Dead Bite

chapter 11

Damien pulls me close and takes a deep breath. I roll over so I am facing him. I kiss his lips and smile.
"How did you sleep?"
"Good, with you by my side. I haven't slept this good since I have been injured." he smiles at this.
"Damien, Kaylee, come down and eat breakfast!" We hear Elizabeth yell from downstairs. Damien and I laugh at ourselves and begin getting ready for the day. I have not gotten to wear actual clothes in a long time, except for yesterday. I decide to go a bit more subtle with my clothes today. I chose to wear a tank top, sweatpants, and a pair of black tennis shoes with my purple lace bra and underwear. Damien wears a pair of blue shorts with a white shirt and a pair of tennis shoes. I look in the mirror to see if I, at least, look decent. My hair is sticking every which way and the bags under my eyes are like pits. I splash my face with water and try to get my hair looking decent. I give up on that idea when I make my hair look like a rat has been living in it for years. I decide to put it up in a messy bun. I come out of the bathroom and Damien wraps his arms around me.
"You look fine, sweetie." He kisses my cheek. He grasps my hand and pulls me out of his room, down the hall, down the stairs, and into the kitchen where Elizabeth and Jacob are waiting.
"What have you two love birds been up to?" Elizabeth smiles as Damien and I sit down.
"Sleeping," I smile.
"Also, waiting for her to get ready," he points at me. I hit him lightly on the arm. All he does is look at me and smile. Elizabeth places a pancake, two pieces of bacon and a huge spoonful of scrambled eggs onto my plate. She hands me the syrup. How did they have all this stuff? As if she read my mind, she smiles.
"The bacon from the pigs we have, eggs from the chickens, and syrup from some of the trees."
"Oh," I begin eating my food. For once, in a long time, I feel stuffed after the first plate full. I slouch back in my chair and wait for the rest of them to finish eating. Once they are finished eating I put my plate in the sink and proceed to follow Damien outside. Elizabeth stops me by pulling the back of my shirt.
"You gotta stay here and help with the females," she smiles. I shake my head.
"I'm not meant for housework. I am meant to go out and kill infected," I complain.
Elizabeth sigh," fine, but only because I hear you are a good shot." I jump up and hug her.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I run out and met up with Damien. Damien is heading to the front gate that I had first stepped into when arriving here. Damien and I met up with Zachariah, George, and Jacob. There is one other person that I had not yet met.
"Kaylee, this is Ethan. He controls the gates with who goes in and who goes out. He also monitors the main gate for zombies," Damien smile. Ethan was a tall fellow; yet, not as tall as Damien. He had red hair and is quite pale. He had freckles covering the parts I could see. His eyes were gray; I could not tell if he was blind or just had gray eyes. He grabs my hand and kisses it.
"It's finally nice to meet you. I have heard a lot about you." He has a southern accent, most likely from Kentucky. I raise an eyebrow. He must have felt my slight confusion because he chuckles lightly. "I heard all good things. Now, where are you guys off to?"
"The hospital about five miles away. We need more medicine and bandages," Jacob answers looking towards me. An unsure laugh escapes me and I rub my arm.
"Okay, I'll open the gates," he looks straight at me," Is she going with you?"
"Yes, we could use her with us. She may be just a girl, but she's fast and has a good shot." Ethan's eyes widen.
"Is she the one that beat you in a race?"
"Yep, she's the one that beat me," he smiles.
"Wow, that's amazing. One time I..."
"Okay Ethan, you can tell her your story when we get back," Jacob interprets. Ethan nods and kisses my hand one more time.
"It was nice meeting you Kaylee," he nods and begins opening the gate. While the gate is partially open, everyone else proceeds out of the gates with caution. I follow them. Right when I am just out of the gate, Ethan closes it. I tug on Damien's shirt and he turns around.
"What?" He asks.
"I need a weapon. Preferably a gun and a knife." He stops and looks at the others.
"Hey guys," he calls. They turn around to face us. "Kaylee needs a weapon." Jacob takes off his bag and rummages through it. He pulls out a small knife, a bag, and two handguns.
"I'm glad I packed extra," he smiles "Wouldn't want Ethan having to open the gate again. I take the knife and gun. I spin it around my hand and throw it towards a tree. I hold the gun and point it towards the same tree. I smile and pull the knife out of the tree.
"I like the knife. It kinda feels like mine," I smile.
"That's because it is. I have been waiting for you to get better to go on runs with us," he smiles back. He zips up his bag and flings it over his shoulder. "Now, let's start heading there. It will take us all day." We all start heading down the path Damien and I once took. They seem to be very caution, almost too caution. It bothers me quiet a bit. I finally get up the nerve to ask.
"Damien, why are you all so caution?"
"Because if we aren't then we will get killed," he answers tightening his grip on his gun," also because I don't want you to die from a stupid zombie bite." I lift my arms up and slam them against my side.
"Are you serious? You think I'm going to die from a bite! Ugh, I thought you knew me better," I sigh. I am so upset that I want to punch something. No, you cannot do that. You got rid of some of your demons. Don't blow it because your boyfriend made you a little upset. I take a deep breath, but that does not help much.
"Which way are we going?" I quickly ask, cracking my knuckles. I have a bad habit of cracking my knuckles.
"Um, we are going straight for about two miles and then..." I bolt in front of everyone. Maybe running would help me calm down. They all call me but I ignore them. Today is not a good day to wear sweatpants. They are all baggy and nearly trip me. I turn back around so that I can see how far ahead I have gotten. I stop and wave at them. They wave at me and seem to be a little bit less cautious. I seem to have calmed down quite a bit from running. I turn around and continue running, but at a slower pace. I turn around and begin running backward. If I am going to run I might as well get better muscles in my thighs. I run backward a bit, my thighs begin to burn like fire. Then, all of a sudden, I fall into a hole. This is not a small hole a rodent dug. This is a man-made hole. I land in a net that suspends me above the bottom. The net wraps around my body and encloses me. My legs and arms are entangled in the netting. Why would someone put a net in the middle of a dirt road? My sweatpants have pulled down so that the whole left side of me is showing, showing my lace underwear. My tank top has pulled up on my right side so that it nearly showing my bra. I try fixing my clothes, but my arms are stuck above my head. My legs are slightly separated and I feel slightly uncomfortable. I pull my knees together so that I feel slightly less uncomfortable.
"Damien!" I yell. I hear footsteps quickly approaching.
"Kaylee, Kaylee, are you okay?" Damien asks, stretching his arm down towards me.
"I can't, I'm stuck." I feel my heart beat quicken. The anxiety isgetting to me. I start squirming around. "Damien, get me out of here!"  
"Kaylee, stop. You are going to get even more stuck," Jacob says calmly. I slowly stop squirming.
"Hurry up and get me out of this," I gasp.
"Kaylee, just breathe. Deep breaths," George calls softly. I take a deep breath.
"I hate dangling above the ground. Brings back terrible memories," I sigh.
"We are trying to get you out as fast as possible but whoever did this knew what they were doing." I see them all turn their heads in the same direction.
"Guys, what is it?"
"Kaylee, stay here," Jacob whispers.
"Is it infected?"
"No, Kaylee stay put." They all leave me alone in this god forsaken hole.
"Don't leave me alone!" I begin thrashing around even more than I was before. I hear someone or something walking towards where I am trapped. I look up and see an unfamiliar face.
"Well look what we caught," the man chuckles. Four other people circle the hole I am in. I stop moving around. What pervs!
They begin pulling me out. I thrash around trying to get away. I try grabbing my knife or my gun, but my arms are stuck. They easily hoist me out of the hole. They pull the net off of me. They set me on the ground and I have just enough time to pull my gun on the first guy and my knife on the guy behind me. They lift their hands up.
"Woah she is a feisty one," one of them growl. I hear footsteps behind the guys and there stands my group with their guns out. I kept my gun and knife out.
"Now, what is this here? A group of you? We found her first so we get her."
"No, she is with us. She's my girlfriend," Damien answers rolling his eyes. The leader looks at me and I smiles.
"If you don't move, I am going to put a bullet in your head. Right between the eyes," I grin sweetly. He side steps out of my way. "Thank you." I run past him, but he tugs my hair back. Oh hell no! I flip back and kick the leader in the groin. I land on top of him with the knife at his neck and a gun pointed at his comrades. I growl at him.
"Don't you ever touch me. If I ever see you again I will blow your balls off," I get off of him and proceed to make my way to my group. We begin walking away. The other group goes the opposite direction. Once we are far enough away, I hit them all as hard as I can.
"What was that for?" They all ask.
"Why the fuck would you leave me like that? I was already having a panic attack from being in that damned hole. No good memories coming to mind when I think of being extended above the ground in a net," I growl.
"You are right. We shouldn't have left you," Jacob says.
"That's right!" I yell. "Next time you decide to leave me extended by a net, I am going to kill you all." We continue walking in silence for a while. The sun is right above our heads by the time we make it to the second turn. Jacob says that we only have about a mile to go until we make it to the hospital to get more supplies. We go down a path where I find a little green toad. I pick up the toad and throw it at Damien. It flips off Damien's back then back to the ground. The little toad hops into some bushes beside us and Damien turns around.
"Did you just throw a frog at me?"
"No, it was a toad. There is a difference. A toad is big and warty and a frog is small and smooth," I smile.
"Which one was I before you kissed me?"
"A big, fat toad," I nod. He laughs at me and we continue on our "adventure". Our 'adventure" consisted of walking down roads for half the day. The only action we got was me falling down the hole. Maybe something will happen at the hospital, but I doubt that. We continue down that the same road we have been walking down forever. We turn a corner; finally, the hospital.
"Let's hurry up. I'm bored and want some action!" I begin running towards the hospital when Zachariah pulls on the back of my shirt.
"Whoa there." He points at the front of the hospital where it is completely swarmed by infected.
"We will have to go around back," Jacob states. I notice an open window on the second floor.
"Or I can swing up to that window up there," I point. "It would cause less attention and I could get my skills back that I could have possibly lost."
"No," Damien quickly answers. I looked at Jacob and waited for his answer.
He sighed,"fine. We can hoist you up and if you aren't out in half an hour than we are coming in after you." Damien turns around and faces Jacob.
"Why are you letting her do that?" He exclaims.
"Because this is her chance to prove that she can survive if she ever got separated from us. Also so we don't cause too much of a scene. Now, let's get her to that window, get the supplies, and get out of here." We proceed towards the open window. We manage to avoid the infected. We make it to the window. Before hoisting me up, they tell me all the things I need to grab; bandages, wraps, anesthesia, oxygen tanks, needles, syringes, pain killers, and medical thread. This is a large list to find in just half an hour.
"I need at least an hour to find all this. If I get myself into trouble I will shoot my gun twice," I explain. Jacob nods and begins hoisting me up. He brings his hand to his chest then launches me up. I grasp the very edge of the window and nearly slip off if it is not for the strength in my arms. I pull myself up and lean out the window.
"You have an hour to get everything. If you need anything shoot your gun twice. There is a watch in your bag. It is," he pulls out his own watch,"six forty-seven. You have until seven forty-seven, good luck." They all begin heading back to the woods except for Damien.
"You be careful, please. I cannot lose you. If you ever feel scared in there, remember you have my ring," he half smiles. I look down at my hands and see the ring he had first given me. I smile in remembrance of the memory.
"I'll be fine. I love you," I hear something clutter behind me. I turn around and see the shadow of a person which I presume was an infected.
"I love you too," he answers. I stand up and spin around. The infected is right about where he can see me. I run into the janitors closet and peer through the cracks of the door. The infected is in a long, white doctors coat. It drags its leg across the ground. Its leg attached only by its pant leg. I slowly push open the door to the janitor's closet and, as silently as a ninja run up behind the infected and stab it in the head. The infected clutters to the ground.
I need to get out of here. This place is probably swarmed by infected. I quickly make my way around to the rooms. The first room has an oxygen tank; yet, it is empty. A little down the hall, an oxygen tank cart lay against a wall. I silently run to the cart easily. On the cart are three unused oxygen tanks. I look around the hallway. I had not; yet, seen any infected except for the one I just killed. This is quite strange. There were so many infected outside, but only one, for now, that I have seen. I continue through the second floor only finding a few items on my list; a few bandages and an open bottle of painkillers. I make my way to the first floor but stop myself. I peer around the corner of the stairs, finding as many as twenty infected. They are quite slow. Then I remember what my dad had said. They are dormant until they hear a noise. I grab a rock that lay at the bottom of the stairs and throws it towards the broken front window. The rock clatters against the broken glass. The infected turn and run to the noise. The others must have seen the infected flooding out because I hear a few gunshots.
Idiots, they are going to cause a scene which is what we were trying to prevent! I stealthily cross the first floor to the hall. Down the hall is a storage facility. I run to the door while accidentally hitting a knocked over storage file. *BANG* The noise echoes through the hospital and I hear some of the infected already making their way towards me. I pull the door open and slam it behind me just as the first infected comes into the hallway. I sigh, that was a close one. I look around the storage area. All around are all the things I need plus more. I have hit the jackpot coming in here. Later I can worry about the infected outside the door. I begin studying my bag with random things; cold medicine and gas mask. I also grab everything I need, including the oxygen tanks. There were four unused oxygen tanks and two half filled. Luckily, they are small enough to fit in my bag. I pack two of the fully filled into my bag and the other two I will have to carry. I go back to the door I had entered in from. I lean my head against door hoping the infected have left. Sadly, they are still there. I sigh and look up. In the corner of the room is a vent. Since I am small enough I can fit myself and everything into the vent and make my way to the window. I use my knife to pry off the vent cover.
I shove the two oxygen tanks that are not in my backpack into the vent and I pull myself in behind them. I begin crawling through the vent. It is dark, dusty, and smells of death. I cannot tell if it is from the infected or a dead animal but it smells horrific. I come to an opening in the vent, another area I could slip into. I look down through the vent cover and see an infected. I look around, past the infected, to see if there is anything I need in there. I see nothing so I continue on. As I begin to go up the vent, I feel the sides of the vent becoming smaller and smaller. Is this my imagination or is this reality? I push my arms to either side of me and know instantly the sides are getting smaller. Ignoring this one complication, I continue on up to the second floor. I stop moving when the sides of the vent touch the sides of my body. If I go any further than I will get stuck in a stupid vent. I notice, just ahead of me, is another vent let out. If I can get to that I can possibly be on the second floor. I continue to wiggle my way to the vent let out. I feel the vent creak and move below me.
Instantly, I am on the ground. The vent clatters down with me still inside. The sound ripples throughout the building. I quickly collect the medical equipment I have collected and run up some stairs. I hear the rush of infected making their way towards me. I bolt down one of the halls until I get to a familiar place. I see the cart with the oxygen tanks. Grabbing them, I pull them up to the window.
"Jacob! I'm back!" I see them appear behind the woods. I begin dropping the tanks down and they are there to catch them. Once all the oxygen tanks are safe with the guys, I drop my bag. I hear the infected coming up the stairs.
"I'm going to go around to the front, you guys cover me!" I turn around and see the infected. I get my guns out and shoot a tank. Then take a step back. My legs hit the edge of the window. I yelp as I am now in a free fall towards the ground. I try to grab one of the vines that hung on the hospital yet they are too far away. I feel a cushioned catch. Damien has caught me then begins running. I jump out of his arms and grab one of the oxygen tanks that had fallen out of the bag. I look up at the second story window to see the infected throwing themselves out the window in an attempt to eat us. We run for a while until we all stop. I cannot help but laugh. Damien turns towards me with a serious face.
"What's so funny? You almost got yourself killed!"
"The infected were jumping for us. Then I had the biggest rush I have ever had from a run," I laugh then I start to feel sleepy. Damien grabs my shoulders and shakes me.
"You are crazy girl!" He wraps his arms around me.
"Damien, I think I shot a tank of knockout gas," I slurr.
"Knockout gas?"
"Yeah, I shot a tank of knockout gas," I answer. I trip away from Damien and curl up in a ball beside a tree.
"I'm going to sleep here," I point in the spot I am now laying on. I close my eyes and fall asleep.