Desmond continues to scream as the infected bite down on him. They bite and rip flesh from his neck and back. Blood begins to burst everywhere. One of the infected grabs Desmond by the cheek and starts to pull. Their sharp nails and unrelenting strength cause Desmond's face to be ripped in half. First, the cheeks and face flesh are torn. Then the infected begin biting into the back of his head and parts of his face. The screaming goes on, but sound becomes garbled due to all the blood. Eventually, the screaming stops, and Desmond is dead. All Matthew hears now is the infected, and the cries of Laura. The infected continue to feast on Desmond's dead body.
After a moment of shock and traumatization, Matthew turns around and walks past the father and daughter. A subtle tear runs down his cheek as Matthew realizes he is slowly becoming desensitized to all the violence. It’s sad to him, but he won’t let it slow him down.
“Come on, we gotta keep moving.”
Laura and Timothy gather themselves after witnessing that traumatizing experience and continue to follow Matthew through the alleyway. The three of them walk through the alley way, not saying a word. Matthew is out of bullets in his Glock, so he is virtually defenseless. Laura had managed to drop her shotgun earlier, proving Matthews suspicions that she is not capable of wielding such a weapon. Timothy has his rifle, but he questions his ability to use it. Matthew says nothing to them. Matthew pulls out his knife, so he could have something to defend himself if they come across other infected.
The group reaches another street, but this time it is clear of infected. The three steps out onto the sidewalk. Matthew doesn’t know where to go. Before they had planned on taking refuge at the Cathedral, but now there is no safe location to go to. Matthew turns to the two to speak up, but before he can say anything, he spots something at the intersection behind them. Three figures pop out from the corner of the intersection down the street. These figures are no infected; they are armed with guns. Matthew realizes the bandits must have been following their every move.
“Shit!”
Laura and Timothy turn to quickly see the bandits. The group begins to sprint in the opposite direction, fearful of these three men. They are quick, but the bandits are quicker. As they run, the bandits begin firing their weapons. The group reaches an intersection and plans on turning left, but out of nowhere, Timothy is hit with a bullet in his leg. Timothy screams. They continue to run, but Timothy is limping his way behind. They get around the corner, so they are clear of gunfire. Timothy stops moving and leans up against a brick wall. Laura and Matthew turn around.
“You gotta go. I can't keep up.” Timothy pleas.
“No! I can't leave you! Not after everything!” Laura cries.
“You have to, or you’ll die.”
Matthew grabs Laura by the arm and pulls her away.
“We gotta go!” Matthew shouts.
Laura cries as her and Matthew begin to run. The two run and don't look back. Laura continues to cry.
“I love you!” Timothy screams.
Laura cries even louder now but doesn’t turn to face her dying father. She can’t believe how fast everything had just fallen apart, and now she is left with a stranger. Matthew and Laura turn at another intersection, completely escaping Timothy's view. Timothy begins to cry and sits down on the ground. Suddenly, the three bandits appear from the side of the building where Timothy is resting. They begin to laugh to themselves as they circle and surround Timothy.
“Nice shot, Brandon.”
“Thanks.”
Timothy looks up in complete and utter fear. He knows he is going to die, but he fears death itself. He could never imagine himself dying in such a cruel and heartless way.
“Say your prayers, old man!” Brandon says.
Brandon raises his sniper rifle and points it at Timothy's chest. The other two bandits begin laughing. A tear rolls down Timothy's face, but he closes his eyes and accepts defeat.
Matthew and Laura run, but stop when they hear an abrupt gun shot. Laura realizes the implications of this and begins to breakdown. She falls to her knees and begins crying uncontrollably. Matthew picks her up and drags her to the side of the street near a dumpster.
“Listen to me! Get inside and hide, okay? I’m going to lure them away, and then I’ll come back!” Matthew explains
Laura sniffles through and says, “Promise me.”
“I promise. Now get in.”
Matthew opens the dumpster and helps Laura get inside. Laura gets in and tries to stop crying. Matthew looks at her for a brief moment before closing the dumpster. He knows that he has to make it back somehow after seeing the suffering in her eyes. Matthew closes the dumpster, hiding Laura, and continues to run.
Matthew is nearing the exit of the town and is approaching a bridge. He is getting tired, but he knows he can’t stop now. He hasn't stopped and realizes what is going on. The adrenaline slowly fades as he nears the bridge. Under the bridge is a train track. Matthew has no intention to stop running, but he does turn his head to see what's behind him. As he does, he sees the three bandits turn a corner and sprint toward Matthew. Matthew realizes he needs to make a move now. Matthew nears the center of the bridge, and as soon as he reaches it, the bandits begin firing their weapons. Matthew panics and runs to the side of the bridge. Matthew hurls his body over the ledge and falls. To his luck, Matthew lands on a parked train that happens to be right underneath the bridge. Matthew lands on the train and rolls off the roof. Matthew lands hard on the train track next to the train and screams in pain. He didn't break anything, but it hurt bad. Matthew quickly stands up and runs along the train track, away from the bride. The head of the train track is close. Suddenly, bullets hit the ground next to Matthew. The bandits are firing from on top of the bridge looking down. Matthew reaches the front of the train, but right before he can get into cover, he is whizzed by a bullet. The bullet wounds the flesh on his left arm. Matthew falls in pain, and crawls into cover. The bandits realize they hit him and make their way down the hill next to the bridge, toward the train tracks. Matthew rests there, holding his wound. His heart begins to beat quicker than ever before. Eventually, the bandits approach Matthew with their guns drawn. They all have sadistic smiles on their face. Matthew is not amused and looks up at them with slight rage in his eyes. The bandits begin laughing, but suddenly stop.
“This one's a fighter! We’re gonna have a lot fun with you.” Brandon says.
Chapter 4
Left Behind
Kurt's eyes slowly open as he lays on the Cathedral floor. He has no idea what is going on. He tries to move, but quickly feels the sharp pain in his left shoulder. Kurt puts his hand on his shoulder and looks at his fingers. They are smeared with blood. Kurt begins to hyperventilate and cry to himself. He had never been shot before, so this is traumatic for him. Kurt puts his hand over the wound to stop it from bleeding. Surprisingly enough, the bullet only impacted a muscle and went all the way through. If he applies pressure on the wound until he can get it patched up, he should be fine. Kurt slowly gets up onto his knees and looks around the Cathedral. The group is gone from his sight. He has no idea where they went, or how long he has been unconscious. Kurt looks outside and sees the herd of infected roaming the streets. Kurt looks scared and hopeless. Sometime must have gone by, and the group must have taken off somewhere else. He has never been alone before. Ever since the start, he with this people he loved. He guided his group this entire time, and now they are gone. Kurt felt like he had a purpose leading that small group, simply because they relied on him. Now, he is alone and injured. Kurt stands up and quickly notices the dead body of Francesco. That same feeling of rage and vengeance comes back into his mind. Kurt suddenly remembers what had happened here not too long ago. Those bandits attacked them and killed his close friend. Infuriated, Kurt walks over to Francesco’s body and picks up his Carbine rifle. Kurt plans on finding the others, but if he happens to come across the bandits who are responsible for this, he has every intention of avenging his friend. Onc
e Kurt checks the magazine and turns off the safety on the rifle, the infected from outside the front entrance notice Kurt inside. They slowly begin to walk into the Cathedral, wanting to feast on more flesh. He realizes he must escape quickly, or he’ll end up just like his friend. Kurt slowly walks backward toward the altar to create some distance between him and the countless infected. Kurt has never dealt with this many infected, especially in such a tight space. Kurt steps onto the altar and looks around the large room. He quickly notices the back-entrance door opened. He realizes there is a good possibility the rest of the group left through there. Kurt walks over to the door, but while he does, he looks back at the herd. The infected notice Francesco's dead body. Their focus shifts to the body and they quickly lunge down at it and start biting. The infected begin eating what was once Kurt's good friend. Kurt watches them eat Francesco as his eyes slowly become filled with tears. They rip and tear the flesh from his bones, making him into nothing but a pile of bones. Kurt wipes the tears away and proceeds to go through the back exit of the Cathedral.
Kurt walks out the back entrance of the Cathedral into the alleyway with his fully automatic drawn and ready to fire. Surprisingly, there are no infected around. Kurt is still cautious however, so he decides to slowly walk and listen closely for any threats nearby. As he’s walking, he can't help but notice that the sun is beginning to set. Kurt realizes some time must have passed since they found Matthew in the food bank. Kurt proceeds to walk through the alley way and is quickly met with the choice to go left or right. Kurt walks forward and looks down the alleyway to his right. He sees the street and a few infected mindlessly roaming. He knows he can't go there unless he wants to deal with all the infected in town. Kurt looks to his left and sees the fence the group had climbed over to escape earlier. Kurt quickly notices the eaten and mauled corpse of Desmond. He doesn't recognize him at first, but soon notices his pistol on the ground and the color of his pants. Kurt has a good memory, so this quickly allows him to understand what had happened here. Desmond must have been corned and eaten alive. This only raises more questions for Kurt. He wonders what may have happened to the others. He takes a moment and just stares at the corpses. He feels like he failed as their leader, and all this chaos that has fallen upon them is his fault. Kurt is struck with guilt as he continues to look at Desmond's corpse. He regains his focus and proceeds. Kurt walks up next to Desmond and almost throws up at the rotting smell of his corpse. Kurt bends down and picks up Desmond's pistol. Kurt holsters the pistol on his hip. He looks back at the street of infected. His only option is to just climb this fence and continue searching, so that's what he does. Kurt climbs the fence, and safely lands on the other side. As he walks away, he can't help but look back at the corpse. Desmond's face was pushed into the fence and parts of his flesh are going through the fence holes because of the shear pressure he must have dealt with. The sight reminds him of play-doe being pushed through slits in the plastic toys that he used to play with as a kid. It’s truly horrific to look at, especially because it was someone he cared about. Kurt quickly looks away and continues walking.
Kurt walks through the new alleyway. In front of him is a different street. He figures this might be the right direction where Matthew, Laura, and Timothy must have gone. The possibility of them all being killed crosses his mind a few times, but he tries to dismiss it because he can't imagine what would happen if he was all alone in a world like this. Kurt reaches the street and is faced with another option. Left or right. Kurt looks to his left and sees a long street with another intersection a few blocks down, clear of any danger. Kurt looks to his right and sees another long street, but at a near intersection, there are a handful of infected roaming. Kurt doesn't want to take any chances, so left it is.
Kurt walks down the street toward the intersection a few blocks down and begins to think about the group. He suddenly becomes angry with them. He wonders why they just left him there alone. He wasn't dead, so he doesn't understand how they could abandon him like that. The possibility of the group thinking he’s dead does not cross his mind, but he suppressed it. Kurt begins to feel betrayed. This is all Kurt begins to think about now. The thought of him finding the others doesn't even seem like something he wants anymore. These people abandoned him, so why should he give them another chance. His best friend is dead now because Matthew lead them all to the Cathedral to be attacked. A part of him feels like Matthew is responsible for this, but he also feels the guilt as he was their leader.
Kurt approaches the intersection, now agitated and angry with everyone he knows. Kurt walks to the intersection and believes he is at another cross road. Before he even has the chance to consider which way he should go, Kurt sees someone in the corner of his eye. Kurt looks to his left to see Timothy laying against the brick wall of a nearby building. Kurt slowly walks up to him and notices something disturbing. Timothy has a bullet wound in his chest. Timothy must be dead, but he has no idea how long ago he was killed. Kurt realizes there is a good chance the bandits hunted down the group after they escaped the Cathedral. Kurt just stands still, staring at the corpse. He begins contemplating whether or not he should pursue finding Matthew and Laura, as they are most likely dead. In his mind, Kurt is about to give up on the idea of surviving this world with others. He doesn't want to be alone, but he also knows he can’t handle this kind of guilt. He had to deal with it after his family died, and now he must deal with it again. He wonders if he would be better off on his own. Before he makes up his mind, Kurt hears a distance gunshot coming from far away. Kurt realizes this might be the bandits, or possibly Matthew and Laura. Maybe they are firing at each other. Kurt doesn't even think about it and begins running.
Kurt runs down the street and makes a left on the next intersection. Not too far past a nearby dumpster is a bridge which leads out of town. That seems to be the general direction of where the gunshot came from. Kurt runs past the dumpster and toward the bridge. Kurt approaches the bridge, just thinking about what he is going to do once he finds the bandits. It's the only thing in his head. All he wants more than anything is to seek vengeance on those who wronged him. Kurt runs onto the bridge and hears another distant gunshot coming from his left. Kurt looks over the edge of the bridge and looks at the railroad. The road leads past a tall hill and a few buildings, so he doesn't know where it leads. All he knows is he must find whoever shot that gun.
*****
Matthew looks up at the three bandits as they stand over him laughing to themselves. He sits on the tracks, leaning against the head of the train. Matthew holds the wound on his left arm, trying hard to stop it from bleeding. The men laugh at him as he sits there helplessly. These men are pure evil, killing innocent lives for pleasure. Matthew looks at one of the bandits and tied to his backpack is the headless body of his cat, Chester. Now Matthew knows that these are indeed the men who raided his house. Matthew looks at the ringleader of the group but doesn't say a word.
“What? You got something to say?” Brandon asks.
“If you’re gonna kill me, you might as well get it over with.”
Brandon begins to laugh to himself. Brandon walks next to Matthew and crouches down. The two are face to face. Brandon is a middle-aged man with a long beard. The other two bandits seem to be around his age but have skinny arms and pale faces. They are filthy and look crazed. Their putrid smell makes Matthew squint his eyes, but he doesn't want to agitate these men. Matthew is only intimidated by Brandon but doesn't plan on appearing weak to any of them. Brandon gets all serious for a moment and stares at Matthew. Matthew stares back.
“I’ll kill you when I say I’m gonna kill you. Don’t ever tell me what to do, alright?” Brandon states.
Matthew doesn’t respond. Brandon smiles for a short moment, and then abruptly stands up. Brandon pick Matthew up by the arm and pushes him forward. Matthew looks back angrily.
“Walk!” Brandon yells.
Matthew hesitates, but begins walking down the tracks, away from the bridge. The bandi
ts follow behind with their weapons pointed at Matthews back. Matthew looks forward. After everything he has witnessed these men do, Matthew is beginning to feel worried. He has no idea what they are going to do to him, and he has no idea if he is even going to survive this encounter. Brandon walks up next to Matthew and puts his arm over his neck, as if they were pals.
“You know, I wouldn't try running if I were you. If you try, we’re just gonna have to shoot you dead on the spot, and that’s not fun. You know, that was pretty fucking stupid for you and your friends to be shooting your guns in the middle of this huge ass fucking town. I really don't like that actually. It kind of pisses me right the fuck off!” Brandon shouts.
“What are you going to do to me?”
“Oh, we’re gonna have a lot of fun. Don’t worry, you’ll see.” Brandon says while chuckling to himself.
The other two bandits laugh as well. Matthew begins to worry even more now. He killed Francesco and Timothy on sight, so that means they must have something more brutal planned for Matthew. This becomes clear in his head, and he knows he’s gonna must try and escape. Matthew must come up with some kind of plan to get away, but it has to be smart and well thought out, so he can actually escape, and not get a bullet in the back. They all continue to walk down the train tracks away from the town. Brandon looks back at one of the bandits, specifically the one directly behind him.
Mankind Page 5
