by Erin R Flynn
The backseat was all camping everything. When I started running out of room and still could have grabbed more that would keep me going, I decided tomorrow I would look for an SUV… Or maybe a trailer?
Both, I decided after a moment. I had a real head start on my pursuers, and I would survive longer if I planned better when I stumbled across such a find. But for the moment, I needed to get out of the city.
Or it would be the last place I ever saw, and I refused to bite it at a Dick’s Sporting Goods.
2
I had made one other quick stop when I saw a GNC that wasn’t completely raided, picking up vitamins and especially iron pills. It had been a stupid, stupid mistake though, as I had barely finished my bath in the freezing cold lake I’d decided to camp out at for the night and I felt corrupted approaching.
Fast.
“Seriously? Am I fucking GPS tagged for them?” I snarled as I threw on new clothes from the bag I’d brought to my camp. “I didn’t even get the fucking tree stand set up!” Stupid people would have gone for a tent, but those were big and didn’t protect you from shit.
A tree stand however was awesome to shoot from. I’d even found one that had its own cover in case of rain. Not that it would do me much good if I died because I’d stopped for iron supplements.
Idiot.
I loaded guns and spaced out boxes of ammo on the hood of the car and on a large rock where I’d set up. I might not have been a corrupted yet—or ever—but I knew I wasn’t exactly human either. My greatest fear was I was some sort of mutant that adapted the virus and all the labs or whomever would want me.
Or my tendency to do “research” by reading fiction was warping my brain and I should have kept reading science textbooks.
I took in a slow breath when I heard them, swallowing loudly when I knew there were at least a few dozen. Yeah, this was going to be a bad one. Part of me wanted to just get in the vehicle and take off, but every time I did that, I crashed and ruined a perfectly good vehicle.
Every. Fucking. Time.
It wasn’t like there were street lights anymore, and they smelled me to chase me and smelled me to cut me off. It always happened. Or there was just something I couldn’t get around or popped up when I was fleeing.
In other words, I would never have survived the first horror movie in a series. Granted, I hadn’t quite messed up to the point of running up the stairs instead of getting outside, but crashing so many times made me accept I wasn’t action hero material either.
“Like you remember that many movies from before,” I grumbled, laying out more ammo at a third location so there was a triangle of places I’d left ammo. I was faster than any corrupted—or human, which had helped me a lot—so my driving skills under pressure might have sucked, but my reloading while running and dodging were awesome.
And thank fuck I’d found a few semi-automatic rifles and dozens of preloaded magazines so I wasn’t trying to load individual bullets. Granted, I only had ten shots per magazine… But I was an excellent shot.
I loaded up my pockets with magazines and ran towards where they were coming. Again, most would have waited in their location, but moving towards them meant I had room to back up when they kept running. And if I planned it right, it would be about the time I’d need more ammo.
Getting as close as was smart, I shot off a magazine into the group, not even aiming yet as they would turn on any wounded and feast. Gross, but hey, whatever kept me alive when they were already dead seemed pretty fucking fair. It would slow some of them and space others out.
But as those in the front turned and attacked those injured, others came racing from the back of the group directly for me, knowing they’d have a better chance at me than fighting for what they missed of the injured. I changed clips, swallowing my fear that there were more than a few dozen, and looked down the scope, landing ten head shots.
From the range I was at, that meant only injured and hopefully their friends finished them off for me, but this was a particularly hungry bunch because they were coming fast. I jogged backwards and slightly to my right as I changed clips again. They were going to reach me before I needed more ammo if I went straight back to my camp, and no need to bring so many unwelcome guests that destroyed everything.
Two more clips and they were close enough that the headshots were blowing their skulls apart. Awesome.
Except that meant they were close enough to chomp on me soon too.
“Behind you!” someone bellowed, startling the shit out of me before gunfire not coming from me echoed in my ears.
My shot went wide, but then I realized what the person had said. Oh fuck. I turned and fired, not even taking the time to aim in case they were that close.
They were. Not ten feet from the end of the barrel was the first corrupted… And he had a lot of fucking friends. I’d felt the massive amount of them coming from the north, planning on having the lake at my back as they didn’t like water, but apparently there was a whole other party coming from the west.
Fuck. Fuck! Fuck!
I fired as I darted towards a tree with a low hanging, large branch that would at least give me something at my back. I kept shooting as I ran, slinging the rifle over my shoulder at the last second before I jumped and grabbed the branch, swinging myself up. I barely had my footing before I was reloading and taking aim.
“I’m out!” that same voice shouted.
“Hood of the car,” I hollered back, knowing I’d also left another loaded rifle at each spot in case things got out of hand.
I’d say we were there, especially since I hadn’t even seen the person yet. Then again, I hadn’t tried to look. I could see him all I wanted if we survived.
But I probably wouldn’t want to, and he’d attempt to steal all my shit. Yeah, I’d had that situation before too.
I shot another ten before they reached the tree. They tried to get me, but jumping or fine motor skills was not a corrupted’s best ability.
Persistence? Sure.
Biting? Yeah, kind of their thing.
Scratching? Yup, that too.
Smelling things? Unfortunately, I was proof of how good their sense of smell was.
But they wouldn’t win any medals for obstacle courses or being coordinated, so even five feet off the ground I was pretty safe. Until they figured out how to take out the tree, and I had a few minutes before that. Plus, the first of them to punch and claw at the tree would get bloodied, and then it was like shooting fish in a barrel as they ate each other.
Which was why the tree stand worked so fucking well.
I was on my last magazine and plotting the best way to get down and more ammo when I realized there were no more corrupted attacking. I closed my eyes and listened, knowing that all the finally dead corrupted would not let my nose tell me if there were more around.
“You good?” I called out, not hearing any more gunfire. I didn’t think he was dead.
“Yes, Princess,” he answered.
I raised an eyebrow at that. Not sure why he answered with pet names or if he was just calling me spoiled, but since it was my ammo that had saved his ass too, I wasn’t sure I liked it. Then there was the other option, rolling my eyes as I swung down, ignoring the bite of pain when I sliced my hand on the bark.
“Does that make you my prince for coming to my aid?” I drawled, glancing around for the mystery man.
“You’re hurt,” a deep voice said from my right.
I suppressed a yelp and jumped away while reminding myself not to shoot as adrenaline still coursed through me. I locked gazes with the lightest blue eyes I’d ever seen… Swallowing loudly when I saw how big the man who had them was. He had several inches on my five-eight height, maybe six-three, but I wasn’t getting any closer to measure up.
Especially given the intensity he was staring at me with, his nostrils flaring as he did. He was a big, big boy and built like he knew how to use those muscles and girth, and that was stupid to get near. His hair was dark, I didn�
�t know what color given it was pulled up in a ponytail and it was full night, but I could tell that much with a quick glance.
“You’re hurt, Princess,” he whispered, holding his hands up in surrender, showing he’d already put down the gun.
“I’m not a fan of pet names, thanks,” I grumbled, taking a few more steps away. “I’m fine.”
He studied me, coming to some internal decision. “I’m Darius, of the house of Katz. What’s your name?”
His name made me think of something I’d heard before, trying not to roll my eyes at how he spoke to me. It was a new shtick for sure, but I still wasn’t stupid. “I’m from the house Targaryen.”
His eyebrows scrunched together a moment, and then he rolled his eyes, lowering his hands with a huff. “I remember Game of Thrones too. Yeah, ha, ha, you’re Daenerys Targaryen.”
I opened my mouth but then closed it, heading to the vehicle, shaking my head. “I didn’t know that’s what the reference was. I just remember hearing someone swear that Daenerys Targaryen was a corrupted and almost ate their face off, like the Daenerys of house of Targaryen. That’s the only time I’ve heard someone say they’re from a certain house.”
“How is that possible?”
“Um, normal people don’t speak like that?” I drawled.
“What is your name?” He huffed when I didn’t answer. “I’m a noble, Princess, you can trust me.”
“Right, a noble, so it makes sense I’m a princess then.”
“No, I’m a noble, Princess.”
“Quit calling me ‘princess,’” I snapped. “I’d thank you for the save, but you ran out of ammo and used mine and clearly were close enough to be in danger as well, so enough with the crap, and you’re not stealing anything from me.”
“I would never steal from you,” he ground out. “Look, I’m not sure the disconnect here, but I’m here for you, not just stumbled upon you.” His hands came back up when I swung around and aimed for him, his eyes wide. “I’m not here to hurt you. I’m an official. A senator, whatever term that makes sense to you here.”
I didn’t lower the rifle, blinking at him. “I thought all the senators got hit in the DC bombing? Weren’t they all old guys?”
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “No, not a US senator. I’m—how do you not know what I’m talking about? What house were you born into?”
“Dude, you are speaking the crazy, and I run from crazy,” I warned when he looked like he might come closer. “I’m not joining whatever cult or gang you’re recruiting me for, though you get points for creativity on whatever spin you’ve put on it, but it’s just not going to happen.”
His eyes went wide. “Wait, you really don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”
“Not a mother fucking clue, crazy man.”
“Darius.”
“Crazy Darius.” I wiggled the rifle a bit. “Now go back to where you came from. If you need the gun and some ammo, I can spare that since you helped, but get gone.”
“I’m here for you,” he said again.
“Yeah, that’s not helping me not want to shoot you,” I warned. “I’ve got enough trouble chasing me and—”
“Other than being a beacon for corrupted?” he asked, fear filling his eyes. “Who chases you, Princess?”
I snorted. “Like I stopped to ask for their names? I don’t know. They’ve been chasing me for at least four years, almost five.”
“You’re twenty-three?”
I eased up on the rifle a bit. “How did you know I’m about to turn twenty-three?”
“Because any of our kind would be able to scent you after you turned eighteen.”
“‘Our kind?’”
It was his turn to give me a look like I was crazy. “You know you’re not human. You cannot be that daft and have survived five years on your own. Six years of apocalypse. Where is your family?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about your memories?”
I flinched. “Do you know why I have no memories?”
“What do you mean no memories?” he whispered in horror. “I meant the memories you should have been gifted when you turned eighteen.”
“Dude, that sounds like a gift that missed me because I woke up on what was my eighteenth birthday according to the ID I had and knew nothing. I didn’t even know my name. I didn’t know where I was. I knew not a fucking thing. I couldn’t tell you who or where my family is or what house I’m from. I certainly didn’t get any extra memories, so you are a whole world of crazy.”
“This isn’t possible.”
“Yeah, I tell myself that all the time. Lots of people do.” I pulled the rifle tight against my shoulder when he moved closer. “Don’t do it. The con you’re selling is not worth your life.”
“It’s not a con, and you are in serious danger and from more than corrupted. You have to be protected, Princess.” He growled when I started backing to the vehicle, switching destinations when I remembered I’d left the keys near the rock on the pile of clothes I’d stripped off before washing. “You know you’re not human.”
“You are not taking me to some government underground lab because I mutated the virus that makes the corrupted or whatever!”
He threw back his head and laughed. It echoed in the night, my hearing and ears finally having recovered from all the gun shots. He seemed to seriously enjoy what I said because he grabbed his sides and actually bent over some he laughed so hard.
And I used that time wisely to find the keys, sling the extra rifle on my shoulder, grab up the ammo, and stick it in the bag of clothes. My rucksack was still in the vehicle, so whatever else I was leaving behind wasn’t a big deal.
Yeah, my toiletries case was somewhere on the ground in the dark, but I saw a lot of everything destroyed by the sleeping bag I’d brought out, so I figured I’d just have to find a place to raid tomorrow. I’d planned to do that anyways.
He stopped laughing when he heard the passenger’s door close, realizing I was fleeing. “Wait, please, I shouldn’t have laughed. I wasn’t laughing at you, it’s just the last thing I expected you to say to me.”
“Fair enough. I didn’t laugh at your crazy, but you know, whatever,” I grumbled as I quickly retrieved the ammo on the hood he hadn’t used along with the rifle he’d put back. “I’m still leaving. Try to stop me and I’ll shoot you.”
“What does it hurt to listen to me a bit?” he tried after a moment.
I gave him an insulted look. “Right, so whoever you’re with can catch up to you and you have backup, as you don’t have a vehicle and just showed up here.”
“Smart, very smart, and I see how you survived as you have,” he muttered, his eyes showing the praise was real. “But I’m alone, and I’m not human either.” I watched as his lateral incisors extended.
Into fangs.
A gunshot echoed in the night, and he groaned, blood blossoming over his midsection… Since I’d pulled the trigger of the rifle. Once I realized that, I did it again for good measure, noting he crumpled to the ground before I scrambled into the vehicle and started it. I watched one magazine I’d missed bounce on the hood and slide off as I threw the car in gear.
Needless to say, I floored it.
And for the first time, I didn’t crash a vehicle when fleeing. I checked in the rearview mirror that he was still on the ground, and slowed down, knowing my track record.
“What the actual fuck?” I whispered as I headed to the other lake I’d seen on the map but had stopped closer to Raleigh when I’d realized the time. So yeah, that had worked out.
By the time I reached there and found a hidden place to park, it was almost midnight. There was still a danger, sure, and just to be safe, I got the tree stand out and climbed up, but I wasn’t anywhere near as worried.
There were several things that fiction and movies had gotten right about zombies when predicting the apocalypse, but several things wrong. First, they did not like sunlight, but they didn’t bu
rn in it. If food was right there, they would absolutely come out and try to eat you.
I spoke from lots of experience on that one.
However, it was like the light did something to them and their coordination was even worse. The few I’d ever run into while the sun was out had bumped into everything and kept falling. So they walked if they came out at all, and it was easy to dodge them or get away. It was like they didn’t have the higher brain power to know it just wasn’t worth trying.
But they were easier to kill, so I was okay with that. The more killed the less there were to infect others. The more ghosts I would have to deal with later and the morning would be a bitch for me, but it was worth it.
Second, that biting and scratching thing to infect was totally true. However, if they ate you, they ate you. There wasn’t just some bite to take a chunk and then they left you alone. No way. They were like rabid pack animals, so that was why they would eat their own, as they weren’t all rotten and gross. They never made it to that stage. They’d get eaten.
Third, they liked people. They did not like animals, so there were no corrupted crows like I’d heard someone mention was in one movie or another I didn’t remember.
Fourth, there was no snapping a neck or whatever. Head shots blowing up their skulls and brains would take them out, but wounding them would get them eaten, as they were pretty much always in packs.
Unless you stumbled upon the rare loner that had probably recently turned, and then they ate you if you weren’t smart and always brought your guns with you wherever you went. Or short katanas like I had.
Fifth, the virus didn’t turn you fast. I’d heard people swear it had to be quick or you didn’t get that. Yeah, no, people had finally figured out that wasn’t true and just movies after the first few years.
That was also what had made things go to such shit. If people didn’t get eaten, they didn’t think they were in trouble, and then a few months later, they were the new patient zero that was in the haven or compound or whatever. And there was always, always that asshole who got scratched that didn’t tell anyone because they were selfish and in denial.
