Chapter Fourteen: My Highschool, Dream?

I was free. Wrapped in a blanket, I sat in the back of the ambulance. While the cops were putting Sammy in the back of the crusier, I sat beside Cassie.

'I'm sorry, I feel like this is all my fault.'

Cassie pat my back, 'Nah, my shitty attitude is also to blame.'

Running up to us, our families had emerged from the crowd. Coming towards me was Josh, my dad, and my mom. They all pulled me in for a big hug. I could tell my mom was crying. You could easily hear her in the little huddle.

"Josh, stop crying so much. I miss your sister more than you!"

I looked at Josh. His face was a mess from crying. Turning to not let me see, he was whipping his face, "That wasn't me! I'm just happy that this brats ok, that's all!"

Looking over at Cassie, she sat alone. I felt bad for her. She was an asshole, yes, but she also cared a lot about her sister.

"Cassie!"

Looking up, she began to tear up, "Mom!"

Running into Cassie, her mother smothered her with hugs and kisses, "Are you ok?!"

Cassie said nothing but started to shudder.

"Cassie?"

Tears now raced down her face, "Mom! I fucked up! I-I-I-"

She stroked her hair, "Its alright...don't stress to much now.."

Looking over at Cassie, I smiled. Looking back at my family, I jumped back into the ambulance.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Stretching her hand out towards me, my mothers hand twisted as black goop oozed out if it.

"Mom?"

Behind her, my father and brother looked the same. They're skin rotting and odd black goo oozing out of the holes newly formed in them. Looking past them, Cassie grabbed them and threw them to the ground.

"C'mon!"

Scurrying over to her, she grabbed my hand and helped me out. Looking around, everyone gathered here looked like mindless morons like my family just now. Their hair was thinning, their eyes were loose, and their movement seemed staggered.

"Where's your mom?" Something grabbed my leg. Looking down at it, it was Cassie's mother, "AHH-"

Cassie curbed her own mothers arm, "Its like the zombie apocolylse, but why so sudden? And random?"

On that day, everything changed. From then on, Cassie and I saved Sammy since she was trapped inside the police cruiser. Afterwards, we had gone around and tried to find others. It really was a zombie apocalypse. Of who we found, we found Andrew, Marley, Harley, Ashley, some of Cassie's friends but that was all. After gathering supplies from the school, we had found out some adults were fine as well. Now present day and Marley and I are out on a supply run.

"Hey," Marley loaded a rifle, "theres raiders heading our way."

I put away my diary, "I got enough samples from these corpses, but a live sample will still be wanted."

"We can't risk that. I know your eighteen now, but I'm still older than you and my word is absolute."

Tossing the bag onto my back, I crawled over to Marley, "But-"

She pressed her finger against my lips, "We finish this, get back to camp, and then we use that big brain of yours to attempt making a vaccine to this virus."

"Yeah, and what about those other odd phenomenons?"

"One step at a-"

A bullet grazed past my ear. Clasping my hands against my ringing ears, I pulled them away, "That was a close one, rig-"

I heard something hit the ground.

With my body shaking, I looked at Marley. Grabbing her rifle, I leaned down over her body. A clean shot through her skull. Placing my left hand against the leaking blood, O wanted cry, "No....not you...." Go backwards, I glanced once more at her lifeless corpse and pulled out a detonator, "I'm sorry I distracted you from ever telling Harley your feelings. Moving back away from the window, I made an escape for the emergency route implemented by her. The old hospital was a creepy place to be in alone.

From outside the emergency room came groaning.

"Oh no, Prunes." Approaching the double door, I pulled one side open slowly. Half way opened, I used both hands to steady my aim with the rifle. Looking down the scope, the hallway was long and dark. Bodies, beds, chairs, books, and many other junk was scattered on the floor or through the deteriorating walls. Letting go of the rifle with my left hand. and reaching into my jeans, I pulled out a glowsticks. Pressing one end to my chest, I cracked it to light it up. Tossing it, the darkness went away. What sounded like groaning of one Prune was actually many. Twenty atleast. "Remember what Marley taught you. You need to get out of here with these medical supplies and samples, everyone's counting on me."

"Well, are they?" Walking out the crowd was a prune look alike, but he was one of the more rare specimen.

From my studies, he and some other Prunes don't lose intelligence or pasr memories. These special ones, who I like to call Pruners, get increased physical traits and some odd powerup. The scariest one I had ever ran into had increased strength but was also fast like a cheetah. All Prunes had to do to increase their numbers is to have their DNA be injected into your bloodstream and you were a goner in seconds. "Unlike you, you dumb Pruner, my friends aren't mindless." Provoking him to see what his ability is was my game plan.

"I know, which is why I'm not alone," out behind him, three other Pruners emerged. They were all in leather jackets. By their appearances, these men were most likely bikers before this.

Knowing the escape room was a bust, I pulled a pipe bomb, "This seems like an emergency," starting it, it began to beep over and over as I tossed it into the group. Closing the door, I blocked it.

"This won't hold for long little miss," the main Pruner punched his hand through the door.

Running over to Marley's body, I strapped the bacpack to and grabbed a rope beside her, "Looks like we get to escape together," tying the rope around her waist, an explosion went off. Now just four Pruners. Lowering Marley's body out the window with the rope, the moment she touched the ground, I fastened the rope to the window frame and looked back.

"CAN'T RUN," the main Pruner flung something at me.

Dodging it, the strange ball of liquid began to eat at the wall, "ACID?!"

The others laughed, "That's our boss for you."

Quickly aiming with the rifle, I took a single shot and killed one of the side Pruners. Even though Pruners may seem all the much tougher, they're still fragile like the rest of us.

"You little ungrateful piece of shit," the main one threw a ball of acid again and melted the front of my rifle.

As they began to menacingly walk towards me, I threw the rifle and jumped out the window. Turning violently, I grabbed the rope with both hands and slide down. As I got safe enough to jump, I did. Looking at my right hand, when I vaulted out the window, a glass shard went right into my hand. Plus now rope burn, the injury was hurting like hell. Cutting Marley free, I reached for a first aid kit out if the bag. Ripping the glass shard out my hand, blood splurged out and hit my face and scattered my clothes. Using my water bottle to clean the wound area, I then poured alcohol over it and then wrapped it up with a bandage. The pain sucked but I was in a hurry. Putting everything back, I tossed the backpack on again and grabbed Marley's body. Dragging her towards the sewer system, i heard the other Pruners burst open the hospitals glass doors.

"Find that bitch! She killed one of us!"

"I can smell her! She went towards the main road!"

"Acid balls, super smell....what's next." I felt a presence behind me. Turning around, I saw no one. Continuing towards the sewer, I opened the manhole and tossed Marley into the shit filled water. Climbing down, I made sure to close the manhole before me. Touching the ground, I took off the bag and jumped into the shit filled water. Pulling Marley out with me. Putting on the pack, I made my way.

Two hours later.

Making sure I wasn't being followed back, I longer routes and set traps behind me. Now knowing it was safe, I climbed a ladder hidden behind a fake wall. Going out it, I pulled Marley out behind me. Now out on the surface again, I took a deep breathe and exhaled.

"Guys?"

I looked away.

"C'mon, speak to me...Marley...Sarah?"

I couldn't look Harley in the face. ".....She's...she's dead Harley."

"No."

"It was a clean shot through the forehead," it came to me just now. A clean shot through the forehead but who made the shot? Those raiders also only had fully automatics and knives. What about those Pruners?

"Why the hell did you bring her body back then? To traumatize us? We're barely surviving nowada-"

"Put camp on high alert! Theirs a Pruner here!"

Ready to cry, Harley nodded, "Yeah," he ran off to tell the others.

WWalking out from the shadow of a buildings roof, the third Pruner who hadn't shown his ability appeared, "What gave me away?"

"I sensed you presence like before. Your ability is the fear snipers can put in others. The thought of being watched is scary, especially by someone who can end it in seconds. Based of that-"

-his arm molded into a long barrel, "yup, my arm is the sniper."