Chapter 29 - Walking Prey

I can't fail. That's not even an option at this point. All the lives lost for humanity to make it this far will not be in vain. Keily... Victor... Captain... Mom. Everyone that didn't make it out that city or were lost before we made it here. I swear, your sacrifices all made it possible for humanity to live on. However I'm sorry. I only need to act selfishly once more and once only.

"Ejay!" Khiara yelled at me.

She pulled my attention up from the ground and towards her eyes. She was examining me with a concerned look painted on her face.

"I called your name three times before you looked up." She stated.

I averted my attention back to the road ahead of us as we kept walking forward.

"Sorry Khiara." I responded.

"What's on your mind?" She asked.

"Why'd you assume I'm thinking about something?"

"Look at where we are Ejay, and the situation we're in. I'm sure everyone has something on their mind. You're different though, I could read your face much easier than the others."

...

"Ejay you know you're like a brother to me right? I've known you longer than anyone else out here. Please don't block me out."

I glance back towards her and she greeted my eyes with a pure half smile.

"Have you thought about your mom and dad at all?" I asked her.

"Only a little. I don't want to think about it too much because I'll probably end up crying. They've always assume the day where I would be separated from them would come sooner rather than later. Who would've guess it would happen like this though. Even so, they were preparing me for a moment like this ever since we left our little town. I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt at all, but I know they wouldn't want me to sulk around for too long about it."

"Hey Khiara?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I call you 'lil sis'?" I asked with a smile.

"No, I shouldn't have told you that." She replied with a grin.

I briefly glance up towards the sun that was sitting above us in the empty sky. We've been walking for just about an hour now. It's around that time of year where the temperature is going to start dropping.

"We picked the best time of year to do this." Dameer stated.

"Yeah, imagine doing this when it was one hundred and fifteen degrees." I added.

"Miguel would've probably already fall out again." Liam said.

"I can hear you yanno." Miguel replied.

"If you drop out here we will drag you on this hot ground." Liam exclaimed.

"Just a precaution for you Miguel." Dameer added while laughing.

"Miguel became a medic so he can treat himself after a heatstroke." Liam said as most of the group began to laugh.

"Liam you can't laugh because you didn't even finish that challenge on your own two feet." Alyssa stated.

"For real, what happen if you hurt your leg again Liam? You gonna crawl to Ejay?" Lici jumped in and asked.

"I think y'all have forgotten who I am. If I hurt my leg then I'll walk there on my hands. I for sure ain't letting Miguel treat me or my leg might get amputated."

Everyone laughed and finished to joke around with each other. This positive energy is what I'm sure most of us needed. A good laugh and a distraction from reality, even if it's just for a moment.

"What you doin' over here Ejay?" Lj asked walking over.

"I'm tryna replenish my arrow supply. I want to get up to at least ten, then the rest could wait until we reach our first campsite."

"I've got a few left over. Say, you sure that Nico guy wasn't a searcher before?"

"Let's ask him. Hey Nico."

"We meet again comrade." He said walking over to us."

"You're a hunter right?" I asked.

"The best one out here."

"Were you always a hunter or did you ever train for something else?" Lj asked.

"Nah brother, I was always a hunter. You might be-"

SCAW!

We all turned around in response to the sudden noise. Two birds flew out from the trees behind us.

"Interesting." Nico said.

"Those are pretty large aren't they?" I questioned.

"They're vultures." Nico replied.

We watched as they glided through the air, approaching us at a slow but steady pace. Then...

SCAW!

Another three came over the tree line.

"Vultures only feed on dead carcasses or am I wrong?" Lj asked.

"That doesn't apply for those guys over there." Nico answered.

"How come?"

"Take a good luck at them." Nico said as he readied his bow.

When we looked back towards the pack, more and more of them came out from behind the trees. In no time at all they outnumbered us by a large amount.

"Holy shit." Said Liam.

"They're infected!" Captain Wilson shouted. "Everyone run to the tree line ahead of us!"

Without hesitation the majority of us turned and immediately ran for the trees. The pack of vultures swarmed towards us directly after. Nico back peddled and aimed an arrow towards the pack, waiting for them to get closer.

"Nico let's go!" I yelled.

When I realized he wasn't moving I pulled out my bow as well and aimed towards the pack. I focused my breathing to the point where the bow wasn't moving even a centimeter. 3... 2... 1... fire. As I let my arrow fly, four others shot into the pack at the exact same time. I looked around me to find Lj, Dameer, Liam and Nico. All of our arrows connected thanks to the large number of them.

"Come on let's go!" Dameer shouted as we all began running.

With my back now turned towards them, it sounded like hundreds of birds were chasing us and they were gaining fast. Zhaire and Rodney stood a few yards in front of us with their guns aimed at the oncoming swarm. As soon as we passed them they opened fire. Into the crowd. Thankfully they both were now carrying fully auto rifles ever since we left the city. A few of the other hunters, searchers and guards stood before us aiming their respective weapon at the pack. Me, Nico and Lj turned and joined them in opening fire. We dwindled out the numbers quite a bit before we turned and began running again. Everyone who didn't stop were close to the trees now and out of harm's way.

"Watch your step in this grass!" Rodney shouted.

Some of the birds flew around us and were now trying to attack us from head on. These birds wingspan were easily over five feet long, and their beaks were almost as long as my head. One that made it around us glided over and then closed its wings and shot towards us like a bullet.

"Incoming!" Nico yelled as he rolled under the bird and back onto his feet.

Another kid ducked to the ground while the vulture finally caught one who was behind him. It pierced into his shoulder like a javelin then knocked him to the ground.

"AAAAAARGHHHH" He tried to scream as it kept pecking into his chest.

"Dammit! Keep moving we're almost there." Zhaire shouted while reloading his gun.

This is insane, we're almost fully surrounded by these things. Not to mention that the sound of all their squawking is terrifying. Two more tried to charge us from the front, one of which Zhaire took the risk of trying to shoot at but manage to hit. The other came right at me and forced me to duck and roll to the ground. A girl that was running close to me ending up tripping trying to avoid me. I bounced up and realized another was flying down towards me so I quickly equipped my knife. I swung at the vulture and it stopped inches away from my swing and then it just hovered there squawking at me. I backed up and when it tried to rush me again, an arrow flew into its body from behind me. As I stumbled and turned I found Nico standing there.

"Keep it moving comrade!" He said with a smile.

The another bird then dove onto the girl that tripped while she was getting up. I tried to ready an arrow but it was already too late as two others dove onto her as well. She screamed and struggled against them as they grabbed at her and lifted her a few feet into the air before dropping her. Then they dove right back onto her and continued packing away at her as she screamed in front of me. Come on Ejay. I turned and ran as fast as I could towards the trees. Mali, Regine and Cory stood at the edge of the tree line trying to pick off whatever they could. I was the last to make into safety. I walked deeper into the forest, pulled my bag off of my back and collapsed against a tree. I struggled to catch my breathe for a short moment.

"Before anything else, let's have a moment in silence for the two people that we just lost." Rodney announced.

I sat there, looking out into the field where they were still eating away at that girls body. Her screams are still echoing through my head as we sat here and this silence wasn't helping. Screw this world.

"We're going to have to follow this forest as far down as we can before moving back out to the main path." Rodney said. "Anybody in need of medical assistance please see Violet and her team. We'll take a short break before moving again so rest up."

He punched a tree as he walked off and was visibly frustrated.

"Mind if I sit here?" Asked Mali.

"You don't have to ask me, I don't own this tree."

She rest against the side of the tree and slid down until she was sitting on the ground. To be honest I thought she was going to start up a conversation, but we both just sat their in silence.

"The girl that died just then, she was a guard right?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Did you know her well?"

"I wouldn't say well, at most she was an acquaintance. Her name was Abby."

I looked over to her to find that she was smiling. More of a half smile, as she looked up through the tree leaves.

"You always seem to be in a cheerful mood. I kind of envy that about you." I said with a grin.

"If I don't smile who's gonna smile for me? To be honest I'm scared to leave from the side of this tree. I wish I wasn't here experiencing all of this. If I knew that this would be our fate, I think I would've let one of those twisters take me away. But! I'm still here. And as long as I am here, no one is gonna wait for me and pull me along. So as long as I have breathe in my body I'm gonna pull myself up and keep moving." She says as she stands to her feet.

"You make a good point." I responded looking to the ground with a grin.

She reached her hand out to me with a full smile welcoming me to grab hold. I took her hand and pulled myself to my feet.

"I didn't class you as an honest person when I first met you." I said to her.

"Oh? Could it be that you're falling for me Ejay?"

"Aight, let me go. You killed the moment."

I spent the rest of our time making even more arrows with Nico and Lj.

"Nico it looked like you were enjoying yourself out there." Lj said.

"Oh yeah that was fun wasn't it?" He replied with a smile.

"You're joking right?" I asked with a slight chuckle.

"It was exhilarating if I had to find a word to describe it. First time I've seen black vultures with my own eyes. Infected as well?!"

"I knew something was off with you." Lj said.

"You didn't feel the thrill?" Nico asked.

"Bro, two people died. We, almost died." Lj stated in a frustrated tone.

"That's the point. The thrill of almost dying. Nothing stimulates the human body more than a near death experience."

"No one in their right mind would chase after that sort of thrill." I said. "What if one day you catch what you're chasing after?"

"I would accept it with open arms comrade. After all, I'm not afraid to die. Are you?"

Me and Lj were both speechless after his statement.

"Alright everyone we're moving."

Nico collected his things and walked off.

"Ejay, stay away from that guy." Lj said walking past me.

I'm starting to believe none of these people are in their right mind.