The Crumbling Infection (ThickLeaves x Pastel00)

[ThickLeaves]

Charles had been a 19 year old college student, who was studying criminal law his entire life. He wanted to help the world, make it a better and safer place for not just him friends and family, but for everyone around him. Of course he planned to pursue this more along the lawyer route, he wasn’t exactly the most athletic of the bunch. Not saying he was some lard who could barely do anything for himself, but that he failed in most sports and certainly was much more of a brains over brawn. He always preferred to be the more tactical one, thinking things through when it came to ideas, games and even dumb little games he played. However due to this fact he was the same kind of person who sat back and would watch and plan even when others were already executing their own plans. Charles was far from a brave man, not seeking power or attention from those around him, simply Just wanting to be safe and comfortable within his own sanctuary.

When the infection began to spread Charles and his family weren’t prepared in the slightest. Charles was the kinda guy who always watches movies and played games, judging people’s decisions in the movies. So once the infection his he thought it would be a walk in the park, making his way through with a group, fighting the infection and surviving till the cure came, if ever. Immediately his family grabbed everything they could, stuffing it into a car and driving for the hills. His family had a cabin deep in the woods, it wasn’t close to anything but that was the beauty of it. Secluded in the woods without any other cabins nearby, simply all it had was a path that lead to a small town with barely 20 houses and a few stores. From there larger cities and towns connected but he wasn’t concerned with those, he wanted to stay away from the dense population.

Barely a month in Charles and his family went out for a walk through the woods, thinking that the world was slowly in the up, but to no avail a horde stumbled upon them, nearly catching all of his family and friends, Charles might’ve made it out unharmed, but there was no chance that he would consider it unharmed. Watching the horde kill his entire family before his eyes, him having not a single thing he could do to help. It was a horrifying event for him and his entire life he remembered, everytime he made his way through the path, avoiding the place where it happened, veering off into the deep woods where the path brought back memories.

It was 6 months into the infection, Charles had been on his own for the past 5 months, scavenging buildings and tents that he could find. Taking any food that he could find, any supplies that would make his life easier in the slightest. Charles was in the middle of a small town nearby, scavenging through the houses for anything he could find. It seemed like every single house was barely touched, like the families left faster than the wind could fly through. He stuffed his bag with cans and sealed bottles of water, saving the moment with everything that he had gotten.

The commotion in the street grew louder with the screams and growls of the infected, causing Charles to close his back and throw it back over his back. He walked over to the window and peeped through the curtain, knowing that there was a clear problem at hand. “Shit..” He whispered to himself, pushing himself away from the window and making his way to the back door, slowly turning the knob and peeking his head out. Not seeing a single thing in either direction he made his way through it. He grabbed the makeshift bow that he had off his back, it wasn’t exactly the most reliable weapon, but it helped him when he needed it most. He tiptoed through the alley until he came to a trashcan, climbing on top of it to get a better view of everything around him. That was until he saw what seemed like the shadow of a figure in the distance,

 

[pastel00]

Lucy made her way through the maze of vehicles. The setting sun, still warm, beat heavily against her bare shoulders. Sweat trickled slowly in small streams down the middle of her back, disappearing behind her tank top. Her green eyes never stopped moving as she moved toward into the unknown town. She had been walking for more than half of the day, basically have been picking any direction to walk in which wasn't infested with the infected. Main roads were usually avoided. However, as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months the infected were everywhere. She had been pushed out of her own home town just days before, and now found herself on the road.

Lucy rolled her cocked her head to the side until she felt a small pop. Sighing deeply she adjusted the backpack which was now leaving rashes on her small framed shoulders. If the contents of the bag hadn't been so valuable she would've surely traveled lighter. Inside sat a small medical kit, two bottles of water, and most importantly two pistols and a box of ammo. On her each thigh she bore two more pistols as well as a long hunting knife strapped against her calve. At first glance she would look like a heroine from a zombie thrilling, sadly it was far from the truth.

There had been a time where she hated the idea of even holding a gun. Her father had been ex-military and a firm believer in his love for firearms. They had been a typical family. Her mother a correctional analyst, an annoying younger brother, and an overprotective dad. When the virus first hit they had been at the lake, a family Sunday Funday tradition of the Blake family. A man had stumbled from the hiking trail, covered in blood. Her father, mother, and another couple rushed to his aid. It wasn't until her mother had held the dying man trying to comfort him he turned on her. Lucy would never forget the scream or desperatly trying to shield her brothers young eyes. It happened quickly. Before she knew it she was dragging her sibling into the thicket, running away from the morphed faces of her own parents.

She hadn't made it to the house before her brother was taken. She had dared not look back as his screams filled her ears. Lucy stayed in their storm shelter for weeks before the infected moved on and she was able to venture out. She made trips from the house to the cellar until supplies ran out and the sounds of the infected neared. Six months she spent there alone. Leaving was almost as hard as hiding from the infected. Her childhood memories faded as did the old Lucy. She had been a medical student, wanting nothing more than to share her compassion as nurse. A typical eighteen year old starting the best years of her life. Now she found herself living in fear, uncertainty, and constant death. She wouldn't recognize her own reflection now.

The sound of sudden skrieks pulled her away from her thoughts. Lucy's eyes widened as she quickly ducked behind a sideways parked truck. Her stomach dropped, feeling for the metal of the pistol. She hadn't been forced to fire one yet, knowing it would be her last resort due to the shot being heard. If she did so it would surely draw more to her location in seconds. For close emergencies she had the knife. Hesitantly she stood up not hearing any more noise. The town's entrance was only another mile up the road and nightfall was coming quickly. Without giving herself the chance of self argument she made a dash towards the buildings. Though she was petite in stature Lucy had been a gymnast all through high school, giving her the small advantage of being agile. Focusing on her breath and surroundings Lucy sighed in slight relief as the buildings soon towered over her.

Debris crunched under her boots as she slowed her pace. She panted slightly, searching for her breath. The sounds of screams echoed around her, even closer this time. Fuck she cursed shaking her head. With a small skip she picked her speed back up. Lucy's eyes narrowed as a figure stood ahead. Swallowing back the sudden sight she sped up slightly, Not possible.. she muttered to herself. She hadn't seen another living person in months and wondered if she truly was one of the last. How far this virus had spread was unknown to her having lost contact with the outside world not shortly after the outbreak.

At one point she had heard rumors about Utah. Once the figure came into complete view her heart skipped a beat. She stood a few feet from the person, realizing it was a man. Lucy pulled out the pistol from her right holster and aimed it him. Her hands shook obviously never having held a firearm before. Before she could make out another word a figure stepped from around the corner. Lucy dropped her arm and ran into the ally, We have to get out of here her voice trembled with a mixture of emotions.

 

[ThickLeaves]

Charles saw the figure moving towards himself, hardly able to comprehend it. He thought everyone was gone, he saw symbols and heard old radio broadcasts but he didn’t think there were really people left, and if there were he wasn’t even sure if it was worth taking a chance with. He’d seen plenty of apocalypse movies, the group of ravagers running around killing everyone just for the extra supplies. Charles was smart enough to not fall for that, he wasn’t going to let his life end because of some idiot idea of his.

Charles climbed off the roof quickly, he had gotten the view that he needed and seen everything that he needed to see, and then some. He needed to make his way through the alley, cut through a few falling apart buildings and run out of town, he needed to get back to his cabin as soon as possible. He dropped into the alley and threw his bag back over his bag, making his way towards the figure that he saw in the distance, not on purpose but they just so happened to be directly the way that he needed to go, so it was either work his way through the thicket of the horde, or take his chances with whoever was out there. Charles tiptoed his way through the alley until the footsteps came closer and closer, sending a shiver down his spine like no other.

He saw the female stand before him, pulling the gun on him and aiming it at him. He stopped like a deer in headlights, his eyes staring towards the female, looking down the barrel of the pistol that was aimed towards him. He hadn’t seen anyone alive since the death of his parents months ago, this all was too much for him. He felt a ball in his throat, words wanting to escape but it was too choked up to come out. His hands quickly went up, as if he was being arrested by the individual. Although he thought it was ore to show he wasn’t planning anything, which he truly wasn’t. The only plan he had was to run, to get as far away from the female as he possibly could. Charles took a deep breath and took in his surrounds, his eyes shakily looking around to see if there was anything that he might be able to use to help his escape.

His eyes scanned the alley until they went back to the main threat, even past the infected that surrounded them he needed to deal with the female. He could see the fear in her eyes, the way her hands were shaking more than his own hands. He heard the noise behind him and had no intent to move, of course he didn’t want the infected to reach them but the bullet would not only harm or kill him, but it would make the situation extremely worse for the both of them. He took a deep breath and craned his head around, looking to where he thought he heard the noise, only to see a single infected stumbling around, clearly it wasn’t aware of their presence just yet but was up to something.

Charles lowered his hands slowly and looked towards the female, taking a small step forward. “You need to put that weapon down and trust me. If I wanted to kill you, I’d let you fire that gun and run for the hills, they’d do all the work for me.” He knew that saying it like that wasn’t exactly the most reassuring thing, but it was better than nothing. Charles reached from behind his back and grabbed his bow. While the bow was far from anything dancy it got the job done. It didn’t allow for him to shoot arrows at the longest distances, or shoot them with as much force, but it would allow for him to hinder the infected, and if he could hit the sweet spot, immobilize them.

He grabbed an arrow from the little bag that he considers to be his quiver and nocked it, aiming it down the alley towards the infected. “This building to our left, we need to run back the direction that you came from, if we can get to the town’s edge safely I can get us away from all of this. Are you with me?” He asked looking to the female who still seemed to be in a daze. “Miss, are you with me?” He asked again a little bit louder, needing her to understand and listen to everything he was saying.

A deep breath filled his lungs, his eyes closed for a moment and he took in everything around him. Before the outbreak Charles wouldn’t be able to aim a single thing in his life, but all of the practice since then and TV shows he watched helped him learn a thing or two about hunting. His eyes slowly opened and he looked to the infected that started towards them, it was moving much faster as it spotted them, he panicked for a moment, his hands shaking as he tried to steady the bow. His fingers let loose and the arrow found its way through the infected skull, piercing the brain and causing the body to collapse to the ground.

He started through the doorway, grabbing the forearm of the female with a pleading look in his eyes. He lead her through a house, one that was yet to be scavenged by him but clearly the newly found pair had no time to be looting when they might not even make it out with the loot they found. “If we just keep going through another couple houses we should make it to the bridge, from there we just go down into the river and follow it to the lake. Think you can handle it? Don’t shoot unless it is absolutely necessary. We don’t want any unwanted attention, okay?” He hopes that everything he was saying was getting to her, after all this was their lives that we layed on the table.