To Die Unknown

I stared in awe as we drove through the desolate streets. Grass grew tall and thick through the cracked pavement. Cars were overturned and abandoned by their previous owners. The smell of rotting flesh overwhelmed the disastrous images.

It was like every other city I’d been in. Well, the ones that I could remember since the world went to shit. I couldn’t even picture what this place might have looked like before.

It was strange having yet to see any infected. The sounds of the old truck should have been enough to attract a horde of the undead. Yet, all was still, and eerily silent.

But still, we drove on.

Feelings of unease began to erupt in my stomach like a torrent of butterflies. I folded my hands together, turning to stare at Brian.

“How’s your arm?” I asked lowly, examining the tear in his shirt and the dried blood surrounding it. He turned to look at me briefly, frowning.

“It’s just a scratch.” He said. I bit my lip to force down a grin. As wrong as it was, I was still rather amused that I’d managed to shoot him. I’m sure that he was in plenty of pain with his ankle, face, and arm. However, he didn’t look like someone that would bitch and moan about it.

I took off my seatbelt. The harsh material was uncomfortable and had been strapped across my chest long enough. I arched my back, stretching my arms above my head. My back cracked in response.

“What’s that from?” I looked down, noticing my red shirt had ridden up exposing the pale flesh of my midriff. A shiny, jagged scar two inches long ran up my left side. I brought my fingers to my skin, running it over the scar.

“About a year and a half ago, I went off without Victoria and Sebastian. I thought it would be safer if I went for supplies and came back for them. I was wrong, clearly. I ended up trapped on the second floor of an apartment building. I was surrounded. All I could see were the infected. They were all grabbing and scratching, I couldn’t find my way out of them. I knew I was going to die. And then, I was falling. I’d somehow managed to break through a window. A shard of glass got caught in my side.” I pulled my shirt back over my stomach. “It wasn’t bad, I was just lucky it didn’t get infected. The fall two stories down hurt more than the cut.”

Scars were easy to gain these days. It wasn’t like we weren’t living dangerously. Injuries are easily obtained. I could point out every scar on my body, but I couldn’t remember every story for them. They were like freckles to me. Something not necessarily everyone would like, but something I learned to live with.

“I bet you were the lead singer.” I said, pulling my knees up to my chest.

“Lead singer?” He asked, looking at me from the corner of his eye.

“Of your band. You have the whole attitude down,” I answered, turning my face to him. “You know, all dark, brooding, and sexy-“

“You think I’m sexy?” He cut me off, turning to stare at me with a smirk.

“No, that’s not what I said.” I shook my head, refusing to acknowledge my mistake.

“Yes, it is.” He mused.

“Well, it’s not what I meant. You’re moderately attractive. But, you’re a bit of a douche, and it’s a definite turn off.” I said, smirking back at him.

“And you’re a bitch. But, I’m learning to live with it.” He snapped, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

I turned away from him, glancing back out the window.

The silence only grew as we drove forth.

“Lead guitar. I was the lead guitarist.” He said so lowly I could barely hear it. His eyes remained focused on the road before us.

I said nothing.

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“What was that?” I jerked to attention, my eyes snapping open. Falling asleep in the stuffy truck had terrible repercussions on my body. I ached all over.

“It sounded like gunshots.” Brian said, straightening his body in the truck.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to head that area? We’re unarmed,” I acknowledged, rolling up my window. “A couple of bullets won’t make a very big difference.”

The truck rolled to a stop.

“What are you doing?” I snapped at him.

“We’re out of gas.” Brian swore. I cursed and got out of the truck, stumbling on my way to the driver’s side. My legs tingled as they awoke. Brian’s body sagged against mine as we walked forth. The gun was tucked into the back of his pants. He was a far better shot than I. With a limited number of bullets, he had a better chance than I at taking out a higher number of infected.

We turned down a street to our right, following the sound of gunshots.

“Holy shit.” Brian exclaimed. We both stopped, taking in the terrifying scene before us.

A horde of infected much larger than any I’d encountered before, lumbered towards us. They were packed closely together, stumbling into each other in their hurry. Two people were walking in front of them, their backs to us. They were firing guns against the horde, barely making a dent in them.

“Holy shit.” I echoed Brian, alarm written across both of our faces.

“I guess we know where they all were.” Brian acknowledged gravely.

“Go.” I said, ducking out from under Brian’s arm.

“What?” He asked, his good eye widened.

“I have to help. We both won’t stand a chance with your condition.” I responded. I turned by back to him, but was stopped when he grabbed by hand.

“Be careful.” He said, letting go of my hand.

“Aren’t I always?” I mused. Walking away from him, I turned my back to him. My foot caught in a crack in the pavement and I tripped, barely keeping my balance. Brian’s laughter egged me on.

I ran toward the strangers before me, calling out to them, “Need a hand?”

Simultaneously they both jerked their heads in my direction.

I saw that one was a man and the other a woman.

“Can you handle a gun?” The man called back to me.

“Barely.” I said under my breath, catching the .44 magnum revolver he threw back at me. They kept a good distance between themselves and the infected, firing away at them.

“What the hell am I doing?” I asked myself, turning off the safety and firing into the crowd.

The sound of scuttling behind me caught my attention. I turned, seeing a horde of the undead seemingly appearing out of nowhere. They stumbled from alleys and the building around us. We were surrounded.

I couldn’t see Brian anywhere.

“They’re everywhere!” The woman shouted. Seeing her face for the first time, I realized she was only around Victoria’s age. She had bright blue eyes and freckles splashed across her pale skin. Her blonde hair was short and wavy, ending just below her shoulders.

“I’m out!” The man swore, slamming the butt of his rifle into a running infected that broke through the crowd.

We were surrounded by abandoned buildings. I did a quick scan, trying to find somewhere to go.

“There!” I yelled, running to the only building close enough to make it to. An infected man jumped into my path. I ran straight into him, stumbling over with him. His gaping jaw moved toward me. I shoved the revolver into his mouth, pulling the trigger.

I stumbled up, smashing into the glass door. I tried the knob and nearly cried when it turned. The man ran through behind me, panting heavily. The blonde was further behind us. She dropped her pistols, unsheathing matching kukri knives. She slashed her way through the horde, headless undead dropping behind her.

I slammed the door shut when she made it through. We struggled to hold the door closed. The infected slamming into the door rattled us with each hit. I could feel the glass cracking against us. The man struggled against the weight of a dresser he pushed our way.

“Move.” He panted. We moved out of the way, a heavy wooden dresser replacing our bodies. He dropped a backpack at his feet, taking off his dark brown leather jacket. Panting heavily, I looked around.

We were clearly in a furniture store. Various items of furniture were strewn across the room and overturned. A thick layer of dust coated the room. The front of the store was a large glass window. The metal security gate had already been pulled down the length of the window and locked into place.

“I’m Luke. Luke Callaway.” I looked up at the man standing before me. He was tall and lean. I could see the muscles bulging under his shirt when he extended his hand toward me. I took in his dark green eyes and chiseled face.

“Hayley Smith.” I responded, shaking his outstretched hand.

“I’m Amanda.” The blonde acknowledged, wiping the blood off her kukri knives and putting them back into the sheaths strapped to her thighs.

I ignored the noises of the infected outside, leaning back against the dresser placed in front of the door. Amanda walked to the glass window, staring out it in dismay.

“There’s hundreds out there,” She said. She ran her hand along the metal security gate. Cracks ran along the length of the glass. Infected covered the entire window, clawing and slamming into the glass in dismay. “This won’t hold them for long.”

“Do you have any weapons?” Luke asked, kneeling beside his bag and dumping the contents of it. I crouched down beside him, handing back the gun. He ejected the magazine, reloading the gun.

“No.” I answered. He nodded, taking a drink out of an almost empty water bottle. He tossed it to Amanda, who finished it off.

“We need to find a way out of here.” Amanda said, leaving the room and venturing to the right.

“Are you her brother?” I asked, nodding my head to the departing Amanda. When he glanced in her direction, I slid the .44 magnum revolver towards me. I tucked it into the back of my jeans before he noticed. I readjusted my shirt, covering the gun with it.

“Nah, we were holed up in a grocery store when things got bad. We made it out, and everyone out there was dead or infected. We’ve just kind of stuck together.” He said, putting items of use back into his bag. He put his leather jacket back on, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

“I’ll search upstairs.” I said, leaving the room. The stairs creaked as I made my way up them. They were covered in a thick layer of dust. I listened carefully for infected, but could only hear Amanda and Luke downstairs.

I tried opening the door at the top of the stairs. It was locked. I braced my shoulder and slammed against the wooden door, trying to open it. Repeating the action multiple times, it finally broke open.

The first room I entered was what looked like a staff room. There was a couch and a small tv overturned and smashed before it. A dirty fridge stood in one corner, the door ajar. A counter ran the length of one wall. A filthy sink was placed in the middle of it.

I examined the overturned vending machine. There were open wrappers surrounding it. I crouched down beside it, searching for food amongst the trash.

I hadn’t eaten in days and was starving. I was used to going great lengths without eating, but never this long. My stomach rumbled in protest when I began thinking about it.

A corner of the vending machine was pulled back. I yanked on it, trying to pull it further open. I barely made a difference.

Swearing, I reached my right arm into it. My body was positioned awkwardly as I tried to reach further into it. I pulled out whatever I could from the machine, not without difficulty. The plastic of the machine ripped the long sleeve of the shirt I was wearing, cutting into my skin.

Pulling my arm out, I frowned at the long tear of material and the blood seeping from beneath it. I ripped off the sleeve, doing my best to tie it around the long cut on my upper arm.

I glanced down at the small pile of food I’d managed to take out of the machine. The expiry date on the chocolate bars had come and gone years ago. However, I wasn’t going to be picky.

I peeled off the wrapper of a Mars bar. I ripped off a chunk with my teeth, cringing at how hard it was. My jaw grew sore trying to chew it, but I managed. The hard chocolate barely satiated my hunger.

“Soft nougat, my ass.” I mumbled, leaving the wrapper on the ground with the rest.

Searching the room, I managed to find a faded pink purse. I stuffed the handful of chocolate bars into it.

I ran to the top of the stairs at the sound of glass breaking.

“They’re getting through!” Amanda shouted.