Death Is In The Air

The guards knew better, so they turned around to check, just to have their fears confirmed. An infected is chasing after them. The scouts went pale after seeing it. They seemed to know something. "It's the one from the car." someone whispered. With that, the scouts start sprinting like it's gym class and their crush is watching. Daniel follows suit without thinking once he notices that the head guard is running as well. They turned into an alleyway to try and shake off the infected. After making three more turns, they were convinced they would be safe if they just remained silent behind the dumpster. The universe had other ideas, though. They listened to the infected slowly approaching them, almost as if provoking them. Then the sound stopped. Everything got eerily quiet for a few seconds, which seemed like hours to Daniel. The silence was broken by a snap. In the next moment, a growl was heard. Daniel looks up and is horrified. The infected is above him, falling down. It lands on one of the scouts, whose face is that of a dead man. He was already holding on to his knife in his hands, prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. The other three got up on instinct to get away from the infected. As the infected was tearing into the scout's left arm, he cut its left Achilles' tendon. It didn't even flinch and just continued to tear pieces of flesh off. The head guard tried getting close to try and save the poor man, but the infected was aware of him and wouldn't let him approach. With his dying breath, the scout starts: "Please, run away. You must let everyone know. Don't let them take any more lives from the good people who are cowering in fear. I've cut one of his Achilles' tendons. That should slow him down. RUN!!" The three decided to honor his wish, even with the heavy burden of letting a man die. While running back to the outpost, Daniel couldn't stop thinking about everything he'd witnessed. The story about the group that got massacred, the part about the infected tearing each other to pieces, and the death of a man that happened right before his eyes were taking a toll on him. What if he's the one who dies next time? What would happen to Alex and Jean? They both lost their families very recently, so it would likely be hard on them if they were to lose him too. Nobody would be left to protect them. And then, they would also... His thoughts were interrupted by the head guard saying to slow down for a bit. He said to turn around with a worried look on his face. When they turned around, it was clear why he was worried. The infected was limping after them. He didn't seem to be catching up, but he was still approaching them at an alarming pace. They hurried along to get to take shelter at the outpost. Daniel could feel the pressure of death looming behind him.