Genocide | Joshler

.:16:.

Josh was exhausted and I didn't blame him. He was asleep in the car and i was huddled around a flame, the trees surrounding me made the night seem even darker. I was completely exposed, the crisp air nipped at my uncovered skin sending chills to where the flame's warmth didn't collide with my flesh. It was the safest i had felt in awhile. No crimson stained fences keeping me back, just the world against me. My heart wasn't racing with my mind, it was steady and beating.

As calm as the night was, the nightmare prior still ruptured my mind. I looked over to the truck. Below it were sheets splattered in blood and other humanly insides that should stay on the inside. Ragged holes for our heads were cut so we could wear the sheets of flesh. The smell of the bodies hadn't left my senses, but dulled sightly to where nausea wasn't a constant thought. But maybe its because i had gotten used to the smell of death.

I had to do it. Josh was too weak to and i didn't blame him. he couldn't even pull the knife back out of his head. He sat there cradling its head sobbing out, his hand gone limp to holding the knife. I had to do it. I pulled out the knife that was lodged in his head and watched as the cooled blood dripped from the wound. Then i, hesitantly, dragged the knife down his husband's corpse. The feeling of the knife cutting through its flesh and the sound, the sound of it ripping through the layers of skin, it was imprinted into the creases of my brain. I would've thrown up, had i any food in my system to do so. I choked on the fumes, dry heaving at the view below me. Josh was turned away, his complexion pale already, he cried on his own while i prepared us for our eminent death. Or at least that's what i thought; Anyone that goes through cutting open a body with a fucking knife, deserves to be dead.

I prepared the sheets like an artist would, if their materials were blood and rotting organs then it would've been the same. I laid out the sheets, that i had already cut head holes in to, and began to spread his husbands vitals all over the sheets. I could've sworn i didn't breathe the whole time because when I did try breathe i would just gag on the air surrounding me. But once the sheets were covered in a even layer, i slipped one over Josh's head and the other over my own.

And just to be sure we were covered, i scooped out what was a mixture between guts and blood with my fingers and started to spread it onto both of our faces. I tried to think of it as our war paint, but that thought left my mind as fast as it was created. The whole time i paint across Josh's face he looked at me with a strained look, but neither of us said anything.

We stood in front of the closed door, silent, with the exception of the growling on the other side. The only thing disturbing the peace was a smell between us. Josh was the first to actually make any move. When he reached for the door, i quickly grabbed his vacant hand and locked our fingers together, squeezing his hand. He squeezed my hand in return immediately, not showing any signs of letting go. His hand was shaky but I steadied it; i was the only person he could lean on. I felt a horrible sense of pride in the moment, knowing i could support him like no one else could because, well, he didn't have anyone else that could support him.

We stepped out of Josh's lab into the packed hallway. I tried to steady my breathing as best as I could so i could "become one of them." I never noticed how bad they actually smelled until i was completely surrounded by them, but now that i think about it, i could've just been smelling myself the whole time because the smell didn't change, it just became more potent.

We walked slowly, a lot of them turned to look at us but never giving us another thought, we were one of them. Bumping shoulders with the dead all the way down the hall, until we came to Melanie's door; and i made the terrible decision to look into the room.

A large group of biters all huddled together, clawing hungrily towards the center. I could only assume the worst: that they had gotten her. My free hand (being my other still firmly in the grasp of josh's) came up to my mouth, muffling any sobs that racked through my body. Josh, being the more stable one at this point (although some could definitely argue), pulled me out of the building, through the rest of the swarm.

The air was filled with screams and cries for help from the people too immune to the suburban post-apocalyptic life style. All the people that were usually on watch at the gate had left their post to help protect others, killing off any bodies that were in the away. Josh and I were clear to make our escape, the only thing between us and the truck were scattered bodies, limping around cluelessly.

I fell to the ground, startled, when i heard a shot ring though the air. Josh let go of my hand and wrapped a firm arm around my waist, hoisting me back to my feet, calmly reassuring me.

"Hey, hey it's okay, we are almost there, almost safe" he whispered. He didn't bother acting like one of then anymore, instead, he grabbed his knife and slashed across the throats of any biters that got close to us, the dead dropping like flies. Blood splattered and added to the mixture we were already wearing. He got us quickly to the trucks and we made our way to the one closest to the gate exit.

"Start the truck, I'll open the gate and you drive through." I nodded my head at his command and we separated. The keys sat stupidly in the cup holder of the truck, but I paid no attention to that in the moment.

I pressed the acceleration alittle too fast, as the car jolted forward, but nevertheless getting the job done. The gate was opened as i pulled right out. I looked through the back, waiting for Josh to get in, only to see him struggling against three biters. He fell to the ground, one tackling him and the other two falling as well surrounding him. I opened the door to the truck and almost fell to the ground as well, from it being so far from the ground.

"Josh!" I called, running over to him. He held the biters away and gestured to the knife on the ground, just out of his reach. I made no hesitation to grab the knife and pull the biter off of him, stabbing its skull. Josh scrambled off of the ground and towards the gate as i attacked the last two biters.   We both ran towards the truck, Josh getting in the drivers seat, and we finally drove away.

I looked up from my small pocket journal (that somehow made it this far) into the dying fire as my hand cramped up from writing.

I grabbed a nearby stick and poked the flames, bringing it back to life. I looked back down to my journal, it was in bad shape; dirtied and blood soaked. Some of the pages were smudged, all the memories unintelligible. I flipped through the small journal and came across a small sketch of Jenna. I could almost picture her, but it no longer gave me a warm feeling. Her blonde hair wasn't sunshine induced and her eyes didn't sparkle within the waves of the ocean. All i felt was grief, irritation, and, as always, fear. I missed her but i wished I didn't. I wished i could move on but the fear of it all, moving on, frightened me.

I looked back to the dancing flames, peacefully crackling every now and then. I closed the journal and stared at its condition. Was it right to keep her locked down into the words on the dirtied pages? It didn't do her justice. The journal showed pain and a lot of it. It didn't show her smile, no matter how many times i tried to draw it. It didn't play her gorgeous laugh on repeat. It was cold and ripped and unclean. It just didn't do her justice. And so, without giving it anymore thought, i threw the journal into the flames.

A/N
Long overdue chapter... Sorry  its so crappy

Thank you to everyone who has been reading and voting it means so much <3

-Bris