Survivor Prologue

Survivor



Jenny ran for her life down the old town high street of Ryde, a bloody screw driver gripped in her hand. Her breath was fast and desperate as she grew tired. Her mouth filled with phlegm as she ran, faster and faster trying to escape the pack of creatures that had once been normal people. There was a sick smell of gangrene that wafted with the sea breeze and she could hear the sound of her pursuers gaining on her, their harsh growls growing louder. She took a sudden turn into an alley that cut through into a car park filled with abandoned and broken down cars.



Suddenly as she turned a blind corner she ran into the face of a friend, Mr Walker who ran the bakery near her house. She suddenly felt relief which quickly shifted to fear as she noticed he was not himself, twitching and jerking towards her with an inhuman moan. He staggered forward with a snarl snatching Jenny’s arm making her drop her weapon, she yelled out loud and lashed out striking the creature. Blind in the struggle, Jenny didn’t notice her other pursuers approaching until they were upon her. She ducked and fell to her knees scrabbling around on all fours like a monkey. She found a way out of the grabbing and scratching hands seeing the screwdriver and she reached for it. As she did one of the creatures grabbed her hand and sunk its teeth into her arm. The pain seared through her body and she let out a piercing scream wrenching her arm clear ramming the weapon into the creature’s eye. It fell to the ground taking the weapon with it; Jenny had no time to get it back and turned, gripping her injury she ran up through the car park towards the front of a super market hoping to double back to her house.

She came to a small square in front of the super market and made for the route from the square that lead back to the high street and home. Jenny ran for it, but as she did three more strangers appeared to block her path all with slathering and frothing mouths and cold dead eyes. She stumbled back and turned to flee only to be cut off again by the other group; she panicked retreating into a small corner of the square, a dead end.



She slumped down trying to push herself back further as they closed in, sobbing and clutching her injury she tried to push back into the wall. Jenny felt struck with despair as the end approached. One of them broke forward but stopped in its tracks, twitched and stiffened before falling face first to the floor, a black bolt sticking out of its head. Moments later and two more lay still on the ground. Jenny caught a glimpse of her rescuer near the entrance of the super market. Dressed in black with a mask of cloth covering his face, the man moved swiftly. He carried a crossbow with a small quiver of bolts at his side. He moved in to engage the last of the creatures that turned their attention on the new blurry and fast moving target. As if lightning struck, a short straight edged sword came from the man’s back. He stabbed it methodically into the head of each of the creatures one by one until they all lay on the ground, truly dead. The wind blew gently across the bloody square and Jenny gazed fearfully at the stranger as he collected bolts from the dead bodies; he kneeled down at the last corpse and looked up. She stared into a pair of ice blue eyes; his brown scruffy hair drooped over his forehead. He was wearing some crude plastic armour which had been sprayed black. He studied her before removing his mask of black cloth, revealing the rest of his face. He was a young man in his twenties, his face was without expression.



“Are you okay?” He asked his voice calm and collected which only served to unnerve Jenny further. There was no sign of fatigue or fear coming from him after the encounter, he showed nothing.

She stared at him unable to reply through the fear; he rose and approached her cautiously. Jenny stayed perfectly still as he studied her; noticing how she clutched a bleeding arm.



“Let me see your arm.”

She shook her head glaring at him with wide eyes.



“It's okay, I will not hurt you. Let me see your arm.”

Jenny was reluctant but slowly held out her arm supporting it with her other hand, the wound already looked infected with blood still slowly pumping out, a rotten, broken tooth protruding from the edge of the bite.



“Can you help me?” Jenny stammered. “I’m trying to find my sister.”

He looked at her in silence for a moment as if he were digesting something in his mind but his face remained calm, hiding whatever he was feeling.



“Where are your parents?” He asked.



“On holiday in Spain, my sister was looking after me when the news stories began. She said she was going out to get some food and didn’t come back.” Jenny’s eyes welled up slightly as she began to worry but she blinked them away and wiped her face with her good arm before returning the man’s look.



“What is your name?”



“Jenny.” She replied.



“Hello Jenny, my name is Jack.” He continued, trying to calm Jenny’s mood and make her feel safe.

Suddenly Jenny's arm twitched and there was a burning pain which made her yell out loud. Jack moved in swiftly to check what was wrong. Within the wound the blood began to bubble and in moments it filled with maggots. Jenny screamed in panic and began shaking her arm scratching to get the maggots off.



“Get them off me!” Jenny screamed.



“Jenny, stay still!” Jack urged trying to help her.



“No, help me! It hurts!” She shouted back shaking harder.



“I'm sorry.” Jack said grimly as he stood up, bringing her to her feet.

Jenny found herself staring down the barrel of something but was unable to see what it was before there was a flash of light and she felt herself falling. It was cold suddenly, then warm. Jenny saw her sister. She wasn’t scared anymore.