Life Will Go On/Chapter 1

This is Chapter 1 of Life Will Go On.

Chapter 1
Chapter 1

 

                                                                  Two Months After The Lab Incident 

   

                            It was a sunny day in the suburbs. It was the middle of Summer, it was good that winter had gone by. The warmth was so much better compared to the brisk coldness of December.

A young man walked on the sidewalk, gun drawn and ready, scanning all of the outside of the houses. It was utter silence.

He moved towards the sunlight, his face showing. It was a young man in his early thirties.

The place seemed clear of bandits, but you had to always be careful. He swallowed hard and looked into the backyard of one small house, finding nothing but the overgrown grass. Wooden steps leaded up to a porch, the white paint peeling off of them after all of these years.

He got onto the porch and saw a table that looked as if it would be used for a picnic.

He opened the screen door after a struggle with it. It was rusty and old, and he was surprised that the glass hadn’t given way yet. He stepped inside the house, the floor creaked under his shoes.

He searched room after room, trying to find any sort of supplies. He found some toilet paper in the bathroom thrown around the room carelessly. He rolled it back up the best he could while pinching his nose at the terrible scent of the toilet that seemed to have some sort of blackish ooze in it.

He saw some shell casings on the floor, but they couldn’t be used anymore. His pistol only had one full clip anyway.

He walked into a master bedroom, coughing at the dust. He noticed a decaying corpse on the bed, a gun in its hand and a gunshot to the head. On the ground was another corpse. It looked as if it had been torn apart by the infected awhile ago.

He checked the drawers, finding a pair of old knitting needles and a dust scarf that was in the making. He took them just in case.

After that we walked back out of the house, walking back into the nearby woods. He walked towards a tent after about five minutes of walking, pushing through the trees and the slopes of mud. All of the snow was melted, and now it was nothing but ice, dripping in all sorts of places.

He reached the tent, seeing one other backpack on the ground. He saw a man that was a couple of years older sitting on a rock, looking up and giving him a small smile.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hey Lucas, find anything good?” The man on the rock asked. Lucas put his backpack on the ground and kneeled, pulling out the messy toilet paper and knitting needles.

<p class="MsoNormal">“At least it’s something.” Lucas said at the man’s frown. The man on the rock nodded, but Lucas talked again.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Vlad, we aren’t going to make it that long in this area. This is a hot spot for any sorts of people, especially bandits.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, I know…” Vlad answered, then he sighed.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So where’s Melanie?” Lucas asked curiously.

<p class="MsoNormal">“She’s sleeping, I let her sleep in this time.” Vlad said grinning and then looking at the tent.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well that’s good I guess.” Lucas replied, giving Vlad a small smile, and then he sighed too. He sat on the ground opposite from Vlad.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So how far are we from Westborough now?” Vlad asked. Lucas started to calculate the answer.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We’ve probably got maybe thirty or maybe even fifty miles to go.” Lucas replied. Vlad sighed again.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We barely made it through winter, Lucas. I don’t think me and Melanie would have made it without finding you in that shed.” Vlad said. Lucas just nodded.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We’ll make it…Hopefully.” Lucas said.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We’ve really got to keep our secret from any other people.” Vlad said. Lucas nodded.

<p class="MsoNormal">“If anybody else finds out that you’re cured somehow.” Lucas replied. He still wasn’t sure that Vlad had told the truth about that.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lucas, I’m telling you, it’s true. It happened right before we met you.” Vlad said, trying to make Lucas believe him almost desperately.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Mhm.” Lucas replied. Vlad sighed and scratched the back of his head.

<p class="MsoNormal">   Soon they heard shuffling from the inside of the tent. It was unzipped from the inside, and out came Melanie. Her hair was a mess, her clothes dirty as usual.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Morning, sunshine.” Vlad said grinning.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh, hush.” Melanie said, giving him a small smile. He could tell she wasn’t fully awake yet. She yawned and sat down next to Vlad on the rock.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So what’s going on?” She asked. Lucas and Vlad looked at each other as if to ask who would explain it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I was just telling Vlad how much longer it’ll take to get to Westborough.” Lucas replied.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh…I’m afraid to ask, but how much longer?” Melanie asked reluctantly.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Thirty to fifty miles…” Lucas answered in despair. Melanie let out a sigh.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We’ll get there though, don’t worry.” Vlad said immediately after reassuringly. He put his arm around her shoulder, and she responded by giving him a kiss on the cheek.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We should move away from this place though, like I was telling Vlad, it’s practically a goldmine for bandits.” Lucas said. Melanie agreed.

<p class="MsoNormal">Vlad and Lucas took the tent apart and sealed it back into a package. Melanie scooped up everything that they had obtained and separated them into the two backpacks. Vlad carried the tent package and one backpack while Lucas carried his pistol and another backpack. Melanie held everything else that couldn’t fit into the backpack.

<p class="MsoNormal">Every other day it was this same routine, collect things and move on again and again. They were getting sick and tired of it, but they were determined to get to Westborough, a safe zone that they had been notified about.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Do you think we’ll run into any other people around here?” Vlad asked, Lucas shook his head.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Nah, I would doubt it. It’s really more of an empty place, lots of people have located at safe points.” Lucas replied. Vlad sighed. To be honest it was getting dull with only the three of them.

<p class="MsoNormal">They walked for awhile like that, trying to make small talk with each other until they came to a dirty stream.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Damn it, it’s not clean to drink.” Vlad said, frowning.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, and we’re running low on water.” Melanie added.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Let’s just cross it, we’ll try to find somewhere else with water.” Lucas said.

<p class="MsoNormal">Vlad stepped and balanced on a rock in the stream, steadying himself slowly. He jumped to the other end of the stream successfully.

<p class="MsoNormal">As Melanie started to go, Vlad noticed the tall grass moving more than usual in front of him.

<p class="MsoNormal">He furthered his eyes more, trying to make out what was the cause of the movement. The moving seemed to stop for a second just as Melanie finished crossing after a long time due to her old peg leg.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What’s the matter?” Melanie asked. Vlad opened his mouth to speak, but then it happened.

<p class="MsoNormal">A man with a hairless head and big muscles popped with a glock pistol out of the grass. Vlad only saw his face for one second when he heard the gunshot coming from the man’s pistol. The gunshot rang out, causing a loud sound. Vlad realized that he was the one that was hit before he even felt the pain.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Vlad!” He heard Melanie shout, and then he heard Lucas coming from behind them and running towards the man who had shot.

<p class="MsoNormal">Vlad dropped the stuff he was carrying to the floor, and his body slumped down too. He felt the coldness of the ground. Blood was coming from the gunshot wound at the side of his abdomen as he blacked out.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">                                                                  Two Years Later 

<p class="MsoNormal">   

<p class="MsoNormal">                     The steady wind blew as the leaves flew through the air, falling onto the ground at points and crunching under some people’s feet. Logs were aligned in a very large circle, strapped together by chains and clad with barbed wire on the top. In the very middle was a big gray gate with two or three on patrol in front of it.

<p class="MsoNormal">In the center of the logs was a group of about thirty people, all going on about their business. Tents and stoves and camp fires were everywhere. Some children ran around playing while others walked around, making conversation.

<p class="MsoNormal">A bald man that looked to be about in his early fifty’s wiped the sweat off of his face. He wore a tank top despite the wind, as he was working hard anyway. A young teenage boy that was about sixteen was next to him, loading his weapon.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Damn, kid. How the hell are you still this bad at loading a weapon?” The bald man asked. The boy looked up at him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Rob, can you just sh-“ The boy replied, but stopped when Rob gave him an angry look. He went right back to trying to load his weapon.

<p class="MsoNormal">Rob sighed and shook his head, picking up a saw and adjusting it onto a large piece of flat but thick wood, starting to move it back and forth. Once he was done, he turned to the boy again.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Jimmy, give me a hand with this.” Rob said, and the boy nodded, taking that as an order. He helped lift the wood as they aligned it with one side of the logs, screwing it on after with their tools.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Good.” Rob said as he sighed again. Jimmy then went back to keep working on his weapon reloading. As soon as he did, a young boy that looked about twelve with longish hair and blue eyes stepped in front of him, a blonde looking women behind him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hey Jimmy.” The boy said, giving him a small smile.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hey Justin.” Jimmy nodded, and then he looked at the woman.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hello Marie.” He said, smiling at her. She nodded back at him returning the small smile.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Are we disturbing you or-“ Marie said, swishing her finger around.

<p class="MsoNormal">“No ma’am” Jimmy said, showing his white teeth. Marie smiled back at him.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">                 A man with short brown hair with a serious look on his face watched from the center of the camp. He studied how the logs were doing and everything like that.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hey Drew, how’re you doing?” A man asked from behind him. He turned his head to the speaker.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh, hey John.” Drew replied. John had a hairless head and big muscles, a glock pistol in his holster.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Is everything okay?” Drew asked curiously. John’s face turned serious then.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, the logs look to be…weird.” John said.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What do you mean?” Drew asked confused.

<p class="MsoNormal">“They don’t look as strong.” John said.

<p class="MsoNormal">“John, I promise everything is fine. You’re just being skeptical of them again.” Drew replied. John muttered to himself as he walked away. As he did, he bumped into a young man. When he saw the man’s face, he got even madder.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What the fuck out, Vlad.” John sneered at the man. Vlad looked at him angrily as he walked away to Drew. John muttered to himself again.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What’s his problem now?” Vlad asked when he came up to Drew.

<p class="MsoNormal">“He’s saying something about the logs again like he always does.” Drew said and sighed.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, and the fucker also shot me two years ago, so…” Vlad said shaking his head.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, at least your alive.” Drew replied. Vlad nodded.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, at least I am.” He replied.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">                 ''Vlad opened his eyes again was greeted by many people shuffling over him. He noticed that he was on a wooden table covered by a soft blanket. He then felt the pain evolving from his abdomen and shouted when it got worse. He started to breath heavily, making the pain worse with each breath.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''“Vlad, just calm down!” Melanie said as he saw her face above his. Her faced was stained from tears.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''Vlad saw the blood coming from his wound, and then he looked to his left. He saw the same man that had shot him only minutes ago. A man with a hairless head and a glock pistol. He saw Lucas shouting at the man. Then he blacked out again.''

<p class="MsoNormal"> 

<p class="MsoNormal">                 Melanie stood next to a woman about her age with very dark hair.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So how’s Vlad?” The woman asked.

<p class="MsoNormal">“He’s okay, I think.” Melanie replied, looking at Vlad and Drew talking.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So has anyone found out his…You know…Secret?” the woman asked slowly. Melanie rolled her eyes.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Violet, nobody else will every find out!” Melanie exclaimed. Violet sighed.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I really don’t see what the problem is. I mean, he’s cured, he could save us all…” Violet trailed off. Melanie shot her an angry looked and then shook her head, trying to forget about it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Vlad soon walked over to them with a smile.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hey babe.” He said, giving Melanie a kiss and then smiling at Violet. She smiled back.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hey Vlad, Lucas looks pretty lonely over there.” Melanie said as she gestured to Lucas sitting on a log to their left.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I’ll go talk to him.” Vlad replied. Melanie smiled and watched him go.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hey man.” Vlad said, sitting down next to Lucas. Lucas looked up at him slightly.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hey.” He replied softly.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You okay?” Vlad asked.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just still bugging me after these two years that we didn’t go to Westborough.” Lucas replied.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lucas, it’s safe here. We could lose people if we continue to try and reach there.” Vlad replied, trying to make a point.

<p class="MsoNormal">“It would probably be worth it though. They have electricity, warm beds, hot showers, and more people. They even sustain a powerful law there.” Lucas said sighing. Vlad sighed too. He was right, but deep down Vlad knew he had to protect Melanie no matter what. She was the only thing he lived for at this point.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">                 Justin chatted with Jimmy while Marie stood there watching them, until Justin looked up at her.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Mom…Um…” Justin said.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes honey?” Marie asked.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Could you like…Go away?” Justin replied, avoiding eye contact with her.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh…Um, okay…” Marie answered with a hurt look on her face. Jimmy watched her go.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Man, why do you always do that to her?” Jimmy asked.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Because…Because she’s a dumb bitch.” Justin said after a long pause. Jimmy was taken aback by this. He decided to not say anything, in fear of what Justin’s next reply would be.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">                 ''“Mom, if we go to another safe zone, it’ll just be blown up like every other one of them!” Justin yelled angrily at his mother. Rain flew hard down on them. It fell into the gutters making a heavy sound mixed in with the overgrown grass and dirt.''

<p class="MsoNormal">“I just want to get you to safety!” Marie shouted back.

<p class="MsoNormal">''“Mom, stop being so dumb!” Justin screamed. “Have you learned absolutely nothing from this world?!”''

<p class="MsoNormal">''Marie was shocked at this, her own son that hadn’t gotten to see the real world was telling her she didn’t know anything. “I…” She started, but she couldn’t think of what to say. Justin started to walk the other way again, shaking his head slowly as he looked down at his boots splashing in the puddles.''

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">                 Drew walked over to Rob, whom looked at him as he arrived.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Anything I could do, boss?” Rob asked. Drew chuckled.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I told you that you didn’t have to call me that.” Drew replied.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well you are the leader.” Rob said with a short laugh. Drew chuckled and then got to the point.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So how’re the logs doing?” He asked. Rob whipped some sweat off of his forehead before scanning the logs surrounding the camp.

<p class="MsoNormal">“To be honest, they seem pretty good. Sturdy as ever, absolutely no infected can get in.” Rob replied.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Good, we don’t want anything happening again like that last time a couple months ago. We lost some good people.” Drew said.

<p class="MsoNormal">“yeah, we did.” Rob said looking down at his feet. Drew smiled and then looked at Rob again.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You know, we could use some food for the next few weeks.” He said. Rob looked up at him again.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I could do that. I’ll bring the kid with me.” Rob said smiling and gesturing to Jimmy.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Good look.” Drew said as he walked away. As soon as he did, his expression completely changed when something crossed his mind. Something that had been haunting him ever since all of this had started.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">                 Drew stepped into the alleyway, where a man with dark skin and a shiny ring nose was waiting for him.

<p class="MsoNormal">''“You got the stuff?” The man said in a deep voice. Drew sighed''

<p class="MsoNormal">''“Of course I do, Tyrone. Like every single other time.” Drew answered, making it clear that he was annoyed.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''“Okay, good.” Tyrone answered. He licked his lips as Drew took out a bag of Heroin and a bag of Methamphetamine from his jacket pockets. Tyrone couldn’t help but smile at the sight, showing his dark yellow teeth.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''Tyrone took out a bag of six stacks of money out of his jacket pocket as Drew gave him the drugs. Tyrone handed him the bag of money. Tyrone looked at Drew one more time before stuffing the bags into his pocket and walking the opposite way.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''Drew walked stepped out of the alleyway after putting the money in his pocket. He walked home and sat down on a chair with a sigh. He looked around the room he was in. He was so lonely that it was almost scary. He took out the stacks of money and added them to his collection. He gave a slight smile. He loved getting the money, but he hated what he did to get it.''

<p class="MsoNormal"> 

<p class="MsoNormal">                 Drew shook his head, trying to get the memory out of his mind. He had to forget about those times, they were almost twenty years ago. He resumed his position, smiling at the people that passed by him.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">                 “Hey kid, I’m going hunting. Let’s go.” Rob ordered, interrupting Jimmy and Justin’s chatting. Jimmy looked at Justin and then followed Rob. The two were stopped when Vlad and Lucas came in front of them.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We’re coming.” Vlad said, and Rob just nodded. The gate opened as the four walked out into the woods.

<p class="MsoNormal">Each man had a hunting rifle, and they were looking for any live animal that they could shoot.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Everything is probably farther away from camp.” Lucas said after some silence.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, I would think so.” Rob replied. He looked ahead, trying to find if anything was there.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We’ve got an infected.” Vlad said as an infected pulled itself slowly across the floor. It’s legs and half of its torso was missing, the guts hung out like spaghetti noodles dragging on the ground. Lucas started to stomp it’s head in until there was chunks of brain on the bottom of his shoe.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Now that’s the way to be brutal.” Rob said chuckling. Lucas gave a small smile, something that he didn’t do very often.

<p class="MsoNormal">They came to two more infected as they walked some more. Rob took out a knife from his belt and stabbed the first one in the head. The second one walked on all fours, but it was slow. Vlad bashed it’s head in with the butt of his rifle, smirking after he was done. That’s what a memory was triggered, something that he had wanted to forget about but couldn’t seem to.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">                 ''Mick took out his knife and gripped his revolver in the right hand. When Mick was ready, he signaled for Vlad to go and then followed, running as quick as he could. He kicked one in the abdomen and then as it bent down he stabbed it in the head as it let out its final, pathetic breath.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''   He then proceeded to the second one that seemed like he had just realized what was going on. Mick hit the infected in the face with his gun as some blood flew to the side of its face. As it feel to the ground, Mick took his gun and bashed it skull in with the butt of his revolver, grunting with each hit he gave it. He kept doing this until its face was just a pile of disgusting brains and blood.''

<p class="MsoNormal"> 

<p class="MsoNormal">                 Vlad shook his head in an attempt to get the memory out of his head. Him watching Mick bashing that one infected’s headthat one time must have triggered the memory or something.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hey, you okay?” Lucas asked, looking at him curiously. Vlad swallowed before answering.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh, y-yeah, I’m fine.” Vlad replied. He continued to follow them, trying to forget about what had happened.

<p class="MsoNormal">They continued walking, killing any infected that got in their way. Eventually Lucas spotted something, silencing the others.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Shh, guys, look.” He whispered quietly, pointing at a deer that was eating some grass.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I can’t believe that those things aren’t extinct yet.” Rob said as he looked at the deer closely.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, we haven’t seen one in months. We need to take the chance now.” Vlad replied. Jimmy smiled as Rob guided him with the rifle.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Don’t fuck this up kid.” Rob said afterwards. Jimmy ignored him and put his crosshairs on the deer, taking a deep breath and steadying himself. He started to push down on the trigger, but then he stopped. An infected on all fours came flying out of nowhere, jumping onto the deer before it could react. It started to rip open its stomach and pull out the intestines with its claws.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Fuck!” Rob yelled as he shot up from his crouching position, shooting three times with his pistol. The bullets sprinkled around the infected as it realized what was going on. It turned its head to the four, it’s eyes white and misty. It darted at them, ready to fill it’s stomach. Lucas acted quickly shooting his rifle at it. It hit it in the chest, knocking it on its back.

<p class="MsoNormal">It started to get up again, ready for some more. Vlad ran towards it, pushing his put down on its chest and pointing bashing it’s head with the butt of his rifle.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Phew.” Jimmy said, taking a deep breath as Rob looked at him angrily, and then scoffing.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Fucking damn it!” Rob yelled out again. Lucas shook his head sadly as he stared at the deer on the ground, it’s intestines spilled all around it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Let’s just…Head back.” Vlad said after a deep breath. Rob let out a curse a final time before following the others.

<p class="MsoNormal">Vlad looked back at the dead deer, and then continued to walk. When they arrived back at the camp, Drew ran up to them. “Any luck?” He asked hopefully. Lucas sighed and shook his head silently, throwing his rifle on a wooden table and walking over to a rock to sit on. Jimmy returned to Justin while Rob watched him go.

<p class="MsoNormal">Vlad looked at Drew and sighed. Drew was shaking his head with a disappointed expression on his face. Then Vlad turned his head to see Melanie sitting with Violet. He remembered then that Violet had found out about his secret. That made four people knowing. Vlad, Melanie, Lucas, and now Violet, and Vlad felt despair at this fact. He couldn’t hide it for much longer, he wasn’t planning on living much further anyway.

<p class="MsoNormal">Then he saw Melanie’s smile, and he forced a smile back. That was the reason that he needed to live, that he wanted to live.

<p class="MsoNormal">Only for her.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">End of Chapter 1

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