THE HUNTERS HUNTER

"Alice"

"Alice"

"Alice"

"Why did you leave me?"

"I thought we were sisters forever."

"Craven?"

I heard my sister calling me while crying. I stand up and walk slowly inside her room. She looked at her mirror while waiting for me to enter her room. I was surprised to see her the way I saw her last time, her clothes, how her hair was tied and everything. I strolled inside her room and sat on her bed while looking at her reflection. She is not facing me, but I know she is looking at me through her mirror.

"You are not infected anymore?"

"I've never been infected", She answered.

"Are you happy now, Alice?" She asked when she saw me sitting behind her.

"You can have mommy now. I know you are jealous because I have had mommy's attention since she birthed me."

I shook my head because that was not true. I never get jealous because I understand despite our seven years gap. I have my own life now, and I don't want mommy to look after me anymore because I know I am of legal age and can manage things independently. That is why I have never been jealous besides. I have been waiting for so long to have a sister now that I have her. I am so happy because I finally have a best friend for life.

"How are things outside?" She asked as if she didn't know. I looked at her, and she was not infected anymore. The blood is gone, and her skin is not melting anymore. She looks normal now and pretty.

"Craven", I call her because I miss her so much, and I am glad that she is back and mommy will be happy to see her.

"Let's go home. Mom is looking for you," I told her.

"But we are home."

I looked around, and she was right. I am home with her, and the house is not messy anymore. No blood on the floor and no broken mirror too. The house was the same before the infected invaded.

"You know what, Alice?" She asked, and she closed her eyes.

"I am scared of staying here alone because you left me," She said

I don't want to leave her because I love her, but she is violent. She was attacking me and wanted to eat me, which left me no choice but to leave her, but now I am back, and I will never leave her again.

"You know what, Alice?"

"The pastor told us to repent because the dead will rise like Lazarus and walk on earth," She said. That makes me shiver.

"Yes, he told us that the dead will come back, so we need to repent," She repeated what she said again and started snarling.

She started vomiting again and looked at me with her bleeding eyes. I was shocked because that happened to her when she came home from her Sunday praising. Her skin started to melt again, and her body twisted and attacked me. I fell on the mirror that made it broken, and I grabbed the piece of the broken mirror, struck it to her heart, and pushed her away from me. I immediately stood up and looked at her because I remembered what had happened before, but her wound healed, and she started attacking me again. I ran to the door, and I heard a gunshot. The unknown man shot her, and when I looked back to see my sister, it turned out to be my mother.

"No! no! no!" I screamed.

I ran to my mother and checked on her. She looks fine, and she is not infected. I looked at the man who shot my mom, but I couldn't recognize him.

"I save you from her", He said

"But she is not infected!" I screamed

"You killed her!" I added, and then I heard another gunshot again, and my heart was bleeding. He shot me as well.

I woke up from a nightmare and saw my mother sleeping beside me. My nightmare looks real that makes my heart beat fast. I tried to remember who the man was, but I couldn't remember his face. I don't know why he shot my mother and me, but it doesn't matter because it is just a nightmare.

"Are you okay?" My mother asked me. I didn't notice her awake now and staring at me.

My tears burst, and I hugged her. "I am sorry, mom, for leaving Craven behind," I said because I felt guilty for leaving my sister behind.

"You did the right thing," She said and tapped my back.

"I know how you love your little sister, but she is infected, and you must save yourself." She looked at me and wiped my tears.

"Come on, let's go back to sleep."

I lay down on the bed again beside my mother and I tried to fall asleep but I can't because my nightmare is haunting me. Leaving Craven behind is so painful for me but I don't have a choice. She is infected and I can't bring her with me. I closed my eyes and still force myself but I can't go back from sleeping. Until, I heard the children laughing while playing, and my mom was no longer beside me. It is already seven o' clock in the morning and I feel so sleepy. I looked outside the window and the the breakfast is already prepared, and I need to freshen myself and start my day because this will be another long day.

"Good morning", Luis greeted me, and I smiled at him.

Edwin made sign language because he wanted to tell me something, but I didn't understand, and then he left and went to the tower with Anton.

"He said my brother is looking for you," Nita said with a smile.

Nita's cute smile is full of life. That makes her adorable. Her smile is innocent even though she already knows what is happening.

"Alice", Alfred called me.

"I...I..." He said he wanted to tell me something, but he couldn't tell me. Nita ran to his brother and said, "Tell her that you have a crush on her" That made Alfred blush and cover his sister's mouth.

"Can you please go back from playing?" He told his sister

"Just tell her", Nita said before she ran to her playmates, which made Alfred blush again.

"I am sorry for my sister. She is so playful," He said, still blushing.

"Alice, let's go", Luis said with a frowning face. His mood changed when he saw Alfred.

"Yes, let's go."

We went to eat our breakfast before our hunt. I sat beside my mother and greeted her good morning with a smile. I looked at the food that made my mouth water because the food was delicious. We say our grace and start eating.

"After we eat, we will distribute the weapon and teach the kids and the elderly how to use it responsibly," Ferdinand said while looking at everybody.

"Each kid and elderly will have at least one weapon whether you like it or not because you need to protect yourself when worse come to worse", He added.

"Oh, that is cool", Nita said, which made everyone laugh. What a smart kid.

"Nita," Her grandmother said.

"I can fight like a big girl grandma to protect you," She told her grandma. What a sweet kid.

We start teaching the elderly and the kids how to use their weapons properly and how dangerous it is if they are not responsible for using them. From now on, the improvised knife and spear will be their best friend. They need to bring it wherever they go with precautions—especially the children. We told them not to play with their weapon and avoid pointing them at anyone else because it is only for zombies. We also instructed them that if the zombies invade, they must target the head because that is the only way for them to die.

"You have to stay close to me, grandma. I will save you from zombies."

"Oh, Nita," Her grandma said with a smile because she was lucky to have Nita beside her.

"Okay, hunters", Ferdinand call our attention.

"Are you ready to hunt?" He asked, and we answered because we didn't have a choice.

If we hunt, there is a possibility that we will die outside, but if we don't, we will die as well because of hunger. Our supply is not enough. It will not last long, for a week. That is why we don't have a choice but to go out and loot for food, medicine, and anything we need.

"Okay, let's go", He said.

I wear my knife leg holster, put my knife inside, and carry the gun I stole from the dead soldier when we are fighting to escape from the bunch of zombies. I don't have enough bullets, but I will try to find a new gun along the way while finding supplies. I am not good at using a gun or any weapon, but instinct teaches me how because I need it to protect myself and my mother from zombies.

"Wait, we are you going?" My mother asked in surprise when she saw me prepared for the hunt.

"I will hunt with them."

"No, you will stay here."

"I am a hunter, mom."

"You will stay here."

"I have to go with them."

"YOU WILL STAY HERE!" She said that made everyone look at her.

"It is too dangerous there, " she whispered when she saw everyone looking at her.

"I already lost Craven. I don't want to lose you", She added, and I understand, but I need to go because I am a hunter.

"She will go with us," Ferdinand said.

"No, she will stay here."

"Stop treating her like a kid."

"She is the only one I have, and I can't bear losing her."

"Every one of us has that only someone left. Look at them," He said. He was trying to make my mother understand, and my mother looked around and she noticed that no one in this community had a complete family.

"I am sorry, mom" Is the only word I said because I had already decided.

"Come home safely."

"I will"

She hugged and kissed me, and I did the same, and then I kneeled and told Nita to tell Edwin to look after my mother while I was out, and the cute Nita agreed. Her smile shows her incomplete teeth, which makes her cuter.

"Let's go."

We leave the Don Algo and start our journey of finding supplies. It will not be a rough day. I look above and ask my God and Goddess for guidance because I feel like they abandon me. After what happened, it is so very traumatizing, but I need to live because I have to live.

We keep on walking until we find a grocery store. We slowly went inside because a bit of noise could attract the infected to attack and feast on us. We need to walk in a group because the danger is around. That is why we need to back up each other.

"Let's work by two", Ferdinand ordered.

I can't imagine that a lawyer can act like a military now. The soldiers are following him like a general, which makes him hot. I walk to the medicine area with Luis and find something I can bring. We need medicine, so I take what I need to take though it is hard to find the medicine we need because it is messy. I still check each box with Luis as my lookout.

"What the fuck" Luis said when he opened the fridge

"Alice, come here", He said, and I went to him.

I was also surprised to see what was inside the fridge. The humans look like they are preserving themselves. Their eyes are bleeding, and their skin is melting, but they look like they are sleeping. They're six of them sitting inside the fridge with their eyes closed. Luis slowly closed the fridge because he didn't want to disturb them, and I continued finding some medicines while thinking of what I saw, and another question was in my head. Why are they inside the fridge?

"Alice", Luis called again while pointing at the ceiling.

I was more surprised to see the infected hanging at the ceiling with their closed eyes, and they looked like bats. They were hanging upside down, and they are many. That freaks us out. I grabbed everything I saw, and we immediately left the pharmacy because it was not a good idea if we woke them.

"What's wrong?" Jaxx asked and lit his cigarette.

"You will not going to like it," I answered.

"Why?"

"See for yourself."

I told them not to make noise, and I slowly opened the pharmacy door and showed them what we saw, and like us, they were surprised too. I slowly closed the door after I showed it to them.

"What was that?"

They were surprised to see it because that was so unbelievable. They were sleeping like vampires now, and we didn't want to disturb their peace. It is enough to encounter zombies running like a jaguar but like a vampire. I don't think so.

"They are sleeping outside down?"

"Yes, You saw it right," Macky said

"What the fuck?" Jaxx asked

"I know"

We continue doing what we must do because we must go home before evening. That is why we get what we can and plan to move from one place to another. The place is so dead because even it just happened yesterday. It feels like it has happened for a year now. That is how it affects us. We went outside the grocery and were about to go to another store when a woman appeared asking for help.

"Help!" The woman is crying, carrying a doll with blood on her shirt.

"I want to see my baby", She cried.

"Help! I want to see my baby."

We looked at each other because we were waiting for her to turn. She is crying and begging, but we don't know if we will help her. She looked at me and begged to find her son, then collapsed.

I pointed my gun at her, waiting for her to turn, but she didn't turn. I looked at her closely, and I didn't see any bite marks on her. I kicked her slowly to check if she would move, but she didn't. There are no bite marks on her body, and the blood on her is not hers.

"Let's go", Luis said.

"How about the woman?"

"Leave her", Les answered.

"No"

"You didn't know her. You didn't know if she was infected," Les Answered, and she pulled me to keep me going.

I looked back at the woman and felt pity for her, but I couldn't bring her even though I didn't want to leave her. We kept on walking to find more supplies when I heard footsteps. I looked back, but I saw nothing. I continued walking and heard it again, but when I looked back, it was gone. We went inside to another grocery to find what we could get there. I suddenly remember when Luis and I hid inside the grocery store because this one looked like the grocery store we got near in our subdivision when the infected attacked us and broke the glass wall. I suddenly heard the scream of the people who were scared and fighting for their lives, and I wondered if some of them had survived and where are they now.

"Alice, stay close to me," Luis said, and I walked near him and started to grab what we needed.

"I got something for you," Alfred said and gave me the bear lollipop he was holding. I smiled when I saw the lollipop, but I couldn't take it, so I told him to keep it and give it to Nita.

"ALICE, STAY CLOSE TO ME," Luis said, and he pulled me away from Alfred and gave Alfred a look.

"What is your problem, man?" Alfred asked, but Luis didn't answer. It is enough to him that pulled me close to him.

We continue grabbing supplies and putting them inside our bags. I put a lot of lettuce inside my bag because that's my mom's favorite.

"Really, Lettuce?" Les asked, and she almost wanted to laugh.

"Ou doctor, which is my mom, like it," I told her and turned my back to her.

Seriously? she will laugh because of lettuce. What is wrong with grabbing vegetables? If she doesn't like it. It doesn't define that other people don't want it too.

I heard the footsteps again; that made me crazy because every time I looked back, I didn't see anyone or anything. Maybe I am just paranoid because of the conscience of leaving the lost mother behind, even though I know that she is still alive. I grabbed canned goods and put them inside my bag when I heard a sound at the ceiling.

I slowly turned around and saw the woman looking for her lost baby trying to bite the unconscious Les. Her eyes were bleeding, and her skin was melting like the others. She is at the ceiling and upside down like the first ones we saw a while ago.

"Oh shit," I said, and I shot her, but I missed. She dropped Les on the floor, and she attacked me.

She tried to bite me, but I avoided her. I let her bite the gun I am holding to shield myself because she is fast and strong. I am calculating her moves because she can make six moves in a second while I fight for my life. This is what I get from not staying close to Luis. I pushed her away, but she went back from attacking me again. I grabbed the beer bottle and smashed it on her head, but it was nothing to her. I punch her in her face, but it is useless.

"Not today, not today," I told myself while stuttering and trying to find my gun. I am trying to reach for the knife in my leg holster, but I can't because she is above me.

BANG!

One shot on her head, and her blood pour into me. Her brain is scattered on the floor, and she is completely dead. I pushed her away and wiped the blood on her face with my hand.

"That is close," Alfred said. He is the one who shot the infected.

"Are you okay?" Luis asked, running towards me from the other side of the grocery and checking if I was okay.

" I am okay", I answered, and he hugged me. I saw Alfred roll his eyes and shake his head.

"Les...Les" Ferdinand is trying to check Les if she is okay. She woke up, grasping for breath, and said, "I am okay... I am okay", while checking if she got bitten.

She doesn't have any bite marks, and she is not even bleeding, and I thanked God and the Goddess because she is safe. The infected only bit her life vest, torn it.

"That is enough for today. Let's go home," Ferdinand said.