Chapter Fifteen: The Beginning of The End

With the Pruners arm against my head, I sat there, absolutely still.

"Unlike my companion who can track by scent, I was a hunter before this virus spread. Naturally-"

"-Ah, so you're a disappointment to society," I grinned as my body was shaking nervously.

"Do you know why we Pruners kill our own race? Even though we still harbor our previous memories and show intelligence?"

With him behind me, I moved my hands.

"Prunes and Pruners are carnivores, so theoretically speaking, we can just not eat people."

"Then why!"

He scuffed, "Because whoever made this virus, made us hungry for human flesh," raising his barrel of an arm at my face, "Say goodnight."

In a moments notice, a wrench came flying and knocked the Pruner's aim off.

"Grrh!"

"Get away from her!"

Looking over, Harley and Ashley were both here. In Ashley's hand, he had a modified automatic rifle. It looked like a M16 out of video games, but it had tubes attached to its sides with some weird blue liquid in it.

"Heh," Ashley moved his hair out of his eyes, "Those nerds gave me a new toy to try out on you Pruner scum."

Raising his barrel arm at Ashley, he configured it into multiple barrels, "Ok then."

Harley took a shield off his back and jumped into the incoming bullet barrage. Gritting his teeth, he kept upright as the six rounds all were stopped or bounced off the shield, "Holy shit! That workes!"

"Tch," the Pruner did a forward charge, keep himself low as he ran.

"TIME TO END THIS," Ashley had a crazed look as he pulled the trigger. Exiting the barrel, lead bullets tipped in blue spliced through the air as it raced towards the Pruner. Some scrapped his back.

Doing a swift pivel stop, the Pruner reached his arm out and grabbed Harley by the neck. Racing to bite his neck, he froze. "Why...can't...I....move!?"

"Wow, these bullets really did have an effect on an infected bastard like you," Ashley rubbed his hand on the gun, "These bullets directly attack your nerve system and halts all movements. Unlike zombies, y'all still have a brain and basically everything else an uninfected human has. Unfortunately, you hunger for our flesh," he then pulled a revolver from his back pocket, "Night," he blasted the Pruners face.

Getting up, I strapped on my backpack and hoisted up Marley's body in my arms and began dragging her.

"Now back to you."

I stared into Harley's eyes.

"How did she die?"

"A clean shot to the head by this Pruner."

Harley and Ashley just stood there.

"Why are you holding me Sarah?"

With my eyes widening, I pushed Marley out of my hands and tripped backwards.

Raising his guns, Ashley pointed at her, "Marley, don't make this hard!"

"What are you on about?"

"M-m-Marley....look at your skin."

Looking down at her skin, she say it was black and decaying like a Prune, "Am I....a....Pruner?"

I went over and slapped Marley's shoulder, "This is great! She has intelligence! I found out Prunes and Pruners don't need human flesh to live! Marely knows us, she can control the urge!"

"I don't need human flesh?"

"Nope! A Pruner I killed after your death said so....afterall...." the wind blew harder, "How are Pruners made?"

Within our safehouse, I had Marley laying on her back in my lab...or better known as my room. I'm no genius, but I used what knowledge from my mothers notes on being a nurse and doctor and from scientists we've ran into.

"So...this won't hurt, right?"

Grabbing a surgical knife, I looked at Marley, "Nah," I flicked the knife, "Well, you're undead."

"Oh jesus-"

I plunged the knife into her chest, "So! Does it hurt!?"

Marley slapped my hand and ripped out the knife, "YES IT DID!"

I stared in amazement, "Your wound!"

Looking down, Marley watched as the hole made by the surgical knife began to close.

"Maybe we can use these newfound traits to bring back your beauty. Maybe even heal the injured or sick! The possibilities!"

"Fuck you," Marley growled.

"Let's continue!" Turning around, I grabbed a power saw and showed it to Marley,"Remember, I'm doing this for the others," I powered it on.

"Hey, I get it but why me?!"

"You aren't trying to harm me! Plus, if I could form a cure, imagine the possibilities of returning back to our old lives!"

"Sarah," Marleys dead eyes were shaking, "You've become a monster."

"No, I became a doctor.....a scientist.....for my mothers sake....."

Now, I sit underneath a lamp. Alone and cold. I fiddle with my pen as I hear groaning, shouting, and banging outside my door. I have only so much time before they get in and kill me. Looking up at my computer, I pressed a button and the screen read, "Specimen Awakening Sequence Beginning." Pulling a photo out of my shirt, it was a picture of me and everyone in the book club before this happened. Now, Marley had disappeared, some Pruners had broken in and infected all my friends and the other survivors, and now it's all up to my final experiment, "Fix this....Heartlocke."

The door was busted down.

As I took one last look at my impending doom, I pressed a button under my table, "Boom." Just like that, everything was gone but my hidden bunker. Hopefully, my highschool dream cam be brought back for others in the future....hopefully.