Chapter One pt.1: Tracked Down

I.

Within a dense forest, a man walked slowly on its grassy floor. That guy was

holding a rifle and carefully glancing around like he was searching for a prey.

Then he paused for a while. he saw a figure of a man from the distance.

He crouched suddenly and hid behind the thick bushes in front of him.

He peeked behind the bush and looked to the man he saw earlier.

The man didn't notice him.

He sighed at his position and tightly gripped the rifle he was holding. After that,

he prepared his gun and aimed it on the man at the distance. He took a deep breath

and after adjusting his aim, with a loud bang, the man dropped down on the grassy

floor of the forest.He stoods up and walked towards the man with vigilance in every step he took.

After a short while, he reached the position at which the man was,not with life

but with blood flowing from its busted head. He disgustingly frowned as he surveyed the dead man.

Then he skipped on its body and continue his walk.

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How long has it been since those ugly bastards came?

I thought for a moment after i left the place where

I shot down the man I saw earlier. I sighed out of unrest.

And how many times did I sigh since that time?

The man that I killed was no longer a man though. It might sound a bit superficial since

it was only told on movies and stories but it was real.they were like cannibals. but the difference

was they're dead. I hope you knew what i mean. They were dead cannibals.And to cut

the chase, zombies. That man, or should I say zombie, was one of those dead and rotting flesh-eating

abominations.

The first time that I saw those bastards, well, I cannot hardly remember though but

as much I could remember was that was when I went home from the university and slept. The next morning

was the worst, or the hellish, morning I woke up to. Screaming people running around in panic. I watched

all those people outside from the window of my room and when I went out, a crazy man just suddenly

pounced me. I went out of balance and fell down to the ground and he crazily craved to bite my arm.

I didn't know what was going on and so because I was mad at him pouncing on me, I kicked him as hard

as I can and he was pushed back by my kick. I regained my strength and hurriedly stands up and looked at the man.

He was not acting as if he was on drugs. I saw people who was high on drugs but not that kind of

addiction. I didn't his eyes have the ability to see things because of the lack of pupil and yet he was

staring to me with thirst and blood lust. I could see thin lines all over his face which probably be blood vessels. He was moving like he was epileptic and after that, he jumped on me again. But this time, I dodged him and because I was confused of what was happening, I ran as fast as I could.

And that I didn't know well what happened after. That was not all of it but maybe next time I could tell you.

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I finally reached my destination. It was a small cabin inside this pine forest where it was the

most dense part. It was my shelter. It was built with huge pine logs and stones. You could say it was just

a cottage because of its size. Until now, I have no clue why such a house was built inside this forest.

Maybe a rest house or a lumber mill but the first time that I saw this house, It was empty as if it was made

for me.

I smiled at the thought of it.

Well, I was not complaining though. The house, the location and the environment was just perfect for

a person like me who wants to escape the wrecthed world. It was hard to locate if someone never knew

it was here. It was hidden behind thick old pine trees and thick bushes. It was not hot at day.

The temperature went down at night but tolerable.

I walked towards the front door. The only unusual for this house is that its door was made of metal.

And it had no windows. I opened it and went inside. after I closed the door, I went to the couch which

I made personally. It was made with planks which I made also and some thick clothes which I got from

the zombies. It was not soft but atleast, I could relax a bit.

I put down my rifle beside the couch and laid my back on the not so hard couch. I looked around the room.

The wall was made of stones and thick huge pine logs that was crafted excellently. Whoever built

this house was maybe someone who wanted to live alone.The wall was able to block bullets because of its

thickness. As for the door that was made of metal, well, i could say nothing. It was bullet-proof.

It was thick that it could withstand a barrage of bullet from a machine gun of a copter, maybe. I was super lucky

to find this house in the middle of this dense forest.

After I relaxed a bit, I grab my military bag that I put down before I sat on the couch. I opened it and

picked out the things inside it. There was a binocular that I used to scout an area. A box of ammo for

my rifle. And some torn off clothes that I will sew later.There was also three bottle of water. And a

piece of grilled meat that I ate on my way. It also have berries which i picked.

While doing that, suddenly a static sound came from the walkie-talkie that I hung

on the wall near the door.

"Thi- the- we- sav- the—-" and then the walkie-talkie stopped receiving signal.

I have been receiving the same message lately and I thought that it was just some message that was left

by the nearby safety bunker to the south of this dense forest. I already scouted the outside perimeter of the place and the absence of the guards on the gate only means to me that it was already overrun by the zombies.well, I never got near the gate because i was afraid that a raiding party of survivor might spotted me and and might try to kill me.

After I picked everything out of my bag, I stood up and put it on my back.

"Well, time to go scavenging," I muttered to myself.I walked towards the door after I picked my rifle.

When suddenly, the walkie-talkie received another message. This time it was clear.

"Hello! Is somebody out there? My name is Michel and I have two more people.One is wounded but not bitten. We are thirsty, starving and lost in this damn forest. If someone can receive this message, Please, help us!" the man named Michel said in distress at the walkie-talkie.

"We cannot guarantee anything 'cause obviously, we have nothing except my wooden spear which I made

and one 'luggage' and one idiot," Michel said irritatingly. Then another voice of a man could be heard at the background.

"What do you say, old man?! Tom is not a 'luggage'! You damn geezer, if not by you, we're already out

of this forest! I knew that you don't know the way out but because Tom trusted you, he entrust you

to lead us out of here! Now, you say Tom is a luggage?!WHO THE HELL SAVE YOU FROM THAT SPITTLER THAT CAME EARLIER!" the other man shouting in anger.

"Troublesome people," I said to myself. Well, I don't care about them. Who knew they might turned out

raiders acting like survivors who need help. I encountered a lot of them in the past. And I learned from

it. So, it's a no call for me. I opened the door and was about to go outside when an interesting message from them caught my interest.

"HELLO! SOMEBODY HELP US! MY FRIEND TOM IS BADLY WOUNDED! This damn Old man is lying about nothing.

WE are currenlty traveling to go south where the safety bunker is located! But we get lost when we get here!

Please! We will offer anything, we have guns! but we are currently starving! so we have no food! Ple—"

"–You fool! Who gives you the permission to spout about our guns! What if somebody he–"

"Let's make a deal then," I picked up the walkie-talkie and interuppted Michel's words. There was no reply from them.

"Surprise? Maybe," I thought to myself.

It must be. Aside from me, who knew that there might be someone in this forest. They were just lucky that

I was the one who received their message.

"Hello! Is someone there?! Please hel–"

"You already said that a million times. I said, let's make a deal, do you want or not?" I annoyingly said.

Of course everybody needs help in this wretched world. I understood his point but it was kinda annoying if

someone said those words again and again.

"Thank you! I really appreciates your help! I will give you our location. Though, I don't know really

where we are aside that we are inside this forest," the voice of the other man said.

It's a yes then. They were making a deal with me, ha. Good.

"Well, Don't worry.I am very familliar with this forest. I know every corner of this place. So first, tell

me about what you see," I confidently said. After living in this forest for almost two years, I already

knew the routes and dangerous places here. There were some areas here where Spittlers could be seen and

there were some areas here where you could get a chance to encounter the Mad Hunter.

There was no response for a brief moment then it returned again.

"I can see a huge old tree of acacia with few leaves and we are surrounded by tall and huge pine trees,"

he described.

I contemplated about his description.

"Do you see some deer around?" I asked.

"I think I saw one earlier but it fled away as soon as it sense us coming," he answered.

Bingo. The place that they were staying was near a riverstream where deers gather and drink from it regularly. It was just a distance away from that old acacia tree. I called that place, River Deer. I know the name was lame.

But I don't want to create one that will need complex explanation.

"I know where you are. But let me ask you again. Is what you said earlier true?" I said. I need to clarify that

they were telling the truth about the guns that they have. Well, even it turned out they were raiders, i could easily ditched them because I knew the surrounding.

"Yes! It is true! Two baggage full of firearms. Afterall, that's all that we have. We don't have that much food and we are going to starve. We don't even have much water also," the voice replied.

I smiled deviantly. This was a rare opportunity.

"Okay, Stay where you are. It will be night before I get there. Do not leave that place. Night in this place

is very dangerous. Unless you know the routes," I said.

It's not like I cared about those people. I will only go there to get those guns and help out a little.

I just thought that before they die I could atleast have a little chat with a person, alive.

"I can provide you food,water and shelter. Medications also, for your wounded friend. So hang in there a bit.

Well then, I'm off. Stay alive," I said.

Before heading out, I reorganised the things I need. I carried two pistols on both side of my waist, a binocular with night vision, flashlight, one knife and a machete on my back.In my bag, first aids, Food and water, ammo and on my hand, my favorite rifle. Then I wore my blue shirt with thick leather for protection, black leathered gloves, a sneaker that has light protection, military grade pants and a cap. I also roped around on my left arm a red scarf. Well, the last one was for accessories though.Then after all these preparation, I headed out of my shelter.

"Well, I'm off. Time to go hunt," with a devilish smile I set forth.