CHAPTER 26: Escape.

Theo met up with Johan in the main hall of the mansion.

The man looked exhausted and was getting himself a drink that reeked of alcohol.

"You should stay in the cabin for a day, and you of all people should know that!"

Johan nearly dropped his glass when he heard Theo speak. When he managed to calm himself down, he turned around to see Theo standing in the doorway.

"You scared me there, buddy." He said with a smile plastered on his face. "Why would you think that?"

"Quit talking shit, I know you've been outside."

He let out a faint chuckle. "No, sorry. I have been in my office all day, trying to come up with a solution for our food shortage. I just came back from counting our current supplies to make sure my calculations were accurate."

The raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? you spent an entire day in your office, and now that the next one is about to begin you decide to check if your numbers were accurate."

"Like you're one to talk in this." The man scoffed. "You, being unable to eat anything but meat has forced us to change the menu for nearly the entire camp."

Theo's tail moved from side to side behind his legs. "Yea sure! Change the subject! I only eat the amount of meat that four other people would do. And this camp holds fifty people at least, it should barely be noticeable. But what I'm trying to discuss here is why you were gone for the entire day. Only to come back, smelling like you just came out of a fistfight with one of those undead."

In response Johan threw his glass at Theo, missing him by just a few centimetres.

Theo still had to back away because of the shattered glass flying through the room.

"Shut it! You are just some blue talking animal. And as a matter of fact, I own you. You have no right or place to ask about the decisions I make about what has to be done!"

Theo wanted to hit him in the teeth right then and there. But he knew that that would get him in trouble, and he had been impulsive enough lately.

But before Theo could think of a better alternative, Johan pushed him aside and walked to the front door.

"What are you doing?" Theo asked with a deep frown on his face.

I'm barricading the door. "Johan responded without looking back at him."

"Up until now the locks worked just fine though" Theo boldly said. Then suddenly his eyes widened. "No, you didn't. Even you could never."

Suddenly Johan started to cackle like a mad man. "Oh, I could, and I have. You really thought that I could live like this? We are all just locked in here, waiting until the moment we starve. You don't know what our visitor offered. And I can have no one from here following us. Then we would have the same problems all over again." He stopped his rambling to gasp for air. "Don't worry. When the zombies are finally gone no one will think about this. It was just an error in the security system. No one could have prevented it, and we were just lucky enough to lock ourselves in the mansion until help arrived."

Theo pressed his ears flat and hissed at the man. "You sick asshole! Open the door right now, we can't let all those people out there die."

"I'm sorry my dear Theo. But I'm not above holding my own son hostage. I know how much he looks up to you. It would be a shame if you were to be the reason that he didn't make it through the night."

Theo threw Johan on the ground with his tail as he turned around and ran up the stairs. On all fours he rushed through the hallways until he reached Tim's room.

With a loud bang he opened the door.

Surprised the kid looked up while rubbing she sleep out of his eyes.

"Hi Theo." He lazily said. "What's wrong?"

"No time to explain, we need to go now!"

As carefully as he could, Theo picked up the kid and rushed to his room where he had his window open.

While preparing to jump out of the window whilst still carrying Tim, Johan rushed in in an attempt to stop them.

Still holding Tim in one arm, Theo grabbed his bag that was still laying on the floor with the other, throwing it at Johan's face.

The jar of ink that was still in his bag exploded in the man's face, leaving him with a dark stain in his eyes.

While Johan was busy cleaning his sight and making sure he got no shards of glass in his eyes, Theo took the chance to escape with Tim.

Once he hit the ground he was fully engulfed in the chaos of the camp.

People were screaming, smoke filled the sky, and the outer gates were wide open.

The first of the zombies had already made their way into the camp while most people were already sleeping. And now people had to struggle for their lives to drive them out again.

Theo ran through the camp, and the little boy was softly sobbing on Theo's shoulder.

It didn't take him long to find his parents. Or rather they found him. His silhouette was rather noticeable after all.

Without saying a word, they ran through the crowds of zombies and people, trying to make it to the gates.

They hoped that if they made it through, the zombies would be more focused on the larger group of people and would leave them alone long enough to escape.

On their way they found Gwen and Timon as well. However, Timon appeared to be wounded.

Theo handed Tim to his father and instead carried Timon. Like this they could take everyone with them while keeping the chance of survival the highest.

Finally, they made it out. Some more people had joined them, and they were all resting deeper in the woods at a spot they assumed to be safe, or at the very least, safe for now.

Theo had already patrolled the area multiple times and couldn't find a zombie in at least a three-hundred-meter radius. Which made sense considering that most of the zombies in the area must have gone to the camp.

Timon long since passed out during their escape. No one was certain what had caused his wound, but if he was infected, he should still have a few hours. Before then, the people had to decide whether or not to kill him.

With a loud groan Theo stood up. Everyone at the bonfire turned to look at him.

"Don't worry." He sighed. "I have something that I need to take care of. I will be back soon."

Not awaiting their answers Theo turned around and ran back to the old camp as fast as he could. It took him roughly half an hour to reach it.

Now that he no longer had to worry about anyone else, he walked through the camp. There were still some people left. though Theo knew that they were all beyond saving now. If they weren't infected already, they would bleed to death soon enough.

One of the zombies noticed him walking through the camp and tried to attack him.

But with one fluid motion, Theo managed to grab the zombie and bite its throat out.

The taste of rotting blood filled his mouth and it made him want to vomit. But he kept it in his mouth for now.

He climbed up on one of the walls of the mansion, until he reached the window leading to his room.

Of course, Johan had locked it by now, but that didn't matter. Theo shattered the glass using his horns and crawled inside. After this, it didn't take him long to find Johan.

The man was now scared to death. He knew that the only reason Theo had left him alive for so long was because he always had some hostages. And even at the last moment, time itself was in his favour.

But now Theo didn't have to rush to find his family in the chaos. There was nothing holding him back.

"Please." The man pleaded, though it fell on deaf ears. "Please, no one would have survived the winter anyways. I just wanted to be safe. That less families would occupy our food and shelter. We could have been safe there as long as I made sure there no longer was any competition for them when all of this is over."

"You may come with all the excuses in the world!" Theo scoffed. "But I still know a son of a bitch when I see one."

he spat in the man's face.

Shocked the man reached out to the dark red liquid dripping down his chin.

Theo laughed. "You see. I can't carry the infection. Given how fast it spreads, I would have infected a lot of people already. Especially after my wing was wounded and I was bleeding everywhere. However, I am able to suck the blood out of a zombie and spit its blood in someone's face. Isn't that fun?"

Johan turned pale and tried to make it to the bucket of water next to the sink, only to get pulled back by Theo.

"Oh, don't worry, my dear friend. I won't get in trouble with your… alliance. Even if they make it in time. I will be gone. And you told me yourself that when someone becomes infected, they start to hallucinate. You simply never locked your door good enough and I was never here to begin with. I was probably out hunting with some other people whose corpses they'll never find."