The Infected Part Three

                        ONE WEEK LATER…

               Where I come from, it’s made me prepared for the ass kicking that the apocalypse brings with it. I wake up from the same nightmare every single day, my Father, he killed my mother right in front of me in a drunken rage because she didn’t have supper on the table in a timely manner. He noticed I saw him do it, so naturally he went after me. Beat me red for years and years. He never saw the inside of a prison cell, never got the death sentence. He walked, clean and free. Flash forward thirty years when I was able to take justice into my hands. The beginning of the apocalypse. Nuclear warfare. I didn’t know I was going to survive that so the very first thing I did, was rush over to my fathers place. I looked him in the face for the first time in fifteen years, his final words were, “My boy…” before I shot him dead. Justice.

               I assumed we were all going to die when the nukes hit, nope. Then the asteroid hit, STILL. DIDN’T. DIE. People going to wars over food, water and basic needs for survival. My father was my first kill but it didn’t end there. I’ve killed more people than I care to admit. The world I’m living in now has changed me to feel absolutely nothing when it comes to taking a life. I was wanting to die in the beginning because I didn’t want to face the harsh truth that came with shooting my father dead. I’ve been given a chance to live, to learn, and to help. I’ve helped build this community from the ground up, sure, my partner definitely did most of the heavy lifting however.   

Things seem to be looking up for Hope’s Reach. Everything is going according to plan, we’ve set Clive up with more seeds than he could have ever asked for. He got his potatoes. We’re on track to harvest the crops right before winter hits. As for me, I’ve taken the liberty of going on scouting missions, not for food, not for water, we’ve got that covered now, but to watch. I’ve been watching the other communities that have sprung up all around us. We’ve gotten several small groups of people thrown at our gates in an attempt to take what we have. Other communities, other, living, breathing, people. We’ve attempted to negotiate a merger of our communities, none of them went for it. As always, humans just want to take and have all the power and control for themselves.

Here in Hope’s Reach, we believe in allowing our people to live up to their potential, to find themselves and what they’re good at. This is the end of the world and we need each other more than ever. I wish that these other communities allowed us to help them, to join us. We’re all humans, living, breathing, humans. We have the potential to rebuild the world. To start over, but, as people are people after all, they just take, take, take and take until there’s nothing left. There’s nothing to be done about the waging wars of these communities, but if it’s a war that they want, it’s a war they’re going to get. I’m no stranger to conflict, no stranger to taking human lives, I do what I must to protect my people, plus, there’s one person I want to make sure lives to see the world rebuilt. One person that I can truly rely on.

               TWO WEEKS LATER

“Hey, how’s she doing?” I ask.

“She’s doing fine, Michael. She’s stable for the first time in the last two weeks. Which is really good, no sign of infection left in her body, she’s not burning up-“

“Did she-“

“No, Michael, she hasn’t woken up yet, I told you that we would let you know when she does.” The nurse smiles and taps my shoulder before walking away.

I walk up to the makeshift hospital bed.

“Hey little lady..” I mutter. “I can’t wait to see you back on your feet. People all over are asking about you, wanting to know if you’re okay.” I look at her stump where her arm used to be attached. “I’m really glad that worked Sarah. Now I just need you to wake up. We need you out here, the other communities are getting real aggressive.” I sigh and pat her on the leg. “Hey, you remember when I first met you, you didn’t even know what a lurker was. I never said that I was sorry, that your friend turned. That’s a terrible way to find out the next phase of this damn apocalypse. Look, get better little lady, I’ll check on you again, same time tomorrow.”

                               THE FOLLOWING NIGHT…

BANG BANG BANG. Is someone knocking on the gate? I throw myself out of bed, slip on my shoes and grab my gun. I exit my tent.

“WHERE IS SHE?” A voice tears through the community. “WHERE IS SARAH?”

BANG BANG BANG BANG on the gate once more.

“We can HANDLE this the EASY way or the HARD way! I’M NOT AFRAID TO RIP THIS GOD DAMN GATE OF THE HINGES!”

“Who is that?” I ask Antonio who is next to me.

“I don’t know, he pulled up about twenty minutes ago, he just sat there until he did this. I don’t know what he wants with Sarah, she’s been in a coma since the incident at the bunker, she couldn’t have done anything to him. Right?” Antonio says.

“YOU GOT TILL THE COUNT OF FIVE TO OPEN THIS GATE AND TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!” The mystery man shouts.

“Well, that’s not good. Cause we’re definitely not telling him anything. Right Michael?” Antonio asks.

“That’s right. Looks like we’re going to war-“

FUUSHUUUUUU…..POP! A flare opens up directly above our home. The ominous orange glow radiates across Hope’s Reach. Everyone seems to be waking up and coming out of their homes. I scan everyone. There I notice Sarah, standing there in the doorway of our hospital with the nurse.

“Sarah? Holy….” I start to head over to her then…

               BOOM the gate falls down. Behind it was a man, behind the man was a giant tank, behind the tank was an entire military unit.

“Holy shit…GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE!” I shout. “WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH SARAH HUH?”

“You! You know where she is? I just wanna talk to her.” The mystery man pulls a pistol off his hip.

“Somehow I very much doubt that. What did she-“

“I’m Sarah.” Sarah says.

“You? You're the woman who killed my man and took my shit?” The man spits. “You don’t look so tough.”

“I get that a lot.” Sarah says with a smirk. “So, he wasn’t lying, he’s part of a community, well, WAS part of a community. So what? You’re gonna kill me, take our stuff, then what? What’s your plan after all is said and done, huh? You’re gonna rebuild the world in your own image? Yeah.” Sarah scoffs. “I’m not willing to let the world suffer that way. We’ve built too much, sacrificed too many, to see the world go to even more shit because of people like you.” Sarah looks to a young girl in the crowd of soldiers. “What about you? Is this how you want the world to be? Taking orders to kill innocent people from someone like…HIM?”

The man stands in front of the girl.

“She’s made her decision, they all have. I’m their leader, I’m the one they answer to. Look, Sarah? You’ve got guts, I like that. Why don’t you join me? Let’s take everything. Control everything. What do you say?”

Sarah pulls a pistol out and opens fire on the man, it leads to sprays of gun fire through the night. I duck behind a barrel. Flashes. Screams. I lost her, I don’t know where she went. I peek up just in time to see the tank, BOOOOOOM, a shell flies from the barrel of the tank and slams into the hospital. The explosion wipes out the entire hospital and half the building next to it.

“Oh god…” I pick up my walkie. “Antonio you come in?”

“Michael!”

“Where’s Sarah? You got eyes on her?”

“Hey Michael, its me Sarah. I’m with Antonio, we’re fine.”

“Sarah, what the hell were you thinking? He’s got a tank and a lot more fire power than we do, this was suicide to go to war with this maniac.”

“I know, but we’re going to win, I know it, I see it. We just need to take him out, once we do that, his lackeys will fall in line. Once we explain our goal, our endgame, our plans to rebuild the world, they’ll come around. I promise. Now, let’s do this. Sarah out.”