Quiet Mountain/Chapter 2

This is chapter 2 of Quiet Mountain entitled: First Encounters

Chapter 2 – First Encounters
Harry sat up and taking in all the air he could. The last thing he remembered was those things attacking him. He was sitting in a bright red booth next to a window that would normally show passerby's but was now shrouded by dense fog.

“So you're finally awake.”

He jumped and looked to his left to see a girl. She was looked to be about nineteen or maybe even twenty.

“Where—w-what?” He said confused looking around at the room he was in.

Tables and booths were all around him as was the scent of food in the air. His eyes found a counter across the room that had screens of it with different food items listed on them.

“Where's my daughter?” he asked standing up.

That was a mistake. His head felt like someone had hammered nails into his head. He fell back into his seat clutching his head.

“Woah, woah, woah, take it easy.” The girl said moving over to sit by him. “You look like shit right now, so just rest.”

“My daughter...” He said through a clenched jaw.

“I don't know where your daughter is. I found you in here all by yourself.” Said reaching into her pocket and pulling out a pill bottle.

She opened it and shook out two tiny pills.

“What's that?” He asked.

“Aspirin. I get these headaches sometimes and they do wonders to relieve the pain. Here.” She said extending her hand out to him.

He hesitated. He didn't even know this girl let alone trust her. Considering how the outbreak had changed the world most people shouldn't be trusted now. But the pain was to much for him. He took the pills and popped them in his mouth.

“So how old is your daughter?” She asked after he swallowed the pills.

“She's eight months as of last week.”

“What happened to her?”

“We got into a car accident just outside of town. I woke up and she was gone. Found this in her seat.” He said handing her the note he found earlier.

“Come and find me?” She said reading the paper.

“You haven't seen anyone with a baby around?”

“Sorry, I haven't.”

Harry looked down at his feet. He had promised his wife that he would always protect Heather and now he had lost her. He had to find find her. He looked out the window again and saw nothing but fog. He thought about how she was somewhere out there with god only knew who. Then he remembered those things that were out there.

“Have you seen anyone else? Any infected, or...anything else?” He asked her.

“No, your the first person—alive or dead that I've seen since I got here.”

“So you haven't seen those...what ever they were?”

“Infected?”

“I'm not sure...they looked different. More twitchy. A group of them attacked me in an ally and I...woke up here I guess.”

“In an alley? That's weird. I came here looking for food and found you lying there.”

“Wait...you weren't the one who moved me? Then...”

Who was the one who moved him? The last thing he remembered was those what ever they were attacking him and...then waking up. He was pretty sure those things weren't the ones who saved him.

Was this all just a dream? Maybe he was lying unconscious in his car right now with Heather right beside him. No, he had to stop thinking like that. This was really happening. His daughter was really missing. This was no dream.

Eileen got up and walked to the door. She looked out the glass door and into the fog like she was expecting something to happen.

“Well, I hope you find your daughter.” She said opening the door.

“What are going to do?” He said standing.

“I'm gonna go try and find a way out of this place. Haven't you noticed how the streets here just...end? They like turn into this big chasm.” She said stepping out, but stopped. “Oh, maybe you should check the hospital for your daughter.”

“The hospital?”

“Yeah, here.” She said walking to him and handing him a map of the town. “See? It's just over by Kingdom Street. Maybe...i don't know, found her and brought her there.”

He looked down at the map and ran his eyes over the layout of the city. All and all, it seemed like a pretty average city. Except for the giant looming mountain that was located directly north of the town.

“Good luck.” She said walking out the door.

He watched as she disappeared into the dense fog ahead then looked back at the map. It dawned on him that he didn't have anything to protect himself with. There would probably be more of those odd infected along the way, and didn't want end up surrounded by those disturbing things. Not again.

Credits

 * Harry Pendleton
 * Eileen Dailey