37 Lost, but not forgotten

I was left alone in an island with nothing in hand, but a pair of tools and a well-made uniform, coated in mixtures of vibrant fibres. I reloaded my gun just for good measure, and decided to venture forth on the inhabited land.

Apart from the never ending twigs that keeps me off track, I could sense no visible life forms such as insects and wild animals roaming around, hunting for their meal. Instead, a path of trees and rocks seems to be livelier than anything else. However, earlier from before I have seen a flock of birds flying towards a linear direction, deeper in the silent forest. Having a wild guess, there might be some other creatures left living farther in these woodland.

Looking from above, the height of the trees reaches for about 80 feet tall, nearly similar to an industrial building. I could not discern what lies from beyond with these multiple trees blocking my view.

"Hello? Anyone out there? Alive, not dead. If you know what I mean" Bored from the numerous hazel barks that I've often seen, I decided to use my voice to attract anything around my vicinity.

But something more had definitely caught my sound.

I've heard a distinct growl coming from a distance. I believe it didn't came from a human's voice, nor any other living animal that I can remember. Instead of running away, I had thought that maybe investigating the origin of the sound will let me learn the history and name of the island itself from where I am residing.

I close my eyes to fully recognise the direction of the voice from where it was coming through.

"West!" it seems that the roar had come from my left, so I set foot and dashed towards my guess.

The cry became clearer and clearer, as if it was calling desperately for help. I knew that this plan was probably a bad idea in the first place, however I could not sit idly and wait for any miraculous help to arrive.

Steeling my resolve, I pumped up my chest and began aiming my gun at 90 degrees parallel to mine.

After a while from my hectic marathon, the roars had finally reached to a stop, making it difficult for me to follow its direction. Still, I continued moving forward and soon stumbled upon an elevated cliff—and what I saw had surely surprised me.

A small village came to a ruin, and the wooden houses that seemed to be sturdily built are caught in wild orange flames. To make matters worse, countless of freshly dead bodies are scattered within each of every houses. An onslaught, I must say, and it was recently done just before I could hurriedly came in.

"Oh, would you look at that. Zombies that can withstand fire"

Some of the deceased body came back to life despite being in the pits from their own flames, and the cries from before was similar from what I am presently hearing.

Much like from the wild vines sprouting to the previous mutated zombies, these infected had earned similar evolution, but with a different element, produced by the embers engulfing the town.

Judging from their exterior characteristics, their bodies may be able to withstand high temperatures that no human can attain—while maintaining their thirst for blood and human flesh. Small embers could also be seen crisping their rotten skin, fanned by the summer breeze blown towards the north.

"There must be survivors left from these…massacre" It was hard for me to believe the comment I've spouted would be real, and yet…

"Please, help us"

"AAAAGH!"

I soon heard a hysterical scream deeper in the woods. It was then followed by a rigorous stampede—and it was none other than the zombies tailing their behind. Even the infected from the village down below have heard the blaring cry, and eventually joined the hunt.

Judging from their desolated movements, I have yet to be seen by the likes of them, from where I'm positioned in. If I ran away now, my safety may be guaranteed.

However, am I that too selfish to save myself once again—when Venice had sacrificed herself to save mine?

I lack the minimum resources to fend off these monsters; let alone mutated ones that I have yet seen.

Even so, I was reminded by my morals, and leaving them behind would leave a bad taste in my mouth, hence I followed their track.

I swiftly sprinted from the apparent logs, which greatly hindered my movements. I didn't mind how fast I've ran onto them, and expected nothing less from how hastily these viscous predators could similarly run.

"I got you now!" A wide smirk revealed from the edge of my mouth, as I ecstatically caught up from their unwavering speed. Sure enough, it was fortunate that these survivors knew the whole terrain from the palm of their hands, which placed them in an advantage from the duration of the chase.

But these infected are incapable of getting tired, unlike us living beings. I doubt that these zombies can even feel pain or remorse at all.

And soon enough, the human survivors began losing their pace, and ended up slowing down, due to the stress dealt from the excess strain of their muscles. . The gap between them and the zombies had slowly shorten in length, and in moments time they'll be able to witness their awaited demise.

But for some reason, I have felt a stream of energy coming from my knees, and enabled me to dash even faster from before. It had also enhanced my vision and flexibility, which had made me jumped from branch to branch, as I took the shortest route.

I launched straight from the tallest branch and did a summersault—mid-air, as I carefully aim at the centre of the zombie's head and hastily pulled the trigger. The bullet manages to hit three zombies aligned in a straight manner, which puts a halt from their hot pursuit.

"Woah!"

"STOP STARING AND RUN!"

I've managed to land safely on the ground, and fired 2 consecutive bullets at the zombies from both sides. However, they are approximately 25 zombies coming in our way; and 3 bullets remained inside my clip, while protecting these kids.

They're a group of four high school students who are band together and safely ran away from the assault of their town, evident from their present black and white school uniform. There are 2 girls and 2 boys among them, seemingly fazed and panicked due to their prolonged running.

As soon as they've met their saviour, the 2 boys expressed their amazement and stood like a statue, forgetting their fears. Even so, I needed to remind them of our current situation and advised them to resume their running and head to…somewhere safe. If only I have a vague idea from where I am, then I would've been the one leading them to a haven.

Their consciousness soon returned after seeing the two zombies collapsed on the floor. However…

"KID, DON'T" I screamed from the top of my lungs and hurriedly reached out to the youngest boy who was approaching the immobile zombie.

"Dad?" He murmured, as he rushed towards the zombie's side. As soon as he realised the decaying skin of the infected, and even after being shot by a bullet, his safety was already too late.

The knocked out zombie sprung into life and manages to chew off the foot of the little boy. Its canine teeth sank deeper in his veins, producing a horrible wound. His blood from the bitten site vividly turned into purple, and gushes continuously on the floor.

The child screams out of pain and terror, as he fell off on the ground and started crawling backwards to us.

"Dad?!" He sniffs from the image of his zombified father who had bit him on his thigh. The little child was still able to stand but...the wounds inflicted might turn him into one of them.

Despite these occurrence, I pushed their backs onto a distance and told them to sprint away from our current location. This time around, the oldest kid with a stern glasses, lead them straight to a path and soon disappeared farther from their trail.

Their abrupt decision, led by the four-eye kid, was well developed as they quickly race down on the forest's groves.

"What am I doing with my life" Realising what I've done, I heave out a sigh while standing on my ground. With a chuckled defeat, I soon began formulating my plan.

I pick up one of the overgrown lumbre resting on my feet, and temporarily used it as a weapon. It had felt similarly like a bat, but wasn't carved nor smoothed with the use of a sandpaper. But, you know what they say 'if push comes to shove, use what you can'.

"Come at me you fucking weirdoes" I initiated a battle roar (sort of) just for me to look cool (while rallying them to my front), but I eventually sprinted away, retreating on the nearby pool of trees.

However, my body had reacted on its own as it launch its way on the lumpy bark. I was completely unaware that my whole body had done a perfect back flip, while slamming the edge of my make-shift bat unto the disgusting face of the rabid zombie.

"What just happened?!" I questioned myself from the nimble movements that I have witnessed within my own body, as if…it was the natural thing to do.