Insanity Chapter 9

George...

Once I see her and Scout disappear I stand up, moving to the staircase I can see hiding behind a number of chairs that have been placed there, in a very bad attempt to barricade it.
Once I manage to climb over the chairs I touch the top of my revolver for a reassuring feeling.  I left my shotgun in the car, as I noticed I only have a couple of bullets left.

The stairs groan in objection of my weight as I carefully climb to the top.
The top floor is made from wood too, with five doors leading to other rooms.  The door closest to me I notice has five locks, holding it securely closed.  
"What the hell happened here?"  I mumble as I glance at the other doors, each of them either barred with wood or drowned in locks.  My hand traces over the door frame, it has recently been opened.
I take hold of my revolver before gently shoving my left shoulder into the door.  The large wooden door creaks open and I am instantly met with a foul rotting smell.
I shove my nose into my upper arm before continuing into the room.
It is well lit with sunlight streaming through numerous broken windows.  I glance at the bed standing a few meters away from me, I can see someone laying underneath the thick blue coverings, but by the smell I already know that who ever this was, they are dead now.  Carefully I edge closer before throwing the coverings back with the end of my pistol.

The skeleton laying in the bed is that of a small child, no older than eight.  Its bones are a dark yellow and brown mixture resting on scraps of sand and cloths.  I was about to turn away when I notice something strange.  I lean forward to get a better look at the object tightly squeezed between the child's small hands.  I place my revolver on the bed before trying to lift the small doll from the child's hands, but even in death she refuses to let go.  I notice now the doll is wearing a black hoodie with dark blue jeans.  As I manage to retrieve the doll I notice blond hair sticking out from underneath the dark cowl.  Slowly I pull the cowl back and instantly drop it.  I stare down at the figure in shock as she seems to be an exact replica of Driana.
"What is going on here."  I whisper again as I squad down to pick it up.
As I reach toward the doll, something from underneath the bed grabs my wrist.  For a second I stare at the brown and green flesh in surprise, but then I get over the shock.  I stand up before bringing my heel down on the creature's wrist.  A gurgling howl echoes through the room as I grab my revolver before moving back towards the door.

I see a face appearing from under the bed, its eyes almost completely white and blood bubbling from its mouth.  Without hesitation I aim and shoot.  The bullet hits what once was a man right between the eyes, but it only slows it down for a few seconds.  I continue to move backwards, until I am out of the room and across the corridor.  The creature has managed to stand up now and is hurling itself towards me in an awkward fashion like that of a drunken man.

I shoot again, once, twice and a third time, but it does little to slow the creature down.  I pull the trigger, but realise I have no bullets left.  Cursing I dig into my pocket and milliseconds later I produce a hand full of bullets.  The creature lunges at me and I dodge to the side, loading my revolver with bullets.  I glance up and for a moment I give a sigh of relieve as I notice the creature went through the door.  I finish reloading my revolver before moving towards the doorway.  Unlike the other room, this one is dark, with no visible light coming from anywhere else, but the doorway I am standing in.

Somewhere in the room I hear a vase falling, then silence again.  I frown before taking a step backward, but as soon as I do it grabs my leg, yanking it from underneath me.  Sometime before I hit the ground I hear a shot echoing through the air, undoubtedly from the revolver in my hand.
I kick the man squarely in the face before moving backwards.
"I hate farmers."  I mumble as the man only shakes his head before lunging at me again.
"To damn persistent."
I was about to kick him when something jumps on my back from behind.
I fall forwards, unwillingly letting go of my gun as pain shoots through my elbow.  

*                *                     *                       *                        *                    *

Driana…


I feel alone, scared.  It's a new feeling I have had it often, but as always Scout is right beside me, gently nudging me with her wet nose.  
"What is taking him so long?" I whisper, nervously toying with the zipper on his backpack.  A shot echoes through the house.
I freeze, not knowing what to do.  George told me to stay here, but he might need my help.
I squad down, burying my face in Scouts soft fur.  Scout gives a low growl at the cupboard standing to my left.  
"No girl, you can't be sick.  George will kill you."
Another shot echoes through the house, shortly followed by two more.
Scout gives a bark before moving back towards the way we just came.
I wipe tears out of my eyes before grabbing Georges backpack, he might need extra ammo.  For a second or two I am surprised at its weight, but I manage to drag it through the obstacles.

The moment I reach the top of the stairs I scream before dropping the bag.  There is a large affected man standing in front of George and a smaller girl sitting on his back.  Blood is draping her chest and Georges back as she stares at me.  It was natural for affected people to vomit blood and in some cases even their organs.  The girl gets off George and lunges at me.  Getting over my shock I bend down a little, getting ready for my attacker.  At the last moment I move right and with what I guess was a scream the girl tumbles down the stairs.  There is a loud snap and then silence so I glance up at the larger man, but it is too late.  One of his dirty hands grabs my wrist before hauling me against the wall.  Scout lunges at him, but her body is still weak and frail from yesterday.  I glance at George, who is weakly getting up; his left hand is placed protectively over his ribs.  The farmer turns toward me again and for the second time this week I can't breath.  The man's face comes closer to mine, I look into his eyes, they are a hazel colour, and like all affected people, he doesn't have much of a pupil.  

Instead of ripping out my throat like I thought he would he just continues to stare at me.  Something in his eyes change and for a second they look almost human again, but it was only a second…
Without me noticing George had moved closer and with a final shot the affected man drops on the ground.  George turns him around with his foot before reloading and shooting six more shots into the man's head.
"I told you to stay in the kitchen."  He growls before reloading again.

I take a deep breath before moving towards Scout who is laying motionless on the ground.  George moves into the room where I found the dead girl before retrieving his backpack which I dropped at the stairs.
"Lets go. We are leaving."
"Scouts injured."
"Then we leave her."
"No! you-" I exclaim, but before I can say anything he roughly clams his hand over my mouth.
"Shut up, you'll -"  George doesn't finish instead he glances around at the two affected climbing the stairs towards us.
A moaning sound followed by banging against two of the barred up doors proofs that they too are filled with affected.
George curses before shoving his backpack into my arms.
"Hold this."  He orders before grabbing the back of my hoodie, pulling me after him.  
I trip over my feet and I feel myself falling, but George closes his strong arms against me and the next moment I hear the sound of glass breaking.

The last thing I see is one of the two doors breaking open, affected beings pouring into the corridor.  Then blue sky.  Clear blue sky, showered by pieces of glass.  Wind rushes past my head, whipping my hair around my head.  After a second or two we hit the ground, George hit it first and I landed just beside him, squarely on my back.  
George curses before roughly pulling me to my feet.
"Get to the car."  George orders as numerous affected start to fall out of the broken window after us.  George moves towards the car, but I refuse to leave Scout.
"Scout!" I call, moving forward.
One of the affected grabs my arm, but George shoots her in the head before grabbing my hair and hauling me behind him on the ground.

"Driana, get to the car or I leave you here too."  He calls, shooting another affected as I get to my feet.
Before I can reply Scout jumps towards me.
"Scout!" I exclaim catching her, or at least breaking her fall.
I collapse on the ground, with Scout licking my face happily.
I fold my arms around her, completely forgetting about the numerous affected making their way towards us.
George pulls Scout out of my arms before pulling me up.
"Great the mutt's alive, lets go."
He mumbles before starting to run towards the car, I quickly follow, deciding that he was serious about leaving me behind.

Once we reach the car George throws his backpack onto the backseat before climbing into the driver's seat.  Scout jumps in the back and I close the door before getting into the passenger seat.
George turns on the car before clipping on his seatbelt.  Before I can clip on mine we are acceleration back onto the main road.

After a while I clip on my seatbelt, George is completely silent, he is not usually a talkative person, but this silence was almost unbearable.  
"George… are you mad at me?" I finally say, breaking the silence.
"Yes."  He replies.
"I'm sorry." I whisper.
George slams on the breaks, bringing the car to an abrupt stop.