"Listen carefully. When I go out in two minutes, throw your phone and run to me right away. If you hear a shot, don't be scared it means I killed an infected. And run after me fast, got it?" I said, looking at them.
They nodded. I moved slowly toward the exit and quietly opened the store's front door. Inside it was quiet. Too quiet. No one by the fridges.
"Damn, where did he go…" I whispered, moving between the aisles and straining to hear every rustle.
Thud.
An infected crashed into the display case. A gunshot would shatter the glass and make too much noise. I grabbed a can of soda from a shelf and tossed it to the floor. It hit the tile, rolled with a metallic clink, and the infected jerked toward the sound.
Argh!
He lunged for the can, kicked it, and it rolled on, forcing him to follow.
Music.
The music that started playing made me act immediately. I shot the infected in the back of the head the bullet went through his skull and he collapsed. I sprinted for the door.
Outside, an infected woke up as if from a dream, grew restless and slammed into the display, then, like it had come to its senses, started moving around the building. If one reacts, the information seems to pass along a chain and they all head the same way toward the source. Almost like ants. The good news was the path was nearly clear.
A roar came from the depths of the storeroom and a door burst open on the other side. Two girls tumbled out, and behind them poured a whole pack of infected. Nothing ever goes smoothly, right?
"Move, to the exit!" I shouted, raising the shotgun.
Those closest dropped one after another under my fire. Bullets thundered in the confined space, the recoil slammed into my shoulder, casings clinked on the tile.
When the girls made it to me, I glanced out the door. We'd stirred every infected and become their target. Something clicked inside them, like everything unnecessary had been turned off. No fear, no hesitation. Only cold calculation and the will to survive.
We barreled across the street. I covered them, shooting those who came too close. The shop had emptied in a flash; the spare replaced the fallen almost immediately. I reloaded the rifle and kept firing.
"Don't slow down!" I ran to the stairwell and turned to cover the girls.
"Faster, upstairs!" I yelled as they scrambled up the warped steps.
I followed. Near the top I saw them clambering on top of one another, hauling themselves up.
I pulled the last fragmentation grenade and threw it down without a second thought. The grenade flew like it was in slow motion: hitting bodies, bouncing off, finally landing on the asphalt. There was an instant blast; gore and shredded limbs sprayed outward.
"Crouch. Don't show yourself too much," I said as I climbed onto the roof.
The only consolation was the buildings were close together and no more than two stories high. In towns like this they rarely built higher land was cheap, space plenty; no point. A relic of the past. Not the time for that thought.
Probably the adrenaline crash when your brain starts wandering to nonsense. Getting from the roof into a building was impossible; doors and hatches were shut from the inside. Breaking them open would make too much noise.
I checked the distance to the next roof. There was a van parked nearby; it wasn't far.
"Jump," I said, leaning over the edge. I pushed off the wall and landed on the van's roof.
"Hurry, don't lag!"
"I… I'm afraid of heights," Anna said quietly, frozen at the edge.
"If you don't jump now, you'll die," I raised my voice a notch. We had to move while we could; there was no time for nonsense.
"Maybe there's another way… down?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
"Jump, or I'm leaving in five seconds. Five…" I started the countdown. Bella jumped in that moment; I caught her and let go.
Anna stood at the edge, gritting her teeth, and a second later she stepped off. I caught her so she wouldn't fall and set her down on the van's roof. I climbed down and helped them off.
"Don't celebrate yet," I said, looking toward the street.
We'd bought time, but we hadn't gotten far. The infected were already converging from all sides. I spotted a couple closing in on us.
Finally luck was on our side and, without much trouble, we made it past the town's edge. Those are probably the most expensive cans of food I've ever had.
Still, if you sit in one place you won't see past your own nose. Understanding the situation and making decisions you only learn that in hard moments. The infected operate collectively: if they lose sight of you, it's very hard for them to find their target again, and if a new trigger appears they'll switch priorities in an instant. But their main instinct is always to transfer the parasite to a new host. Once they spot a living human, everything else ceases to exist. Like today despite the music still playing, they immediately forgot about it and noticed us.
As soon as we disappeared, only a few infected lingered in the same place the rest drifted back, returning to the phone with the still-playing music.
"Would you really… really have left us behind if we hadn't jumped?" Bella asked, looking at me.
"Yes," I said calmly. "I won't lie. We don't know each other. We met today."
"How can you" Anna began, but her voice faltered.
"He's right," Bella cut her off. "He doesn't owe us anything. We should be thankful he saved us at all."
Anna's protest died under her friend's gaze.
When I reached the car, a small muzzle appeared in the window. The pup barked happily, tail wagging, hopping against the glass. He barely knew me, but was already excited to see me. I opened the door, lifted him into my arms, and stroked his head; his tail never stopped moving.
"He's so cute," Anna said, reaching out to pet him. The dog growled softly and pressed himself closer to me.
I took a can of food from my pack, scooped some out, and set it down for him. He devoured it greedily, growling between bites. While he ate, I went to grab the battery and opened the hood to install it back in place.
"Where are we going?" Bella asked.
"We?" I echoed with a faint smirk. "I pulled you out of there. From here on, you go your way, I go mine."
"Wait…" Anna stepped closer. "We don't have weapons, no car. We'll never make it on our own."
She spoke in panic the trauma of what happened still clinging to her voice. I exhaled and looked up at the sky.
"That's not my problem," I said, shutting the hood. I picked up the pup, set him gently on the passenger seat, and started the engine.
I got behind the wheel, pressed the pedal the motor roared to life, but suddenly my vision blurred, as if something was clouding my sight.
"What the…?" I rubbed my eyes.
I drove a short distance and stopped. Turning the rearview mirror toward me, I opened my eyes wide maybe some dust had gotten in.
"That's impossible," I whispered.
My eye had clouded over almost identical to the infected. How long had it been since the incident in the lab? More than three days now. I checked again. Same result. A chill ran through me. If I were infected, the incubation would've been long over. But I was still myself.
Slowly, my vision cleared. The eye looked almost normal again, as if nothing had happened. But my heart was pounding, breath ragged. I opened the door, stepped out, and clutched my head. The air felt too heavy, panic set in.
"Sir… did you change your mind?" Bella's voice reached me as she ran up.
I didn't answer, gripping my head tighter.
"Are you okay?" Anna asked.
Why now? Why worse only at this moment the strain? No, that's not it. It's probably the immune response. My body's fighting the parasite. The infection is progressing slowly, and this must be the reaction.
To hell with my plans looks like I have to go back to the Helix Lab. If they managed to collect any data at all, I might still have a chance.
As the old saying goes, "Tell fate about your plans, and it'll laugh in your face."
"I'm heading to Pittsburgh… there are several quarantine zones around it. We can choose one. Can anyone drive?" I asked, feeling my vision blur again. It was getting harder to focus.
"I can," Bella said.
"Then get in. Let's go… that way," I exhaled. At least I hadn't gotten too far from the state border.
Why was I so naïve? Why did I think I couldn't get infected? Hell, I even thought I might have some kind of immunity to cordyceps, that I didn't have to worry about bites. I really screwed up this time.
With effort, I climbed into the passenger seat, holding the pup in my arms. My head dropped against the window. My breathing grew heavy and uneven.
"Maybe we should just leave him? He was going to leave us!" Through the ringing in my ears I caught Anna's voice.
"No! He saved us," Bella shot back, slamming her foot on the pedal and steering onto the road.
I felt worse by the second. Everything swam before my eyes. The world dissolved into haze.
I jolted awake. Lifting my head with effort I was still in the pickup. Someone had put a pillow under me. My head throbbed, drenched in sweat. My skin burned; when I touched my forehead, I could feel the fever. Looks like I was still alive. My body was fighting… the parasite.
I turned my wrist and glanced at my watch no more than four hours had passed. Where were we?Looking around, I saw we'd stopped near some house.
I opened the door and climbed out. My legs felt weak. The pup immediately jumped after me. I noticed the holster on my thigh was empty.
"The girl… took the gun?" I muttered.
I had to get to Pittsburgh. Only there, in the Helix lab, might there be answers. Or proof that I was already a walking corpse. That would make it easier to let go.
I made my way to the house and pushed the door open with my shoulder. Inside, I shuffled down the hallway, my boots dragging across the floor. At the end of the corridor, Bella suddenly appeared. She had the gun in her hands, staring at it with surprise before lowering it when she saw me.
"Mister, you're awake!" Bella exhaled in relief.
"Don't call me 'mister.' It's Victor," I rasped.
"Alright… Victor. We wanted to rest and grab some food. I decided to stop by my aunt's place, but she wasn't home, so we stayed here," Bella said.
"Where are we?" I asked, still struggling to make sense of my surroundings.
"About twenty miles from the city," she replied.
"Got it… we need to get there as soon as possible," I said, exhaling. Every hour I could feel my strength slipping away.
"We'll finish eating and then go," Bella added, nodding toward the food spread out on the table.
I had no appetite. My chest burned, my head throbbed with heavy thoughts. The girl looked more appetizing than the food on the table. I wanted to sink my teeth into her throat.
"I… don't really feel hungry," I muttered and hurried to the bathroom.
Something was wrong. With every passing minute my thoughts grew hazier, as if someone was slowly cutting off my air.
When I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror, I froze. Something was moving in my eye. I could literally see thin threads twitching beneath the surface the fungus. I didn't know why it was progressing so slowly, but it was spreading. Most likely, the death of the host in the lab had nearly killed the spore itself. But my body had survived and now the parasite was awake.
"So much for living," I whispered, stepping out of the bathroom.
I sat down at the table. The food on my plate had gone cold. I ate without tasting it my tongue felt dead, like the taste of life had left with it. It was a terrible feeling, realizing your body is still yours, but it's already slipping away. Time was running out.
"We need to go," I said, standing up.
They didn't argue. I didn't take the wheel. The scenery outside flickered faster than the thoughts in my head. Everything inside was occupied by one thing the parasite. How much time did I have left before I stopped being myself?
The city drew closer. We weren't taking the main road; we skirted the highway. I felt alien inside my own skin, but I still noticed something off.
"Stop," I exhaled.
"What? Why?" Bella asked, surprised.
"Stop," I repeated.
She obeyed, slowed, and the truck rolled to the shoulder. I pulled out the binoculars and scanned ahead. Several cars were lined crosswise across the road.
Too neat. Too deliberate. This wasn't an accident. It was a barricade deliberately placed to block the way.
Time was short, but taking another route would cost hours.
And I didn't have hours left.
"I'll check," I said, opening the door.
I stepped out, raised the rifle to ready, and moved forward slowly. I melted into the tree line and swept the area, but nothing looked suspicious.
I decided to inspect the barricade. Coming up to one of the cars, I reached for the door handle and eased it open. Inside sat a man with a revolver trained on me.
Flash.
Bang.
I was thrown backward. I hit the hot asphalt. The bullet entered the upper part of my chest where there was no plate. Blood poured out, my heart hammered, my vision clouded.
"Christ… look at him," a stranger's voice said from above. "He's loaded. Bet the whole truck's full of gear. Hope Alex figured to not let them roll out."
Voices sounded muffled, like they were under water. I tried to breathe, but air ripped through blood. Warmth spread through my body not life, but the ending.
"Yeah, this road's a cash cow," another voice said. "So many cars, so much to take."
"Hey, he's dying slow. Finish him," one of them suggested.
"I don't want to waste a shot. I'll slit him," someone moved closer; a knife slid toward my throat.
Reality blurred. Sticky saliva ran from my mouth; my view tunneled, and the pain in my chest dulled. I no longer understood what I was doing only followed instinct. My hand grabbed the stranger's, I lunged up, my teeth sank into his throat and tore out a piece of neck.
"What the… shit!" the remaining man screamed, stumbling back in horror.
Nothing mattered anymore. I attacked like an animal, ripping at him with hands and teeth. Only when he stopped moving did I come back to myself, tasting blood I spat everything out.
"Sick," I almost vomited from the revulsion of what I'd done.
With my bloodied hand I pulled at my shirt and yanked it open. There was no hole in my chest.
Struggling to my feet, I made for the truck. From a distance I saw the girls screaming as another bastard leaped at them. I quickened my pace, then broke into a run. Getting closer, I aimed and fired once. The attacker crumpled to the road.
"Don't stall… drive, now," I said, climbing back into the pickup.
"All right," Bella answered. Her eyes flicked over my blood-smeared body. "Are you okay? We saw you fall…"
"I'm fine," I forced out. "Just drive."
It hit me again. My vision stuttered, like someone was dimming the lights. My hands wouldn't obey, my legs felt foreign. The body was heavy, breath tearing apart.
Bella didn't ask more. They quietly did what needed doing.
"Ram the car from the side," I croaked.
"Got it," she said.
Bella stomped the gas, angled the truck slightly, and slammed the bumper into the barricade. Metal screeched, the tires spun. A few seconds more and the road ahead cleared. The pickup shot through, gaining speed.