THE INFECTED: PART 11 (Sort of)

***Hello!! I wanted to try and fit a silly prompt into the world of THE INFECTED. So, here's my attempt at that. Thank you for reading and enjoy!***

“Hey there” A tiny voice whispers from the darkness.

I jump to my feet startled, I pull my gun from my hip and point it into the dark doorway.

“Who’s there?” I ask.

“Yeah? What are you gonna do? Shoot me? Oh, please. I’m not even alive.” The tiny voice says in an almost joking tone.

“What?....What do you mean you’re not alive? Were you bit?” I ask, still holding my revolver to the dark corridor.

“Nope, those things don’t go after things like me…it would be a hell of a lot easier to explain that if you’d just come here and take a good look at me.”

I keep my gun raised as I slowly inch towards the room the voice-

“the voice is coming from. Yes, I can hear you narrating your every action. I can hear your thoughts. Because, well, I’m one of them.” The tiny voice whispers.

I make it into the room and see no one.

“It’s because I’m not a someone. I’m a something. Down here.” It says.

I look down and see a dirty blue tea kettle, it looks like it has a face.

“That’s because I do have a face, you should help me out and put me on that counter top over there. Then we could have an actual conversation, just you and me, well…I guess I’m technically you too, being a figment of your imagination and all.”

I pick up the tea kettle and put it onto the counter top just as it requested.

“What are you? How am I talking to you right now?” I ask as I rub my forehead.

“You’re not actually talking to me, because I’m not actually real, well you’re really talking to a tea kettle, but I’m not alive…which all of this is just a lot more difficult to explain than it seems. Basically, you’re hallucinating, you’ve been trapped in this trailer, alone, way too long. You’re starting to see and hear things, which, in this world, is probably the worst thing that can happen. With those things out there-“

“Lurkers. That’s what we call ‘em anyway. Kind of a stupid name.” I chuckle.

“Yeah, I agree, they do a lot more running and shuffling than lurking. Who came up with that dumb name?” The tea kettle asks.

“My friend, Sarah. I met her a long time ago when she let me into her community. The community got attacked by some psychopath with a tank while I was out on a run for supplies, at least that’s what I heard on the radio when Sasha reached out to me, that was all during the attack and now I’m lost because my head isn’t working like it used to, separated from all my friends. I haven’t seen another person in a long time, I’ve just been hiding in places I find and trying to get back to them. I don’t know how I got so turned around, but I guess the woods will do that to you. Especially when you’re trying to survive all the lurkers around….but you already know all of that, I don’t know why I’m telling you that.” I slide down the wall and sit on the floor.

“You’re processing through a lot of trauma you’ve been through recently. The last time you saw Sarah and your friends, that was two weeks ago. With the state that the community was in, maybe they didn’t survive.”

“They did, Sarah is strong. I bet she did something cool like put a bullet in that psychos head and then rebuilt the community. They probably have a search party out looking for me right now. I just haven’t crossed paths with them yet.” I rub my eyes.

“IF they survived, and that’s a big if…you need to get back to them. You’ve been surviving out here too long. You’re kind of losing-“

“My shit? Yeah…I’m talking to a tea kettle right now. I kind of put that together, thanks TK.” I chuckle.

“TK? You’ve named me!? Oh, man. You really are losing it. What is your story going to be when you make it back home? That you went completely bat shit crazy and befriended an old dirty tea kettle? How many other things are going to start talking to you during this journey?” TK chuckles too.

I lay my head back onto the wall.

“I really need to get out of here. I don’t like it outside of the walls, away from the community, away from people. Tomorrow, I’ll make a big push and get back home. I know it.” I sigh.

“You will, I know it. I know it, because you do. You should try to get some sleep, Luke. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow. Especially if you’re going to make it back home.”

I wake up on the floor where I was sitting. I rub my eyes and look up at the tea kettle on the counter top. There’s no face, it’s just a dented, dirty, blue kettle. I grab it and put it into my bag. I open the door of the trailer and am met with the blinding sun and heat. I start my journey through the woods for another day.

“This is it, TK, todays the day. Do you know why?” I await for a response, only to not hear anything from the bag. “Maybe you’re just tired. I smell smoke. Which means that I’m close to the community. The bad news about that, is if things are still on fire, then there is a good chance everyone is dead. They could still be around though, they could be trying to put the fires out.”

“Yeah, and you think they’ve been trying to put those fires out for two weeks?” TK shouts from the bag.

I smile. “Good morning sleepyhead. They could be, who knows? It could be a lot more damaged than we think, and they could be working on it.”

                                  THREE HOURS LATER…

I finally set foot onto a road. I’m surprised by it as I’ve been in dirt and grass for the last two weeks. I look down the road and see smoke in the sky.

“There it is! That’s home!” I smile as I start running towards it.

                                THIRTY MINUTES LATER…

The smile fades from my face as I see the gates of the community in shambles, lurkers covering what once was my home. Blood and bodies litter the ground. The hospital on fire. Homes destroyed. Then, right there, I see Rebecca’s body, headless and partially decomposed.

“Oh god…” I fall to my knees. Everyone is…gone.”

“Maybe they’re not…maybe the moved somewhere else? See if you can find a clue of where they went.” TK says from the bag.

“You’re right….let’s figure this out. Out of anybody, Sarah HAS to be alive.” I stand up and head into the smoldering community I once called home.