Plague

Recovery

I woke up to hear Ellie get up from her bed. I opened my eyes to see her open that door, only to be grabbed by a lurker. I grabbed the revolver on her nightstand and shot the lurker. She ran back and hugged me.

"How's they get in again?" I asked.

"They didn't." She replied.

"What?" I asked.

"That was my dad. He was a lurker!" She said crying.

"But how did he become one?" I frantically asked. But then I remembered the bite. The only thing that could've made him turn.

"His bite. His bite made him turn." I muttered to Ellie.

Arthur ran in our room to see Paul dead on the ground.

"What happened?!" He yelled.

"Pauls bite made him turn into a lurker." I answered.

"That explains why he looked sick last night." Arthur said.

Arthur left the room. Ellie was still crying in my arms as I tried to comfort her.

"I'm sorry Ellie. I truly am." I said sympathetically.

She looked at me and said, "It's okay. It's not your fault." She said calming down.

"Do you need anything?" I asked.

"Some water would be nice." She said as I walked downstairs to get water.

"It's not safe here." Arthur said.

"What?" I asked.

"The place is started to get infested with these...these..zombies. We need to leave soon." He explained.

"I agree."

"We need to leave tonight." He said as I got some water.

"I'll tell Ellie." I said walking upstairs. Once I got to the room, Ellie was sitting at the foot of the bed looking at Paul. She seemed depressed. I couldn't blame her. I handed her the water.

"Thank you Nick." She said.

"Don't mention it." I paused before bringing up the big news.

"Arth-" I was silenced by Ellie talking.

"It's not safe here. We need to leave soon." She said.

"I awas about to tell you that." I said.

"Go ahead and pack up." She said getting clothes out of her drawer. I did the same. I pulled out Ellie's gun and handed it to her. She took it.

"Thanks." She said.

"Don't mention it." I replied.

After about 5 minutes we left the house. Ellie looked back at the house and muttered the word goodbye.

"It's okay Ellie." I sympathetically said.

"I'm gonna miss this place. All the memories I made, all the things I did, all my life." She said as she teared up. I hugged her and kissed her head.

"I know." I said as we walked off. We headed to their SUV. The car still had gas in it. About 75% of gas was left. Arthur spread a map out on the hood of the car. Me and Ellie gathered around.

"Where are we gonna go?" I asked.

"North. Where it's cold and snows. That'll slow down the lurkers. We're gonna have to take the freeway." Arthur claimed.

"That's a bad idea. Won't freeways be congested with deserted cars?" I said.

"We've got no other choice. It's the quickest way and will conserve gas." Arthur said. Ellie agreed. I thought about it.

"I guess you're right. Let's go." I said. We got in the car and took off. I sat in the front navigating while Ellie sat in the back. Arthur drove.

We were driving down a road that seemed empty until we turned around the corner. What we saw was insane. There were thousands of lurkers blocking the road. And they were all looking at us.

"Turn around!" I said to Arthur. He was already on it. We sped off the other way. Once we felt we were in the clear, we pulled into a gas station and looked for supplies. Arthur searched for gas, while me and Ellie looked for food. I was looking down the isle when I saw a lurker on the ground missing half of its body. The lurker was a woman. She tried to move but couldn't. I felt bad for her. She had a wedding ring on her hand. She must've had a wonderful life before this. Before everything went to hell.

I put my foot on the lurkers head ready to crush it.

"I'm sorry." I muttered as I pushed my foot down on the lurkers head, and it stopped moving. I saw her wallet next to her. I looked in the wallet to see a family photo. She had a baby in her arms with her husband. They were probably all dead. I turned around to see Ellie. She saw all of it. She pulled an energy bar out of her pocket and handed it to me.

"Here." She said.

"Thanks." I replied.

I walked behind the cashier to see a dead body laying on the ground. The stench was unbelievable. I flinched back at the smell covering my nose and mouth. I noticed he had a crowbar next to him. I went to grab it but the body launched at me. It was a lurker. My gun slid across the floor when I fell down. I couldn't reach it. Then the lurkers head exploded. I looked up to see a man.

He looked from the lurker to me. He then pulled out a baseball bat and hit me in the head, knocking me out.