“HERE SHIT BRAINS!” I heard Zach yell, the contaminated roaring back at him. I heard a shot fire and a loud grumbling roar erupt from the monster. I turned for a second to see a four inch hole showing through the contamianted’s knee gushing blood. It fell to one side, rocking the earth beneath it. “Daryl, I think I’ve got it!” I heard Zach yell as he approached the contaminated, gun raised.
“No, Zach!” I yelled back, but it was too late. The contaminated raised its hand and brought it down horizontally, swatting Zach across the pavement as if he was a ragdoll. He rolled over the pavement for about fifteen feet before coming to a stop, unmoving. After a second, he stirred and groggily stood up, holding his shoulder as the contaminated continued to howl in pain from the shotgun slug.
I decided to scold Zach later for his foolish action and hopped into Zach’s car, James in the passenger seat. “Hey, I know you’re sick, but you’ve got to hold on,” I said as I fastened his seatbelt by maneuvering the belt through his hunched body. I did the same to mine as I started the car.
“What’re you doing?” James said, a bloody hand coming from his mouth.
“Something stupid,” I looked over to see the huge contaminated beginning to get up. “Zach! Shoot him down, now!” I yelled out the window.
Zach readied the gun on his shoulder with a grimace. He took aim at the contaminated’s wrist that was pushing it off of the ground. I started the car and pulled it in reverse about one hundred quick feet. I heard the gunshot go off and a yell of excruciating pain as I saw Zach stumbling away from the contaminated while holding his shoulder.
The huge contaminated’s wrist was gushing crimson watery blood, creating a pool of red under it as it roared and fell to the ground, emitting a small earthquake with it. The beast was lying on its side, back fully exposed.
I took the moment and floored the gas pedal. The car screeched as rubber burned against asphalt, lurching us forward. The engine roared as the transmission tried to turn the gears with the rapid acceleration. I caught a quick glimpse of the speedometer at thirty-five miles per hour right before the impact. Seat belts tightened and airbags deployed, practically knocking me unconscious. Nearly all of the car’s windows were shattered and the hood was rippling upwards like a metallic wave. There was no roar, no hum of the engine, the world was quiet.
I tried to push my door open, but the siding was bent in from the impact. I kicked it once then once more before it squealed open, siding grinding against itself. Chelsea was over by Zach, making sure that he was okay as she reloaded her gun just in case more contaminated showed up. I waved, marking that I was okay as I made my way around to the other side of the car to help James out. My back was stiff and my neck hurt a bit but other than that, I was sure that I made it out alive without a problem.
He was still hunched over, a piece of bloody glass in his hand. I ripped the door open. This side was much easier as the impact had not been as bad. I unfastened his seat belt and pulled James out.
“You okay?” I asked. He nodded, wiping blood from his mouth and hands. “You might want to put that down. No need to survive a car wreck then cut yourself on glass. Don’t worry, we’ll be getting help from survivors at Kansas City soon enough,” I said, turning to see Chelsea smiling and waving with Zach propped up in her arms.
I smiled back, waving full on when Chelsea’s face turned dark, arms releasing Zach from her grip. I was just about to ask her what happened when a sharp pain erupted from the back of my neck, a pain of pressure and pulling. I wrenched my body away from the attack and turned around to see a smile of red. James was standing, slightly hunched over with his arms outstretched. He was smiling, the bloody smile of a red mouth, a Contaminated Resistance Unit, a CRU, a smile of the contaminated.
I raised my hand to the back of my neck, it returning with glistening blood in the afternoon sun. I returned my gaze to James, a look of confusion. I couldn’t speak. I was unable to ask why. My body was numb and void of any feeling. We were friends. I thought that we were friends. We trusted each other. He wanted to trust me. I trusted him.
He knew. He knew what I wanted to know, and he spoke, “You heard my story. I tried getting your sympathy. There just was no time yet it took me long enough to finally get to you. I needed you guys to get me to Kansas City, and now I’m practically there,” He let out a laugh of pure evil and hysteria, a high pitch shriek of glee. “You cannot stop it, the contamination. The military thinks that they can, but they are doing it all wrong. It isn’t to cleanse the world of the problem, merely adapt to it. Once everyone is all the same then there will be no more hardship. There will be no more trouble. There will only be contaminated, but we are, all of us, contaminated in a certain way. Wouldn’t you agree, Daryl Willows? The
