21 August 2017
7:34pm
Leon lay in the back of the four-door pick-up truck as it trundled along the deserted highway. He'd been picked up by some fellow survivors who were heading for some kind of safe haven they'd supposedly heard about on their radio. When they found him, he was a shell of a human. Malnourished, dehydrated, on the verge of death. Out of sheer kindness, they'd loaded him into their truck while he was drifting in and out of consciousness, listening to them debate on what to do with him. He clearly wasn't dead since he'd thanked them for their kindness, though it was just in a whisper.
They'd already searched him for bite wounds and, upon finding none, allowed him to stay. The group, consisting of two men and two women, fed and watered him, which he was extremely grateful for. They seemed to have supplies in abundance but, at least to Leon, his definition of lots was considerably different to others since he'd been living off scraps for just over two months. During this time, he'd managed to keep hold of his trust fire axe that had been with him since day one. He hadn't needed to kill anything, or anybody, though, since he spent most of his days hiding and wasting away, waiting for death to take him.
As the clouds began to group together and blot out any light, Leon found the strength to sit himself up. He gave the group a reassuring smile and sat, hunched over, on the wheelarch. Leon thought about his co-workers he'd abandoned back in the city, but decided that it was for the best. A natural selection, of sorts. Only the fittest survive, and Leon was still alive. He sighed and looked at the road ahead. There was a truck that had crushed a sedan against the barrier in the middle of the road, blocking the entire thing. Leon heard the driver of the pick-up curse and the vehicle slowed down to a halt. There was no way around.
"Well, now what the fuck are we going to do?" Asked the driver.
"Man, it's dark," his passenger replied. "I don't wanna be out at night."
"What if we head back to that gas station we passed a few miles back?" Queried one of the females.
The driver nodded, did a U-turn and drove back in the direction they came. As they did, Leon helped himself to a water bottle, and swigged from it, making sure none of the others noticed. He placed it back where it came from as they reached the gas station. The group began to make sure the coast was clear before setting up tents and other sleeping arrangements inside the store that adjoined the gas pumps. Leon was confined to a sleeping bag outside the tents since they only had enough for the original four, or so they said. Maybe they didn't trust Leon. Maybe Leon didn't trust them. But, for now, Leon drifted off and got some much needed sleep.
22 August 2017
1:13am
Leon awoke to one of the loudest screams he'd heard in his life, not too dissimilar from the ones he'd heard during the first few days of the rising. He literally burst out his sleeping bag, clutching his axe. The man and woman who were in the tent next to the one the scream was heard from got out too, clutching their weapons. His was a baseball bat, hers was a table leg. The screams were still going, and Leon could see the silhouettes of the two inside the tent scrambling. One seemed to be trying to get away from the other. Eventually, Leon saw blood spurt across the tent side. The zip began to open up and two bodies fell out. It looked like the man had turned and was now feasting on his female counterpart.
Then, the moans and groans of the undead outside began to get louder, much like they did when he was hiding in a suburban household two months back. They were coming. They had heard the noise, which acted like a homing beacon, and were advancing, growing in number. The woman saw this, and immediately got spooked. She leapt towards the back exit, and opened it up to her own doom. She was ripped outside and devoured by the five infected beings waiting. The man, who Leon recognized as the driver, was closest and shut the door, sealing her fate. The two look at each other. They were trapped inside with one of those things and about fifty more outside.
"Shit, man, shit!" The driver exclaimed. "We're gonna fuckin' die!"
Leon looked at him, and then outside. The undead were pressing against the door and windows now. And they wouldn't hold. The cracks were already beginning to appear. In all honesty, he didn't know what to do. There seemed to be no escape. The woman outside had stopped screaming, so she was probably laying in two halves with the undead picking at her internal organs. The two inside seemed to be eating each other, so they were pre-occupied and didn't care about Leon and the other man. Leon paced around, trying to come up with some kind of miraculous escape plan to save himself and his new ally.
Leon remembered that there weren't too many around the back, so maybe they'd still be occupied with the other woman. He steeled his nerves, yanked the door open and prepared for death... But nothing. His idea was correct, and they were actually in a corner, still snacking on their human hors d'oeuvres. He turned back to beckon the driver to follow, and he did. But he was too quick. The driver slipped on some blood, courtesy of his two undead friends, and hit his head. Leon strode back to help but, as he did, the glass caved in and the undead poured inside the gas station, and straight for the two.
Leon made a decision on the spot, and nabbed the driver's keys just as his leg has grabbed by a member of the undead ranks. Leon tore off outside just as the driver was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the seemingly-endless waves of infected, where he was promptly ripped apart and turned into a human meal. Leon made it to the pick-up just as the undead noticed him, and leapt inside. He locked the doors and switched the engine and headlights on. They illuminated the store, and Leon could just make out the driver pleading for help and mercy as he was bitten, torn and scratched at from every angle.
Leon looked away and drove off into the night. He could have saved him. All he had to do was pull him up. But then Leon might have been too slow. Had he deliberately left him behind? Had Leon just used the person he helped as bait just so he could get away safe? Leon glanced back. All the supplies were still there. A tear rolled down his cheek. He couldn't decide if he was turning into something he didn't want to be. The things he'd seen, especially in the city on day zero, would be enough to change most. He congratulated himself on making it this far, and told himself he wouldn't stop until he was dead, even if that meant doing whatever he had to to survive.
