Continuing through the woods, my senses were on high alert. I wasn't alone, I just hoped it was the wildlife. More twigs snapping ahead of me, I stop. Moments later I hear that moan, the sound of primal hunger, wherever it was it found me. Stealth no longer a factor, I grab my handgun. Checking the clip I find I have ten rounds left, hopefully there weren't that many around. Darting from tree to tree, I check for any figures in the distance. So far I see nothing, but I continue my search. Spotting one shuffling around to my left, I aim and fire, dropping it before it could become a threat. More moans float up throughout the woods. Definitely not alone and aware of it, I break into a run, hopping over the corpse as I continue to run for the mountains in the distance. Their moans coming from what seemed to be everywhere, I begin to panic. And that's when mistakes are made. Blindly running through the woods, I trip over root, sending me tumbling down a hill. Rolling over more roots and small bushes leave plenty of small cuts on my arms and face. But its the landing that really hurt. Rolling into a rock, I feel a rib or two crack as I come to a crashing halt. It takes everything I have to not black out, but the thought of being eaten in my sleep is worse that the pain. Slowly getting up I see them on the hill I was on a moment ago. Mindlessly they fall downhill, faring worse than I did. I limp away from my fall alive, in pain but alive.
My ribs were killing me, I felt like maybe death was not such a bad idea. Stumbling out of the woods I come to a town, nestled between the hills and what I could only hope were the Rocky Mountains. "I'm not ready for another firefight. Not with these wounds, but I need supplies and I have no other choice. "Man up, you aren't going to get any better complaining." Hearing that voice put things in perspective. Walking down the main road I begin to think out loud. "I'm going to need something to deal with this pain, a quick fix for these ribs, and somewhere to stay. I haven't slept in almost two days." Thinking about the lack of sleep made me feel even sleepier. Hobbling down the road I take in my surroundings and find something out of place. Towns are hot spots, yet there were more undead in the woods. Not to mention the buildings here. I almost didn't notice it at first, but every other building had its ground floors completely boarded up. I suddenly get the feeling I'm being watched. I put up my gun and switch to my machete, as much intelligent movement I could make the better. I just couldn't shake the feeling of being watched...through a scope. Making my way into the town that feeling intensifies. Looking up after clearing the streets, I see nothing but I still cant be too sure. Continuing my walk through I find a supermarket that looks relatively untouched. Walking in I see the shelves have been wiped out, there is no power in the building, but thankfully its still light out. walking towards the back I see what I'm looking for. A pharmacy, relief from the pain is in sight. I walk around the counter and begin looking at the pills behind the shelf. Going through the bottles I realize I know nothing about them. So I opt to grab a paper bag and dump as much as I could. On my way out I see a few other things I could use. Grabbing a few first aid kits and a few ace bandages I make my way out of the store, only to be greeted by a trio of people. Guns cocked and ready to fire. "Are....are these yours? Look, I don't want any trouble, ill be on my way.." In too much pain to fight, I drop the bag. Surprisingly the girl in the middle steps forward and grabs the bag, handing it to me. "Come on, follow us." I grab the bag, shocked it didn't end in me getting robbed of everything I owned or murdered. I grab my sack of goodies and follow them a few streets down.
heh. So I did good?" Looking for a place to rest, she steers me towards a lawn chair set up on the corner of the roof. after getting me in the chair, she asks me a few questions about my chest. "When you landed did you hear a crack of sorts? How long have you been going with this injury?" I retell the story of how I ended up in the woods, alone and running like a frightened rabbit. Reliving the fall down hill I show her where I landed on the rock. Then I heard her say something I know was strictly medical but it still made me both laugh and blush. "I'm going to need you to take your shirt off so I can see where you landed." My first attempt to raise my arms over my head was very painful. Unable to do so, I ask her for a knife. Id rather cut my shirt off than feel that again. After getting the shirt off I see how bruised and cut I really was. My ribs were a dark purple and there were small cuts all over my arms and face. There go my good looks. Taking two fingers she pressed around the bruise, no pain there at least, I thought. "I know this is going to sound stupid, but I'm going to need to check the bruise. I'm sorry." She reaches for the center of the purple mass and gently touches where my rib is. The pain is unimaginable, I cry out in pain. Begging for her to knock me out for this part. "Come on, don't be such a baby. I'm going to look in the bag you brought us for some painkillers, then I'm going to wrap your chest up. I suggest you stay here for a few days. If anything we would gladly accept another pair of living hands." rifling through the bag of pills, she finds the pills she needs. Continuing as she poured a few out of the bottle, she begins to crush them. "Now I don't have access to an IV so the next fastest way to get these to work is if you snort them. The faster they kick in the faster I can get you bandaged up and get you some sleep." Sleep sounded good, but not being in pain sounded even better. She crushed the pills into a fine powder and summoned me over to the pile. "Bon appetite" I say as I inhale the painkiller. After I finish the pile I feel like my nose is going to burn and fall off. I keep rubbing it in hopes of killing the burn. After I finish spazzing out and potentially embarrassing myself in front of one the cutest girls left in the world, she sits down next to me. "You survived this far on your own? You must be exhausted." Now, maybe its because I hadn't eaten a real meal these past few days and the meds were kicking in faster. Or that I'm socially awkward when I find myself talking to someone as cute but my words were coming out....jumbled. "No, you see... I was in Tennessee first then. Uhh, yeah I got on a helicopter." I need to shut up, I'm making a fool out of myself. "Interesting, I see the pills have kicked in. That was faster than I thought." she laughed a little at my failed attempt of storytelling. She takes this opportunity to take the ace bandage to my chest, feeling only a mild pressure as she wrapped me up tight. "Come on, lets get you somewhere to rest. Well leave your equipment here for now." She helped me to my feet, which seemed like they were jello. "Wa..wait. I need my smokes!" I sound like a drunken idiot, but they seemed important. Walking on unsteady feet, I find my bag and pull a fresh pack out of the carton and open it up, too fucked up to bother with packing it. I light up and take one look at her before slurring, pointing in her general direction. "I think you're cute." Smiling she leads me across a bridge onto another roof. "Alright stud, lets get you some sleep. Lets see if you say that waking up."
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