Two Alive, стр. 1

TWO ALIVE

Jeremiah W. Jonez

Chapter 1

Staring through the scope of an old Dragunov sniper rifle with a deadly accuracy, Miles tracked a deer bounding through the woods. He treated that weapon like it was his favorite toy even though it was the real deal. He already knew a lot about it from using it in video games like Call of Duty, so when he found it a few years back and the old man said he could keep it, he was juiced. Since that first day to now, Miles had become a crack shot and was more than able to pick off a deer no more than a hundred meters out. He was only thirteen years old but the old man taught him how to use the rifle proficiently. He took his time. He watched the doe come to a slow trot once it stopped sprinting. He took a deep breath and held it as he prepared to fire.

Then four loud bangs came from his right side. He looked up at Antonio, standing there with a stupid grin on his face. He caught the animal with his third and fourth shot but it was so sloppily done.

“Got it!” Antonio laughed and took off down the hill to get his kill.

Miles sighed and stood up from the patch of dead leaves he was kneeling on. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and looked around the woods mindfully. It was still quiet and serene with trees as tall as skyscrapers all around them. Leaves were falling and the ground was carpeted with red, orange and brown foliage. Miles met his brother when he got to the deer and Antonio was dancing over the dying animal with his hunting knife in hand. He dropped down to one knee and put it out of its misery.

The two boys were wearing shirts tucked in their fatigued jeans and their jeans were tucked into their boots. On top of all that, they had on bulletproof vests and police riot gear. Both Miles and Antonio were clad in what looked like armor when they went hunting or left the hideaway. Miles wore a bandana around his head that covered his ears and kept his earbuds in and Antonio wore a dark beanie. The two looked like special ops army recruits out on a mission. Antonio was older than Miles by five or six years but Miles sometimes couldn’t remember. But Antonio had no problem reminding him he was nineteen and no one could tell him he wasn’t a grown ass man with his small patch of peach fuzz on his chin. Miles had a budding mustache but knew it wasn’t anything to brag about.

When Miles got down the hill he sighed and said, under his breath, “You wasted too many bullets.”

Antonio heard him and rolled his eyes with a deep sigh, “I got him didn’t I?”

“I coulda got him. I had him lined up. The old man always says get your shot and take your shot. Don’t waste bullets.”

“Man, I got him. That’s all that matter. He wouldn’t be trippin’. All that matter is we eatin’ tonight! Ha haah! Yeah baby! Yeah! Yeah!” Antonio was shouting and hooting. It made Miles uneasy.

“Stop being so loud.” Miles looked around again and it was still quiet. Then he looked back down at the deer and noticed something on its hind leg. “It got an infection on it.”

Antonio looked at it, “That’s on the leg though. See I’ma just cut that off.”

“You can’t cut that off. It probably spread.”

“It ain’t spread. I’ma cut the leg off and its still gon be good.”

“No it ain’t. The old man wouldn’t eat that. He would tell us not to risk it. Its no good.”

“Yeah it is! Look, it ain’t even that much on the leg. It’s coo. Stop bitchin’ and whinin’ and shit! Damn, you just mad cuz I got it and you didn’t.”

Miles sucked his teeth, “I ain’t whinin’. The old man wouldn’t eat it. I ain’t eatin it.”

“Oh my gooodddd! Fine, then I’ma eat it by myself then!”

A screaming moan came out from behind the trees and Miles spun around with his rifle raised. Antonio held his knife up at the ready and looked around. A straggler came stumbling alone through the trees.

“Look, you being hella loud! I told you.” Miles complained and put the gun back over his shoulder when he felt the threat wasn’t that serious.

“Man, shut up. You got him, or you want me to do it?” Antonio chopped at the deer’s back foot and began hacking the thing off.

“I got him.” Miles was already heading towards the dark looking man who looked lost and disoriented. He pulled a knife from his side and followed the stranger.

The man thrashed about and whipped his head from side to side. He moaned and barked with no real awareness of his surroundings. Probably because his face was so beat in that his eyes were swollen shut. He was wearing decent clothes, so he might have been from a group nearby. Miles also recognized the beginning stages of the LRS-10 virus that was turning this man, like so many others before him, into a raving lunatic out for blood. Miles whistled to get the man to turn after him and when the creature snapped around to the sound, Miles ducked behind a tree to whistle again.

The man stumbled towards the tree with a blind hunger, extending his arms to grab whatever was in front of him. Miles snuck around the tree to his backside and swiftly plunged his knife into the man’s head. He broke through the skull with one shot and the infected man went down easy. Miles then went through his pockets looking for anything useful.