The Watcher in the Woods (Zombie Apocalypse)

Chapter Two

The next few seconds were nothing short of horrific. My wide eyes levelled with a pair of dead ones whose pupils were worn away by the natural decay of death. They had been replaced by a dusty film of grey that reminded me of those paranormal found-footage films I used to spend hours watching. But this was real. And much, much worse.

Her wiry black hair swamped my neck and chest as she leaned into me, unleashing an unimaginable stench. The others were yelling, but I could hardly hear it over the snarling and snapping of The Infected's teeth. It was as if a vacuum had sucked us from the world into a vortex of heavy breathing and wordless struggle. I gripped whatever parts of her I could get my hands on. My fingers clamped around a shoulder, my other hand clutching the base of her throat.

I pushed forcefully on her, expecting everything to fall back so there could be enough room between us to make a run for it. To my horror, she crumpled forwards instead. Her full mass overcame me and our two weights combined caused my legs to buckle underneath the pressure.

As we fell through the air, I imagined the pain of being eaten alive. I could almost feel the strike of searing pain that would come when she pierced through the first layer of the skin at my neck. I prepared myself for all the sensations – even the warmth of the blood that would trickle down my chest and the black spots that might cover my vision once too much of it had drained from my body. My back thudded against the grass, knocking the wind clean out of me. The blue of the sky and green of the treetops whirled up ahead, until I was sure I was going to be sick.

There wasn't enough time to cry or scream so I closed my eyes. In that frozen state, my mind offered me only one thought. It was today. There was no avoiding it. I was like a cow being herded into a truck for the slaughter house, only the cow didn't know where it was going and I did.

"Are you okay?" The words echoed around my ear canal, not quite reaching my brain. Or at least not fast enough to offer a reply. "Sam, help!"

Sam?

The weight of the unconscious Infected lifted, and hands gripped from all angles, pulling me into a seated position. Two blurred circles peered back at me, their eyes raking up and down my body. I discovered that the exertion of sitting up brought more breathlessness, like the air around me was devoid of oxygen somehow. My ribs heaved up and down, but relief never flooded my lungs. Dizziness. I slumped forwards, resting my forehead on the closest person available. Seconds ago I had been running away from these people, and now I was clinging onto them the way you would cling to a life raft.

Sam squeezed my shoulder. "Can you hear me?"

"Hey," I rasped, deepening my shallow breaths until I could finally hold my own weight.

When nobody said anything more, the chirping of birds and rustling of leaves saturated the air. It wasn't fair at all that the birds could move on with their lives, happily singing songs without a fear in the universe. They didn't have the burden of understanding what destruction lay right underneath their feathery wings. Despite my envy, I often lost myself in their song – and now was no exception.

I expected Sam and Alicia to take off after the attack, leaving me behind in a stifling spray of gravel and dust to figure out what happened. But after ten minutes of wordlessly eyeing each other, it was clear they were serious about needing help back at their camp.

Alicia's eyes were worn, her gaze shifting between her lap and the knife still lodged in the Infected's head. When I glanced at Sam, his expression had turned to stone, betraying no emotion whatsoever. Neither of them were a threat, and I knew that. I probably knew it from the start. If they wanted to kill me, they would have done it while I was asleep, or left the Infected to finish the job. They had risked everything to find help, but I had thrown it back in their face and put them in danger at the same time.