Fungal Fury

Chapter 1; Supplies

The cracked concrete and stones crunched beneath the four sets of feet walking along them. Four people, each one with their own gun and job, each one able to perform to the best of their ability, and each one completely uncaring about the others.

"Be careful you three, we're entering a Fungal zone." A blue-haired girl spoke, her voice not at all silent. See, most Fungals are deaf and blind, and if they're a Higher, they would have attacked already.

A smaller boy, not much younger than the blunette, replied, "Ugh, we know what we're doing."

The one other girl in the group, who had short black hair, hit the back of his head, "Shut up, Jesse, you're being cocky."

"What? I'm right though, this ain't our first rodeo!" He gave a fake country accent, which was poorly done since he'd grown in the very city they walked through before the Falling. It was also rude to Keith, who walked next to them and who had grown up on a farm, his own country accent leagues better than the young boy's.

"You won't be saying that when you develop tree roots for feet." The short-haired girl said, rolling her eyes.

"Emily, forget it. If he's stupid enough to ignore me, he's stupid enough to die." The blunette responded coldly, her rifle swinging dangerously close to pointing at Jesse.

"Amy! Watch where you point that thing." Keith scolded the young girl, and it worked; Amy lowered her rifle. He was probably one of the few who could do that, and this was only due to his age. The man was in his late 50s.

The group fell silent, the crunching of gravel beneath their feet and screeching birds were the only sounds to be heard. Occasionally one of the four would hear something abnormal, aim towards the sound, and then calm down when they saw nothing.

This was the city of Arcadia. One of the first places over-run when the Catalyst fell and struck the nearby towns. When the first Highers came to be, utter chaos ensued. Families were lost, either killed or infected, usually both, though. It didn't take long for the government to lose control of the situation. Soon after, those towns were lost, then it was the rest of the country, and then the rest of the world. As of now, the cities had been overgrown, trees and vines were everywhere, hiding what watched through the green canopies.

Their minds wandered, all of them lost in thought except for Amy. She kept her head on the actual task at hand, and because of this, was the only one to spot the supermarket tucked away in a corner.

"There it is." She said, pointing to the building and making her way to the broken doors. They didn't slide anymore, but she managed to pull it open. Surprisingly, none of the glass had broken, it had just gotten dirtier and dirtier.

All four of them managed to squeeze into the dark building, it reeked of rotted food and musk. Keith gave a slight cough, and all three heads snapped to him in glares. If any Highers were inside, he'd alerted them.

After just a moment with no sound or response, they relaxed and Amy spoke, "Alright, you three know your jobs. Emily, Keith, get any fabric and clothing you can find. Jesse, gather any nonperishables that are left. I'll be gathering medicine."

Jesse groaned, shuddering at the thought of rotten meat, "Why do I always get stuck with food? It's disgusting!"

"Suck it up, Jesse. You only have that role because you're new." Emily said, walking away already with Keith on her heels.

Amy didn't stay any longer to hear the boy bitch, having left for the medication she could see. There wasn't much, but what she did find was impressive; painkillers and antibiotics... many antibiotics. People hadn't seen a use for antibiotics since the infection was fungal, but that didn't mean bacteria couldn't cause problems. They had at least three people back at camp with deadly infections.

Jesse, meanwhile, was grumbling to himself. It wasn't fair! He shouldn't have to gather food because he's new. Emily should do it since she's the strongest! She lifts so many weights, he was surprised she wasn't as jacked as his own father.

He scanned the shelves, managing to find a bag of dried fruit and a stick of beef jerky. A large stash of canned goods had been left beneath the shelves, and he grabbed at least ten before his bag was too heavy.

The boy contemplated leaving it at that, but thought against it. The last time he'd taken less than the absolute max, Amy had put him on horse duty for a week.

So, with a slight bit of determination in his gaze, he grabbed another three cans, managing to shove them into his bag with a strained groan from the zipper. He lifted it onto his back, nearly tumbling backwards from the amount of weight, but caught himself.

Then he got an eerie feeling. Why was it quiet? Normally he'd hear the shuffling of feet or bags zipping closed from the other squashmates, but Jesse heard nothing. It was off-putting.

He was standing at the end of an aisle, peering down further into darkness, when a snapping sound could be heard, a broken gurgle and scream, and then a massive object was sent hurling towards him.

Jesse barely managed to dodge, but thankfully he did, and the red mass crashed into one of the broken cash-registers. It didn't take any more light to recognize Emily's mangled body.

Bones sticking out of her flesh, her head bent at a very wrong angle, and a vacant look in her dead eyes. He felt something roll against his foot, and another glance revealed what he feared; Keith's decapitated head stared directly into his eyes.

He pressed his hands to his face, quenching the pressure that built in his throat before he beelined it for the pharmaceutical section, hoping beyond hope Amy was okay. The entire time, his heart was beating, thrumming a constant rhythm in his chest, but the tempo kept getting faster and faster.

He was terrified. Only one thing could have done that to Emily and Keith, and he was panicking at the very thought.

He skidded to a halt in the medicine aisle, Amy crouched on the floor and scooped bottles and tubes up into her bag. The girl's reflexes were incredible, as, the second he'd appeared, her gun was up and trained on his head, "Jesse! You idiot what are you-"

"There's a fucking Higher here. Amy there's a Higher!" He was whisper shouting, and his voice was hoarse, like he couldn't speak right.

Amy cursed to herself, "Shit... we need to leave. Where are Emily and Keith?"

Jesse gave a shake of his head.

Amelia and Jesse were alone with a Higher in the closed space.