Chapter 7: Recovery

I slowly made way to the downed body of the Digger. It's form still not showing any visible sign of movement. I walk in a slow pace. My single arm, tightly holding my bulletless shotgun.

I halted my steps when I'm few feet away from it. I look down and spotted a pebble. I put my shotgun at my waist and grabbed the said pebble. Looking at the Digger with slight nervousness but with higher determination, I throw the pebble at its right hand and waited.

Moments pass by and the monster still didn't move... it's finally dead.

Finally... it's all over.

I look at my right shoulder where my arm was supposed to be. Tears on my riot gear was waving by the wind. My grayish skin and turned flesh are visible to the eye. I won but it cost me one of my limbs. I have to be more careful next time.

I resumed my walk until I'm right at the front of the Digger's head. The singular eye was spread like a flower by my shotgun. Blackish blood still leaking from its antenna. Who would have thought? A gigantic zombie behemoth has one singular weakness and is quite easy to damage if my one bullet has any thing to say about it. Though, trying to capitalize on it is quite a hassle. Those gigantic arms and stretchable tongue is nightmare fuel.

Alright, enough of that cuz' right now. I have one giant meal to devour. The amount of boost I'll get will surely be worth it. Hehe...

"Hreeeeeee!"

I look at where the noise came from and saw hundreds of crawlers running in my direction. Oh come on! I was about to eat this thing! It must have noticed the Digger's demise due to its gigantic impact when it fall to the ground. I quickly took a good chunk of it and ate as much as I can with so little time. I can feel my torn shoulder slowly recovering but I didn't feel myself getting stronger yet. My body must be in full condition before the strength boost comes in, huh? This is bullcrap. This didn't happen when I ate that monster in the hospital. Does it vary when I ate a different monster? My luck just went to the garbage can with this one.

Looking at the crawlers, they are rapidly gaining a short distance towards me. My arm is not even fully recovered. I'm still missing my forearm.

With great reluctance, I quickly dashed away from the Digger's corpse. I quickly got out of the grassy field after a few minutes of running. I looked back and saw the crawlers feasting on the gigantic corpse.

They covered the entire body like a pile of ants and devoured its flesh in rapid pace. It seems they only came for the body since I saw none of them trying to run on my direction. Though, I shouldn't stay here long. With the speed of their consumption, they could probably finish their meal in a few minutes.

With my decision made, I resumed my run. Bushes and trees passed through me as I continue my pace. There are occasional corpses here and there but I paid them no mind. Some zombies tried to get in my way but I just bit their head off, giving me a small dose of recovery. My right arm now only has a missing hand. Though, there were no more zombies trying to attack me so I was left with an arm without a hand.

It took awhile but I'm confident enough to say that we're finally safe. I just ran a good two hours without stopping. It's still a shame though. That Digger's corpse would have boost me to the absolute limit due to its size.

I can't but wonder what would happen if the crawlers didn't show up...man, what a waste. I lost my two good axes too. My shotgun is only useful as a baseball bat at this point and worse, I have no more bullets. All that's left in my bag are a few scalpels and 3 knives. Guess that's better than nothing.

Whity still didn't wake up after that whole ordeal but good thing he's still breathing. I really need to get him treated soon. That injury looks nasty. I hope at least I could find a shelter from here. I continued my walk and spotted a trailer a few distance from here.

Nice.

I slowly made my way over there and took out one of my knives. I surveyed my surrounding as I walk. The place seems to be devoid of those flesh eating Undead...now for the trailer itself. I went to the nearby window and took a peak inside.

The room seems to be cozy. There are a few dusts in the table but nothing to major. The lights are flickering, three pillows and two bed sheets are scattered to the floor. Still, I saw no zombies inside. Alright then.

I opened the front door with ease due to it being unlocked. I made my way inside and slowly put the wooden bag on the floor. I took Whity out and lay him on scattered sheets. Whity slowly opened his eyes and gazes at me.

"Arf!"

His tail wiggling behind him like a broken windmill. He tried to stand up but winced when his bad leg tried to move.

Alright, little guy. Don't need to push yourself. I gestured at him to sit down. He was stubborn of course but after a few painful tries, he finally relented. He let out a few soft whimpers because of the pain meanwhile I was busy looking around for any medical supplies. It took awhile but I finally found it. I walk back to my dog and took a look at his wound.

There's a small gash at his right leg and seemed to swell a little. At least it's not broken in different places. Might gonna amputate him if that happened.

I cleaned his wound and carefully treated it. I could hear him let out a whimper again but he didn't move away from me. You are one tough dog.

Good boy, Whity.

After wrapping it up with a bandage, I went to the fridge to get some ice cubes. Sadly, when I got there, all I saw was rotten food and a few spiderweb in the corner. Just great. This won't do. I look at Whity and contemplated to what to do next...

Hmm. Is there a nearby town from here? At that thought, I went outside and looked on the broad horizon. A few miles from here, I saw a small town. Looking from this distance, I could probably get there in 20 minutes. Not bad. I went back to the trailer and tried to find any weapons to use. Whity looked at me in wonder but I paid him no mind. I spotted a machete inside a cabinet nearby. It's blade is still sharp and there's no visible rust on it.

Awesome.

I grabbed my bag and put it on my back. No, not the wooden one. The other one. My machete held tightly on my left arm. I look at Whity one more time and gestured him to stay put.

"Arf! Arf!"

Hearing his confirmation, I went outside and locked the door tightly for good measure.

Time to get those ices.

I then, started my walk to the nearby town.

...

I gotta tell you, my walk is peaceful for a change. There's no zombies or those other mutated ones that tried to jump on me. Still, I spotted some corpses but it's nothing to be concerned about. Those things stay dead at least.

Haaaah.

That fight with the Digger took a lot out of me. I have never thought for once in my life to fight something like that. Those things regularly happens in the movies and video games. I faced that behemoth of a zombie alone and won. I faced two of those monstrosity alone. Not gonna count on the crawler one. Whity was there to help. Not that I was ungrateful to the assist though.

The first one being an ugly merge of Undead and the second being this one. Like wow. Good job to myself to that one but still...I almost got killed again. I'm glad that I won but it doesn't change the fact that the fight itself is terrifying. I almost got eaten too...

I look at my right arm still missing a hand...

Never again.

This fear, this injury that I sustained, and my near death experience...no more. I have to get stronger soon. I can't start at a slow pace right now. Those things always came towards right out of nowhere. If I don't adapt soon, I won't last long in this world.

I halted my steps when I'm finally at the entrance of the town. The sign is broken and has visible tears on all side due to its age. I look at the town itself and frankly should not he surprised at this point. Inside the town is a number of broken houses, garbage scattered on the road, and numerous zombies walking in any random direction.

Nothing like starting my grind at the first possible moment, right? Still, Whity comes first. What type of owner would I be if I don't prioritize him first?