Epidemic..

 

I lifted my head from my pillow. We had gotten to our room at least six hours ago but I still couldn’t sleep.  It was 9:35 AM in the morning, the soreness had stopped and I didn’t feel so heavy anymore. My head hurt still, especially since Kliner had thrown me around like I was nothing but a teddy bear.

How was it possible? How had Kliner been able to tranquilize the infection so long? When I had seen him, his speed and strength weren’t human. How was it possible that he could take on the attributes of the infection, yet not face the Symptoms? He had said that he had given himself a weak strain; he maybe even did find a cure.

I didn’t think about that much, my father was still fresh on my mind. Knowing that he was murdered just angered me, he wasn’t even infected! It wasn’t fair, it just wasn’t.

Everything I had gone through today had completely changed me. The infection could be stopped, or halted. Kliner had done it… but how? I wanted to remember my father, but the fact that my Father would always go on business trips or that he would almost always be late to everything made me want to scream more.

He was still a good father, what if none of this had happened, and then maybe we could have bonded more. I didn’t know how my Mom had died, I felt bad too. I was an Orphan now, the past few hours I hadn’t felt angry anymore. I felt depression, my parents were dead, some of my friends were dead, everyone in my life was dying and I couldn’t do anything.

I didn’t care anymore, about dying. I just didn’t, the emptiness in my heart was large. My mind began to flash the scenes in my head from the past days. Images of Kelsey becoming infected played over and over in my head. Then the Black Ops entered my head, I saw them shoot and kill that Man over and over again.

The horrid look on his families faces. Then the sight of my Dad’s body. “He wasn’t infected.” Luke had said, his words kept on repeating in my head. Why had they killed them, they didn’t have a reason too.

My eyes were heavy, I felt extremely tired but I couldn’t fall asleep. My mind was racing; I glared at the floor by my bed. We had gotten back to Seattle just like we had before. Through the sewers and back in, we had dodged the Black Ops.

Suddenly the phone in our room began to ring. I slowly got out of bed and I walked to the phone.

“Hello?” I said dully.

“Hey, it’s Jake,” Jake said.

“Colonel?” I said surprised.

“It’s Lieutenant Colonel but listen, If you are looking for a job then perhaps you could help us with some things. There may even be something in it for you guys as well. Would you guys like to help, all of you I mean?” Jake said.

“We’ll listen L.T Colonel, I’m not in the best of moods today but-“

Jake cut me off. “I will not take no for an answer, please you will enjoy it,” Jake said.

I sighed. “Very well, where and what time,” I said.

“Meet us outside of the Space Needle at 1:00 PM today, if that is okay?” Jake said.

“Yeah its okay, we’ll be ready by then,” I replied.

“Great, see you then,” Jake said happily.

I hung up and rubbed my eyes. My stomach growled and I grabbed a bottle of water and drank the whole bottle clean in one big chug. After I had a small snack, I went to go take a shower. It felt refreshing to feel the nice warm water hitting my sore body, washing away all the dirt, the dust, the blood, and even the pain. It felt rejuvenating.

I felt more awake but no less saddened. After five minutes, I got all dressed and I woke up my friends. They all went to get breakfast and one by one took a shower.

“I’ll meet you guys downstairs in the lobby,” I told them.

I walked down to the lobby; there were a lot of people downstairs. I sat down on one of the coaches and put my head down. Somebody suddenly sat next to me, I looked to see who it was, but I didn’t know, though he looked familiar.

“Hi!” The boy said happily.

The boy was at least 12 years old; he had short brown hair and his bright hazel eyes were wide with happiness.

“Err… Hello?” I said.

“Hi!” He said again.

“Do I know you?” I asked.

“Nope… but you know my Dad, he’s the General,” the boy said.

Oh that’s why he was familiar; he was General Sawyer’s son.

“Oh that’s cool ha-ha, I didn’t know you were his son, I’m Hayden,” I said, extending my hand.

The boy shook my hand furiously. “I’m Tom,” He said.

I couldn’t help it, a big smile spread across my face. “Tom? Like Tom Sawyer?” I said.

“Ha-Ha yeah, people think it’s funny to, but I like it.  I’ve read all the books too and I think I’m as mischievous as he is,” Tom said.

“Your Dad is a great guy Tom, you should be proud,” I told him.

“I know, I am very proud too, but I’m just worried about him. You know with everything that is happening I don’t want to think about what could happen,” Tom said.

“Yeah, I know how that feels,” I said.

“Is it true you fought through Bellevue?” He asked.

I nodded.

“That’s so cool, it must have been awesome fighting through all of those things, killing and shooting right?” He asked.

I smiled. “You’re a funny little guy; actually it isn’t a fun as it sounds. It’s not fun at all actually. It is really scary and hard and it is just all a nightmare. It’s hard to explain,” I said.

“Where are your parents?” He asked me.

I stayed silent for a while. “They’re… in a better place,” I answered.

“Like out of the state?” He asked.

“Yeah… you could say that,” I said.

“Could you help me with something?” Tom asked.

“I guess… sure what is it?” I replied.

“I don’t have many friends because most of my friends have… gone,” Tom said.

I smiled and patted his head. “Sure, I’d like to be your friend,” I told him.

His face beamed and he happily nodded his head. He was so small and innocent, I was sure he didn’t fully understand what was happening in the world, for that I envied him. He looked at my hand with my missing finger and he looked away quickly. General Sawyer entered the lobby and smiled at us, Tom ran up to him and hugged him.

“I see you’ve met my pride and joy,” Sawyer said smiling.

I smiled back and nodded. “Yes sir, he’s just like his Dad,” I told him.

I got up and shook his hand. Sawyer put his hand on my shoulder.

“How was your night?” He asked.

“Long…,” I replied, trying hard not to change my tone.

“That’s good to hear, hopefully you and your friends can help us today,” Sawyer said.

“Of course, I’d be happy to help in any way,” I replied.

“Very well, I’ll let you guys go have breakfast and relax,” Sawyer said.

“Dad, can I hang with Hayden?” Tom asked, looking at me.

I smiled. “If it’s okay with your Dad its fine with me,” I said.

“Yeah it’s alright, just bring him with you when you go to the space needle,” Sawyer said.

I nodded and we waved as he walked out of the lobby. Luke came down finally.

“How are you feeling?” He asked.

“Not good… I can’t forget or think about anything else but him,” I replied.

Luke nodded.

I heard laughs coming from the stairway, the girls were all coming down, at least they had a good night. Anna was smiling with them, it seemed they had all talked and gotten to know one another.

“Hey guys,” Chloe greeted.

I nodded.

“Have a good night?” Luke asked.

“Yup, we slept really good last night and we got to know each other better,” Hailey answered.

“That’s good,” I told them.

“How was your night?” Chloe asked us.

“Long,” Luke said.

“I’m famished, anyone else?” Liz said, smiling.

Dylan and Owen came downstairs, both looked happier than usual. The girls were happily greeting all of us, I didn’t feel a lot of joy. Anna seemed to notice that I was upset.

“Are you okay?” She asked me.

“Of course,” I replied.

We all took a walk towards the Denny’s, on the way I saw that the amount of Black Op presence was increasing. The city was still in ruins but the tension had lifted a bit. U.S troops were cleaning debris, bodies, and cars off of the main roads.

Slowly, Seattle was coming back to life. I noticed that on almost each rooftop of a building were at least two snipers. As we walked through Downtown Seattle, I saw three Black Ops kick in the door to a building and entered, guns aimed in front of them.

I gritted my teeth and looked away, more lives were about to be ruined.

The restaurant was clean enough… people sat at their seats talking and eating. Tom was enjoying himself, talking with my friends and making jokes, he was trying to lift our moods which I liked about him.

We all took our seats and we waited for the waitress. My friends chatted with each other. I couldn’t hear them; my mind was still in that building, kneeling beside the corpse of my father, the thought of him encumbered me. It was a burden on my mind, it hurt to think about but it was hard to think on something else.

“HE”S INFECTED!” A girl screamed.

We all quickly stood up, searching for where the scream had come from. I noticed a girl at the far end of the restaurant pointing at a pale man.

“Really Sylvia? What treachery is this? I thought you loved me and trusted me,” The man said, coming closer to the girl.

Everyone in the Denny’s had eyes on them; I saw that at the counter one of the workers were dialing on a phone.

“I do love you, but you’ll be one of them soon,” Sylvia said.

“YOU ARE INFECTED TOO!” The man screamed.

The man pulled out a pistol and aimed it around.

“WHOS TO SAY WE AREN’T ALL INFECTED?” HE announced.

Suddenly two Black Ops burst into the room, ordering everyone in the restaurant to get on the ground.  I clenched my fist and glared at the Black Ops. The man grabbed Sylvia and put the gun to her head, the Black Ops had their weapons aimed at them.

“Go ahead, kill us,” The man challenged.

He grabbed a Knife and cut his arm, blood streaked down his arm and with his other hand, he brushed his hand over his wound, getting blood all over his palm.

“My curse will be upon all of you!” He screamed.

With that, he wiped his palms all over her face and then thrusting it into her mouth. The Black Ops opened firing, killing both of them. People in the restaurant screamed.

“Disturbance has been dealt with, bring in the scanners,” One of the Black Ops said, speaking into some sort of walkie talkie mounted on his shoulder.

“Everyone stay where you are, we have to make sure everyone in this room is not infected. Anybody that attempts to flee will be shot,” A black Op said.

Two more Black Ops entered, ordering everyone to get in a straight line. After twenty minutes, we were all cleared free of infection. Two body bags were brought in and the two bodies were taken away. Everyone was ordered out of the Denny’s, workers and civilians.

As we exited, I saw that the Denny’s was being quarantined and special cleaning equipment was being brought in.

“Wow, I can’t believe they killed them,” Tom said, horrified.

“I can,” I said angrily.

After a while, the Black Ops were heavily guarding the entire building.

“I didn’t even get to eat,” Owen complained.

 

It was 1:02 when I got to the Space Needle; it was still standing big and tall and seemed untouched, both in Physical or emotional form. Chloe, Liz, Hailey and Anna had all decided that they were going to go off, doing whatever it is girls do.

Luke, Ethan, Owen, Dylan and I were all waiting for Jake to come. Tom had gone back to his apartment, afraid of what he had seen at the Denny’s. I didn’t blame him, the Black Ops didn’t care which was what annoyed me the most. They didn’t care if you were with your friends or family in a public place, they just killed you and didn’t care about the rest or what people thought.

Jake arrived in a Humvee accompanied with two Soldiers. Jake had a sniper rifle in his hands.

“Hello my friends, had a good day?” He asked.

We all nodded.

“This is Private Ellis and Corporal Williams,” Jake said.

The two soldiers nodded at us, both had serious expressions and looked emotionless.

“You guys snipers?” I asked them.

Jake nodded.

“Owen and Dylan, each of you will go with either Private Ellis or Corporal Williams, your pick. Hayden, you can ride with me,” He said.

Owen went over by Ellis and Dylan by Williamson.

“Luke, General Sawyer has requested that you meet him in the harbor, take this so you can get in,” Jake said, handing look some sort of pass.

“Thank you,” Luke said.

He nodded at us and started to jog towards the harbor. Jake beckoned us to follow him to the Humvee. I entered the passenger seat while Dylan, Ellis, Owen and Williams went in the back. Jake started the Humvee and we started to drive towards Downtown.

“What sort of help did you have in mind?” I asked Jake.

“Ellis and Williams and their partners will be helping around Downtown, nothing to dangerous, just cleaning around, helping locals, that sort of thing,” Jake said.

“What about you and me?” I asked.

“We have a special task,” Jake said.

We dropped Dylan and Williams first, followed by Owen and Ellis. Jake then started towards the outskirts of Seattle.

“What sort of task?” I asked again.

“Patrol around Seattle, making sure things are all right,” Jake replied.

“What do you need me for then?” I asked.

“Company, I wanted someone to make my job a bit less dull,” Jake replied.

I nodded.

“So… you came here all alone?” He asked.

“Yeah, just me and my friends,” I replied.

“No Mom or Dad?” He asked.

“No… their… gone,” I told him.

“I’m sorry,” Jake said.

We drove for a while in silence. I felt like I wanted to forget or keep my mind busy so I decided to make more conversation.

“Do you have a wife, a girlfriend, and kids? Stuff like that?” I asked.

Jake smiled. “Yeah I have a girlfriend, she lives in Chicago,” Jake replied, smiling.

“Children?” I asked.

“No… not yet,” Jake said, grinning.

I nodded and smiled. “So… do you anything about the virus and the Infected?” I asked.

“Yes and no, I don’t know anything about the virus, that much is classified for the U.S forces,” Jake said.

“What about the infected,” I asked.

“We don’t know what the virus does to them, it screws up their minds. It makes them extremely aggressive and crazy and hungry,” Jake said.

“But they aren’t… dead?” I asked.

Jake made a turn; we were crossing a bridge and heading out of Downtown.

“No, they aren’t like in the movies. They are alive, you see I am a sniper for the National Guard and it’s my job to recon and observe and I have seen some pretty strange things,” Jake said.

“What kind of strange things?” I asked.

“Well for starters, the infected don’t really eat flesh, I mean they do and they don’t. I have seen the infected rip pieces of flesh from people and swallow it but they don’t continue to devour, I guess it’s a form of killing their prey. And unlike the movies, even if one of them kills a person by biting or scratching… the victim doesn’t come back to life and become one of them… you need to be alive to become infected. Also, the infected can eat anything, back in Black Diamond, I saw one of them piling a bunch of Twinkies in its mouth,” Jake said.

“When we were on our way here, I saw that the infected were suffering, I saw them vomiting, moaning, even dying. That virus is killing them I know it,” I told him.

“Yeah, I almost feel bad for them,” Jake said.

“Do you know how long it takes for someone infected to turn?” I asked.

“No, it so bloody unhelpful, it can sometimes take hours or even days for some. But in most cases, it takes minutes and seconds,” Jake explained.

“Man, all of this is really screwed up,” I said.

“Yean no kidding, you don’t know how many good men have gone because of all this,” Jake said sadly.

“How good is the quarantine?” I asked.

“Idaho and Oregon have been quarantined too, more or less then here but thankfully no one has been reported sick so hopefully Washington is the only place infected with the virus, can’t even imagine what would happen if it spread all over America,” Jake said.

“Well that’s good and bad, good because the infection can’t spread, bad for us because we are trapped here with the infected,” I said.

“I know you have probably heard this alot or probably said yourself but all of this feels like a big nightmare,” Jake said.

“You have no idea how many times I have thought or heard that, but I have given up hope thinking that it is and I’m just focusing on staying alive. I just the hate the feeling of being afraid all the time, wondering if every second you breathe, that life as you know it can come to a screeching halt. I have lost so many people because of this, all for nothing,” I said.

“I know what you mean, I lost a good friend of mine two days ago in Covington,” Jake said.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Yeah, we had been friends since the 2nd grade, we did everything together, and we even went to collage together and enlisted together. They got him when we were helping some civilians,” Jake said, shaking his head.

“I lost my friend Kelsey at the start of all this, she was infected from the start and was the first person I was forced to kill when she tried to attack me. What makes things worse was that she was my best friend’s girlfriend. Then I lost my Mother to the infection and then my father to the…” I stopped; I didn’t want to reveal that I had left.

“What happened to your Dad?” Jake asked.

“Friendly fire I guess,” I said.

“Now that really sucks,” Jake said.

As we got into the parking lot, I marveled at the tall Catholic Church, its point was high up in the sky. For a place of God… the place was a rat’s nest. All the windows were boarded up and the entire building was dirty and the parking lot was filled with garbage.

Grabbing his Sniper, Jake exited the van and beckoned me to follow. He put a finger to his lips and tapped his helmet and pointed towards the entrance. I nodded that I understood, we were heading towards the entrance.

Jake handed me a pistol. “Why?” I asked him.

“Just in case,” Jake said.

“You really want to give a 14 year old boy a gun?” I asked slyly.

“I think the circumstances would permit this act,” Jake said.

I pulled back the slide and made sure the safety was off. Jake aimed in front of him and we crouch walked our way towards the front. With one hand, he tried to push the door open but it wouldn’t budge. I rolled my eyes and kicked the door, it slammed open. Jake looked at me and shook his head.

With his head he gestured me to go inside. With my weapon in front of me, I entered. Jake followed in after me, checking every corner and shadow. We entered the main hall and I knew that if any religious people were here, they would complain about desecration.

The church pews littered the ground, on top of each other. Books and papers littered the ground as well as dirt. The walls were stained with Graffiti, some were sentences such as ‘God has abandoned us’ or ‘The end has come, repent!’ or ‘Repent your crimes wicked ones’. But some had swear words on them.

“Looks like a house for psychos,” Jake said.

Suddenly there were screams behind us and clicks. Jake and I whirled around and we saw men and women, all pointing their guns at us. There were at least twelve of them; one of them had an E.C.S combat vest.

 Jake seemed to notice this as well. “Are you E.C.S?” Jake asked angrily.

“No actually,” The man said.

“Then where did you get that,” Jake said, pointing to the vest.

“The other guy didn’t need it after I was done with him,” The man said, chuckling.

Jake raised his rifle, aiming it at the leader; I aimed my pistol at one of them. Then there were gun clicks behind us as well.

“Drop the guns,” A voice with a heavy Russian accent said.

Jake looked at me and then he nodded. We both dropped our guns and the armed people grabbed them.

“What brings you here to my Church?” The Russian asked behind us.

Jake began to turn and as he did, he got punched in the stomach and was thrown on the ground. One of them slammed the gun butt into my leg, giving me a dead leg and I sank to the floor.

“I asked you, what brings you to MY Church?” The Russian said again.

I got a good look at him; he also had an E.C.S combat vest, and was holding an M-16 rifle, aimed at Jake.

“We… heard that there was a disturbance here,” Jake coughed out.

“Disturbance? Did any of you hear of a disturbance here?” He asked around to his chums.

They all shook their heads and grinned at us.

“What does the U.S military want in my Church, nothing,” Russian said again.

“Very well, then I’ll take my weapon back and my friend and I’ll leave,” Jake said, reaching for his rifle.

The Russian kicked Jake on his back, away from his rifle. My heart lurched as Jake grimaced. Stupid Russian, I didn’t know what was wrong with him. I noticed that I still had my father’s pistol in my pocket, thankfully they didn’t know that.

“I can’t let you leave my friend,” He said, nodding towards us.

His goons grabbed both Jake and I and began to drag us away.

“Take them to undercroft and feed them to Snog and Gabe,” The Russian said.

Four goons began to drag us down a hallway and then down steps. Instead of leading us down the hallway… like gentlemen, they tossed us both down the steps. I hit nearly every stair on the way down and I slammed against the door. Jake and I groaned as they picked us off again.

“You don’t have to do this,” I croaked.

“Shut up Swine!” One of the Goons said.

“Listen, allow me to go and I will spare your lives,” I told them.

“Ha! Good one,” He said, chuckling.

He opened the door and dragged us in. The room looked like a torture room; there was blood and chains everywhere. Chained at the end of the room were two of the infected, they snarled as they saw us. All around the infected were bodies and body parts.

“You’ve been feeding them!” Jake exclaimed.

“Is there something wrong?” One of them asked Jake.

“You monsters!” Jake yelled.

They began to drag us closer and closer. The infected snarled at us as we got closer.

“I’m sorry I got you into this,” Jake said.

“Not to worry, I’ll get us out of this,” I said.

I reached for my pistol and put it into the stomach of one of the goons and fired twice. The others were taken off guard; I shoot one of the guards holding Jake.

Jake whirled around, flipping the other goon in front of him. I grabbed the other by the neck and shoved him to the front of me. The two goons lay next to each other. Suddenly the infected ran upward, grabbing both men and dragging them closer towards them.

They bit into them; both men screamed and tried to get free as the infected began to put their jaws to their necks.

“Let’s go!” I yelled.

Jake grabbed one of the weapons on the ground and we both made our way out of the room filled with screams and snarls. We ran up the staircase, the wall behind me exploded and I ducked.

The Russian and his men began to fire at us. Jake and I turned a pew over and used it for cover. Jake used his submachine gun and blind fired over the pew. I peeked over the side of the pew; a bullet went through the pew an inch from where my face was.

“I’ll try to get my sniper, can you cover me?” Jake asked.

I nodded. Jake crouch ran towards a pillar. The Russian shot his shotgun towards Jake; I peeked out and shot towards him. The Russian jumped away and hid behind a pillar. Jake slid behind an Altar as the grounds were he was just at erupted with lead.

I saw a man run towards Jake; I fired my gun, hitting him in the back. He screamed and fell to the floor face first.

“I’ll kill you and I’ll feed you to my pets myself,” the Russian screamed.

On a floor above me I saw one of the goons had a Hunting rifle aimed at me. A second later a whole pierced his chest and he tumbled forward to the ground.

Jake ran back towards me, his sniper in his hand. Jake dropped another one and another. I covered my head as gunshots rang all over the area.

“Keep shooting!” Jake screamed.

I poked my pistol through a hole in the pew and I shot, hitting the Russian right in the arm. He roared in pain and shot his Shotgun blindly. Jake shot and got one of the men next to the Russian in the head.

Suddenly the door from the Undercroft broke and three of the infected, one of them being one of the goons who had grabbed me, ran up the stairs, one of them pounced on a goon and began to bite him, a second later the man being bitten turned.

The Russian and his allies turned their attention to the infected; four of them pounced, infecting four more making eight. Jake grabbed me and began to pull me away; we had to get out of the Chapel.

The Russian blocked our path, suddenly one of the infected grabbed him and slammed him onto a pillar and began to bite into his neck. The Russian screamed and with his shotgun, blew away the infected and sent him soaring.

The Russian held his bleeding neck and eyed us. Raising his shotgun with one hand, he aimed it at us. Two of the infected grabbed him and slammed him onto the ground. The Russian tried to crawl away, but they pulled a screaming Russian away and I didn’t see him anymore, but I could hear the sound of them biting into him.

“Let’s go!” Jake said.

We ran as the infected began to fight the Goons. Bullets and blood flew everywhere and screams, snarls, and gunshots dominated the air. We sprinted out and slammed the doors open. Upon exiting the Church, I found a gun barrel pointing to my face.

The Black Ops had arrived, they pushed us aside and closed the Church shut and put some sort of chain around it, making sure the door stayed shut.

“Burn it,” I heard a Black Op say.

I saw an Armored Troop Transport roll in and two black ops armed with Flamethrowers exited. They aimed them at the Church and fire blazed out from their weapons and enflamed the Church.

Fire began to spread all over the Church; pieces of the roof began to cave in, causing flames to start from the inside. I could feel the intense heat like a slap to the face, I had to cover my head with my arms and look away.

The Black Ops grabbed me by the shoulder and began to lead me away. I swatted his hand and pushed him away, they all instantly aimed their weapons at me, and I did so likewise.

“Hold your fire,” Jake told them, getting in between them and I.

“Put the gun down boy!” one of them ordered.

“How about you put it down,” I spat.

“How about we all put it down, this isn’t the time to be doing this,” Jake said to all of us.

My finger was itchy; I wanted so badly to pull the trigger, to get pay back for my father. But that would most certainly mean my death and probably that of Jake too.

“I’ll kill them later,” I thought.

Reluctantly, I lowered my pistol. Jake grabbed my arm and hurried me away towards the Humvee. One of the Black Ops slapped the rear of the Humvee and Jake began to drive away.

“What was that?” Jake asked, annoyed.

I looked out the window and didn’t respond, Jake wouldn’t understand.

“You could have gotten killed; these guys don’t give a shit if you’re a kid. They would have shot you dead if I hadn’t been there you know that? You need to be more careful about what you do and you need to think about what you say and do around them. They don’t play around, they could kill anyone they want and they would have no one to answer to. The E.C.S is above the law when it comes to these kinds of things,” Jake lectured.

“I don’t care, they would have deserved it anyway,” I said.

“Why, what did the E.C.S do to you?” He asked.

I wanted to tell him what had happened, what I had seen and learned, but I just couldn’t. I could get in big trouble for leaving the Quarantine and so could my friends.

“They are ruthless; I saw them murder a man right in front of his family. It doesn’t matter if he was infected or not, at least the people back in Maple Valley had the common courtesy to take them away and allow them to say goodbye, these assholes just murder you. Just like that… no goodbye, no discretion, no mercy,” I said angrily.

“I don’t like it either, believe me. The entire U.S military here hates the E.C.S because of their methods. But we can’t do anything about it, nothing. So if you think that you’re the only one whom sees and hates what the E.C.S does then you’re wrong,” Jake said.

“I wish I could have killed at least one of them, I would have been happy,” I said.

“Would you really, would you really have been satisfied with taking their lives?” Jake asked me.

“What’s the difference anymore, you and I have probably taken more lives these past few days than anyone else,” I argued.

“Yes, but that’s different, we needed to kill the infected to survive, that was not the case back there with the Black Ops,” Jake said.

“Death is death Jake, no matter how you justify it, it’s still murder no matter what. Infected or non-infected, there is really no difference anymore, so what’s the difference in killing a few asshole humans,” I said.

“Well would it still make you feel better?” Jake asked.

“A Life for a Life aye?” I told him.

“Well an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,” Jake said.

“Then the world has been blind for a long time,” said I.

“I’m guessing the E.C.S took someone from you?” Jake said.

I nodded. “I hate them for what they did, I hate them so much I can’t even bear it,” I told myself more than him.

But I did wonder something; would I really be satisfied with killing them (If I even succeeded in killing one)? Killing any amount of Black Ops wouldn’t bring my father back, and the E.C.S couldn’t be brought to justice because according to Jake they were above the law.

“There are infected in the city, this is just great,” Jake said.

“Well the Black Ops will take care of it. Maybe if they could focus on killing the infected and not us then maybe this virus could have been halted a lot sooner,” I told him.

“I think that the infection has affected at least 75% of Washington’s total population. There are many of the infected out there, and if it gets worse; the entire E.C.S force might enter Washington,” Jake said.

“Those things are in the Sewers too,” I said.

“Yeah, we all know that, every once in a while there is a report of sightings of the infected, then the E.C.S arrives on the scene and well you know the rest,” Jake told me.

“Yeah I do,” I replied.

“Do you want to keep on riding with me or have you had enough?” He asked me.

I didn’t want to make him feel bad, and besides the chaos that has already happened, I was having a good time.

“Sure, why not?” I replied.