Days are Gone

The only good thing,

about the good old days,

is they’re gone.

- Dick Gregory

- - -

I exhaled through my nose and pulled the knife out of the man’s forehead. The growls stopped, and his body dropped on the wooden floor.

“Good night,”

Still can’t believe ‘it’ reached Washington in just a week after breaching the walls of Idaho...

It’s been a year since the pathogen appeared in New York. Nothing has changed, except for America’s decreasing population. Was it a virus that escaped a laboratory? Bioterrorism? Who knows?

I looked around and found a piece of paper placed on the top of a table.

There’s an unfinished dying message written on it. I then looked behind me and stared at the guy I just killed.

He must be the one who wrote this.

The disease ended his life and turned him into one of those walking corpses.

Just like what those old zombie ass movies encrypted on everyone and their great-great-grandparent’s brains.

Coming back from the dead? Give me a break. They should just lie down the streets and let the worms and weird organisms decompose their bodies.

I reached for the bag beside the paper and opened it.

There’s a 9mm pistol inside and six bullets in the side pocket. Not that much, but it’ll do. I loaded the pistol with bullets, pulled back the cocking handle, and turned the safety on.

“Rest in peace,” I said while gazing at the man’s body one last time before leaving the cabin.

“Got anything?” she asks as I walk out the door.

I tied my hair and ignored her question. We need to get out of here. The sun is about to set and this cabin is not a good place to rest. The chances of them finding us are pretty likely if we stay here.

“You’re... so cold, Cyra,” Isabelle uttered. I looked at her and she’s pulling the tip of my shirt.

I sighed. “Belle, we need to move before- ”

“No,” she interrupted. “Let’s go back, it’s been a week since we left them, I’m sure they already forgave us.”

“They will never... forgive us, Belle,” I replied. She stared at the ground and hugged me afterwards.

“They were mad at me. I didn’t mean to do that... so why?”

The current world we’re living in isn’t suitable for her anymore. She’s already seen a lot of screwed-up things at such a young age.

“It’s getting dark, let’s go.” I smiled. She wiped her tears and nodded as a response.

I placed my bag on the front and carried her on my back. She needs some rest since we’ve been walking for days, not to mention her badly injured left foot.

After minutes of walking, Belle got my attention with her fingers pointing at a unique rock formation. I can see a cave opening below an enormous tree.

Nature never ceases to amaze me.

Luckily, it’s empty, and there are no signs of animals living here. The inside is not that spacious, but two people can fit by the looks of it.

This will do.

I cut down some shrubs nearby with my trusty knife to act as a cover for the entrance. A perfect camouflage, especially tonight when it’s dark.

After arranging them, I went inside and saw Belle looking at me with her hands on top of her belly.

“Hungry?” I gave her a bag of chips and it brought a smile to her face. Such a precious kid.

“How about you?”

“Nah, I’m good, that’s all yours.”

Darkness began to envelop the entire forest, and moonlight had peeked through the shrubs I placed at the entrance. Bored, I glanced at Isabelle who’s sleeping beside me and brushed her hair.

“After what he did to Belle,” I clenched my fist as I looked at the dark skin on my right forearm. The nerves surrounding it already turned black. “and after what they did to me.”

Suddenly, rustling leaves and murmuring men caught my attention. I peeked at the entrance and saw a couple of flashing lights scanning the area.

I knew it, they’re still searching for us.

One of them pointed the light in my direction so I quickly stepped back while listening to the footsteps getting louder each second.

Then, one of them stood in front of the cave, taking his time peeing.

Looks like the camouflage worked since he didn’t notice the entrance.

I quickly grabbed a disposable syringe and one of the small glass vials I have inside my bag.

I stole only three of these from that place. Better save the remaining two for emergency purposes.

I inserted the needle into the rubber top of the bottle and filled the syringe with an unknown liquid.

“Well, goodbye months of my lifetime...”

With no hesitations, I injected it on my shoulder and pressed the plunger until it’s empty.

Crap, I can feel my shoulder going numb.

I looked back at the entrance and could see the shadow slowly moving away.

Their voices are fading, it looks like they’re about to leave.

“I’ll be back, Belle, this game of pursuit ends tonight.”

I crawled outside with a knife in my hand and the 9mm pistol I hid in my back pocket just in case things go south.

The last guy’s humming echoed in the woods. He’s not that far, and I can see him even with this darkness.

His buddies are far up ahead, scanning the bushes and trees with their flashlights. Meanwhile, he’s taking his sweet time walking and zipping his pants.

“Adios.”

I didn’t waste any second and ran straight at him. The sound of my boots touching the ground got his attention, but it’s too late for him to even react.

A single kick right at his body sent him flying towards a tree. He tried to get back up, but he’s now lying on the ground with a knife buried in his head. Such force it even pierced his skull with a single stab.

“One down.”

I looked in front of me and counted the number of flashlights. “Seven more to go.”

I pulled the knife out of the guy’s head and rushed towards the remaining seven without hesitation.

- - -

Six died in just a minute. The physical changes in my body did the job.

Only three of them had guns and started firing at me. But their aim was the worst, Belle’s a better shot than these grunts.

What a waste of ammunition.

“Get up,” I muttered, threatening the last guy alive who’s now lying on the ground after I punched his face.

I took the rifle from one of his comrade’s corpses and secretly removed the magazine.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” I said, pointing the gun at him.

Left without a choice, he stood up. But as soon as the moonlight struck my face, his knees weakened and fell to the ground once again.

“W-what are you...” he stuttered.

I can see his eyes trembling with fear after what he saw.

I’m not surprised.

“Tell him... thatwe’re not going back home. Oh wait, it was never a home... it was hell.”

I threw the rifle at him, and he looked at me with a confused expression.

“Take it, so you can survive on your way back to that place.”

But instead of running away, he pointed the gun at me and pulled the trigger, yet not a single bullet came out.

As expected from his people.

I then showed him the rifle’s magazine that I removed earlier. His eyes widened.

“Pathetic, you really think I’ll let you live, huh?”

“Traitor!” he threw the gun back at me and crawled away.

Annoyed, I strangled him from behind and broke his neck, thus ending his life.

“Insects.”

I glanced to my left after hearing growls of nearby infected.

Well, here comes our modern decomposers.

Quickly, I grabbed another rifle from the ground and scavenged every bullet I could find from the corpses. After that, I headed back to the cave and checked for Isabelle. But when I got there, the shrubs covering the entrance were lying on the ground, leaving the cave open to anyone who wishes to enter.

“Belle...”

My heart raced as I ran towards the entrance. I went inside, but the only thing left was the bag of chips with the syringe, and a glass vial I used earlier. Not a single trace of Isabelle or my bag was left.

Did they take her?!

I sat down to calm myself, but I suddenly started hyperventilating. In just split second, an unimaginable pain can be felt all over my body.

Crap, It’s kicking in...

I crawled, but my body refuses to. I then tried reaching my hands outside the entrance, but my eyes became misty and my vision blurred.

“Belle-” was the only word I could say as I slowly pass out.

- - -

The pathogen caught everyone off guard. With such unknown traits and deadly strain, the virus caused widespread panic, and every other state failed to control it.

Day after day, thousands of people died from the disease. And when we thought things can’t get any worse, the pathogen once again did something inhuman.

Breaking the laws of science, the corpses of people that were once infected with the virus came back to life with a thirst for warm human and animal flesh.

The fictional horror that was first introduced in the books and movies, came to reality.