Cloaked in Savagery - Chapter Two

Pangs of hunger mixed with the still growing pain in my shoulder, reminding me just how easy it was to get distracted; with every skill learned there were still so many mistakes that could bring reality into focus. A long sigh escaped from my mouth, I was lucky this mistake didn't come at too big of a cost, an injured arm was better than a bite. The temptress of a box thankfully still sat untainted by my skirmish. My left shoulder sent a fresh wave of agony through my nerves as I tried to move it, the entire arm felt like dead weight now.

"Crud cakes," I huffed as I stared at the box in front of me, my stomach growling despite the adrenaline that was pumping though me. 

Still holding tight to my machete, I managed to pin the top of the box under my elbow. My body protesting to the awkward amount of weight I was carrying, I made my way to the door; I didn't want to have to make a second trip back into the store.

"Karen can you come help me?" I shouted in the direction we had been parked.

The spot next to the tanks was empty, as desolate as when we first pulled up. The box dropped from under my arm as my head whipped around, my eyes scanning every spot in the lot - where was Karen? I ran around the entire property, scanning the surrounding woods for our truck but behind every tree was emptiness. Running towards the exit back onto the highway, my eyes landed on a brick in the middle of the street, under it a piece of paper stuck out.

My heart was pounding inside my chest as I ran over to the brick and picked up the note:

My fist clenched the note as a scream escaped my throat, all strength left my body making me fall onto my knees, my scream turning into a whimper. How could she just leave? The emptiness of the road and woods around me snapped into my perceptions, every chirp, breeze, and creak like a shotgun blast to my senses. I was alone. Deep down I knew being out here on the roads, with little food, and little in the ways of comfort distressed her - but at least we'd had each other - I thought that's what she had wanted. My eyes turned to look at the sky, it seemed to mock me with its ignorance, clouds rolling past in the direction Karen had likely driven away in. 

"We were supposed to have each others backs, Karen," The words slipped from my mouth.

I wondered how long she had been planning this, was it just today or weeks? Sitting there on my knees, I watched the road, minutes ticking past as the only movement was the clouds above, fading farther and farther into the distance. The pain in my shoulder began to swell, battling for attention over my emotions. Pulling off my backpack, I unzipped my jacket; gingerly pulling down the sleeve covering my dislocated shoulder. My heart hurt, but I knew my non-functioning arm was the more pressing matter. I breathed in slowly, forcing out the blur of emotions my mind wanted to feel; now that I was alone there was no time to feel upset, I had to stay focused on surviving.

"You can survive without her," I reassured myself, but the words floated through the air with no form to them, as much as I knew I could survive without her, there was now a weight to the emptiness of this world.

She had been my purpose for so long, despite my inability to forgive her, taking care of her during the months following my exile from Aloe Wood had kept me sane. The emotion on her face every time she looked at me had acted like a mirror, an expression of all that she felt for me, and all that I buried. What purpose did I have now?  My heart lacked any grand goals of starting my own colony, my mind lacked any serious knowledge on how to fix the world, and my stomach lacked the means to bring about the next generation of survivors. There was nothing in particular I had to do, no mission of transporting a cure or locating some lost loved one from the clutches of a horde. I had ultimate freedom, which I was aware didn't mean much when hungry teeth and itchy trigger fingers hid behind every corner. 

"The human race is a plague..." The words clicked off my tongue, my mind altering the sound to remind me of Karen's tone.

Why had she said that, was it just something floating through her mind or the reason she had given up on me. Despite those words, I didn't want to give up on humanity, or life itself. Pushing my thoughts of purpose away for a moment, I let my mind swim in emotion; feeling every ache as my heart pumped bitter blood through my arteries and venules, resisting the pull of it as the negativity stretched into the capillaries of my hands and toes - it made me want to sink into the earth - to stay in this spot and just wait. Focus, focus on the present, focus on getting back up. I would help and I would answer Karen's question, during the blur of everything that was happening I'd never taken the time to analyze if humanity was a plague, I was human, so it naturally felt like a crap answer to just say yes; despite the years of history, time stretching from the birth of civilization had certainly shown that we consumed just above how much we cared, but what of the world now. Maybe the literal plague could teach us to finally unite, the bitterness inside me begged to differ, but I wanted to answer her question. I could take it day by day and see what else this world held - good and bad - then I would decide. 

Giving the note a final glance, I let it fall out from between my fingers. Balancing my belongings and the machete in one hand, I walked back to the gas station, letting myself lean against a side wall. I tried to calm down my body, despite every inch of me feeling tender with anxiety. Arching my shoulders, I pressed my elbow to my side while I used my good arm to slowly begin rotating my injured arm outward. My face contorted as I heard my insides grinding against itself, lifting and rotating back towards myself and using the wall for support I felt the bone finally pop back into joint. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as my face relaxed. At least that pain was dealt with. I flexed my arm and moved it around, it definitely still hurt, but it was manageable. Satisfied with its returned flexibility and strength, I looked back at the note on the ground. A strong gust of wind swept it away and out of sight.

Ignoring the cold ache inside me, I said, "Goodbye, Karen."

Another gust of wind blew through the lot, amplifying my feeling of exposure. Wanting to feel some level of comfort, I slipped back into my jacket, the tightness of it on my skin giving me a small sense of security in this wide open space. My mind spun with what to do next, first things first I would satisfy my hunger. The dropped box of jerky caught my attention, ripping off the top of it, I helped myself to the first piece of Jerky I'd had in over eleven months. It tasted delicious - but I didn't enjoy it - I chewed as I paced around the front door of the store, the gears in my mind turning as I tried to figure out what I should do next. After opening a few more sticks of meat my stomach felt full. I tossed the empty wrappers into the store, and stuffed the remaining sticks of food into my deep side pocket.

"Okay, I can figure this out. I just need somewhere to sleep," My eyes darted to a small window on what looked to be a second story to the back of the store. "Jackpot..."

Determined to find somewhere safe to sleep besides the inside of the store, I made my way around the outside of the building, making sure to keep my eyes open for any hungry infected who might of heard my screams earlier. At the back of the store a paint cracked wooden door stood out from among the plastic walls, pulling on the knob I realized the lock was rusted shut. Letting out a growl of frustration, I shoved the end of my machete into the crack of the frame. After a few hard pushes the locks gave way and the door swung open. Stale air breezed past me from the small staircase. I tried to close the door behind me but the locks were completely broken now. Comforted by the fact that someone would still have to turn the knob to get inside, I climbed the stairs. At the top landing I was greeted by a small room, with an even smaller half bath next to it. The walls were bare except for two windows and the only furniture was a twin size bed and a wooden dresser with all of its drawers missing. 

"Thank you sweet God above! I don't know how many nights it's been since I've laid in a bed."

Smiling slightly, I tossed my pack and blade next to the bed, then opened the two windows; the fresh breeze pushing out the musky odor as it filled the room with the scent of pine and the slight aroma of gasoline from below. Walking to the bathroom, I looked at myself in the dusty mirror and saw that my eyes now had dark circles forming under them and that my cheeks were speckled with droplets of blood. Pulling off my jacket, I tossed it at the foot of the bed behind me.

Hope filled me as I looked at the sink, "Please work." I crossed my fingers as I turned the knob.

Beautiful clean water began to pour into the sink, I didn't waste a second to start washing my face and hands, then pulling out my bun I let my wet hands wash my hair in the sink basin. After thoroughly soaking my hair, I cupped my hands under the still flowing freshwater and gulped as much as I could bear. I fished the half-empty canteen out of my bag and filled it to the brim before turning off the water. Feeling refreshed, I walked back into the bedroom and laid down on the soft bed. The sun outside was starting to set, causing the dark shadows of trees to move across the floor. I was so tired now, the comfort of the bed had leached away all my remaining energy. I didn't care though, there was nothing left for me to do. I was somewhere secure, with enough food to last me a few days. Things were as good as they could get, all considering, but I missed Karen. I would have liked to see her overjoyed face when the sink worked, just something as simple as that. My eyelids fluttered open and closed. I pulled a small stiff blanket over me and nuzzled my damp hair.

"Things will be better in the morning," I said, forcing a smile onto my face. "Life goes on."

Through my deep sleep I could hear someone calling out to me, but I was too tired to listen. Then I felt something nudge my injured shoulder, making me bolt awake. My hand searched for the machete I'd left on the floor, but someone was blocking my way. My eyes were open, though the rooms inky blackness hid all detail from me, I couldn't see whoever was next to the bed.

My heart raced as I tried to see, "K-Karen, is that you?" I asked, my voice trembling.

I could hear soft breathing as I waited for a reply.

"No." A male voice responded.

Terrified that there was a stranger in the room, I jumped from the bed. My hands found the window with the help of moonlight and I tried to pull myself through; but the man's hands grasped me around my waist, I couldn't pull myself free.

I screamed and kicked, but he held on.

"Stop," he gasped, "Stop fighting me, I'm not going to hurt you!"

I stopped my screams but continued to thrash my body around in an attempt to get free.

"Let go!" I yelled and kicked my leg back, I felt it connect with his groin and he let out a yowl of pain, but still he held on.

"Fucking - Gah! It's a twenty foot drop right out that window you know!"

I paused in my thrashing and tried to figure out what side of the room I was on, everything below the window was darkness. I knew he was right, that one window opened directly over the parking lot. Seeing no way of knowing for sure, and not wanting to risk breaking my spine to find out, I stopped struggling.

After a few seconds of harsh breathing he let his arms ease from around my waist, not fully letting go.

"Get your arms off me," I growled.

"Promise you're not going to jump out the window?" he asked, his breathing still rushed.

I glared into the darkness, "I promise."

Slowly, he let go of my waist and I heard him take a few steps back. My heart was pounding in my chest, my senses felt alive with adrenaline.

"Relax, okay?" The man said.

I heard a click and the room was suddenly filled with a blinding light. My body tensed as my arms went up to defend me, until I realized it was just a flashlight.

Blinking hard to make the irritating white spots disappear, my vision finally cleared and my eyes focused on the stranger. The amplified light from the flashlight paled his brown skin and made the short curly hair covering his jaw and head leave odd shadows across his face. There were no weapons in sight on his green camouflage cargo pants and thick black sweater, though I wondered what he could be hiding in his pockets. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down, but he was just staring at me, his expression reading as awkward as he watched me wide eyed.

"The fuck are you looking at?" I asked, feeling as though I had dirt on my face or something.

He shifted his weight and tried to give what I assumed was his attempt at a friendly smile, but his lips were spread showing too much of his teeth, like he was out of practice with how to position his face.

"Um nothing, I was just trying to figure out how to apologize for freaking you out."

My lips tightened into a scowl, "Well, you can start by not staring at me like I'm covered in bees."

His eyebrows lifted from his dark eyes, "Huh?"

I sighed, "Never mind," Glancing down the staircase, I saw that he had closed the door behind him, "Haven't you heard of knocking?"He frowned at me, "Well it isn't something I've practiced in a long time. I called out before I came up the stairs. When I heard no reply I figured this place was empty."

"How'd you find this place to begin with?" I questioned.

"I heard screams, took me awhile to get here though. I've been traveling through the woods since there's less infected out there."

My eyebrows quirked up, "So you generally follow the sounds of screams?"

He straightened his back and crossed his arms over his chest, "It is generally the best way of finding people in need, but you don't exactly look like you're in need of much assistance. I saw the corpse downstairs."

A breath huffed its way out of my throat, but his excuse seemed solid enough. Trying to calm my still pounding heart, I said, "We got off to a bad start. I'm Violet, what's your name?"

"Alano. Nice to meet you, Violet! It's been a while since I've seen a friendly face," he said, this time with a less awkward smile.

"Same here."