical supplies to live a full healthy life, and weaponry anyone could need to fight three hordes over. Four. Winterlen. Quite similar to Hillside, just a town fenced off from the monsters outside with tall walls, four gates and fortified with towers that never miss a thing. One of the more recent settlements created in Denom-Hills. In fact all four thrive here in Denom-Hills. The thought of maintaining survival camps from old motels or convenience stores was founded in Candall, but creating whole new towns and places built for survival of this apocalyptic event was in Denom-Hills. I'm home.

Something in my brain ignites and a happy feeling fills my chest, but deep down I feel a sense of anxiousness. Do I want to be here? I feel sick. "I'm in Denom?" I manage to spit out, I need to say something or they'll get suspicious of me.

"You aren't from here?" he asks, the tone in his voice kind of ushers me to quickly decide whether or not to go with him or not. To stay in a civilised town where I could relive so many memories and possibly meet the people who brought me down. My brother. My whole family. They had the idea to flee to Hillside, a stupid idea. A base planted right next to the cause of the pandemic. 'But at least it'll keep up safe from the monsters and is sheltered off from the sun' he would winge at me. It isn't only the monsters we have to worry about, but the virus is still active as there definitely would've been people still sick and unable to obtain the vaccine, that still, fucked us all over. To keep moving, was my idea. Just myself, my brother and sister. Leaving behind the so called parents who left us behind first. He was so eager to be with them though. Why be with them? They left us in a shitty two bedroom apartment, taking my sister away for the three of them to live happily and safely from the virus in a beautifully designed isolated home, on the side of a mountain cliff with the delicate view of the ocean waves that crash along the side of the beach. Not a single call, or word. Or delivery or cent. We were left alone, no power, no food and both being unessential workers, me without a job and my brother losing his due to his fast food work being an unessential business to keep the people living during the pandemic. Bullshit I say. He would have to run underground business and sell shit and do dirty deeds to put food on the table. Anyone who was caught by a snitch or the military was imprisoned until the pandemic was over, that everyone was unsure of anyway. No word from them even after the pandemic, the first day back to school and work, the day we all got the vaccines, the day two weeks after that when people started burning like wildfire when the sun came up. I needed my mother, my father. My brother was hustling too much to even breathe around me. Then the camp. And the man who took me away from them all to become a slave, under him and his corrupt military who had planned this factory work since the pandemic began in twenty-twenty. What year is it now? Two thousand and twenty-seven?

"Ma'am?" His deep voice pulls me out of my train of thought and I flinch as the sudden gun shot fired by the friend who had been watching our surroundings. I had kept them here too long, to daydream about shit I need to forget to move on. I've killed us all. "Luka?!" He snaps his head towards the sound, not a word from his friend, he who has vanished into the wood. The rain picking up and the wind getting dangerously stronger. The trees block our view of the sky so seeing when this storm will end is impossible. Seconds after, Barlie snatched the gun from the worried man and aims it back at my skull. I can feel the tip of the barrel, cold and wet on my forehead.

"What the fuck, dude!" My heart races and my head begins to pound, I'm terrified. Quick footsteps approach us from the rear, behind the tree where I woke up.

"It's me, don't shoot!" He sounds scared, his voice cracks and his throat is all choked up like he is going to cry. He stuttured until his friend asks what had happened.

"Why did you fire, Luka!?"

"The freak! It's here! We have to go now! There's more!"

"You already shot at it! It's dark but you've basically given all of them around us an invite to brunch!" He pulls his hand through his soaked up curls, until his sight is placed upon my pale skin. More footsteps approach us, uneven and heavy. The monsters are coming. The tanned man, Luka shows an expression of disappointment in himself, he obviously looks up this this unnamed soldier. I on the other hand am fully prepared to be shot right now, if it meant an easy way out to being mauled by a monster. Barlie's finger is on the trigger, ready to push down at any moment. A simple jump scare from a monster being close by could send me off, but did I really want to die? Now? Here of all places? I had just arrive home, am I really to never make it up to my family for leaving. Or am I willing to die here to never see them again.

"Andre!" A loud and authoritative voice echoes through the forest, Luka quickly aims his gun towards a sprinting, long and dark figure darting towards him and the gunfire lights up the area around up. The light creating a shimmer in the monster's gleaming and hungry glares that surround us from behind us and to out left. The curly headed man jolts forward with his hand on top in front of the gun, aiming for the top of the barrel, and I raise my hands in the air flinching and hoping I won't be shot next. Another gun shot is fires and my ears start to ring, I can't feel my hands. Is it because of the cold? The darker man's arm is thrown back from the bullet's force and comes into contact with my neck. I tumble back in the mud forming below my boots that haven't moved in what seems like forever. The corpse dead and still on the ground behind me, forgotten and rotting makes my footing uneven and my back brutally knocked roughly against the trunk I had hid behind before this chaos had erupted. The man next to me shouts in anger, more than pain. From the blood splattered from his hand's impact to my throat, he had been shot.

"You fucking idiot, Barlie!" His gun is finally pointed to the ground. His eyes show a look that meant he had never done that before, shot someone. Shot anything. I land on my numb shoulder. Growls and hissing fill the air, louder than the rain itself. Another call for the man's name erupts into the sky and I can hear multiple booted steps surround us, not the monsters though. The dark fills with gunfire and my head forcefully drops to the ground, no matter how hard I try to keep it up. To push myself back up onto my feet. I can't feel my arms, my hands. But I try to move them up in front of my face, to push off of the ground and get some sort of momentum going. Failing. All failing! My eyes widen as the sight of my own hand, torn to bits. I can't even make it out to be a limb of mine. I'm supposed to be whole, not torn to shreds. Dis a monster do this to me? Am I going to die? All I see if blood pouring aggressively from what used to be the palm of my hand. Covered in holes and nerves and skin, I can't see a single finger. What the fuck happened?! The kid shot me too!

The sight of my body, the incapability to move or stand up, the rain. The sudden flashed of light from the led and bullets leaving the guns. It isn't just the three men anymore, I see more man-like figures and one female with long black tied into a low braid. The light from the gunfire and lightening causes my vision to glare. Get up idiot. The sight of blood pouring endlessly out of my body, my blood, twists my stomach in unimaginable ways. My breathing picks up pace and I start to hyperventilate, but it feels like I'm getting no air at all.

The female's voice reaches my ears, "Shit, hey! Are you alright? Have you been scratched or bitten? Can you hear me? Where are you right now?" The woman sounds anxious, stress and terrified. The gunfire doesn't stop though. When will it stop? It's too loud.

"Back away, she's having a panic attack!" A familiar voice shouts, approaching the two of us. Was it the dark man with curly hair?

"The bullet went through my hand. Must've got her too." No, that's the dark man. Does he have a twin?

I can feel my mind spinning, my thoughts start telling me random things to cope with the pain I'm about to ride out momentarily.

"Wait, Ang! This is?" The woman stutters over her worlds and I can finally feel pressure being put onto my hand. It hurts, really bad.

"Get her on her feet, we're leaving."