If I close my eyes, they will go away...
The boy was crouched, cowering behind the closet door. Outside he could hear the shuffling, sliding THUMP! of heavy movements. He could smell a scent of streptomyces, clinging to their tattered clothing. They had come from the forest. He could visualize the broken bacteria in their brain, causing them to rake their nails along the walls.
Why did they launch those laboratories anyways? No one needs to be messing around, manipulating microbes. The boy waited until the sounds had passed, and slithered towards the window. He could see a glow coming from the other building, where his best friend lived.
He is still alive. Deftly he climbed out the window sill and slid down his drain pipe. From the streets he could hear car alarms scream for notice; the mutants' bodies slamming into them as they
swayed past. He darted across the damp lawns towards the small building in front of him.
"Nate, you there?" He whispered up into the slightly opened window. Suddenly it jerked open and a boy tumbled out onto the space in front of him. Nate stood up and brushed off the slimy grass.
"It's the laboratory isn't it. They have finally fucked up more than they can control." Nate's eyes narrowed as he spat out his words. The boy shook his head in agreement. Together they silently moved along the trails they knew so well. They could hear the death cries of citizens echo throughout the streets. Nate shuddered at the thought of being savored by the infested mutants mouths. The boy froze, focused on a flicker of shadow in the distance. It shuffled closer, saliva and veins dripping
from it's open orifice.  They can smell us   They watched as it stretched what was left of it's fingers towards them.
The boy unsheathed his knife, the virgin steel had never sliced anything but practice targets. Nate looked nervously at him. The boy knew, these were not zombies, but horridly altered humans. Slit a throat, and they will bleed out like a body should.
He paced towards the mutant, panting lightly, pursuing his prey. Once close enough, he dodged a swipe and kicked in the mutant's knees with a CRACK. As it fell, he slid his blade across it's neck. The mutant lay twitching as it's blood pooled in the alley's pavement, letting out a gurgled scream as it went still. Nate stood shocked. The boy motioned him forward. we have no time to lose.
Nate knew where they were going; their old fort in the forest. By now the mutants would have filtered into the town, leaving the laboratory behind in the search for human stench.
"What if they are still waiting there?" Nate was shaking, still thinking of the flesh-tearing demise that comes from a bad encounter. He was always weaker The boy glared at Nate, not answering him.
"We keep moving. If you are scared, look for stars. That always calms you down." The boy glanced at the sky above them as he consoled Nate. the horror it has seen, watching over us  They reached the outskirts of the forest, brush growing thicker and thorns scratching their skin. The boy did not notice, darting between the bushes. Nate stumbled behind, complaining about the lack of comfort. Dawn was nowhere near, and their eyes adjusted the best they could to the darkness. Every tree root seemed to be there to trip them, and the moss didn't mute their footsteps like the boy had hoped it would. Soft moans reverberated in the air around them. The streams were saturated with sticky substances. The thirst began to scratch at their throats, stomachs growled from hunger. As Nate began to again burden the boy with all his fears, the cabin emerged in a clearing. Home sweet home  Nate rushed past him, nearly knocking the boy  to the ground. As he ran towards it, a series of shrieks flooded the forest around them. Nate stopped abruptly, trembling in fear. The boy moved forward hesitantly. Multiples of mutants made their way towards them. From all sides, they surrounded the clearing with animalistic groans and clawing limbs.  Tighter and tighter they enclosed a circle around Nate and the boy. Nate started screaming, babbling broken sentences and prayers to the unhearing herds. The boy judged the distance to the cabin, knowing that inside was filled with enough rations and defenses to keep someone safe long enough for the crisis to
be contained. ad astra per aspera The boy slowly palmed the piece of metal. Nate gasped, and the boy unstuck the knife from his spine. Nate dropped to the ground paralyzed and the boy kicked him over onto his back. He stared up at his best friend in disbelief, the shifted his view to the blackness above. Shame the stars aren't here to watch him go
The boy sprinted towards the cabin as the mutants were distracted with Nate's body on the ground. He heard the ripping, slurping, and cracking of bones mingled with Nate's final futile vocalizations of agony. He slammed the door, bolted it and set all the barricades. They had built it together, but the boy knew it was never meant for two.  As he sat, finger-painting the floor with Nate's blood, he breathed a content sigh of his safety. His preparation and planning for the past few months had payed off. From his peephole he could see that Nate's body had been almost fully consumed.
There would be barely a trace left of him by morning.
It's the journey of a life
Fix my eyes on the sun
What have I done

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