The Journey: Chapter 1

Chapter 1




My friend Tommy and I were walking along the backroads heading back to his house after a day of fishing. We have been friends since we were kids in the first grade and have been inseparable since then. Hell, the first set of breasts I saw were his moms when she was changing on a camping trip when we were kids. You have to love those kind of memories.

"Man, did you see the rack on Tiffany last night?", Tommy asked.
"Yeah, that was great when Bob threw that cup of water on her and you could see right through her shirt. But her dad was pissed though" I said.
"Well, that's the kind of reaction you get though when you consider her dad's a minister."
"I wasn't minding though, I can tell you that much."
"Neither was I, man, neither was I."
"I just couldn't believe that they caught her later screwing John behind the shrubs. Her dad's probably gonna be sending her away for a while."
"Yeah, I just wish it was me who got to hook up with her thought."
"Me, too."
"Ha ha ha!".

As they continue to walk, the wind started picking up a little. Nothing out the usual, but there is a strange feeling that seems to be filling the air.

"Hey, who's that?"
"Who?"
"That guy down the road there, he looks hurt."

About five hundred feet down the road, a man was walking toward us. He was walking slow and dragging a bit, almost as though he was drunk. As he got closer, we noticed that he was in pretty bad shape. Covered in blood, pretty much, from head to toe and mumbling something, but we couldn't quite make out what it was. He looked a hell of a lot like he was attacked by a wild animal, though there really aren't any wild animals around here capable of making that kind of mess on a person.

"Hey man, are you... are you ok?", Tommy shouted to him.
"Maybe we should stay away from him man, he could be crazy. Maybe that's not his blood", I tried to reason with him.
"No man, if this guy needs help, we should help him."

Tommy started towards him.

"Come on man, get back here!" I said.
"Hey mister, are you alright?", Tommy Asked him.

As Tommy got closer to him, the man mumblings got louder and louder. He reached out his arms and grabbed onto Tommy. He started screaming for me to help and I rushed to his aid as fast as I could. But it was too late to stop the man from doing his damage. He pulled Tommy closer and started biting into him. His hands, at first, and then went straight for his neck. Luckily enough he just barely nipped his neck and I pulled my friend away. As we were turning to run away, I looked right into the mans eyes. They were fiery red, unlike anything I have ever seen on a human being before. They were hungry looking, and evil.

"Come on man, we have to move.... faster!" I yelled to him.
"I'm trying man, fuck this burns", Tommy said.
"I know but we can't let him catch up."

Tommy's house was only about a quarter mile up the road and to our advantage that man moved really slow. We finally got to his house and locked all the doors and windows and I kept a close watch outside through the glass while Tommy attempted to clean himself off. By that point he was bleeding pretty bad. His skin had already started to turn black around the bitten areas.

"Jesus man, this really fuckin' hurts." he said.
"I'm sure it does, just clean it out as best as you can. I'm going to call for help." I told him.

I tried for about 20 minutes to try to get through to the emergency center, but no damn luck. By then Tommy wasn't even talking anymore. He was just laying on the sofa staring blankly up at the ceiling. Now he was humming to himself. Not like a musical hum but a painful one. But still just staring.

"Jason! I think I hear someone up on the porch!" he shouted to me.

I went to check, but the porch was empty. I didn't even hear birds chirping, which is unusual, because by this time of day they were singing their hearts out. But nothing, just silent.

"Jason!" he shouted again.

I turned back to him. By now his breathing had slowed down considerably. I just kept assuring him that help will be on it's way and to just try to stay calm.

"Jason, there's something wrong here", he said, in an almost muffled out, raspy voice,"my whole body feels like it's burning up inside."
"Don't worry man, you'll be fine. Just relax."

I went to start searching the house, hoping to find some supplies. I found a .22 rifle upstairs and a box of shells. If anymore of those things start coming here, I'm blowing them away. But what if, I thought, Tommy turned into one of those? I don't know if I'd have the ability to shoot him. But I know in my heart if it boils down to it, I will. Then I started to think about my family. I hope they're ok. I tried to call but the line was busy. Maybe that man was just an isolated deal. But I still didn't
want to take any chances in assuming that. I had to get home to make sure they are ok.

Gun in hand, I made my way downstairs, but it was quiet. No more pained moaning. I went to my friends side and he was still staring blankly at the ceiling. Only this time, he was dead.

"Oh shit", I thought to myself.

I covered up his head and I walked into the kitchen. I have to collect my thoughts. What in the hell is happening? What is causing this? Then I heard commotion in the next room, like banging. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm not taking any chances. I walk into the living and almost start freaking when I saw Tommy, who I'm sure is dead, standing next to the sofa, staring at me.

He started to move, as if he was going to come at me. I don't know if it was a moment of crazy or what, but I raised the rifle and aimed.

"Tommy, you had better say something or I am going to shoot."

He started coming at me, but now his eyes are as fiery red as the man we saw on the road.

"Tommy! I'm sorry man."

I muster up as much inner strength as I can, take aim once again and shoot my friend right through the head. One clean shot. He stumbled over the coffee table and fell face down on the floor. I couldn't believe what I had just done. I can only hope god can forgive me for that.

That's it. I have to get out of here. I have to get home and make sure my family is alright and we can hole up in our basement til this whole thing blew over. I grabbed the gun and I was ready to go. I headed out on the porch.

"Oh fuck!"

A few more of them were heading down the road. I ducked back into the house as fast as I could and locked the door. I can't believe this. There is more than one. Is the whole town like this now? I decided that my only choice is to stay here for now. At least until the roads clear. But I have to do something with Tommy.

I waited until they were out of sight and as quietly as possible dragged Tommy's body to the porch. I don't think anything saw me. I hope not anyway.

"Where is Tommy's family?" I thought to myself. Surely they would be home soon. That is, if none of those "people" got to them. I figured if I am stuck here for now, I may as well gather up some more supplies. I found a CB upstairs that I am going to try to get to work. Hopefully, Dad has his on too.

Of course, the damn thing doesn't work. I took a while trying to remember what all I had seen my dad do to get these things to work. He's a whiz when it comes to electronic stuff. I wish I had paid more attention to what he is doing when he was fixing that stuff. But I think I can remember the basics.

After messing with it for a few hours, it finally came on. I kept maydaying for help and trying to find out which signal my families on but it was to no avail. Maybe they just hadn't turned it on yet. Maybe the infection hasn't spread that far over yet. My house is about ten miles away. "Yeah, yeah, maybe" I keep telling myself. I don't know if it was for my own personal sanity or whatever, but the
thought that the infection hadn't spread that far made me feel a little bit better.

I thought about trying to hot wire the old car in Tommy's garage, so that I can fight my way through that way. But what if there is alot more of them and that might cause to much attaction to the car and I could get ambushed. One on one I could fight them, but more than that surely meant trouble. Then the thought crossed my mind of taking a raft down the creek, but that would still land me about 2 miles from my house and that would take me to the heart of the city. I wouldn't even want to think about having to fight my way through a city of those things. The only option it seemed would be to take the woods. Just hike quietly through the woods.

I know that whatever decision I make, I has to make it quick, but my journey would have to wait until tomorrow. It is already nine o'clock at night and that would be way to risky to try to fight my way through the woods this late at night. Especially not knowing how many of those things might be wandering through there.

I just hope I can get some sleep. All the events of today seem to point in the opposite direction of that...