Infectious

The road was quiet, nothing was in site, not even the animals were making noise. There was the only sound of the wind blowing, making the tree’s leaves dance in the morning breeze. The sun made the place look bright but at the same time the fog was seeping in, making the place look like it was hiding a dark secret, something the world was keeping under its grassy meadows. A car speeds by with teens laughing. The sound breaking the silence with a loud crash of the wheels spinning on the road. “Asher, oh my god I can’t believe you did that to him!” One of the girls laughed out loud. Her brown hair bounced while she rocked in her seat. Her hazel eyes lit up with delight, her clothes complimented her looks. She was the kind of girl that would be the teacher’s favorite, if it wasn’t for her attitude towards them and the other students. But this group somehow became friends with her, her name is Jackie Hitman. “Jackie, don’t laugh at that!” Another girl told Jackie in the backseat next to her, she could barely hold it together. Her red hair was moving with the wind, her window was open so her hair was getting in her face and she kept spitting it out every so often. Her gray eyes had tears in them because of the funny story Asher told. She was what some people would say, a party pooper based on how she dressed but that was not true, not one bit, Her name was Rosa Gonzalez. “Oh come on Rosa, don’t be a party pooper!!” A voice said in a teasing tone, coming from the pastern seat. He had his eyes closed and his hand out of the window. His blonde hair swayed with the wind. He always liked to tease people, so he got into trouble a lot of times at school because of this behavior. He also had blue eyes that would draw women to him but they would end up embarrassed or crying, his name was Jackson Smith and he didn’t like a lot of people. “Shut up Jack!!” Rosa yelled out, the wind was loud so she had to shout. “Okay guys that’s enough I don’t want us getting into a car crash!” Another voice said, he was driving the car. His black hair was long and would cover his face if he hadn’t pulled it back into a ponytail. He had bright green eyes and he was dressed up in nice but yet casual clothing, he was somewhat a leader so a lot of people would try and get on his good side but he would just give them a cold glare, his name was Asher Williker. “Oh come on Ashie we are just having some fun.” Jackson said in a joyful tone. He was the prankster of the group and didn’t take a lot of things seriously and he would start prank wars with his group of friends sometimes. Asher growled and rolled his eyes, “You’re gonna have a fun time when we crash Jack.” Asher snapped at the blonde next to him. Jack just shrugged and kept his eyes closed, enjoying the breeze.

“Oh come on Ash, don’t be a negative Nancy.” Jackie told him with a sassy tone. Jackie always gets on people’s nerves but she sees the positive stuff in life unlike other people.. Some say she is optimistic. Rosa just rolled her eyes and looked out the window, watching the trees go by. Rosa loved these guys but they can get annoying when they start to mess with each other. Asher growled but said nothing to her, Asher spotted something on the road and slowed down. Jackson felt this and opened his eyes “Ashie? Why are you slowing down?” Jack asked Asher, Jackie smirked “That’s what she said!” She yelled out. Jack blushed along with Asher,Rosa just rolled her eyes. Asher sighed “I see something on the road and I just want to make sure I’m not gonna hit it Jack.” Asher told him, as he moved his head closer to the windshield to get a better look. Jack nodded and looked behind the seat and told the girls to stay quiet so Asher could focus. The girls nodded and they sat in silence. All they heard was the engine running and the wind coming through the car windows. They heard a gasp and the car suddenly jerked to a stop. “Asher, what the fuck dude?!” Jack yelled at him. Asher however did not respond, he unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. The girls looked at each other while Jack just cussed under his breath but got out of the car as well. Jackie looked at Rosa “What do you think got Asher so spooked?” Rosa shook her head “I have no clue, but let’s go find out.” Rosa got out of the car quickly with Jackie and went towards the direction of the boys’. Asher’s face was pale white. Asher slowly stopped next to something, “Dude what the hell is that smell?” Jack asked. Jack’s face drowned of color and he put his hand over his mouth, eyes huge at what he saw. Jackie and Rosa were running up to them, in between labored breaths Jackie asks “Whoa what’s got you guys so white?” They both looked where the boys were looking and their faces were too drained of color. A horrifying display was in front of them, the odor was all they could smell, the object of their attention on the road, was a dead body, a dead rotting body laid before them. The body itself was mutilated and dismembered, the blood still surrounding the rotting corpse.

“What the fuck…,” Rosa quickly moved away holding her stomach. She puked on the side of the road, adding to the putrid smell. Jack crouched down next to the body, instantly he was hit with a terrible odor that was stronger than before. He pinched his nose closed and took a closer look at the body. The body itself had skin peeling and its organs leaked out of its body onto the pavement. Asher walked behind Jack, “You know I ain’t one to get the police involved but I think we should call them Jackson.” Asher told him, Jackie nodded and pulled out her phone. Rosa was still behind some bushes puking. As Jack turned away to comfort Rosa,one of the body’s fingers flinched, up and down, down and up until all the body's fingers were shifting around, leading to his hand to shift and move around on the ground, faint groaning sounds can be heard from the corpse. Asher screamed, his eyes wide with terror, he walked backed wards but bumped into something and fell. Jackson gasped, quickly pulling Asher up. The body started to groan louder and it opened its eyes, the eyes with a gray dried out husk. “What the hell is that thing!?” Rosa screams in terror, scooting herself farther and farther away, Jack runs to the body cautiously trying to see if the persons alive somehow. The body tries to lunge at the boy but since one of its arms was not attached it just flayed its other arm around. Asher shook his head, he was shaking terribly but he reached for Jacks’ arm and pulled him away from it. Jack was still in shock and didn’t react to this. Asher pulled him back to the car and shouted out for Rosa and Jackie. Jackie saw the dead body crawl closer at a fast pace to them,she screamed and she ran to Rosa and grabbed the back of her shirt while pulling her towards the car in the process. Asher was putting the car back into drive, he drove it to the girls “Hurry get in, quick!”he told them. Jackie opened the back door and threw Rosa in “Hey!” Jackie just ignored her and hopped in. Asher saw that the dead body had gotten up somehow and it was sprinting towards them with a limp. Asher eyes widened “Buckle up everyone!” he yelled and slammed his foot into the gas pedal.

The car jerked forward and took off like a jet engine. They all jerked forward by the force of the car. The girls screamed out of terror in the back seat, they held each other close with their eyes closed. Jack had this huge terrified smile on his face like he was about to win the lottery, he had his hand wrapped around the grab handle in the car and had his other hand wrapped around the seat belt. Asher had a tight grip on the steering wheel and was shaking uncontrollably. Asher turned the car, the car swerved to the right and nearly hit the walking corpse. “SHIT!!” Asher screamed out. The car swerved uncontrollably, Jack’s eyes widened, his grip had gotten tighter, he was frozen in fear. Asher stomped his foot on the gas pelted and the group jerked forward.

Asher hit his head on the wheel and groaned. Jack was still frozen while the girls were on the floor. Asher moved his head from the steering wheel and put his hand on his head. “Oh fuck…Is everyone alright?” Asher asked with closed eyes. “Yeah we’re okay just on the floor Ash.” One of the girls said, Asher peeked open one of his eyes and looked at Jack, Jack was frozen in place. Asher groaned and unbuckled his seat belt, he reached over and shook Jack “Jack, dude.” Jack gasped and looked over at him, “Sorry Ashie, I um.” Asher rolled his eyes and smiled at him, “It’s fine Jack, stop saying sorry.” Asher pulled his hand away from Jack and got out of the car. Jack got out of the car as well and checked on the girls. Asher on the other hand was checking on where they were since he drove in a random direction. He saw that the corpse had fell and was rapidly moving his one good arm. He sighed in relief and checked his car’s hood. There was gas coming from the hood, Asher groaned and walked over to the car slowly. Lifting up the hood he saw his worst nightmare come true. “No not my car!!” he said out loud groaning, “I didn’t even crash you.” He huffed and covered his face. The wind picked up and the sky grew dark, the clouds started to cover the once bright sun. The wind rushed by, making Asher growl. “Now it’s going to rain, that’s fucking great!!” He yelled while slamming the hood down.

Jackson popped out of the car with a irritated face, “Ashie, calm the fuck down, there is a fucking zombie apocalypse going on and your complaining about the car?!” Asher looked at Jackson and said “Well, Mr.Captain Obvious, without a car we won’t be able to drive away from danger!” He growled and stopped talking,knowing that he was about to snap on Jackson. “Look Jack, we are going to have to go on foot now and since we barely have any food on us, the car was our only hope.” Asher explains to Jackson quietly. Jackson sighed and went back to talking with the girls. Asher looked back at the corpse on the road. Walking towards it with a dark look on his face,he couldn’t just let this person suffer and hurt people anymore. Jackie helped Rosa, “I am still confused about what is going on here Jackson. Mind explaining to us, well me?” Jackson groaned and told her zombies exist now as a simple explanation. Jackie nodded and hopped out of the car, helping Rosa out as well. Everybody was freaking out, zombies now existed and they lost the car, everyone went quiet when they heard a loud squish coming from the other side of the road. Rosa was the one who screamed, covering her mouth with a horrified expression. Jackson and Jackie looked over and saw Asher stomping on the corpse’s head rapidly. “Ash what the fuck?!” Jackie yelled, running over.

Asher didn’t look up at her, “Jackie listen, we couldn’t let this person suffer anymore or let it infect more people!” With one final stomp, the corpse stopped moving. Asher looked over at everybody with a stone cold look on his face, “Grab everything you need guys, we are going to start walking to the city.” He walked past them in a hurry and started to loot the car. Jackson was shocked and feeling hot at the same time. Rosa was just freaking out about the corpse while Jackie was worried. “Hurry up and get your stuff guys, we need to leave right now if we want to reach the city before dark!” Once everyone heard that they hurried to the car and grabbed their stuff from the car. They all got their stuff ready and Asher said “Ready or not guys, we need to move on.” He started to walk away and the others followed him in a hurry, the sun was already lowering down and the moon was now rising into the sky.