A Different Virus: Heartfire (Ace's Story) HIATUS

Chapter 10

I dashed down the hallway, past people fleeing mindlessly. I witnessed a track runner get decapitated by a woman that appeared to be in shock.

Pausing for a moment, I deduced that most of the chaotic noise was coming from the kitchens.

I arrived in time to cut the head off of a zombie that was gnawing on the neck of another. My stomach turned, just as violently as it did with Ivan. I turned away from it- the scene was too gruesome. I heard another *thunk* as another Raider decapitated the victim. A strained voice shook me out of my reverie.

"Kailey... No..."

I turned around to face a woman with a face of pure grief. My heart clenched with sympathy, having been in that position before.

I approached her cautiously, noting the bandage on her wrist, and the bloody axe in her hand. The Raider beside me spoke,

"Is everything clear behind you?"

The woman silently nodded, seemingly overcome with emotion.

The Raider jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "We just came from that way, so this building is clear. It looks like it is almost over."

I stepped forward. "It is all clear here, let's go outside and see if they need any more help."

We moved outside, and saw the amount of headless zombies, unceremoniously stacked in piles. It appeared that they were doing a headcount for the survivors. My Group Leader wasn't there. In fact, none of my group were there.

Surely... Surely they hadn't ALL turned, right? At least 1 person must have survived. But that was not the case. I saw one of the Commanders standing in a corner, leaning against the wall as he surveyed the damage done to our population. I walked over to him.

"Commander, Raider Group D appears to be completely absent. Are they assembling at a different area?"

The Commander turned to me, his normally stern face soft as he glanced at my tag. "No, Ace. You are the only survivor of that group. We'll have to reorganize the groups anyway, so I'll mark you as alive, if you go to the Medical Bay."

I staggered backwards at finally having the truth confirmed.

"I'm sorry, Ace." The Commander looked weary.

I numbly began to go back to my dormitory, not paying any attention to my surroundings. Was that a scream? I couldn't tell. Before I knew it, I was in bed, curling up, and desperately hoping that I would wake up in the morning and it would all have been a dream.

A/N: Who am I kidding, I don't have an upload schedule!