Virus: The Infected

I quirked my mouth as the arrow hit directly in its eyes, the creature fell on the ground defeated. I was a little bit disappointed because that thing didn't even put out a fight, it just stood there waiting for me to end it. Tyler smirked and gave me a high five as he finished killing the others, I entered inside the shopping center while he trailed behind me. He asked where I was heading to, I ignored him and went to the ladies department with the crossbow still in my hands. Still, the oblivious Tyler followed me inside the department without even bothering to read the huge board with a picture of a good looking model only wearing a black bra and a lingerie. I grabbed the item that was laying on the floor “Hey, Tyler I got something for you right here” drawing his eyebrows closer he looked at me in confusion, I chuckled throwing the item at him. He caught it and eyed it strangely, I couldn't contain my laughter anymore, I let out an ugly laugh mixed with snort. Chucking the bra aside unamused, he glared at me hatefully which made me laugh harder. It was a D sized pink bra. “Shut up” He whispered loudly with a threatening eye, pulling out the knife that was tucked in his belt, my eyes widened in shock. “Lower your knife, it was a j-” I started but he cut me off with a hand over my mouth, his eyes moved to point at something behind me. That's when I heard the rattling sound, I slowly removed his hard hand from my mouth and turned around to look behind me. Shit! we didn't even check the building before entering. It was coming from the kid's department, a dark figure moved slowly. It must be one of the infected. My guess is it stepped on one of the children's toys. Tyler can't shoot it from here, it will just attract more of them. Going near to kill it was out of the question because we don't know how many of them are there. The only choice left is run like there is no tomorrow. The shadow moved faster than the usual infected but it was still walking weirdly that's how I know it wasn't human. Suddenly, the infected one growled and lunged towards us. In behind, two infected dragged their body lazily following the fast one with their gaze fixed on us, guess the luck was not on our side today. Tyler grabbed my hand and dragged me to the counter without making any noises. We quickly under the counter, Tyler pulled the chair silently and covered us. I'm sure the infected can only see the chair if they look this way. I saw the infected dragging its feet just right in front us, there was a shelf filled with lingerie, panties, underwear, and stuff. I gasped as the thing knocked down one of the underwear boxes. Then it slowed down, took a few steps back, bent down like a normal human being and to grab the box but stopped when it saw us. I acted quickly, pushed chair pinning it to the shelves. I couldn't find my knife or my crossbow, I grabbed Tyler and started running. It knocked down the shelf lunged towards us again. Normal infected weren't that fast, this is not normal. It was a few feets away from us, turning around, we just froze. Oh god, we're going to die. Suddenly, its brain exploded spraying small pieces of brains all over us. The same shooter fired another two shot, killing the two slow infected. “Are you guys okay?” A soft female voice asked we sent a half-hearted nod. Does this looks okay to You? “Holy s**t!” A boy exclaimed looking at us, I smiled sadly as a chunk of flesh slid down my hair and fell on the floor with a disgusting sound. The woman asked if it entered our mouth or if we have any open wounds, we shook our heads for both of the questions. A young girl told her father, the man who shot all of the infected to shoot us because there's a possibility for us to be infected as well but he insisted. Another teenage girl who looked just like an older version of the young girl just looked at us. We answered all of their questions with a nod for yes, shook for no and shrug for I don't know. It's been over two years since we last met a real human being, therefore, we're not used to talking to people. “Come on guys talk to us!” The sweet woman, Dahlia yelled getting mad at us but her voice sounded as soft as a sponge. Her personality reminded me of my mother. I finally managed to say something “I'm Sarah,” I said shakily. “Let's get out of here Sarah, the dead are going surround us, we have a bus outside” The man, Tucker said and we nodded. The shot lured more of the infected to the store, the infected permeated through the main door while we took the back door, the way Tyler and I entered earlier. An Infected jumped out all of the sudden and grabbed Merissa, the girl who told Tucker to kill us. She shrieked looking at me, her eyes begging for my help. I lifted up Tyler's shirt grabbed the knife l tucked in his belt— damn I left my crossbow! The zombie's mouth was dangerously near her neck. I raised my hand and quickly sunk it in its head in a full force. The knife entered its skull piercing through its brain and exited through its mouth. Pieces of brain poured out of its mouth, messing the girl's pink shirt, I pushed it away from her, the body fell on the ground with a loud thud. She muttered a shaky thank you and ran following her father. Her father flashed me a grateful smile which I returned with a nod. He rushed towards a yellow colored school bus that was in the parking area. He entered, jumped on the driver seat and turned on the engine and I ran following them with Clarissa, Tucker's older daughter hot on my heels. I was getting weirded out by the silence. Everyone's eyes focused on the school bus heading towards us in reverse while my eyes roamed around the place scanning for the infected. The silence sounds unreal but it was clear that something bad is going to happen. Before the storm comes the calm Sarah, I reminded myself. These people could be oblivious but I'm not going to stop being paranoid. Then I looked behind at the rusty silver door, the shopping center's backdoor is about one to two hundred feet away but I saw it moving. I focused on the door. At the first look I saw a feet under the door and then I saw a face staring directly at us with a chunk of flesh hanging in its chin, it doesn't have a lip, Its eyes were white like cloud, dark colored blood all over its body and on the clothes that was barely covering its body. "One of the fast ones is watching us," I informed patting Dahlia's shoulder to gain her attention, she nodded and continued to focus on her husband. I whispered we don't have that much time as I saw the infected rushing towards us with a shriek. Sure it was far but judging by the speed of it, it would be standing in front of us in seconds. The bus stopped right in front of us. With a hiss, the door opened Tyler and Luke was the first one to jump inside followed by Dahlia. “It's coming” I yelled as the fast one were dangerously near us, I quickly pushed Merissa inside and jumped in. Fortunately, it tripped over and fell with a sound of its bone crushing. "Daddy close the door!" The older girl Clarissa yelled as she hopped in. But the door decided to be a problem. The older man cursed tapping the button violently. "Drive Now. Close the door later." I ordered but it was too late. I felt my heart breaking into tiny pieces as I saw the fast one grabbing Clarissa's leg. The stupid thing knows how to crawl! I hurried over to pull her from the crawling monster, the fast one is still faster without its legs. I didn't have time to reach her because she fell. Clarissa let out a painful scream as the door suddenly slammed into her waist. The door opened and closed repeatedly. I heard her bones cracking, using this as an advantage the infected one bit her leg. Suddenly, everyone started screaming in panic. I touched my lips and realized I was screaming along with them but I couldn't let myself give up. I wouldn't. “Let her go we need to move!” Tyler yelled. “No! we can still save her!” I yelled pulling her hands. With tears glistening in her eyes Clarissa shook her head telling me to let go. I looked at her father with his daughter's hand still in mine, gripping on the wheel he nodded. Another painful slam, a loud scream erupted, blood poured out of her mouth. Her eyes met mine for a second. “Just close your eyes” I whispered to her, Dahlia screamed running towards us but her son stopped her with a hug. While Tucker slammed his head on the seat cursing, blaming himself for letting her die. Merissa and Tyler were frozen in their seats. Finally, a loud crack made me snap my head back up to look at Clarissa. The door slammed on her body again, her eyes shot up to open in pain, her emerald eyes fixed on mine. I saw it all, I saw her eyes slowly turning dark— lifeless. I saw how the lights in her eyes went out. She let out her last breath. Her face fell on the floor with a loud thud. Dahlia screamed and then cried following by all of us. A group of infected started munching on half of her body part that was on the road, outside the door. Another half was stuck inside with us and her spine was stuck in the middle of the door, allowing the infected to put their fingers inside in an attempt to open the door. I looked at Tucker for approval. With a tear stained eyes, he nodded slowly. He started the bus, I realized that I was holding a knife this whole time without even noticing it. I raised the knife and quickly planted it inside Clarissa's head. Dark colored blood poured out of her eyes, I let out another sob for a girl that I didn't even know. Cleaning the knife with my shirt, I stood up. “It's time,” I said and Tucker nodded. I didn't dare to look at Dahlia and others because what I was going to do is worse than what the infected were doing. The bus moved about ten feet away from the infected, yelling Tucker slammed the break and the button at the same time. The infected started chasing Clarissa's half body that was still hanging with the bus, The door opened with a loud hiss. I quickly kicked Clarissa out of the bus, her body hit the ground with a disgusting sound. Tucker slammed another button and the door closed. The infected grabbed Clarissa and chewed on her as if they've never eaten in years. I closed my eyes, thinking about the world we live in— It was cruel. No one deserved to die like that but it happened, the only rational thing we could do is— watch. The silence was a sign that a big storm is coming. I should've taken it seriously and braced myself for the strong wind but I didn't and now the storm hit us, It destroyed everything in its path and we're that— everything.