Virulence Immune

~ Chapter Forty ~

Heart racing, ears pounding, blood trickled down Perri's neck from her right ear where the shot had grazed her.

She whirled around to see where the bullet had originated, and her eyes fell upon her best friend.

Madi looked down to a red stain, below her collarbone, slowly spreading through the fabric of her filth-grey shirt. She looked back up to meet Perri's shocked stare.

"Perri?" Madi whispered through trembling lips.

But before she could say another word, a second gunshot sounded, and a chunky red goo was splattered over Perri's face.

Scrunching up her face in reaction to being sprayed in the face with blood and who knows what else, Perri was quick to bring her hands up to wipe it from her eyes.

When she opened her eyes, her best friend had a messy, bloody hole in her face.

Madi's lifeless body slumped to the ground.

And once she was out of the way, in the distance, Perri saw Holloway cocking the rifle in his hands. His throat still noticeably bloody from where she had bitten him.

The moment seemed to stand still, as if even the universe was in shock.

Just then, all the infected shifted in Holloway's direction simultaneously, causing him to back up.

"No!" Perri called out, to everyone's surprise, and the infected obeyed her immediately.

She stared daggers at Holloway before shouting, "You should be dead!"

The infected looked him over as he lowered his rifle and began to walk toward Perri, through the aisle which was now significantly thinner.

The infected would occasionally snarl at him as he passed them.

Perri moved in front of her friends, to put herself between them and Holloway, and Luke stepped in close behind her.

Holloway didn't stop until he'd walked right up to Perri. Uncomfortably close.

From that distance, Perri could see the death in his eyes, the coagulated blood that had clotted around his gaping neck hole.

"I did die." He rasped with a dry, hoarse voice.

Behind Perri, Luke slyly pushed something into her hand without Holloway taking notice. She knew immediately what it was.

"How are you not like the other infected?" Gavin asked when he saw what Luke was doing and thought to help by distracting Holloway.

"Things are changing." Holloway replied without taking his eyes from Perri. "I am evolved."

"What happened to your precious cure?" Perri spat.

Holloway's lips twisted to form a half-hearted smile. "My new state of being is the true cure." After a purposeful pause, Holloway added, "Wouldn't you like to join me?"

"I'm sure it's lovely—" Perri said rather plainly.

"Oh, it is." Holloway commented.

"—but—"

"But what?" Holloway frowned.

Then, in a flash of movement, Perri thrust the knife, that Luke had handed to her, into Holloway's abdomen.

He grunted at the pressure and involuntarily bent forward latching onto Perri's shoulders for support in order to catch himself. His rifle clattered to the ground.

"—you shouldn't have killed my best friend." Perri whispered to him.

She then turned the blade and yanked it horizontally across his belly before wrenching the blade from his flesh.

Stepping aside to let him fall to his hands and knees, Perri only stared as he held one hand to his open gut.

Miserably trying to hold his rank intestines, that now lay on the ground, Holloway couldn't stop himself and began to chuckle. "You are even more of a monster than I am. You know tha—"

Before he could finish, Luke shot him in the back of the head.

"What a dick." Luke said before giving Perri a curt nod and sincere smile.

The group looked up, from Holloway's corpse, to the infected gathered around them.

Perri couldn't help but feel like things were finally over. It was finally the end of all the death. 

But, there was still one last thing to do.