Hybrids: A New Species

Cole’s scream echoes through the small house. He’s on the floor squirming, clenching his chest, and breathing heavily.

“Come on Cole! Fight it!” Ben yells to him.

It’s been about an hour since Ben gave his blood to Cole to cure him. He is shocked on how much Cole has endured. Being in this extraordinary pain for this long is inhuman, and yet, Cole is still alive. Fortunately for Ben, his transformation only lasted a few minutes, however, Cole has gone for much longer. He continues screaming in agony, as his body feels like it is on fire; every cell in his body is being altered from the cure. It’s fighting the virus that is trying to kill the cells in Cole. Even though the cure will win this battle, it is up to Cole to fight the pain that it causes. Ben wishes he could help, but there is nothing he can do at this time. The only thing he can do now is watch. This is Cole’s fight, and if he wishes to live, he must battle back. Cole’s eyes are closed as he tries not to focus on the agony, but he cannot help but to continue yelling from the pain. His eyes open wide, the hazel color begins to alter. The color of his hazel eyes starts turning yellow and his pupils become thin. The cure is working. Ben sees this and continues to urge Cole to fight back. Cole lets out one final scream of pain and then stops. Eyes closed and gasping for air, he tries to catch a breath. Then he stops and lays there still. Ben stares at Cole’s limp body.

“Cole?” he says with a soft voice.

Cole isn’t moving. Ben instantly runs to the young man.

“Cole! Dammit kid wake up!” Ben yells at him, shaking his body.

Cole’s body suddenly springs up; his eyes shoot open and he gasps. It scares Ben. Cole’s eyes are the altered yellow ones when he opens them, but then they begin transitioning back to their normal hazel color. Ben witnesses this and is amazed. He can see why Cole was so astounded earlier when he had them. Cole’s eyes close and he now stops struggling. His breathing his rugged, but he’s alive. Ben shakes Cole to wake up, but it’s not working. The hour of agonizing pain tired out the young man.

Ben smiles, “As long as you’re still alive, we have a chance of curing people.”

Ben sighs a breath of relief. He picks Cole up from the floor. The skinny man is light in Ben’s arms. He walks down the small hallway from the living room of the house. There’s a door across the room Rick is in. Ben opens the door, revealing another room. This one is trashed, like the other room Rick’s dead body lies in. Ben walks to a bed across the room and lays him on there. There are clothes and trash on the carpet floor and dusty green bed. Cole rolls to his side, he is finally resting but he’s still having a hard time breathing. Ben sits on the bed with Cole.

“You did it Cole. I knew you were a tough kid.” he tells him.

Cole doesn’t say anything, he’s sleeping. Ben stands from the bed and walks to the boarded window to the left of it. He peers through the opening of the boarded window. It’s the middle of the night, possibly close to morning now. Still looking out the night sky, stargazing, Ben continues to talk,

“Not sure what I’d do if you died on me.”

Ben looks at his bandaged hand and thinks.

“Everything that has happened since I lost my wife and daughter has been difficult. These last few days, I’ve been hoping all of this was just some kind of dream. I just wish my family was still with me. But…” Ben steps back from the window, fighting back his tears. “If they didn’t perish, none of this would be happening. This cure is a hope for humanity. Were they meant to die?”

Ben paces back and forth, scratching his head and thinking about his own question. Nobody can answer because tragedies like these are difficult to answer. Did a series of events cause it? Or was it just a coincidence? Ben stops pacing and looks to the ground.

“Is this too dangerous? This cure? Rick died from it, but yet, me and you survived it.” He says.

Ben begins thinking of his family. The shattered fragments of what he once had is still fresh.

“The cure works, however, at what cost? The pain is too much for any person to handle.” Ben speaks. “I couldn’t imagine putting my daughter through this. Or my wife.”

Sunlight begins shining through the open cracks of the boarded window. The morning sun brightens up the room. Ben sighs, tired of talking to himself.

Cole coughs, interrupting Ben’s thoughts. He goes to check on Cole, feeling his head for a fever. His eyes slowly open.

“Where am I?” Cole mutters.

Ben is relieved to see him finally awake.

“You’re still at the same place you were.” Ben answers.

Cole closes his eyes and tries to think. “What happen to me?”

“I gave you the cure. You were bit.” Ben says.

He digs into his pocket and retrieves a pair of squared glasses.

“Here.” Ben says giving them to Cole.

Cole sits up from the bed, rubs his eyes and takes them.

“Thank you, Ben, I appre-” Cole stops. His vision is blurred.

“Ben, these aren’t my glasses.” Cole says as he takes them off, giving them back.

“What? They are your glasses. They fell off.” Ben says.

Cole rubs his eyes, ready to argue back to Ben until suddenly, everything becomes clear. His eyes open wide, looking around the faintly lighted room. Cole can see clearly.

“Give them back.” He urges Ben.

Ben hands back the squared glasses. Cole puts them back on and is astonish. Everything is blurry. He takes them on and off, comparing his blurred vision to the cleared one.

“What’s wrong?” Ben asks.

Cole lays his glasses on his lap.

“You said you gave me the cure?” Cole asks, looking at his hands with his new vision.

“I did. How are you feeling?”

Cole smiles, “Amazing. I feel stronger and I can see.”

Cole begins getting out of bed until a sharp pain strikes his body, stopping him from standing up. Cole grabs the side of his body, flinching from the sting.

“Woah are you okay?” Ben says grabbing Cole’s shoulder to stop him from falling over.

Cole lays down. “My body feels numb. Like someone just beat me up.”

“You were fighting back the cure for a while. It felt like hours.” Ben tells him.

Cole begins to remember last night. One of the Fallen that was still alive under the truck bit him. Ben immediately gave him his blood to cure him afterwards.

“That was a terrible experience.” Cole says, staring at the ceiling.

“But you survived it.” Ben adds.

“Ya, I did.” Cole sighs. “I just need to rest until I can move again.”

Ben steps back from the bed. “I’ll go on a supply run than. Any requests?”

“Some pain killers would be nice.” Cole snickers.

Ben nods, “I’ll see what I find, but first, take this.”

Ben lifts the back of his shirt, revealing a Ruger pistol. He gives it to Cole.

“No, you take it. You’ll need it more than me.” Cole rejects.

“I’ll be fine. You hold on to it in case you get in trouble.”

“I still think you should take it with you Ben.” Cole insists.

“I still got two bullets and my knife. I can handle myself.” Ben says, handing the gun to Cole.

“Fine.” Cole mutters, taking it from Ben.

Ben begins to exit the room. He stops at the door and looks back to Cole.

“I’ll be back later tonight.” Ben says.

Then he walks out the room, leaving Cole alone to rest.

Ben steps out the tattered blue house. The cold morning air is crisp. Ben looks around for any sign of the undead. Bodies lay dormant around the street from the massacre Ben released on them yesterday, and there are a couple of the Fallen lazily walking around, looking for food. Ben goes to the truck parked in front of the house and grabs a brown jacket; the morning air is cold. He begins checking his supply to see what he’ll need. Now that him and Cole have been cured, their bodies don’t need as much food as they usually do. Ben decides just to find supplies like medicine, water, and ammo. As he grabs the black bag in the bed of the Toyota Tacoma, he hears footsteps approaching behind him. Ben draws his knife and quickly turns around. A grotesque undead man tries to attack Ben, but he’s too aware of his surroundings with his new enhanced sense of hearing. Ben jabs his knife forward into the Fallen’s head, instantly killing it. Black blood oozes from its head and covers Ben’s blade.

Disgusting things. He thinks to himself.

The small commotion catches the attention of the two Fallen down the street; they begin walking towards the noise. Ben takes a deep breath; killing the Fallen is easy, however, it can become annoying. Ben won’t use his bullets unless it’s an emergency, so using his knife will have to do. The two Fallen now approach the truck Ben is standing by. The first one is a grey skin man that looked to have died recently. It flings itself forward at Ben, mouth open, revealing its yellow teeth. Ben quickly dodges the attack and goes for the other Fallen who is rottener. He swings his knife in an upward arc, stabbing it right through the jaw and piercing the brain. It drops dead. Ben quickly turns around and to his surprise; the other Fallen is already flinging itself to Ben again. He stops it by grabbing its neck. It snaps its teeth at Ben, attempting to gnaw at him. Ben stares at it in its cold dead eyes, examining it. He can tell this one has died recently and Ben thinks about who he was. Was he another man protecting his loved ones, or was he just a survivor? Did he die a courageous death or a cowardly one? These questions don’t matter now, but Ben ponders on this; as he slowly pierces his knife into the pale undead man’s skull, watching the life slowly drain from it. Ben watches its last attempt at biting him as it slowly dies. It drops dead when he withdraws his blade from the Fallen’s skull. Ben wipes the blood from his knife off his dirty jeans and sheathes it.

“I haven’t even left the yard and I’ve already had to kill three of these things.” Ben tells himself.

He begins walking on the street. Ben has decided to check out the homes a few blocks away and work his way back.

The sun is beginning to rise more in the blue sky. The morning air is still cold, as Ben walks down the road, passing homes that have either been burned or destroyed. It’s been years since Ben can recall being in the city. These ruins of the neighborhood give Ben nostalgia. He remembers his neighborhood from when he was kid; riding bikes and playing ball in the streets with his friends. A time when his biggest problems were not winning his trivial games against his friends. A more peaceful time. Ben’s thought is interrupted from a growl. He looks off to his right to see an undead woman pinned under a flipped car. It growls in hunger and sticks its hand out to Ben, attempting to grab him from afar. As he got closer, the undead woman snarls louder, thinking her meal is coming to sacrifice itself to it. Ben approaches the trapped Fallen and kneels down.

“Hmm. I wonder.” Ben says.

He grabs the Fallen’s head with both his hands, clenching its head like a basketball. It starts vigorously struggling, trying to bite Ben.

“Shhhh.” Ben whispers to it.

Then, Ben begins squeezing its head. As the trapped Fallen snarls, its eyes begin bulging out. Ben continues to squeeze its head until suddenly, its head is crushed. Like a watermelon being smashed with a hammer, black blood and brain oozes from its eyes and mouth.

Its dead.

Ben stands up, blood covering his hands. He cleans it off his pants again, not caring about the filth he’s making of his pants.

Ben’s strength still amazes him, crushing that Fallen’s head was like popping a balloon to him. He continues to walk.

Finally reaching the next block, he spots a home that hasn’t been destroyed. As he walks onto the yard, he hears the rumble of what sounds like an engine. Ben quickly draws his gun and cautiously looks around. What was that? His eyes scan around the neighborhood, only seeing a few flipped vehicles, trash, and debris scattering the street.

That sounded like a car. He thinks.

He takes another looks around and as far as he can see down the row of houses. Nothing. Ben lowers his gun and decides to be cautious as he explore the houses. There might still be people out here. Dangerous people. He approaches the front door of the first house, drawing his knife now. Ben opens the door. It’s not locked. He slowly opens the door, blade ready to strike and kill anyone who attacks. Ben loudly taps his knife on the door. The sound echoes through the dark home. He stands still, listening for any movement within the house. He hears a ticking sound.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

Ben eyes begin to adjust to the dark space as he starts to fully step into the house. The layout is quite familiar to Cole’s home. Ben notices to what appears to be a living room to the right of the entrance and a small kitchen to the left. There’s a boarded bay window looking outside in the living room of the home. The metronome tick continues. He assumes it’s a clock, but still scans the room to clarify. A few more steps forward and Ben finally spots a large grandfather clock being the source of the tick. A lucky start but he’s still cautious as he begins to start his search for supplies in the kitchen first. Ben scavenges through kitchen, opening cabinets, drawers, and looking through trash on counters. Nothing useful. He makes his way to a hallway between the kitchen and living room leading to other rooms. The first door to his right is open and Ben slowly peeks in. It smells of death in the room. Ben explores the room, just more trash scattered everywhere. He spots a baby crib in the corner and approaches it. He immediately regrets his decision when he sees there’s a small mauled up corpse of a child in the crib. Maggots cover the deceased child. It looks as if it was being eaten then left there. Ben rushes out the room, disgusted by the horrific scene. He’s seen dead bodies before but seeing the unfortunate dead child left chills down his spine. Only a small child, looked to be maybe two years of age was dead. It never got to experience life. Maybe its lucky though, this world isn’t a life worth living in now. Ben takes a few deep breathes, normally he wouldn’t be shaken up from a sight like this. However, that dead child in the crib gave him flashbacks of his daughter. Ben finally catches his breath and gets it together. He goes back to the living room.

“What the hell am I doing?” He whispers.

Ben rubs his eyes and sits down on a leather couch in the room.

“Get a hold of yourself. They’re gone.” He tells himself.

Nothing can bring his family back. Ben needs to forget them and worry about finding supplies. He needs to worry about his new mission now, and it’s to cure the world. Ben tries to clear his mind, but the ticking of the clock is getting to him. Every tick feels like it’s getting louder. Ben becomes frustrated and steps up to the grandfather clock. He opens the door to it and stares at the ancient clock. The pendulum is swinging back and forth, causing the ticking. He grabs it and the ticking stops. Ben lets go of it now and the ticking continues. He sighs. He could easily destroy the clock but he chooses not to. He closes the door and just examines the features of the clock.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

The clock continues. Ben examines the dial, its gold. A beautiful antique. Such a small pleasure like this does not matter anymore. He looks more at it, noticing his reflection on it, until something else in the image catches his eye. Ben’s eyes suddenly widen and he quickly ducks now, the grandfather clock explodes in hundreds of pieces. Ben looks up to see a metal spiked weapon stuck in the wall, and holding this long hammer like weapon, a large man wields it. The man is muscular, with a buzz cut and a wrinkled scar on the face. Ben goes for his gun, and points it to the large intruder, preparing to shoot. However, the large man is too quick and swings his right hand, knocking the gun out of Ben’s hands. It slides across the room next to the leather couch he was on earlier. The man quickly retrieves his metal weapon from the wall and swings it to the ground to strike Ben. He’s quick, but fortunately for Ben, so is he. He swiftly rolls to the right, avoiding the death blow from the metal weapon. The impact destroys the wood floor. Chips of wood fly everywhere.

Ben stands and draws his knife, running forward his foe. Ben thrusts it forward; the large man dodges it and takes a swing at Ben with his fist. It knocks him back a bit. The man swings his metal weapon again with one hand, Ben jumps back, barely avoiding the strike. Ben immediately runs towards him after he swung his weapon and jabs forwards. The man quickly moves to the side to avoid the attack, cutting the side of his arm. He then swings his free hand down at Ben, striking him on the head. Ben drops to the ground on one knee, dropping his knife and making him light-headed. The man sees his opportunity and raises his large metal hammer, preparing for the killing blow.

With a harsh metallic voice, the large man speaks. “Look at me.”

Ben is heavily breathing, blood dripping from his head.

“Look at me!!” he yells this time.

Ben slowly looks up to this monster of a man. The man smiles, knowing he is victorious. Just when he’s about to swing his weapon, he notices Ben’s eyes. They begin transitioning to the yellow ones.

“What the hell?” the man says, surprised by the strange transition.

Ben suddenly jumps up and uppercuts the large man in the gut. He loses his breath and drops his weapon. Ben now has the upper hand and takes another punch at the man’s face and knocking him back a bit. Ben’s blood is pumping; the adrenaline is rushing through him. He grabs the large man and throws him at the wall. The drywall cracks, sending dust everywhere. Ben cracks his fingers and walks up to his downed foe. He grabs and picks him up once more,

“Look at me.” Ben smugly tells him.

The man slowly lifts his head, he flinches from the sight of Ben’s expression. It is murderous and his cold yellow eyes stares through him. Ben smiles menacingly and picks the large man up. He holds him up in the air with both hands and Ben launches him at the boarded window. The large man yells in pain as he breaks through the boarded bay window and lands outside. Sunlight pours through the new opening and lights up the dark home. Ben sees his gun on the ground and picks it up. He also notices the man’s large weapon; he can get a better look at it now. Its long, about five feet long, looks like a metal sledge hammer with sharp metal spikes sticking out at the head. It’s stained with blood. Ben has never seen a weapon like this before.

How creative. He thinks.

He picks it up and begins to head outside to finish the man off with his own weapon. Just before he steps out, he hears a voice outside. Not the voice of the large man, but a different one. It’s more refined than the other man’s voice.

“Pierce. What happen?” the voice says.

The roaring sound of a Camaro echoes through the city of Denver. Coming from their mountain lodge, Jack and Pierce drive through the ruined city, getting closer to their target. After successfully clearing out the Fallen that were blocking their exit back at the lodge, Jack and Pierce immediately left to head to the abandon city of Denver.

Jack and Pierce silently sit in the Camaro, driving around abandon cars and the roaming undead. The sun has receded an hour ago and the moon now shines in the black sky, being the only light shining the empty city.

“How much longer.” Pierce mutters in his deep voice.

“We should be getting close.” Jack answers.

The two men had a late start coming down from the mountains after Jack had his fight with Damon. However, they made good time in reaching their destination as they began coming up to some neighborhoods. The abandon homes they pass by are mostly destroyed, with a few still intact. Jack begins slowing down, looking for a house that didn’t look demolished, so him and Pierce can set up a place to sleep.

“Ah, here’s one.” Jack says as he stops the car in front of a tattered brown house.

Pierce looks to Jack, giving him a confused expression.

“Is this it?” He asks.

“No. We are just setting camp here until tomorrow morning.” Jack explains as he checks the clip in his Desert Eagle.

Suddenly, an undead man slams itself on to the driver side of the car, catching Pierce by surprise.

Jack smiles, “But first, we need to clear up the area.”

Jack rolls his window down a bit, letting the Fallen sticks its rotten fingers through the crack, desperately trying to break in. The rotting smell of the Fallen begins to fill up the car. Jack draws his knife, and stabs it in the eye, the blade going through the brain. It drops to the ground dead.

“Let’s get inside Pierce. Kill anything that moves.” he says.

Pierce nods as he gets out the vehicle, just to be immediately greeted by another undead man. He quickly grabs it by the neck, his strength overwhelming the Fallen, and slams it to the side of the car. It snarls at Pierce, biting at the air to get a taste of flesh. He throws the Fallen to the ground, and stomps his foot on its soft rotting skull, killing it instantly. Pierce quickly takes his long metal weapon from the back seat of the Camaro. Two more of the Fallen begin to approach him. He firmly grasps his weapon, and swings it, blowing the heads off the two Fallen. Jack begins to run to the house while Pierce finishes off the remaining undead. He tries to open the door but its lock. Jack begins to fiddle with the door to see if he can open it, until he’s interrupted by the strong smell of dead flesh. Jack swiftly turns around to find one of the Fallen escaped from Pierce’s slaughter. He jabs his knife through its skull, black blood oozes from its eyes. Suddenly another undead creature comes around the corner of the house and grabs onto Jack’s shoulder. It goes for Jack’s neck, but he quickly stops it with his free hand. Suddenly a sharp pain strikes his right arm. The large wound he received from his fight with Damon is causing him pain. The pain is causing him to lose strength against the Fallen. It snaps its black teeth at him. Jack ignores his sharp pain and pushes the Fallen back. He overpowers it and slams its head into the brick wall of the brown house. It twitches from the impact but it is still alive. He repeatedly bashes its skull into the wall. Black rotting blood begins painting the outside of the home. Jack continues to do this until there is nothing left of its skull. He is breathing rugged and tosses the now decapitated Fallen to the ground. He’s smiling vigorously,

“Disgusting filth.” He mutters to himself.

Pierce walks up to Jack, covered in the Fallen’s blood.

“There’s more coming.” He says.

Few of the remaining Fallen are lazily walking from afar, coming towards the two men.

Jack sees this and wipes fresh blood from his hand off his black shorts.

“The door is lock. Break it down.” He orders Pierce.

Pierce doesn’t hesitate and breaks down the wooden door with his foot. It immediately swings open. The men quickly get inside; they see a large couch to the right of them. Jack closes the door,

“Move that couch over here and block the entrance.” He says.

Pierce slides the dirty black couch to the door, blocking it off. They have safely blocked off the undead for now. The two men sit down on the sofa, finally relaxing. Jack is gripping his arm, the pain I pulsating. They silently sit there for a few minutes. Then, the silent breaks when they hear groaning coming within the old house. The sounds of footsteps begin echoing in the home. Jack and Pierce sit silently, neither of them attempting to investigate. Instead, they listen carefully, waiting for this intruder to reveal himself or herself. The slouch figure of a man begins to appear in the dim moonlight, it’s an undead man. It growls, happy to see food for itself. Pierce sighs and begins standing up to kill it. Suddenly a loud gunshot echoes through the house and the head of the Fallen blows up. Pierce stands in confusion and looks to Jack who has his Desert Eagle drawn, smoke escaping from the barrel.

“Don’t give me that look Pierce. I’m too exhausted at this moment.” Jack says, lowering his gun.

Pierce looks out the window, seeing about six of the undead coming towards their temporary residence. The loud shot of the gun will be drawing more of the Fallen to them. Jack yawns and stands up.

“We’ll deal with them tomorrow. I’m going to get some sleep.” He says walking to the other side of the empty house and sitting at a corner.

Pierce nervously looks to Jack, then back outside.

“If you don’t feel safe, kill them yourself.” Jack says stretching now, rubbing his eyes.

“But…” Pierce softly says.

“I say leave it to fate to decide if we live tonight. A good night rest will keep us energized after all.” Jack chuckles.

Pierce sits on the couch again, his weapon lying next to him. Jack is leaving “fate” to decide if they make it through the night.

“Besides,” Jack says, smiling menacingly at Pierce. “It’s more fun this way.”

Pierce thinks for a moment and makes a decision to sleep as well. They’re risking their lives to sleep while death is just outside the door. The two men close their eyes now.

The low groans of the Fallen outside strike the cold night. Then a loud thud hits the door, shaking the house. Pierce’s eyes quickly open. The Fallen have finally approached the home and they repeatedly slam on the door, desperately wanting to break in. Pierce looks to Jack to see if he’s awake. Nothing. Jack calmly sits there, head tilted down, and breathing softly as he sleeps. Pierce just sits there now, listening to every blow from the Fallen outside. He sits there silently. Awake. As he waits for Jack to wake from his slumber. Pierce won’t let him die tonight, even if it means losing sleep.

Morning has risen, and the bright sun begins to warm the abandon streets of Denver. Jack calmly sleeps, until he’s suddenly awoken from a loud crash. He quickly opens his eyes to see a brown rotting arm sticking through a shattered window. Pierce is up as well, holding back the large couch that is keeping the Fallen from getting inside. Jack stretches and yawn, trying to wake himself up. Beside the impending doom happening in front of him, he calmly gets up to stretch more, cracking his neck. He grabs his sunglass from his pocket and puts them on.

“Morning Pierce!” he says smiling.

Pierce doesn’t pay attention as he’s exhausted, using his weight to hold down the couch blocking the door.

“Well I said we do this in the morning.” Jack mutters.

Annoyed that he has to help now.

A small crowd of the Fallen desperately try to get in, their rotting arms sticking through the small opening at the door. Jack draws his Desert Eagle gun and his knife with the brass knuckle guard.

“Let them in Pierce.” Jack says.

Pierce gives Jack a look of horror. He isn’t serious, is he? Pierce doesn’t listen and continues to hold back the couch.

“Pierce…” Jack says once more with an angrier tone.

Pierce nervously swallows and he thinks for moment. He’s exhausted and won’t be of much help. However, he ignores his own thoughts and listens to Jack anyways. He quickly backs away from the couch and grabs his weapon. The door slowly begins to open, as the Fallen push the couch away. A single one is weak, but when they gather in numbers, their combined strength can be overwhelming. Pierce stands back with Jack, his weapon gripped tightly.

“You look terrible.” Jack tells him.

Pierce continues to stay silent.

“You shouldn’t have stayed up all night watching over me.” He continues.

Pierce looks at him. “I know.” He mutters.

Jack smiles. “Don’t fight if you can’t. I can handle them.”

Pierce smiles as well.

“No.” he responds.

He’s not weak and will fight along Jack. The door has opened up more now, and the few of the Fallen begin entering the home. The first one quickly goes down as Jack jabs his knife through its skull. Two more enter and Jack kicks the first one in the stomach, knocking it back and striking the other in the skull. The door opens wider now and more of the Fallen begin swarming in. Pierce viciously takes out three of them with one full swing of his weapon, smashing their heads. Jack stabs another in the right eye and shoots two more of them that followed the first one. The two men are slaughtering the swarm of the Fallen that are coming in. Bodies begin to pile up around them as they continue their attack. Most of the Fallen have been killed, with a few remaining outside. Pierce begins pushing two of them out the door with his weapon as Jack follows behind. They get outside and Jack runs ahead of Pierce killing another one that was dangerously close to them. Four of the Fallen remain left. Pierce swings his weapon at the first one, blowing its head right off. Jack is quick, as he instantly kills the other three with quick strikes to the head with his blade. The two men now stand there, breathing heavily, covered in the Fallen’s blood. Jack looks around to see if there are more. They’ve cleared the area. The only thing that remains left are them and the dozens of bodies inside. Jack suddenly drops to his knees, cringing in pain from his bandaged arm. The fight put stress on his wound, causing it to bleed out more, turning his bandages dark red. Piece quickly goes to his side, picking him up by the other arm. Jack raises his hand at Pierce, gesturing him to stop.

“Leave me be Pierce.” Jack softly says, trying to endure his pain. “Just grab the aid kit from the car please.”

Pierce doesn’t say a word and does what he’s told. Jack slowly stands up, ignoring the pain. He tries to catch his breath, as he sweats profoundly. He thinks back at his fight with Damon at the mountain lodge. Damon injured him greatly. Even though Jack won the fight, Damon was still able to stab his arm, leaving a large open wound. Pierce comes back with the metal first aid kit and begins grabbing clean bandages from it. Jack takes his old ones off; the open wound is covered with dry and fresh blood. It looks as if Jack was bit by the Fallen. They begin patching up his arm, pouring alcohol and water to clean it up. Jack winces from the burning sensation. As they finish cleaning and patching up his wound, Jack snickers,

“If I was cured, this wound would have healed by now.”

He cleans the blood off his sunglasses.

“When we are cured. We will be able to do so much more.” he says. “Just you wait. We’ll find this man and have him turn us.”

Pierce nods in agreement.

“Let’s move out. We’re close.” Jack says, smiling.

The black Camaro slowly drives through the neighborhood, its engine echoes through the streets. Jack silently drives and Pierce sleeps in the Camaro as they make their way through the neighborhood. They begin turning left onto a street, then Jack suddenly stops, waking Pierce up.

He rubs his eyes and begins to look around to see where they’re at. Down the road are bodies of the Fallen scattered, and an old red Toyota truck parked on a lawn in front of a blue house.

Pierce sees Jack pull out a crumpled piece of paper out from his shirt pocket and study it.

Jack smiles.

“Were here. This should be the home the boy lives in.” Jacks says, inserting the crumbled piece of paper back in his shirt pocket.

Pierce yawns, his morning breath warm and foul. His hand goes for the door handle so he can get out the car, until Jack stops him.

“Not yet Pierce. Let’s wait.” He tells him.

Pierce takes his hand away from the handle and relaxes back in his seat.

“It seems someone had to fight their way here. They might be resting.”

“Should we make our move than?” Pierce states.

Jack snickers, “No no Pierce. The man with the cure might be in there, and we don’t know what he’s capable of. If he was able to kill our men back at the camp, who knows what he can do one on one.”

Pierce rolls his eyes. “They were weak. He’s just one man.”

Jack smiles. “You want to test your theory? Fine.” Jack says. “Go then. Try not to die.”

Pierce smiles as well and gets out the car. Jack looks at the house again and notices the front door opening.

“Pierce wait!” Jack whispers loudly.

The large man looks to him with a confused expression. He notices Jack pointing to the house and sees a man walking out. Pierce quickly ducks behind the Camaro, trying not to be spotted. They both watch the man walking out the house.

The man stands tall and built. He has black hair and a scruffy beard. He wears black pants and a gray shirt.

It’s Ben.

He grabs a brown coat from the red Toyota truck and puts it on.

Pierce silently crouches and walks to the driver side of the Camaro. Jack opens the door so he can talk to him.

“Is that him?” Pierce asks.

“Yes.” He smiles menacingly. “That’s the man we dragged to the camp. He looks incredible for someone who was bitten, right?”

Pierce peaks over the hood of the Camaro and carefully stalks Ben.

“Should I attack him?” he asks, keeping his brown eyes locked onto Ben, watching him walk down the road, opposite direction of them.

Jack thinks for a moment, scratching his head. It’s making Pierce anxious.

Jack clears his throat.

“No. I want to talk to him. But I don’t want to spook him. He might put up a fight if we engage now.”

“What do we do?” Pierce asks.

Jack clears his throat. “Corner him. We play it friendly.”

“What if he doesn’t want to talk? If he just attacks instead?” Pierce asks.

Jack beams his sinister smile. “He’ll die than.”

Ben calmly walks down the abandoned neighborhood. Pierce is following closely behind, keeping a short distance from him. He stands behind an abandon burnt vehicle and watches Ben closely, making sure he isn’t notice. He stays there until there is more of a distance between them. Pierce then continues to move silently, until he accidentally steps on some broken glass. The sound beneath his boots made a crunching sound, which normally wouldn’t be too loud. But the quiet neighborhood makes sound of the broken glass like someone broke a window. Pierce quickly hides behind the burnt car, his heart racing and hoping he wasn’t detected. Pierce slows his breath and tries to listen if Ben is walking towards his way. There is only silence. He peeks through a small hole on the burned car that seemed to been made by a bullet. He can see Ben looking off to his right.

Shit, did he hear me? Pierce thinks to himself.

He watches, tightly gripping his weapon, preparing for a fight. He notices Ben walk over to a flipped car. He kneels down and looks to be doing something with the bottom of the car. Pierce can’t see clearly, but he hears a hiss. The sound of the Fallen possibly. He quickly checks his surroundings to make sure the Fallen are nowhere near him.

It’s clear.

He continues to spy at Ben, what he sees next shocks him. Ben has blood all over his hands, and his face expression calm.

What the? Pierce thinks.

He wonders why there is that much blood and why Ben is so calm about it. Ben continues to walk down the road. He never heard Pierce step on the glass. Pierce waits a moment then leaves his hiding spot. He goes to the flipped car and his mouth drops. Underneath the car is what looks to be one of the Fallen, only with its head smash open like a pumpkin. Black blood and bits of brains are oozing from its eyes. Pierce wipes sweat from his forehead.

Did he do this with his bare hands?

Not even Pierce could do that. Not unless the skull was really rotting.

Pierce now realizes that this man really is the one Jack was looking for. He looks around him to see if he can spot the Camaro. He wants to be sure that Jack is still following him, but he’s nowhere to be found. Pierce doesn’t stand around waiting for a glimpse of the vehicle for too long as he continues to follow Ben.

He quickly catches up to him, still keeping his distance. His heart is racing, and he’s nervous now. Not because he’s afraid of Ben, but because he’s relieved that he finally found the man Jack has desperately been hunting. He is sure that Ben is the man who killed everyone at his old camp. The man that could have the cure to the Fallen virus. A cure that will change the course for humanities survival. Ben stops again, and so does Pierce. He hides behind another car. Ben is standing there, looking at a house. There’s silence in the air. Pierce can hear his own heartbeat.

Now what? he thinks.

Pierce quietly crouches behind the car, waiting for Ben to continue moving. Finally, Ben begins walking to the house he was looking at.

Suddenly the silence is broken when the sound of an engine echoes through the neighborhood. Ben quickly looks around for the source of the sound. Pierce stays hidden, knowing that noise came from the Camaro. Jack has caught up and possibly gave Pierce’s hiding spot away. He peeks over to look at Ben, who is completely cautious, still trying to figure out where that noise came from. Ben then quickly gets into the house. Pierce is relieved to see Ben didn’t stay much longer as he notices the Camaro coming from the end of the road. The Camaro approaches closer to Pierce as he puts his hand out, signaling it to stop. The car stops, and Jack gets out.

He is smiling, while Pierce is giving him an annoyed look.

“Did you lose him?” Jack asks.

“No. But he’s probably knows were here now.” he grunts.

Jack chuckles. “Oh dear, did I ruin your game of hide n seek?”

Pierce gives him a mean look, but Jack ignores it.

“What do you think?” Jack says, talking about Ben.

“He seems normal.”

Jack’s smile fades. “I feel there’s a “but” coming.” He says.

“I saw him crush a Fallen’s skulls with his bare hands. That takes a lot of strength.”

Jack cracks a smile. “How interesting.”

Pierce smiles now. “I want to change our plans for him.”

Jack is intrigued and allows Pierce say what is on his mind.

“Instead of talking to him, I want a chance to kill him.” he says, gripping his long metal weapon.

“How do you expect to get the cure than?” Jack questions.

Pierce has a stern look and thinks for a moment.

“Fine I won't kill him, but I don’t think he’ll talk. I rather beat him close to death and take him as our prisoner.”

Jack chuckles. “Oh really?”

“I want a chance to fight him. See what’s so special about him.” He says.

Jack stands there, scratching his bandaged arm, then suddenly laughs.

“If you can take him down, go for it. But I’m sure he’ll kill you.”

Pierce doesn’t say a word, but he smiles in confidence.

Jack sits on the hood of the black Camaro.

“Okay Pierce. I trust your judgement.” Jack tells him. “Just try not dying.”

Pierce nods and lifts his metal weapon up, letting it rest on his shoulder.

He begins walking to the house that Ben is at.

He is ready for a fight.