Born 01 - Born

before. I'm afraid she is going to die in the crossfire, and that I will never hear the name again.
    She is twenty-three and has a sister in the breeder farms. She got taken on the way to the towns. Probably by the same assholes who stole me in the woods.
    When I hear the truck coming, I feel a sickening panic overwhelm me. I want to tell her to abort and run like a wild woman into the woods. I don’t want to go back. It's fleeting but more powerful than any emotion I've ever felt.
    Instead, I take a deep breath and run my fingers through his thick fur for a moment. It's cathartic and brings me peace.
    I pull my arrow and line it up. Muriel sells it. She hugs herself and stumbles.
    Her dark hair is ragged and dirty. She naturally has the face of a tortured soul. She is the perfect bait.
    I see movement to the west, something I never expected to see. It's a group of them. Leo must be able to smell them or sense them. He licks his lips and makes a low growl. I turn my bow and gauge the distance. They walk with the gracefulness of a mummy. Their bodies are seizing up from the scurvy and diseases they are riddled with. How they live through it is beyond me.
    It's the largest pack I've ever seen. I put my arrow in the quiver and slide the bow over my shoulder. I look at Leo and burst into a sprint. The bushes are flying past me. I see a colorful blur in my peripheral vision. I forgot I wasn’t alone.
    "The infected. To the west. They have to die silently." I don’t shout but I speak loud enough that they can spread the word.
    At the base of the hill I scramble up a tree. Leo hides in a bush at the base, as he always does.
    I feel my tree moving as if a windstorm has taken it. I look down and see Will climbing the same large tree as I am.
    I climb faster.
    Finding a fat enough branch to sit in, I wrap my legs around it and steady myself.
    "Where?"
    I pull my arrow and bow and ready myself. Dust is starting to rise in the east. The truck is closing in on Muriel. They will see her soon.
    I steady my shot and wait. The infected don't see her yet. She has stopped and started to walk toward the truck. "Stay calm, Emma," Will whispers. I release the arrow when I think they are close enough.
    The arrow lands a few feet in front of the one I was aiming at.
    There is no breeze, thankfully. My aim was dead on. I give it a few more seconds and release the arrow I have at the ready. The arrow drops the taller one.
    Nine left.
    A scream fills the forest.
    Muriel has spotted them. She is making her own bit of dust on the gravel road. She runs fast but the infected have heard her scream. Somehow they move faster than she does. They're gaining on her.
    "Shit." Will is shaking the tree and nearly knocking me out of it as he climbs down. He jumps when he's close enough to the ground and sprints through the forest. I release another arrow as soon as he is out of the tree. Another drops.
    Eight.
    They are running fast. My next arrow misses.
    I climb down fast but by the time I reach the ground, the gunfire has filled the forest. The truck has rounded the corner.
    Leo and I run for the disaster the infected have created.
    I want to run away. I've made the mess in front of me.
    I push my legs. When I arrive, the truck is pulled over and Muriel is being dragged behind it. Guns are firing like mad. Bullets come from the truck and the forest. No one notices at first that the infected are running hard for the truck.
    "Holy shit, Blake," A man shouts and one of the others turns to the infected. He shoots his automatic weapon and drops them to the their knees. They crawl and drag themselves. I pull an arrow. From the woods, I hit the man in front of the truck in the eye. He drops a massive gun.
    I fire another arrow but I miss the man holding Muriel by the throat. He drags her to the far side of the truck.
    Four men with guns surround the huge white truck. Bullets are being sprayed into the woods. I hear the bullets knocking on the trees around me. I duck and wait. My heart is pounding in my throat.
    The truck door opens and Muriel screams for a second. The closing door cuts her screams short.
    "Let's go," one of the others shouts.
    The truck drives away but the bullets still pelt the forest. When I glance up, I see the bullets come from the man standing on the side of truck holding onto the mirror and shooting as the truck speeds away.
    I cover my eyes and wait for the panic to subside.
    I am tackled and thrown to the ground.
    Fingers grip my