The Rising
Gustav
I drifted in the no man’s land between wakefulness and sleep. A strange feeing of warmth worked itself into what senses were trying to wake themselves up. Unwilling to give up sleep I snuggled closer to the source of heat. If only I could have stayed like that forever.
“Hey, kid…Do you mind moving?” A familiar voice cut into my peaceful drifting and my eyes snapped open. The blood rushed to my cheeks when I found I was curled up against Reinhardt. Almost instantly I sat up and scooted backwards, sputtering out apologizes. This only earned me a smirk from my friend.
“God, kid, relax. It’s not that big of a deal.” Reinhardt sat up, yawning. He narrowed his eyes at me, suddenly lurching forward and grabbing my bandaged wrist. “What the hell is this?” Even though I wasn’t looking at him I knew he was frowning.
“It’s nothing…” I replied, trying to jerk free of his grip. But that only caused him to tighten his grip, earning a pained hiss. “It’s just a cut. Can you let go now? You’re really hurting me.”
“No.” Reinhardt replied sharply, not-so-gently removing the bandage from my arm. “God, what the hell did you do to yourself?” I found it really strange Reinhardt was so concerned. “…I suppose it doesn’t matter. Do you have fresh bandaging?”
I nodded, using my free hand to motion towards the bag. “Yeah, they’re in the bag. I can fix up my own cut, though.” I watched as Reinhardt dug through the bag before he found what he was looking for. He returned to my side with a bottle of disinfectant and more bandages.
“Shut up, Gustav. You can’t do it properly on your own.” He took the bottle of disinfectant, spraying it onto my cut. I bit my lower lip to keep from whining in pain. A little gentler than he had been before, Reinhardt bandaged up the wound. “There, that’s better.” He didn’t let go of my wrist. Instead, he jerked me closer. Again my gaze went down to the floor of the cave. With a gloved hand Reinhardt forced my gaze back up.
“Be more careful, okay? We can’t afford you getting injured.” For a moment we sat like that, neither of us really too willing to move. After a few long minutes of silence Reinhardt released me and stood up. “Now pack the bag and let’s go. We can’t waste another minute.”
“Yeah, sure,” I sighed; packing away the two things he’d pulled from the bag and standing up. There was the usual Reinhardt. I adjusted the backpack on my shoulders, and looked at my friend expectantly. Why does he shift between caring and not caring?
“Stop staring and come on.” Reinhardt ordered, turning and heading out of the cave. I followed close behind. “We’re going to keep heading the direction we were going yesterday. Sooner or later we’ll get out of these woods and hopefully find a more appropriate shelter…and maybe some food, too. And definitely some water. But our first concern should be shelter.” I nodded and fell in step with Reinhardt.
For what felt like an eternity to me we trekked through the woods. Eventually we stumbled out of the thick canopy of trees and into a field, surrounded by rolling green hills. “Looks like it was a farming community,” I commented absently, heading over a hill.
“It seems so.” Reinhardt replied, still stepping in time with me. “I wonder why we haven’t encountered any of the enemy…” My gaze snapped over to him and I frowned. That was a good question. Why hadn’t we run into any zombies yet? After a moment of studying him I turned back to look in front of me. When I did, my heart dropped into my stomach. There were zombies everywhere in the fields and valleys surrounding the hills. There were hundreds of them, possibly thousands.
“Oh shit.”
“Hey, kid…Do you mind moving?” A familiar voice cut into my peaceful drifting and my eyes snapped open. The blood rushed to my cheeks when I found I was curled up against Reinhardt. Almost instantly I sat up and scooted backwards, sputtering out apologizes. This only earned me a smirk from my friend.
“God, kid, relax. It’s not that big of a deal.” Reinhardt sat up, yawning. He narrowed his eyes at me, suddenly lurching forward and grabbing my bandaged wrist. “What the hell is this?” Even though I wasn’t looking at him I knew he was frowning.
“It’s nothing…” I replied, trying to jerk free of his grip. But that only caused him to tighten his grip, earning a pained hiss. “It’s just a cut. Can you let go now? You’re really hurting me.”
“No.” Reinhardt replied sharply, not-so-gently removing the bandage from my arm. “God, what the hell did you do to yourself?” I found it really strange Reinhardt was so concerned. “…I suppose it doesn’t matter. Do you have fresh bandaging?”
I nodded, using my free hand to motion towards the bag. “Yeah, they’re in the bag. I can fix up my own cut, though.” I watched as Reinhardt dug through the bag before he found what he was looking for. He returned to my side with a bottle of disinfectant and more bandages.
“Shut up, Gustav. You can’t do it properly on your own.” He took the bottle of disinfectant, spraying it onto my cut. I bit my lower lip to keep from whining in pain. A little gentler than he had been before, Reinhardt bandaged up the wound. “There, that’s better.” He didn’t let go of my wrist. Instead, he jerked me closer. Again my gaze went down to the floor of the cave. With a gloved hand Reinhardt forced my gaze back up.
“Be more careful, okay? We can’t afford you getting injured.” For a moment we sat like that, neither of us really too willing to move. After a few long minutes of silence Reinhardt released me and stood up. “Now pack the bag and let’s go. We can’t waste another minute.”
“Yeah, sure,” I sighed; packing away the two things he’d pulled from the bag and standing up. There was the usual Reinhardt. I adjusted the backpack on my shoulders, and looked at my friend expectantly. Why does he shift between caring and not caring?
“Stop staring and come on.” Reinhardt ordered, turning and heading out of the cave. I followed close behind. “We’re going to keep heading the direction we were going yesterday. Sooner or later we’ll get out of these woods and hopefully find a more appropriate shelter…and maybe some food, too. And definitely some water. But our first concern should be shelter.” I nodded and fell in step with Reinhardt.
For what felt like an eternity to me we trekked through the woods. Eventually we stumbled out of the thick canopy of trees and into a field, surrounded by rolling green hills. “Looks like it was a farming community,” I commented absently, heading over a hill.
“It seems so.” Reinhardt replied, still stepping in time with me. “I wonder why we haven’t encountered any of the enemy…” My gaze snapped over to him and I frowned. That was a good question. Why hadn’t we run into any zombies yet? After a moment of studying him I turned back to look in front of me. When I did, my heart dropped into my stomach. There were zombies everywhere in the fields and valleys surrounding the hills. There were hundreds of them, possibly thousands.
“Oh shit.”