Chapter Text
It's been a year since the world was overrun with the Infected. A year since the world fell apart in front of Chan’s eyes. A year since Chan has seen another living person. And a year since Chan was bitten in the middle of a crowded sidewalk with dozens of people running past him. Chan was one of the first to go. He had the misfortune of breaking his foot a few days prior, so he was stuck with crutches, and a cast and couldn’t run very far. It was a losing battle from the start.
After he turned, he ditched the crutches, but booking a doctor's appointment in this economy is hell, so he still has the cast. It’s not so bad, though; hobbling around is pretty in with the Infected crowd right now. He realized pretty early that he doesn’t experience bloodlust like his dead peers, or get hungry at all, actually. He theorizes it has to do with the plethora of pain medications he was on when he was bitten, but he doesn’t have any evidence to back that up.
There’s another…odd thing about Chan. He’s a lot more aware than he thinks he should be. Or at least more than he expected. When he got bit, his body just ached all over, and he wanted to take a nap. Compare that to the people getting bitten and immediately attacking the nearest person, and there’s some cause for questions.
So what does a strangely sentient Infected with no appetite do in the apocalypse? He doesn’t do much. Now he spends his days just…walking around. This brings him to his current situation, limping down the roads of suburbia. There are a few other Infected roaming around, but they don’t interact with Chan. He’s tried; it's like talking to a wall. He belatedly realizes he’s reaching the end of the street he’s currently on. He could continue into the woods next to the last few houses, but he would rather not be mauled by a wild animal he inevitably ends up accidentally pissing off.
Turning around it is.
He turns around and starts walking to get lost in his thoughts again. He takes two steps before he realizes.
He’s alone.
All of the Infected he passed just minutes before have vanished.
Was there a town hall meeting, and no one told me?
How didn’t he hear anything? In the back of his mind, he remembers being in school and waking up to an empty classroom because he fell asleep during class, and no one thought to wake him up. This feels eerily similar.
He hesitantly continues walking when he hears what sounds like…
…yelling?
“I swear to god if any of you get grabbed because you were too busy yapping I’m going to go feral!”
Shitshitshitshit!
Humans. Chan tends to steer clear of humans. They, understandably, don’t take a liking to him. He shuffles as fast as he can to the nearest house and gets in just as the humans round the corner onto his street. It seems to be a group of guys running from an even bigger group of Infected. At least he knows where they went now.
He sees when the group realizes the street ends—probably sharing his thoughts about going into the woods. They seem to discuss before they split off in two different directions. Three of them go toward his side of the street, and four go to the opposite side. Both groups stop and turn around once they reach the sidewalks. The infected group is nowhere near a hoard, but it's still at least double the size of their group.
Are they crazy?! They’re going to get eaten alive!
Chan eats his words when the group starts effortlessly taking out Infected left and right. They move like a well-oiled machine. They don't even have to speak to each other during the fight. In what feels like seconds, the Infected are down for the count, and the humans are the last ones standing. He keeps watching as they converge in the middle of the road, and seem to decide to hole up in a house for the night since the sun is going down. Once they leave his sight, Chan plops on the floor and thinks.
I just lost my cover.
Frankly, he sticks out like a goddamn sore thumb. He acts nothing like an Infected; he doesn’t have the vacant look in his eyes they have, and if he sees a human, he’s running the other way. Something most Infected don’t do. He sticks out even more without a group of Infected to hide in.
I'll have to wait for them to leave if I don’t want to risk getting a bullet between the eyes.