11 Chapter 11

She'd smashed his face in.

Definitely with her hand because she wasn't holding a weapon and according to Ezra, there were no big stones that could have done that around the man's body.

Even after getting back to camp, I still couldn't get the image out of my head. I hadn't actually seen his smashed in face but Ezra's reaction gave me an idea of what it looked like.

The woman and two other men that followed Faye and Alison had been shot and were currently in the bed of the truck. Ezra recognized the lady as one of the people that shot at us on the road which made us worried about why they followed us and if more of them were going to come.

I kept wondering why the infected lady didn't kill me. I was a lot closer than the guy was and she passed me.

Did she help me or did she want to kill me next? But why not kill me first?

That rhymed.

The corners of my mouth quirk up at my thoughts and I let out a sigh.

"I knew it," Clareta said, drawing my attention, while nodding. "You killed him."

"What?" I asked, clearly confused.

"There was no infected." She leaned forward like she was about to tell me a secret, "It was you -"

"Stop. You're crazy," Zeke cut her off.

She tilted her head as she sucked in air through grit teeth and leaned back. She was trying to understand what I said had happened. I was confused too because apparently we have an infected that can smash faces in.

She was probably the one that shot the other man from above.

Clareta leaned forward again. "Are you sure the person was an infected?"

I pursed my lips and shot her a look. She was probably asking because she was terrified but the look on her face said a different thing. Jack nudges my side with his head and I run my hand through his fur.

"Clareta, I think she knows what an infected looks like," Hae In stated.

"Are you sure it was an infected?" Alison whispers in my ear and I let out an exasperated sigh.

She was either an infected or a yogini that painted lines on her face with mascara. Can a yogini run on all fours?

I became increasingly worried as I noticed that more infected were starting to show up after a couple of minutes.

Why are they not back yet?

"Where are they?" Zeke muttered, voicing out my thoughts.

Ezra wasn't here too. He'd gone back to get my cleaver after I realized I'd left it behind. Clareta got up with her trench hawk and went to assist Faye and Roshni in dispatching the ones that were close. A shriek came from somewhere behind me and Jack jumped up and began to bark. Debbie ran from the tree she was leaning against to the truck as I got up. There was nothing there but I wasn't sure as it could be hiding behind one of the trees.

"We can't stay here any longer," Ezra announced as he ran out of the forest. He gave me my cleaver and grabbed one of the backpacks that contained food on the floor before another shriek tore through the air.

"We can't leave!" Debbie yelled as we grabbed the remaining backpacks. "Where are we going to go?"

Another shriek filled the air, closer this time, as dozens of infected begin to appear from the trees.

"Into town. We have to get the rest of us... besides we can't get far on foot," Ezra stated and a feeling of dread crept up from the pit of my stomach and I glanced at the pop. 2,548 on the sign.

Oh God.

"Stay close," Ezra said as he ushered Alison and Jack to stay between us before he took the lead. "Don't waste bullets."

Clareta made a face at him as Debbie made her way to our middle, murmuring under her breath about how they are probably dead and we're joining them. I gave the bag on my shoulder a heave and gripped the cleaver harder as we began to move.

"You said we wouldn't die, right?" Alison asked.

"We won't, "Faye replied.

Hae In was the first to take a shot, hitting an infected a couple of feet away. Alison gripped my shirt as Ezra took a swing at an infected lady that jogged up to him with his bat. The infected stumbled away from him with a snarl, narrowly missing the bat. Her eyes were trained on him and I used the chance to swing at her. Her head lobbed off and I was briefly stunned by how the cleaver went through her neck.

She wasn't the first infected I'd killed but definitely the first I'd decapitated.

Alison made a sound at the back of her throat and moved from me to Ezra. Faye was also looking at him and she glanced at me before she went back to shooting the infected. We had passed a couple of houses and cars that had their bonnets and driver's door open.

"Shit," I muttered as we spotted a house that was surrounded by a herd and we all scattered in different directions. I cleaved off the head of an infected in the front yard of a house before I crouched behind the picket fence. I heard footsteps and raised my cleaver again before Ezra and Alison joined me behind the fence.

"Where's everyone?" I asked as he peeked through the fence.

"I don't- wait, I see Clareta... there's Hae In and Zeke."

"Daniel's on the roof," Alison said.

"Where?" I looked through the fence and didn't see anything before I raised my head above the fence a little and saw him. Now we know why the house is surrounded.

The beeping of a car alarm suddenly filled the air and I immediately crouched as Ezra swore. Seconds later, a scream rang out before Debbie ran into the yard.

For fuck's sake.

Ezra picked Alison up and we made a dash for the house but were immediately dissuaded by the growls that erupted inside.

"Backyard!" Ezra yelled and we ran around the house.

Gun shots filled the air and I looked back to see Clareta drawing some of the attention away from us. Zeke and Hae In joined her before I lost sight of them. There was an open gate in the backyard that led to the forest and Ezra and Debbie ran through it. I didn't like the idea but I didn't have a choice. I ran through the gate and tried to pull it close but one of the infected was also pulling it open.

I'm not about to start a tug of war with this bitch.

I gave the gate one last pull before I suddenly let go of it. I got a glimpse of the dozens of infected making their way over before I ran. My legs pumped with liquid heat, making my knees feeble. My breath came in small spurts as my fingers curled into fists, swinging forward as if it would make me faster. I saw Debbie standing next to a tree, trying to climb it but I couldn't see Alison or Ezra.

"Climb a tree," came Ezra's voice from above and I looked up but I didn't see him.

I rushed to Debbie to help her up by forming a step with my hands after dropping my backpack on the ground. My arms protested when she stepped on my hand and it took precious seconds for her to finally climb the lowest branch before I began to climb.

"You'll draw them here," said the ingrate on a branch.

"Keep climbing," I told her as I placed my feet on a sturdy gnarl and gripped the sides of the trunk with my thighs. I gripped the branch she was on and said again, "Keep climbing." I pulled myself up so both my forearms were resting on the branch and lifted my elbows up.

I was about to swing my leg up when she suddenly shoved me. What the- I yelped as I tried to grab the branch but failed and fell instead.