To Die Unknown

“Oh shit! You’re not one of them....You’re just extremely filthy, and you smell rancid. When was the last time you bathed?” The gun was pulled away, exposing a startlingly tall, slim, man with bright blue eyes. His black hair was cut strangely, and standing in all directions. He was so clean.

I stared down at my hands in confusion, the spear held tightly between them.. Their was brown smudges, and grime stuck under my fingernails. When was the last time I bathed? We could only wash ourselves in the streams and rivers we came across, and they were few. But his face was pale and without blemishes. Did he come across soap?

“Are you deaf?” The man inquired curiously. I shook my head. I was in shock. He had just pulled a gun on me, and now he wanted to converse? He brought his face a little closer to mine, his eyes wide and a goofy grin on his face.

“I’m Jimmy.” He mused, sticking his hand out at me, the other was putting his gun back in the holster strapped to his waist. His clothes were much cleaner as well. Black, sleek, and without holes or stains. His arms were exposed showing sleeves of tattoo’s. He was also clean shaven. Who was this man?

“Hayley.” I spoke, my voice slightly shaky. Loosening one of my hand’s grip on the spear, I reached out cautiously, afraid to touch him. Was he going to kill me? My hand slid into his much larger one. He shook my hand enthusiastically.

“Hayley? Hmm.” He let my name roll off his tongue. He let my hand go and leaned back against the end of the aisle. “I suppose you and I could be friends. I bet once you're cleaned and run a brush through that rat’s nest on your head, you’d be nice to look at.”

“What do you mean?” I was now beyond confused, we were in a grocery store, infected possibly around the corner, and he wanted to be friends? The sun would be setting soon. I didn’t have time for this. We needed to get what we could and get out, not befriend strangers.

“Well, since you’ll be coming back with us, we’ll most likely become friends.” He laughed a little at my question, throwing his head back slightly.

I don’t know what stood out more, that I was apparently going back with him, or that there were more with him. I knew immediately that I couldn’t and wouldn’t go to wherever he was going. Other humans were dangerous. I wouldn’t put my sister or Sebastian in that kind of danger.

Backing away, I raised the spear in warning. His eyes narrowed slightly. His hand reached into the vest he was wearing, pulling out some sort of machine. He didn’t pull his gun, why? He raised his mouth to the machine, pushing a button.

“Shadows, you have the other two contained?” He spoke into the machine. A radio? Wait, other two? He couldn’t possibly mean Victoria and Sebastian. I paused, my eyes widening slightly.

“Yeah man, you have the chick? These two are causing a bit of trouble so the Berry’s are lugging them out to the van. You need some help or something?” A slightly raspy voice sounded from the small radio, his voice crackling from the static.

Shadows? Berry’s? Who were these people? They had guns, trucks, and stereo’s. These were things I couldn’t have imagined to even be in existence any more. What did they want with us? All I knew now, was that I had to get to Sebastian and Victoria. Even if it meant killing these people. I’d kill them before they would have the opportunity to kill us.

“Yeah, you should probably come to aisle 2. She looks like she’s going to run, and she’s pointing some spear thing at me. Just, hurry up.” Jimmy said into the radio, before putting it back into his vest. The reply was quick and muddled. I couldn’t make out what it said. But I wasn’t intending on staying around to meet this Shadows person.

Jimmy began approaching me slowly, his hands raised as if to show he was harmless. That could have been the case six years ago, but today, to survive, harmless was the last thing anyone was. He reached his hand for me and I sprung into action.

I ducked out of his reach, before jumping to the side. I raised my spear and smashed the wooden length of it to his head, the spear splintering under the pressure of my hit. Jimmy stumbled back at my hit, holding his head groaning.

I dropped the broken half of the spear and sprang around the corner, running away from him. I could hear him stumbling after me. I came to a sudden halt at the end of the isle. The large glass windows of the storefront exposed the now, almost setting sun. It also exposed at least six large vehicles, various people leaning casually against the vehicles, others talking amongst themselves.

I turned behind me to see Jimmy approaching, one hand gripping his head painfully, the other holding onto the aisle for support. I turned and ran forward, straight into a hard chest. A hand gripped my right arm painfully tight, restraining me. I glanced up, seeing a tall muscular man in front of me. He had a buzz cut, and aviators covering his eyes. His mouth was set into a frown.

“Knock her out, Shadows. That bitch, fucking hit me over the head.” Jimmy spoke from behind me, his voice sounding strained. So this was Shadows? I wasn’t sure if I could take him, Jimmy, and all of these other people.

I failed to notice the metal baseball bat in Shadows other hand. He let go of my arm momentarily. Before I had the chance to either run, or hit him, he swung the bat, hitting me in the side of the head. The pain was instant, a strong searing on the left side of my head. I stumbled to the ground from the force. My vision was blurring. I struggled to my knee’s, attempting to pick myself back up.

“Such a shame she had to struggle so much. It would’ve been easier had she cooperated. But this is what we get for helping right? A wooden fucking stick to the head.” I heard who I assumed to be Jimmy speaking. I looked up, my vision blurry.

The bat came down again. My vision flickered right out, my body falling unconscious to the ground.

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When I came back to consciousness, I was laying on an uncomfortable surface. My body was shaking slightly, the surface was unstable. Where was I? My ears were ringing, and the pain in my head, it was immense.

I groaned grabbing my head, trying to dull the pain.

“Hayley? Oh God, I thought they’d killed you!” A voice, much to loud for my liking shouted out in what sounded like relief. Their was the sound of a shuffle, and then a body was attached to mine. I could hear the sobs, the body shaking against mine.

I groaned again, my eyes were heavy, and I struggled, peeling them open.

Their was dim lighting around us. Victoria’s lithe form was holding onto mine in a tight grip. I could see the sobs racking her body. What happened? I pulled myself up, Victoria pulling back, allowing me to get up. Her eyes were red and puffy, tears stained clear paths down her dirty cheeks. I glanced over seeing Sebastian smiling at me, his face slightly strained. Their was a large bruise forming on the right side of his cheek.

“What happened?” I voiced my question. We were in what looked like a cage. And, we were moving? I shuffled on my knee’s to the wall of the cage. My fingers gripping through the chain links. I narrowed down that we were in a cage, in the back of what appeared to be a van. I strained my eyes, looking out the vans back window. It looked like a truck was following us, the lights were dimmed low, and it was night. Where are we being taken to? And why?

“After we went our separate ways, Sebastian said he heard something. So we went back to the entrance, thinking some of the infected had followed us. We were wrong. A whole bunch of vehicles pulled up; people were spilling out of them. Their had to have been at least fifteen people! I couldn’t believe it!” Victoria exclaimed, her voice loud and excited. I turned from the cage wall and sat with my back to it.

Sebastian was sat similarly to me, his legs crossed and his head resting in his hands. That’s when I realized his weapons were gone. As were mine and Victoria’s. Perfect we’ve been left nearly defenseless. I raised my eyes to Victoria as she started speaking again.

“They all had like guns and shit. They came for us, I guess. Some guys entered the store and approached us. Some went and cleared out the infected within, gathering supplies. I’m surprised you didn’t come out when we heard them, I thought you would have. Yeah, but anyways, I guess they go to large cities every couple months and search for people like us. Humans out there , on their own, without a place to go. So they have some sort of community going on.” She paused to take a breath,

“So why are we back here then? And why are you bruised over there, Sebastian?” If they were some kind of saviors, you’d think we might have had better treatment. Oh, and maybe not attack us. Well, I suppose I hit first.

“They wanted to search us there to see if we were infected. Obviously we aren’t, but they didn’t believe us. We resisted, and I got hit, as you can see. But anyways, they’re bringing us back to their community or some shit, and we’ll be thoroughly searched and cleaned, to make sure we have no bites. Which is why we’re back here. Isolation in case we actually were bitten, to keep the others safe.” Sebastian responded. He laughed a little at our situation.

“I was right, I guess. People really are taking back small town’s. Trying to start some sort of a normal life again. They said their encampment has been up for three years now. There's a whole bunch of people there. I think a couple hundred, maybe.” Sebastian said, a small smile taking over his face. He leaned back, his back pushing against the chain wall. Victoria stretched out over the bottom of the cage. She was laying on her belly, her head resting on her arms. This was an uncomfortable place to be.

I wasn’t sure if I should have been excited or not. We’d be around other people, and with a stable environment. But I wasn’t sure if that’s what I wanted. I don’t know if we could trust these people.

“So how long have we been driving for?” I inquired, flexing my arms in front of me. My body was sore from being unconscious and in the same position for so long. It didn’t help that my head was throbbing painfully. I tried to ignore it.

“I’m not sure, we’ve been driving for a while...I’d guess about five days. The sun has come up five times, and set the same amount. Well not counting the night we started. I can’t believe how long you were unconscious for. They said you would wake up soon, I just didn’t think it would take that long. We’ve stopped a couple times. They gave us bathroom breaks. And a little bit of food. Some sort of stew.” Victoria said, her forehead furrowed as she considered how long we’d been driving. I couldn’t fathom where we were going. At least they’d fed them, if only just a little. I only just noticed that my bladder was full.

I crawled my way to the front of the cage, where I’d assumed the front of the van would be. There was a metal wall separating us from the driver. Their was a tinted window that covered the upper half of the wall. I pushed my hand against the change links, stretching my fingers out as far as I could. My middle finger was the only one that reached the window. I tapped it as hard as I could against the glass.

I fell back shocked when it opened, exposing Jimmy. He glared at me.

“What?” His voice sounded tired. I could see from the dim light in the van, that he had gauze wrapped around his head. It was probably from where I’d hit him. I frowned, somewhat guiltily. He had been nice to me.

“I have to pee.” I whispered, slightly embarrassed by his anger, and my request. He rolled his eyes and his large hands rubbed at his face tiredly.

“You can wait, we’ll be there sooner or later. It’s too dark to stop right now, either way. With the forests surrounding us, they could come out of everywhere, and we wouldn’t see. While we’re moving, they can’t keep up.” He pulled his head back and slid the window closed. I slid back, turning to Victoria and Sebastian, who both shrugged.

“So what happened to you anyways?” Sebastian asked, his voice curious.

“I ran into that guy, Jimmy. He had a gun pulled on me. Anyway, he was talking about me going with him, and I wouldn’t. I hit him over the head with my spear. Which, I’m assuming is why his head is wrapped up. So I ran off, and was stopped by that Shadows guy, and he hit me with a baseball bat...Twice.” I frowned, remembering the searing pain of the first hit. I was out to quick to register the pain of the second.

I massaged my temples, trying to ease some of the pain. Victoria stared at me for a while in silence. I could see she was trying to understand my motives.

“Why did you hit him? I mean, why not just go along with it?” Victoria asked, her voice quiet. She appeared bewildered. I glanced at Sebastian, he had fallen asleep.

“I didn’t trust him...I thought he was going to kill me. When I’d heard they had you I panicked. I was terrified. I thought I failed you.” I let my voice trail off at the end, although I was sure Victoria had heard me.

“So you took a bat to the head? You’re too funny, Hayley.” Victoria laughed quietly. It’s not like I’d chosen to be hit with a baseball bat.”I’m glad you’re not dead Hayley, I don’t know what I’d have done without you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Victoria.” I leaned my head back, closing my eyes. I hadn’t realized how tired I was. I allowed myself to slip into unconsciousness.
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My dreams were anything but pleasant. People being torn apart by the creatures that had taken over. Everyone dying had my face, my screams echoing. Jimmy and Shadows were everywhere, on every creature. They enjoyed ending my life, over and over.

It was hard to have pleasant dreams when we all lived in a nightmare. I feel like I’ve given up. That humanity has given up. It was surprising how quickly all of humanity had lost. How we cowered and hid, struggling to survive. I felt alienated from my own home. But had humanity really given up? It didn’t seem so if these people had a town isolated and safe. It actually seemed like they were trying to help the stranded humans, like us, by going on what appeared to be rescue missions. But in the end, could the living humans really conquer? It seemed unlikely. I feel like there would always be one more around the corner. Ready to spread it’s infection and death.

I don’t think this would ever be over. But that didn’t mean I would stop fighting.

I awoke to the sound of the tinted window opening at the front of the van. Jimmy poked his head through the window a large grin on his face. His head was still bandaged but he didn’t look as tired.

“Well it took six days, going way over the speed limit, but we’re here.” Jimmy exclaimed, his voice loud so the three of us could hear him. I had to admit, I was curious. Where exactly was here?

Sebastian, Victoria, and I, stared through the back window, attempting to see. We were in a forest, I could tell that much. The van stopped momentarily, but I couldn’t make anything out from the front. After a few minutes we started moving again. Slowly, we inched forward.