I wake up with a gasp, huge coughs racking through my body as I struggle to breathe. I find myself once again on the cold, hard ground. There's dirt under my fingertips, dead leaves crunching underneath. A dull, gray light shines through the trees. Head spinning, I sit up with a groan.
Fleshy eating sounds jar my senses awake, and the overwhelming sensation of nausea floods my stomach. Meg's body lies next to me, her arm being chewed on by a zombie. I instinctively reach for my gun, but it's not there. Instead, I find it mysteriously laying next to me on the ground. Oh, those assholes gave me my gun back. How nice of them. How courteous of them.
"Get away from her," I grumble, teeth gritted as I shoot it point blank in the head. Blood splatters everywhere and it collapses on the ground, dead. Holstering my gun, I carefully lift Meg into my arms. Sniffling, I cry softly, letting the tears leak from my eyes. Holding her limp form in my arms, I carry her away.
"I'm so sorry, Meg. I let you down," I whisper softly. "I let you down..."
Her gentle brown eyes are wide with shock, glassy, staring up at nothing. Gore smears onto my shirt from the bite marks on her arm. Sobbing softly, I mutter useless apologies and empty promises. I wasn't man enough to keep her alive. I wasn't strong enough. I can't save anyone. How am I supposed to find Carol? How will I face her, knowing that I couldn't protect her mother? The whole point of this was to help Meg find her. And I failed. I'm a failure.
I enter a clearing and stop, right in the middle. Slowly, I set Meg down on the ground. Sniffling loudly, I wipe all my tears and snot on my coat sleeve. Breathing out, I get on my hands and knees. I slide her eyes closed with my fingers, straightening her bent neck.
Taking a deep breath, I roll up my sleeves. I shove my fingers deep into the earth, and start to dig.
POV: Doctor Keith Jacobs
The silence of my lab soothes me. The rage inside is quieter. But never gone. I hide it beneath my calm and collected facade. Smoking helps keep it at bay. But it never, ever goes away. I am always angry. Imperceptibly, insanely angry. It burns like frostbite in my veins. All these mortals. So arrogant and disgusting. Disrespectful. I hate them all. Their corruption is unspeakable. I'm glad that I am the one who gets to teach them a lesson. They wanted to murder each other? Well, I gave them a reason.
Breathing out, I stub out my cigarette in a nearby ashtray. Immediately I light another one, walking up to the glass chamber in front of me. The white smoke obscures what's on the inside, and the panel next to it glows a bright green. I press the blue button, and with a whoosh of air, the smoke inside clears, revealing the contents.
The first artificial human. Obedient only to me. My creation. With a hiss, the door pops open. His eyes open, revealing startling pink irises. This is my first model. I call him Cyrus. He's mild, quiet and the perfect spy. The passive model. He has a more aggressive counterpart, but I don't think I need to resort to that quite yet.
And if you're worried about the zombies attacking him? No need. His artificial components repel them, making him appear absolutely unappetizing. They won't touch him.
He steps out, stretching his arms and bending his neck. He takes a breath, running a hand through his dark brown hair. Briefly, Cyrus observes his arms and hands, staring down at his person.
"Welcome to life," I greet him. "Do you know who I am?"
Cyrus blinks, cocking his head to the side a moment before answering. "Yes. You are my master."
"Correct." I hand him the picture of Carol I took from Meg's body. "Find her."
Cyrus looks at it briefly before slipping it into the pocket of his blue jeans. "What do you want me to do once I find her?"
"Report to me immediately and I will give you further instructions. Her name is Carol."
"Understood." Without another word, Cyrus exits the lab.
I cannot allow her to leave this place. This is my world now. And I control everything. Including her.
POV: Carol
After getting thrown out of Brax, the three of us managed to get back to the old cabin we were at before Liam found us. Out of the three of us, Fabian was the worst off. His wounds were very extensive. I still can't believe that he survived the battle.
In the run down cabin, Fabian lies on the dirty cot, coughing and muttering to himself. I sit by his side, holding his hand. It feels cold and clammy. Neil sits in front of the door, keeping watch. The only light comes from the lit fire in the hearth, casting eerie shadows all over the walls.
I don't feel so great myself after what happened. My stomach churns uncomfortably, bile building in my throat. Releasing Fabian's hand, I run urgently to the nearest window. I wrench it open and stick my head out. A light, sickly green liquid spews out of my mouth, splattering all over the ground. My chest heaves, throat burning as the acidic taste floods my tongue.
A comforting hand rubs my back, another hand holding my hair away from my face. I groan weakly, my head dangling out the window. The putrid scent of vomit overwhelms my nose.
"It's gonna be okay, Carol," Neil mutters from beside me. "I'm right here with you."
A shudder crawls through my skin, as if my skin is actually moving. I don't know if it's just because of my imagination due to being sick, but I swear I feel my skin shift. Then, there's a surge of ravenous hunger and for several seconds all I can think about is meat. Delicious, tender, red raw meat. My stomach growls loudly as I slump my body back inside. Stars sparkle in the corners of my eyes before everything disappears around me.
Delirium floods my brain. I don't know where I am. I don't know who I am. Just that I am someone who exists, floating aimlessly through space. Something is wrong. If this were space, I'd see stars. But instead, it's only black. Pure and unfiltered darkness. Where am I? What's happening to me? Is this...death? A whimper chokes its way out of my throat. But I don't feel dead.
Just then, a light appears. There's an image, an image of a woman. Her hair is blonde, like mine and she's smiling at me. I recognize her immediately. It's my mom. I remember now. Crying, I reach for her, trying to walk to her so I can hug her. But I can't reach her. Even though she's right in front of me, she seems so far away. She just keeps smiling, her mouth moving as she speaks, but no words come out.
"Mommy..." I whimper, sniffling. "Mommy, I'm sorry...please come back."
But mom just keeps smiling, talking but not speaking. And then she starts to fade, the darkness returning.
"No, mom! Don't go mommy..." I start bawling, my throat aching. I miss my mom. I hope she's okay. I wish I could find her, I wish that I had never left her. Please mom, be okay. I promise I'll never leave you again...
"Carol! Carol, wake up. You're having a bad dream," Neil's voice snaps through the darkness and my eyes fill with light. His face appears before me and he gradually helps me sit up. My cheeks are wet and tears are still falling from my eyes. I practically throw myself on Neil, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him. I shove my face into the hollow of his throat and cry, still haunted by that image of my mom.
"Mommy..." I sniffle. "I want my mom..."
"I'm sure your mom is okay," Neil says soothingly, rubbing my back. "We'll find her."
"No, no..." I slowly shake my head, my face scrunching up horribly as I cry harder. "She's in the past..."
"We'll go back for her. For right now though, I need you to lay back and take this." Neil pushes me back gently and I slump back onto my haunches. He hands me two white pills and a bottle of water.
"What's this?" I stare at the two pills in the palm of my hand.
"Some medicine. It should help you feel better."
I toss them into my mouth and swallow them down with a huge mouthful of water. I chug down a few more gulps before handing the bottle back to Neil.
"Is Fabian okay?"
"He's fine. He recovered pretty quickly. I don't know what he had, but he's back to normal like nothing happened."
"Where is he?"
"Right here." Fabian walks out of an adjoining room, a ratty and dirty looking towel on his head. His hair is damp with water, droplets sticking to his forehead. "Are you feeling good enough to walk?"
"Um...I don't know, I guess." I rub my forehead, feeling perplexed. "How long was I asleep?"
"You've been out of it for three days. It's about time you woke up," Fabians says, slinging the towel to the floor.
"Three days?!" I exclaim. It feels like I just passed out yesterday, three whole days have passed?
"Yeah. You threw up out the window and then just passed out," Neil confirms. "I tried waking you up multiple times because you kept talking and mumbling in your sleep."
"Enough. She looks perfectly fine now. We need to leave." Fabian runs a frustrated hand through his hair.
"What's the rush?" I glare at him.
"That guy could be out here looking for us. We need to put as much distance between us and him as possible. It didn't take us long to drive there the first time. Only a few hours, two at the most. I counted," Fabian explains. "That's roughly one hundred miles."
"And go where? There's nowhere to go. Nothing is safe," Neil counters.
"I know. But we can't stay here. We need to keep moving until we find somewhere that is safe."
"What about my dad?" I look at Neil, remembering what he told me right before I came here.
His eyes widen. "I nearly forgot. Yes, your dad. We need to find him."
"Great, a goal. Can we leave now?"
Neil rolls his eyes. "Yes. We can leave."