Walking Bodies

by Durman, Jason

I swallowed. Oh dear god, I hoped not. It would be an extremely bad first impression to kill someone's spouse. What was she doing here in the first place?

  "Where did you buy him?"

  I raised my eyebrows in confusion, and even more so when I saw that her aim had gone down slightly. "Excuse me?" The survivor scoffed "Him. The Leaper, kid" She repeated, gesturing towards Aaron, who in response, snarled in her direction.

  "What in the hell are you talking about?" I asked, keeping a firm grip on my weapon, just in case things decided to get ugly. People nowadays were unpredictable. One day they could be your best friend, and the next they leave you for the vultures.

  "I wanna know who sold you that infected, girl, and I want to know now" The woman glared at me, and it was hard to keep eye contact with her. The stranger took a step forward and I took a step backwards, feeling fear creep up into my chest and clouding my mind. Aaron sounded like he was on his last nerve.

  "Listen, I don't know what you're talking about, but I didn't buy anything!" For once, I saw something other than aggression on her face: confusion. She stared at me, as if she was thinking long and hard, then her face brightened up as if she had solved a mystery "So, you're a tamer?" What? "What?" My thoughts echoed out of my mouth and into her ears.

  It was silent, just the two of us glaring bullets at one another, not sure how to communicate, or wondering if we should even be talking right now.

  "You don't have the tattoo; you ain't from around here, are you?"

  She must have meant the print on both of the men's hands. "No, I'm not." I answered, and the thought of shooting her before she could speak again crossed my mind, like I was about to be suddenly involved in something I didn't want to be a part of. But I wanted to know what she was talking about.

  She thought for a moment, before lowering her weapon and giving off a mischievous smirk. "You sure you ain't a tamer? Cause I don't hear about nobody owning a special infected nowadays" She grinned. "I'll pay ya if you can catch me a Trapper"

  I blinked, once, twice, three times before I realized she was serious. I've heard that word only once since the infection started and what it stood for was something impossible. Some people thought they could control the infected, and for a little while, they did. But not in the way she was suggesting.

  Aaron suddenly sprang into air, but not in the direction of the woman, but up into a tree, where he watched us both carefully. I guess he was waiting to see how this turned out. With her gun hanging loosely at her side, I let mine hang too. Let's see how long being friendly will last me.

  "When you said 'Tamer', you meant torturers? Right? The woman chuckled, as if I had asked a stupid question. "I guess you could call it that. Though, the purpose is the same either way." She grinned.

  My brows furrowed and I eyed her warily. "Last I heard, these 'Tamers' tortured and abused people who were infected, to bend their will." She grinned wider, and gestured as if it were the obvious.

  "So?"

  "They targeted infected that hadn't turned yet"

  My voice was louder than I intended, but I had felt like I made my point. She stood there, unaffected. "You say that like it's a bad thing." My eyes widened at her comment, and she judged my surprise. "It doesn't look like you did anything to him, though." She snickered, pointed a finger above her, her glare never leaving mine.

  I took a glance upwards and it seemed like Aaron had himself right above his target, waiting for any sudden movement. He could kill her, any moment. Yet, she wasn't running, or shooting him, or anything of the sort. If anything, she was taunting him.

  I decided to question this. "How come you're not afraid of him?" "How is it you aren't?" She retorted. I hesitated, trying to think of some way to put it. "He's passive…Kind of." As long as you don't piss him off. Then your lunch.

  Her grin sSirened to a smile, showing pearly white teeth. In fact, I found it odd most of what she wore was clean. It wasn't a ballroom gown, but it looked better than my own pair of ripped jeans and dirty rags. Even if she just wore overalls. Cleanliness made a huge difference.

  "The name's Tanya, girl, and you're gonna have to come with me, Mmm'k?"

  So much for the friendly façade. I raised my gun up in the air, aiming directly at her chest. "I'm not going anywhere. A name doesn't make you trustworthy." I said, obviously not caring whether or not she was the man's wife anymore.

  Tanya laughed, taunting my show of defense. The grip on my gun tightened and I suddenly wished that Aaron would feel an immediate pang of hunger this very moment, so I wouldn't have to waste a bullet putting her down.

  "You don't have much of an option, girl"

  "Really? And what says I don't?" I didn't dare look up, in case she might whip out her own weapon and kill me first. But Aaron was being surprising quiet. His growls from before had ceased entirely.

  She smirked "Because if you don't, your two little friends we got tied up back in town will turn into fresh infected bait." She chuckled as my eyes went wide. It was wrong to leave them, I should have stayed to make sure they were ok. In a fit of clouded thinking, I raised my gun and fired.

  She dived behind a tree as I shot again, the loud noise ringing through the forest. "What did you do to them?" I heard her laugh behind the bark, and I gritted my teeth as she spoke. "You're making a mistake trying to resist, kid!" I rounded the tree, but she wasn't there.

  "You have no idea what you're up against!"

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw her run past, and I immediately turned to fire. "How did you find us? What do you want?!" I fired continuously, although I hit nothing but air. Anger and panic rushed through my chest and mind.

  Suddenly, I felt something hard smash into the back of my skull. Yelping, my hand immediately rushed to the spot where the object had hit. The feeling of blood seeped through my skin and I gritted my teeth, in both pain and anger.

  "You and you little dog are gonna pay for your lack of respect."

  Whipping to the side at the sound of her voice, a kick hit me sharply in the side. I landed flat on my back on the ground, but my aim was still between her eyes.

  A shot rang through the air, but it wasn't mine or hers. Instead, looking forward into the sky and the stretching trees, I saw a glimpse of something shiny, metal, hanging on the end of a branch. Another blur whirred past my vision towards it, knocking the faraway figure out of its hiding place.

  The gun was kicked out of my grasped and I yelped at the pang in my fingers as I reached out to retrieve it again. She kicked it away, kicked my again in my side and I whimpered at the hurt. She crawled on top of me, laughing and holding up a grey, solid object. A wrench, with my blood on the end of it.

  Her knee dug into my stomach and it added to the throbbing pain in my side. One arm held down my right hand while the other raised her weapon high. I feared of being hit again, so I used my other arm as a shield to protect my face.

  She stared at my feeble attempt at self-defense and laughed. "You can try," She moved her knee up, slowly crushing my ribcage and my lungs with it. "But you ain't-

  There was a familiar screech, and Aaron soared high and landed directly on top of my attacker. I heard her swear and lash out with her weapon, but before she had the chance, he smacked it out of her hands and it flew across the grass.

  But just as he was about to deliver a fatal blow, a shot rang through the air. One that wasn't mine or Tanya's, but seemed to come from a distance away. Same as before.

  Distracted, Aaron looked up. Tanya took this chance and grabbed the wench that had flown nearby. She made move to hit him on the head, but he came back to attention, backing up slightly enough to where she could bring her knee up and kick him away, which must have been a difficult thing to do considering his notable weight compared to hers.

  She looked dazed, almost like she had the wind knocked out of her, which is what probably happened. I saw her pistol from before tuckered in her boot and I remembered my own weapon. I rolled over
, grabbing hold of it and silently wishing never to be separated from it again.

  Staying and dealing with her wasn't my main priority right now. She said something about Doug and Olive, like she already had them hostage. There was no way I was going to believe it, for all I know they could still be back at the cabin, awaiting my return.

  I picked myself up and started running in the direction of the cabin. My mind was running fasting then my feet and briefly thought about the gunfire that had echoed through the trees. This Tanya person wasn't alone, and that comrade of hers was apparently a sniper, hiding in the trees.

  Something grabbed me from behind and I cried out in shock. At first I thought it was the old hag, and struggled against the arms that held me. Using the end of my gun, I battered at my holder's arms around me, eyes shut and ignoring the small nicks and cuts that was starting to form on my hands

  My hijacker didn't respond to my abuse and I struggled even harder, cursing and letting loose every swear word that I knew of.

  Breath left my lungs when I felt the ground disappear beneath me, and I bit my tongue to not let loose the most ear screeching scream I have ever produced. Shutting my eyes tight, I prayed that I wasn't dropped.

  We landed on something rough and solid, tree bark. Opening my eyes, I looked down instantly and regretted it. We were a high distance off the ground, higher than when I had slept in the tree. I fumbled, trying to pry the arms off around my midsection and a warning snarl near my ear made me freeze in my tracks.

  Half of me felt relieved it was just Aaron, and not another Leaper or Trapper. But the other half really didn't like such close proximity. I felt squeezed and I didn't really like the feeling of being high up in the air being hugged by an infected, friendly or not.

  Below our location, something walked past and I stopped squirming in fear of being spotted. From the branch, I could clearly hear the two walk by and speak. The Tanya bitch and what I guessed was her comrade walking beside her were speaking, and I focused hard to hear them.

  "I bet ya the brat went back to her little cabin, eh, Theron?"

  The other person, whom I concluded was male, 'Theron', nodded. "Yeah, should we go after her? I mean, we were supposed to be back an hour ago. Boss ain't gonna be happy…" He spoke through the gas mask covering his face, his voice muffled. Tanya rolled her eyes. "Fuck them, I want that girl." She spit on the ground, gripping the wench tighter.

  "Can't you just buy another infected? I mean, c'mon, we got plenty of merchandise back in town." Theron spoke gently, running a hand through his dark brown hair. Aaron's breathing turned to soft snarls, and I guessed that the man below was what had kept him occupied while Tanya harassed me.

  Now, that I think of it. There was a decent amount of blood on the front of his jacket, which happen to look almost identical to the victim's back at the cabin, and the one I had shot earlier. This was much more than a coincidence.

  She glared at him, and he stared back almost apologetically. "Not enough. Nowadays all our merchandise kill themselves when we push too hard. You know Eddie's Trapper? Dead. Choked to death with his own damn smoke." She paused, as if she was thinking. "We need a tamer that knows how to control the infected without killing them, or driving them to death."

  "We threatened her, and know she knows we have the old geezer and his hag of a wife back in Paradise. She was never going to come with us willingly." Theron said, wiping off some of the fresh blood off of his clothing.

  He's right, and I didn't miss what he said about Paradise. If that's where their holding up, then that's where they would have taken Doug and Olive. I gripped Aaron sleeves. This was my fault, it sure felt like it was. I needed to find them and save them both, and maybe put a bullet through Tanya's head while I'm at it.

  "I don't care. I want merchandise that can sell, with a guarantee that it won't turn and kill the buyer, or kill itself a day later. You should know how hard it is to capture one of those infected alive and tamed." She pointed a finger in his face, as if he didn't quite understand.

  "A special infected, Theron. A Leaper. Do you know how much money we could make if we were selling special infected?" Tanya shouted, waving her wench in the air. "We'd be the best damn business on the map! We would be unstoppable!" She cried, her voice echoing through the air. Quite dramatically, I might add.

  Her comrade sighed, not affected by her show of theatrics. "And how do you expect her to cooperate? If we even catch her at all." Theron sighed, removing the gas mask away from his face. He was good looking, if not tired. The bags under his eyes signaled he might have had to put up with her shit 24/7.

  As he took the mask away, I saw words in red ink tattooed on the back of his hand. I squinted hard and glared at Tanya's own hands to confirm. They both said CLEAN.

  "She doesn't look like the type to give in as soon as she's captured, you know." He defended, and I felt mixed feeling about this statement. I was between feeling sorry for him, that he was mixed up in all sorts of terrible things, and feeling like he was just another stranger, out to get me.

  Tanya grinned. "She can be broken, just like the infected."

  "…and the couple?"

  Tanya shrugged, twirling around the wench in her hands. "Do whatever. Their old, they can't do much." She thought for a moment. "Infected bait, most likely. C'mon, let's stake out that cabin. She can't be far from here." Tanya took the lead, Theron following silently.

  I gritted my teeth as they walked away, cursing and imaging Tanya's head on a pike. confirming my worst fear, they established that Doug and Olive were indeed, where ever this 'Paradise' was. Now, I only had to find out just where and how to get there...and who else is waiting for me there.

  They must be afraid, wondering where I am, worrying. Or maybe they're cursing my name, wondering why in the world did they ever trust me in the first place? Are they being tortured? Are they even still together? Are they even still alive? My heart fell, and I could feel unwelcome sob creep up in my throat. Taking in a sharp intake of breath to subdue it, I pondered on how I hated the feeling of guilt.

  Neither of us had moved since they had come and gone, and it took a minute to remember just what position I was in.

  Aaron relaxed his grip on me and in response I latched tightly on the arms around me. If the fall didn't kill me, it would leave me a cripple, helpless and hurting. Intertwining my fingers with his own clawed-tipped ones, I spoke softly, almost begging. "Get us the fuck down, Aaron"

  No response, just quiet breathing behind me. I swore under my breath. I had half the mind of leaning over, tipping us until we were falling and forcing him to either let go, or land. But of course, my sudden fear of heights overwhelmed that option. As well as common sense.

  Tree are becoming my common hiding place, having found myself stuck in one for a second time. Though the last time I was sleeping, in a different forest where I only fought infected, not strangers who wanted to kidnap me. Not to mention I was alone this time, and I'm not sure just because he's breathing does he really count as 'legit company' considering his lack of understanding of the human language, and my lack of understanding bundles of snarls and growls.

  "Aaron!" I whispered-shouting. He snarled for a millisecond, grip suddenly tightened and I winced in response. I groaned inside my head. He was still a Leaper, yeah, but he latched on like Trapper. What I wouldn't give for some clear communication right now.

  Elbowing him slightly, I pointing downwards, towards the ground. "Down, Aaron." He tSirened at sound of his name, and I felt a little relief to this. We were getting somewhere, although very slowing, but still better than nothing.

  My back was facing him, so I didn't have a view of his face. Not like I would of gotten a glimpse of it anyway. I often questioned the special infected's eyesight, since it was completely shrouded from his hood. But then again, Leaper's always seemed to have sharpened senses, sight being one of them. I couldn't think of any explanation for this except it was the work of the illnes
s, somehow.

  I elbowed him in the chest, much harder this time. He grunted in response, and a deep growl emitted from him. I rolled my eyes. Throwing caution to the dogs, I elbowed him for a third time, cutting his warning off short. He took me up here, and he was going to get me down, whether he wanted to or not. Because there is no way in hell I would even find the courage to even attempt to climb down from this height.

  Yet, have the courage to elbow a killer in the ribs, and not fear being torn to shreds? I will admit, he was intimidating. But my fear of heights began to overwhelm my fear of him, and it looked like Aaron was the only way to the ground. I groaned in frustration, muttering empty threats under my breath, all directed towards him. It didn't matter if he could hear me, since he wouldn't be able to understand my words anyway.

  Suddenly, we were falling. Rotating in his arms, I buried my face in the front of his clothes, biting my tongue painfully to prevent myself form screaming. The air rushed through my hair, threating to take my pony tail. It would be a shame for my hair to get messy again so soon, since I had just washed it not too long ago.

  A sudden jerk and we had touched earth again. But the abrupt flight with no warning was too sudden for me, and my face was still buried within Aaron's hoodie.

  It took me a moment to realize I wasn't in danger of falling anymore, and I pushed, hard against my holder's chest until I was dropped not so gracefully on the ground. I landed on my back, Aaron smugly grinning at my discomfort and distress. He hopped away before I could kick him for revenge.

  "Was that really necessary?"

  And for the first time, it was like he almost knew what I was saying. Aaron snickered, or at least sounded like he was. It sounded human, the laughter, but it sounded raspy, like one would laugh with a sore throat. Like he really needed a glass or water, or maybe an entire Heavy.

  Nursing my behind, and dignity as much as I could, I glared at him, before getting up to face the direction of the cabin. Tanya and Theron had information that I needed, and both of them either wanted me dead or in chains. But it was a chance I was going to have to take, I refuse to leave my friends for dead.