Days of the End Part 2
Well here it is folks, the second part! I know it took forever for me to get offa my ass and post it but here it is:
“Train 18 is now arriving at camp number 7A832B4.” The automated voce said. I sighed. We’d made it. After 10 days of travel and plenty of hours of doubt, we’d made it. I hoped Zeke was already there. He’d been on the train before us anyway. The whole carriage erupted into cheers. People embraced, shouted, cried, laughed and did a number of other things as we pulled in. I smiled, happy that this meant safety.
“We made it, we really made it,” I heard a man whisper joyfully. His name was Kain. I’d spent many hours conversing with him. He had a sister and her husband somewhere on train 17. He said their names were Maurice and Jacinda. They seemed such nice people, Kain really thought the world of them. I told him about Zeke too. He listened, that was more than I could say about anyone else on the train.
“I know Kain. I hope you find Jacinda and Maurice. Maybe they met Zeke already!”
Kain laughed. “That would be truly amazing.”
“Right this way passengers.” A voice called. It was the head of Camp. Mr Nealson, I think his name was. I don’t quite remember. We’d been told about it on the train, but I didn’t really pay attention. I was too focused on Zeke.
“Sir, did train 17 arrive yet?” I asked Mr Nealson, praying He’d say yes.
“No, not yet. I’m not quite sure what happened to them,” Mr. Nealson replied, his face turning into a brief frown. Kain looked as sad as I felt. Zeke must have survived Jacinda and Maurice too. They didn’t seem like the type to give up. I told Kain just that. He smiled and said “I’m glad I have someone like you to do the hoping. You’re so young; your faith in your friend and my sister and her husband is amazing.” We walked up to the camp.
****
A week later...
CODE RED! CODE RED! CODE RED!” The alarm sounded. My stomach dropped t the floor and the fear consumed me. I froze where I was, I knew the drill; it was the first thing that we were told about upon arrival. ‘Code Red’ meant Infected. People ran around in a terrified frenzy. I saw many running for the guns places all around, ready to be used if needed. Now was that time. I stood where I was, inside the building I thought was the safest place to be. I was sure the Infected couldn’t reach me here. Zeke still hadn’t turned up. Maybe his train was sent to another camp. I heard that could happen. Maybe it was just a story invented to make people feel better, but I didn’t care, it was true to me.
“Cassie! Move along, their coming!” Kain said from somewhere nearby. I’d stuck with him. He knew where to go. I had no idea if my mum or dad had made it. They’d sent me off alone with the promise that they’d be on the last round of trains. But I hadn’t seen them at all. Kain was the closet thing and I clung to that.
“Cassie!”
“I’m here Kain,” I said looking into his fear-filled eyes. It was so unlike him. In the weeks that I knew him, he never once feared the Infected would come in.
“They’re here! Run for your life!” Somebody screamed. Suddenly, the corridor filled with panic. Infected were in. Screams echoed in my ears. This is about the time the gunshots began. It was all we knew of survival. We had to kill them.
“Move it Cassie! We have to run!”
“I am,” I said to Kain as I sprinted down the corridor. Gunshot echoed and people and Infected fell. Some had caught stray bullet or two. I saw a couple of Infected out of the corner of my eye. They looked awful. Haggard faces showing bone in gaps in their rotted flesh. Clothes hung on their bodies like rags. A few still looked human but I could see how rotted they looked inside. Bruise-like marls dotted their bodies, showing how rotted they were inside. I didn’t see know what they were thinking. Nobody told us that. But I knew some people still looked normal enough and stayed with their families, but after an issue with a whole family hiding out, the government made it compulsory to be tested weekly.
“Cassie! Move it now!” Kain called out from behind me. I moved faster. The corridor rushed behind me, gruesome scenes playing out as I ran. Bullets flew everywhere, screams still in the air. The whole scene was awful, it made me sick at how much death there was in here.
“Cassie!” Kain screamed. His voice rang across the hallway, echoing loudly.
“What?”
“Behind you!” Kain pointed at something behind me. I jerked an arm out behind me, thinking that I could punch and run. I was wrong. Instead of being able to run, I felt something bite down on my arm, hard. I screamed and fell to the ground. I looked at my arm. The bite was red and gory. I could feel the infection setting into my body.
I was infected.
I’m going to die.
But I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I tried to get up, but my body felt oddly sluggish.
“Cassie!”
“Go Kain. Leave now!” I screamed at him. It was too late for me, but I’d rot in hell (no pun intended) before he’d die here. Even if it was my last act, I’d get him out. Pushing him toward a gap in the wall was my only hope. Maybe the Infected would think of him as one of them and ignore him. We had no such luck. Thousands of Infected pounced on him, biting down on every available piece of skin. Kain’s body was ripped to shreds they’d bitten him so hard in places that his limbs were barley held together. I felt sick, my head spun with the images of his shredded body. I did the only thing I could think of to do. I got up and walked away. It was my best bet at survival around here. Maybe I could find some infected or die, maybe I’d get a bullet.
****
Days past, I walked on, going nowhere in particular. I had no hope now. I was part of the Infected, a rotting race of people, a demented face of humanity. I didn’t feel like I was a part of them, but I suppose it was only a matter of time. What lay ahead was surrounded in mystery. Speculations flooded my mind. Would I live for a long time, even as I fell apart? Or would I die when my body fell into pieces? Both possibilities scared me, while I wanted to live, I didn’t want to survive like, not if it meant living like this. Humanity was facing the end.
Who was I to argue?
Good? Bad? Be honest.