Hush in The Bush

Turn Left

THIRD PERSON’S POV

“We don’t know what we’ll face there, so be vigilant.” Captain John said as he put on his heavy heat-resistant woollen gloves. He could sense the chills down his spine, but he just tried to shrug it off as the night is fast captivating them. It’s not the first time that they will roam during the dusk, where it’s overcast and they couldn’t be seen easily by those who are also strolling. It’s just their nature to do it, even if the infected are around, walking at the distance as small spaces. Having such consciousness is what they fear if they’ll encounter one, since it would be fatal to fight with them. They still know how to act, to destroy and infect those who are still not.

“I think you’ll be the one to be sentient. We wouldn’t want our own captain to be slain that simple.” Mildred hastily announced.

“Will you try to be more friendly and kind, A-hole?” One of their troop commented on her as he couldn’t deal with her bluntness anymore. It was the youngest of them all. Named after his father, Trim, he serves as a healer in their troop. Got those medicine kits and other necessary things to help them. His combat skills are fine but his reclusiveness had often brought struggle in communicating with their team. But he’s trying, at least.

“My kindness is only for those who are worthy, just like our Princess Isabela here.” She hysterically stated and eyed on the woman. She doesn’t have the will to stop.

Isabela’s expression was scoreless and wasn’t taking much zeal to the conversation. She was deeply driven in thoughts on what lies beyond their horizons. It would be their first time to be in such an area that is new to them. She’s sure that it’s already changed and the north side before couldn’t be the same – beautiful parks, the long narrow bridge to walk during daylight and the street food carts where they take most of their leisure time to enjoy before are all gone.

“Don’t add me on your list, Setter. And please, don’t let us see both of your puerile sides during this mission, especially your ill-natured manners, Mildred.” She abruptly said.

“Okay, Your Highness. I was trying to be friendlier here, you know.” Mildred responded with her chuckles.

“Friendly, if that’s what you believe in but not to us.” John hoarsely said with his small voice.

The two of them weren’t on nice phrases either. Mildred is the type of person that would probably catch a war just to benefit herself. Gossips have been around their place somehow that she was able to beat Isabela in a combat battle during their training. Luckily, the girl wasn’t taking any grudge to her defeat with Mildred. Because of having the guts to boil someone, she was able to get the name Setter. She leads the group in combat and in team fights. She’s like the cannon among the guns around her. She’s one of Trinity’s greatest defence among the other groups. Despite of her authoritarian ways and excessive pride, she really does come in handy in terms of emergency backup and in the front lines.

Isabela decided to turn her aim outside the vehicle. As they headed towards the north, the trees are getting thicker and the surroundings started to bear the silence. Millions of lives have already been taken and few of them are barely making out to life and survival, scattering around those lanes. The world wasn’t just like before – a totally different one.

Months have already left, now coming to seventh, and they’re still trying to find solutions about the bushes which took down the population back to a few numbers somehow. They passed by the main streets and saw some loads of money being scattered around – they’re quite useless these days. People have already learned to do alternative ways to eat, even if they get their hands in filthy and obscure situations. Everyone was selfish just to survive.

Bodies were lying on the ground with the wilted flowers on their mouths. Their bodies were already turned into fertilizers. Vehicles being ramped along the sides, some crashed and blown out, were mostly consumed by the rust and dust. The well-known establishments where people used to go to have time and spend their savings in fulfilling their greed and wants were barely seen as the bushes hurled them with their shuttered windows from above. Death is now letting everyone recognize itself, even the higher ranks at the moment can clearly see that matter.

“We will reach north after thirty minutes.” Mr. Collens said and drive straight swiftly.

The scent of the pollens is slowly being caught by those inside the vehicles. Mildred looked over the window and saw someone dressed in rags and her scrawny body was thoroughly covered with dirt. Her eyes were surrounded with dark paled bags and her face was concealed with bruises. She was standing still behind one of the old oak trees they were passing, scared but innocent. She shook her head a multiple times as if she was trying to tell them not to go near the bushes that wait ahead.

“What did you see? Your face tells us you likely have seen a ghost outside.” Victoria said while eating her bittersweet chocolate beside Isabela.

Mildred wasn’t able to get a clearer view of the girl and turned out to continue with the mission.

“N-nothing.”

“We’re here.” The vehicles slowly moved as they awed beyond the thick bush in front of them, forming as a barrier. Its flowers were enormous and more bountiful than those in the pavements It totally blocked the main road and was extending itself in an infinite length on both sides, that it was hard for them to see the other side and even the sky. The members, together with the captains made themselves outside and they were amazed at its height.

“It’s like touching the heavens.” Victoria said in awe as she extended her radar above, meeting the bush’s tip and the clear bluish sky.

“More like it’s trying to surpass where the gods are.” Mildred interrupted and moved closer to the bush. As expected, they’re aware of their arrival and turned their flowers, facing where everyone was standing. “They’re sensing us. They know we’re here.” She added.

Isabela and John darted towards the woman.

“Do we even need to climb this thing?” Victoria asked.

“No. Let’s walk around this bush on both sides. I’m sure there’s somehow a part of this that still didn’t meet the end and a way for us to enter what’s after it.” John suggested and gathered everyone who are there.

“We’ll be splitting this team into two groups. The one will take the left route and the other will head straight to the right. We’re still going to hold our communication so turn on your radios on and keep in touch. Victoria. Mildred and Mr. Collens will lead the ones going to the left. Both Isabela and I will head right with the others. The moment you’ll see a possible passage, please let the other group know and we’ll provide an alternative solution for that.” John commanded and got all ready and in place.

“Wait, why does it need that both of you will go in the same direction?” Mildred pinpointed both of them.

“We need to stick with each other in this task. Isabela got something that’s worth the risk of everyone. On the other hand, it’s our best defence if something will go wrong or out handed. Perhaps, the setter knows well what to do then after.”

“That still doesn’t make any sense-”

“Whether it makes sense or not, we need to hurry before night.” Victoria pulled Mildred by her collar and started to walk.

“H-hey, I can walk!”

“May the gods be with us, Infinite.” John announced with briskness.

“Yes, Sir!” Everyone uttered and head to their specific routes. All of them were wishing a success to everybody. As they go part ways, Victoria looked back and saw John and Isabela walking ahead east. She wanted to go there too, with him.

___

“We’ll be alright, Ma’am.” One of the members said and smiled at Victoria who was walking with the team. They were heading to the left side of the bush. The path was getting quieter than before. Crows began to appear above them, some landed on the ground and the others were on the trees’ branches. They were intensively watching those below them.

“Thank you. Do you want some?” Victoria said to the young man and offered him a gum.

“T-thank you.” The young man’s cheek reddened and accepted the sweet.

“This place gives me creeps.” Mr. Collens said and lit one of his cigars. The cigar glowed and the air was fetid by its dense stale tobacco smoke. The moon was also shining brightly. All of a sudden, someone was moving behind the tall thinned grass that surrounds them like a flash and can barely be seen.

“Stay alert!” He announced to everyone and made them into a circle. Everyone was looking consciously around. He figured out someone hiding itself from the tree’s shadow and rose his feet, wringing his hand in despair through the air and threw a tear gas to their location.

“Everyone! Locate the targets! Locate-”

With a swift, discreet sharp wooden arrows came above them in all directions and hit some of them. The teargas completely surrounded their positions, keeping them in a subtly hazy and terrifying scene. They couldn’t see clearly. Victoria made a loud sizzling sound from the whistle hanging on her neck. Everybody could hear it, but eventually losing their consciousness. They were coughing hard. The gas was slowly consuming them, falling them to obscurity.

Mildred collapsed imminently with the others on the grassed ground. From a featureless, shadowy distance came some footsteps from a few numbered persons. They dashed towards them, bringing with them their battling weapons. They were in good forms and they smelled the same. There were no guns or even knives, but more into wooden stuff like sharped arrows. Mildred slowly lifted her head in and was able to see a blurry face of a woman in front of her.

“Take the others, and make sure they won’t escape. Sealed them tight inside the basement and do as you please. We’ll be having a feast this evening. ” The woman proclaimed in her laughter and her team started to tie them up.

The woman leaned on her side and lifted her face a little more to meet her eyes. Mildred felt nauseous of her scent – it was a rotting smell just like those they’ve already buried at the base.

“Who are these people?” She asked herself as her chest beat hard.

“To you, I’ll be the one to keep you and take responsibility.” With a smirk the woman stood up and something hard hit Mildred’s head that made her pass out.

___

AT TRINITY’S BASE

Everyone is now getting to take shifts on their stations. Some have wandered a few meters from the base also. The bushes are still continuing to grow. As their time continues to tick, they’re slowly taking any sort of life in this world. Catheryne was woken up by the loud crackling thunders. These past few days, she could feel that her body is always searching for a nap. But now, she doesn’t have a choice but to get to her feet, out of her soft cottoned bed and gone to her living room at three o'clock in the morning to get a jug of water. It’s been hours since the mission of her comrades had taken off. Bringing with her a glass of it, passing through the wall, repeated peculiar knocks came at the door and made her jump.

She went slowly over the window and slightly slid her fingers through the thinned clothed curtain, making her peak on what’s outside. It turned out he saw a man with a scaredy-cat reaction all over his face. He was wearing his usual pajamas with yellow bananas printed around it, paired with his blue v-neck shirt. He was also bringing his laptop that he’s been keeping from others as to what he had promised also to Mr. Vicoffs, and a small paper bag over his arm. The scared George was knocking continuously at her door and was looking around. Is he being monitored again?

Catheryne pulled her hair slowly and put it in front, which made her face unrecognizable. She slowly opened the door and saw a frightened George outside. He was sweating, his eyes were as large as the owl’s.

“D-Die!” Catheryne’s voice lingered around her place. She was holding back her squeal deep inside.

“F-f*ck that, Catheryne! You know I’m not a fan with that creepy stuff.” He said and went immediately inside her room and locked the door.

“To think you’re a doctor and been dealing with those dead bodies, you should be immuned with the scary things somehow.” Catheryne said and sat on the red couch.

George put his laptop and the paper bag on the table and sat beside Catheryne. He carefully opened it and grabbed something from the bag. It was the disk they’d got from the hideout.

“I’m having a bad feeling with this. Can we do this in another day?” He said and put the disk inside the laptop. They waited for seconds and the video just started.

“We should do it now, or else we will not have another time.”

George took a deep sigh. The video’s now loading and after a while it started to play.

“Okay, Test 20, January 20, 2020, patient 1 on the record. Doctor V, the patient is now ready.” A woman in her mid-30s said on the camera that was recording. She was wearing her laboratory gown and surgical mask together with a man standing behind her and was busy examining a person that was lying on the bed. They couldn’t identify the man since his face was fully covered and only his eyes are visible. The patient was still unconscious. Tubes were put in different parts of his body. A bluish fluid coming from a tank beside him runs inside those tubes. He was consuming it. The man took some of the patient’s blood and put it on the microscope.

“His vital signs are continuing to decrease, Doc. V. Do we need to inject it now?” The woman assisted him and wrapped the wound that was been cut on the patient’s arm.

“Not yet.”

George paused the video all of a sudden and noticed something from it.

“Look at that thing being locked up in the container on the right side, it looks like the same from those bushes outside. And did she say, Doctor V? What is that name? It sounded like an endearment for a person in a game show.”

“I heard it too. This thing is getting interesting. More like it has something to do with the origin.” Catheryne played the video again and both of them didn’t expect the latter’s event.

Doctor V headed towards the counter and opened the container where the bush was being held. Its size is in normal and in good shape. It wasn’t doing anything suspicious. He put some droplets of the patient’s blood on its leaves and waited for some seconds. After a couple of minutes, the leaves began to grow intensely together with their twigs, almost breaking the container. Small cracks began to appear on it and in a split second, it was able to burst outside. It was being mutated. The surprising event didn’t end at all. The bush began to grow and was unable to stop it. The two of them began to panic inside the laboratory.

The woman pushed the emergency button and the alarms went off. The blue immense lights were turned into red as the sound were all over the place. All of the people started to evacuate the facility, yet the two of them were trapped inside. The roots began to run in each corner of the room. It was able to grasp on anything it touches. The woman screamed as soon as the roots begin to wrap themselves on her legs.

The doctor went running to the corner and broke the glass of the box and grabbed the wooden axe. He tried cutting the roots without hitting the woman’s leg but was lost by the agile movements of it and eventually take hold of the woman’s body.

“H-help…me, d-doctor.” She cried in pain, shouting for help as she felt the roots her to death slowly.

The doctor couldn’t do anything as he witness his assistant being taken by the bush. He fell on his knees, sobbing in agony. Tremor was seen in his eyes, now gotten red.

“W-we…failed.” He said in anger and deep regret.

The bushed already reached where the camera was located and sprang itself a wonderful red flower with a yellow sac. The last thing they heard from the video was the man’s loud voice in grief and a shattered soul.

Catheryne and George stared at the screen for some seconds. They didn’t an inch until they get back themselves to their thoughts. They just discovered something that would help them a lot and might cause them in a failure.

“W-we need to tell the others about this.” She asserted.

“You’re right. But we need to keep our plans buried on the ground for some time. We don’t want to let the Founder know that we have found this video. Also, we still need to watch the other files and disks from that room.” George took a deep wail. “We need to be more careful now.”

“Yes. And I also found this thing.” Catheryne walked inside her bedroom and grabbed something in her closet. It was a large unusual weapon with a design like a gun. She offered it to him with pride on her face. George carefully held it through her hands.

“What is this and where did you find it?”

She didn’t stop from moving as she felt her mouth had suddenly turned thirsty. She headed to the kitchen and got a jar of lemonade for them to drink. She gave him a glass and sat again beside George who is busy mesmerizing the weapon. It has its own laser beams and buttons that work on its own. George tried pushing some of them, but to his dismay nothing had happened.

“I went back there. But I also made sure that the watch person is off his duty. By that time, I got back to get that and thought we could use it somehow during our missions. I think it’s handy. I’ve also found a map and a flash drive. We could get the other stuff later if you want to.” She snatched something from her pocket and placed it over the desk.

“You’re a badass. This thing is not working at all.”

“Thanks. I think it needs to do with the charging thing. But I still didn’t find which part will do that. Also, look at this.” Catheryne pushed a button just below the three compartments of it and made the weapon vibrated in an unusual rhythm.”

“T-that hurts.” George muttered as he covered his ears.

“I know. I also experience that tingling sensation when I first did that. Anyway, do we need to tell Isabela about this?”

“For now, I don’t think so. She’s being held by her father. Maybe at the right time, when we’ll know certain data about it.” George said, rubbing his chin with his fingers. He rose his arms and made some stretches. “And please, put that dangerous thing for now. I have someone that could help us with that weapon. But we need to travel to Meril Bridge. Her place was just there.” He added.

“But the bridge was already been damaged.”

“We’re going to take another route that was barely seen by the others. She told me and was able to travel that part a few months ago. But I guess it would be a harsh one for us just by taking it that way. Her place is surrounded by those bushes too.”

“Why would she stay in that kind of location?”

“For some personal reasons. She was a former member of the Trinity also, but to her dismay, she decided to take her own ways and left the team. She built her own foundation by herself. Once we get there, please don’t say unnecessary words that are related to it, she kind of still take some personal grudges with it.”

“Okay. So when are we going to ask for her help?”

“This coming weekend. I’ll also visit Mr. Vicoffs by that time, and I’m expecting he’ll be taking me into getting some herbs again in the town, we could travel by that and go after to my colleague’s hideout.”