Amnesia

Trapped

They're coming from every side. Not only did the gunshot attract them yesterday, but so did the loud crash.

"If anything distracted them away from us, that crash just sent them our way again," Chris says.

"How would we fight them?" I ask.

He looks me dead in the eye and says, "Kill them."

It takes a moment to process it. I know they killed that man-that infected man- yesterday. But kill all those people? "How could you guys just kill them all?" I ask. "They're humans!"

"They're not," Chris says with a temper. "They're killers. It's either kill or be killed, Alice. I know that sounds horrible but that's life right now, okay?"

I nod slowly, still not wanting to accept the fact that these were once people but now walking bodies with no soul. After a few minutes of watching them get closer, I finally say something. "We can't kill them all. There are way too many of them."

"That's why we have to wait it out," he says. "Luckily it's early so we don't have to worry about running out of day light. If they stay here all day, then we are screwed."

Another ten minutes pass, and that's when the action begins. The biggest crowd of infected reaches the walls of the market first. As I watch their behavior, I grow more and more curious about them. I was expecting them to reach out and punch windows and try to open the doors, but they don't.

Instead they all have their arms hanging down, limp at their sides. They slam their bodies weakly but repeatedly to the walls.

"What are they doing?" I whisper.

"Walking towards the noise they heard, which is right below us." Chris peeks down into the market again, checking in on everyone. I can only imagine the panic stricken on their faces. The only thing between them and the infected is the walls and glass windows and doors of the market.

"Can the infected see them?" I whisper.

Chris shakes his head. "They're hiding in corners, behind some shelves and under blankets. If they make one loud noise, we're dead."

Within half an hour, we were completely surrounded. The infected moan and push into the walls and the windows. A few are roaming away, but not far away. They just walk slowly, some dragging their feet, others crawling on their hands and knees. Almost every one of them is bloody somewhere.

Suddenly we hear a loud crack from below. Chris and I peek in, panicked. Everyone's eyes are large as they stare at a window by the front door. At least twenty infected are pressing against it, causing too much pressure. The glass begins to crack, looking like spiderwebs.

Then, within a split second, the infected manage to break the glass window. Glass shatters onto the floor, splintering into several small pieces.

Another second passes and a pale and bloody hand reaches in through the broken glass. We can hear Dawn screech in fear, and that's what causes them to go absolutely crazy. Their moans grow louder.

Soon enough the first window completely shatters under the weight, and that's when the infected begin to enter the small sheltered market with innocent humans and a young crippled girl, leaving them to fight for themselves as Chris and I watch helplessly from above.