"You think you're going to sneak in my room and get away with it?" Rufus questioned David as he carried him into his cabin.
"I...I...I just got lost." David lied as he was trying to plead for his safety.
"What I hate more than sneaks are liars."
"But I'm..." David began.
"Now it's time for you to go to sleep." And Rufus struck David right in head with the back of his hand knocking David out instantly. Rufus smiled as he lifted David's limp body in the air.
***
"You're a natural." Bradley said to Sarah as they enjoyed a snack up in the tree tops. "I've never seen someone adapt to tree dashing to quickly and so effortlessly."
"Thanks. I tried my best." Sarah responded taking a bite out of her sandwich. All of a sudden Bradley became serious as he shifted his body to face Sarah. Startled, she shifted back a bit almost losing her balance but catching herself in time.
"We attack tonight." Bradley said.
"Excuse me?"
"I mean...not attack...but infiltrate. I know you're ready. You know, Breanna's camp."
"We're just going to rescue my friends right?" Sarah asked.
"Of course." Bradley replied, grinning slightly when Sarah looked away.
***
The other three survivors sat in the cabin as Breanna went over the game plan.
"So most of the people in Bradley's camp defected from your camp and followed him?" JC asked.
"We started as one camp after the zombie breakout. We were together when it happened...with our parents." Breanna said.
"What happened?"
"There is no need to divulge into that." Breanna said. "We need to focus on getting your friend back. Here is the rest of the plan..."
The group sat and listened for the next hour.
"So you guys got the plan?" Breanna asked. The three survivors nodded as they looked at each other in agreement. The door opened and several people walked in with weapons ready and their faces camouflaged. "They will be joining us tonight. They've all been debriefed and are the best soldiers in my camp. There is no way we won't be able to get your friend back. Just no way...Where is Rufus?"
***
David slowly woke up, blinking his eyes to refocus. The room was dark although he could see strands of sunlight peaking through the curtains. His head hurt as if he was hit by a bus and his body felt heavy. Everything was still a bit foggy as he head throbbed. He could hear mumbling a few feet away from him but he couldn't see who it was. His eyes felt heavy and David thought rubbing them would clear them up. He tried to lift up his hand and instantly realized he was tied up. Panic stricken he begun to flail and noticed his legs were also bound and tied to a wooden board on the floor. A heavy laugh permeated through the room as a few other chuckles joined in. David craned his neck as far up as he could and saw several dark robed figures around him with blood red candles lit encircling his body on the floor. One man stepped forward, a small hunched frame, his head covered in a pointed hood, and stood over David's immobile body carrying a leather bound text.
"Diabolus ortum. Accipere viventium ad infernum. Ut immortui ambulare inter nos. Ut sunt vincere lux." The man chanted.
David panicked even more but struggling did nothing. He tried to scream but no noise came out. The man pulled a long silver dagger from his robe as he read more from the text.
"Meum sanguinem est sanguine. Ut aperire in denigrata flumen. Ut eam suscipiat malum in corda. Sit malum effundam in nobis ... ut eam tenebrescere animae."
The man pulled back a sleeve and made a slit on his forearm with the silver knife. Another robed figure rushed forward to catch the crimson blood that flowed out of the hunched figure with a wooden bowl. He took the bowl from the other and walked over to David, kneeling by his head.
"You will drink this." The robed figure said. David began to weep as he tightened his mouth to try and stop it although he knew it was futile. The robed figure chortled. "It'll make you strong." He said.
Two more robed figures approached David and both sat down kneeling by his arm. They each took out a bowl filled with a dark substance and a long thin rod with a steel nail tied to the end.
"Hold still and it won't hurt." They both said as they rolled up David's shirt sleeves.
They both dipped the tip of the nail into the black substance and started to pound it into David's arm using a tiny hammer-like instrument. David winced as the motion felt like a million tiny needles piercing into his skin. They continued at it for another five minutes and stepped away when they finished. David screamed in agony and the hunched figure took it as an opportunity to pour a bit of blood into David's mouth. He tried to spit it out but the man held his jaw shut until he had no choice but to swallow.
The door burst open and someone rushed in. "Breanna's looking for the rest of us! We're attacking tonight!"
"What?" The hunched figure stood up. "We haven't finished the ceremony."
"There is no time Dmitri, we need to clean this up before we are discovered." A voice David recognized as Rufus. "We need to hurry. I will go out and distract them. Get the boy up and keep him from talking." Rufus said and rushed out the door after ripping his robe off and tossing it on the ground.
"Don't you worry." The man took his hood off revealing his old wrinkled face with a gray stringy beard that fell down beneath his robe. He squeezed David's face with his bony hand and looked at him directly in his eyes -- his eyes were both a different color. "You utter a single word about this and you will die." Dmitri said. "Got it?" David nodded furiously. "Not a word."
***
"There you are Rufus. That took a while. Where were you?" Breanna asked.
"I was leading a few of the younger people how to properly store the stream water we collected."
"That is fine. I hope you are informed of our mission tonight."
"Yes ma'am." Rufus bowed his head. "I will prepare everyone to head out come sunset. We will be ready by nightfall."
"Good. I knew I could always count on you." Breanna said. Rufus hid a small grin and excused himself.
"We're going to get Sarah back tonight." JC said to the others.
"Finally...and maybe we'll be able to figure out what that zombie-like creature we stumbled across was." Mel said.
"And maybe get the hell out of here..." Jiko said. "Something about this all gives me the creeps."
"Yeah, we should go check on David...that lucky bastard is probably just sleeping in the cabin without a care in the world." JC said.
"Don't worry...we'll just have him carry our things tonight." Mel said. The three of them laughed in agreement.
David was tossed back into his cabin dripping sweat all over his face. With all the fear and confusion for a moment he forgot that he had been branded with something on his arms. He rolled up his sleeve and noticed a symbol tattooed.
"Holy shit..." David said when he realized it was the exact first symbol of the zombie-like creature they had found in the woods. What would have happened to him if they had finished their ceremony? He didn't want to think about it nor would he have time to think about it because come nightfall neither camp knew they would be clashing with one another...and neither camp knew how much blood would be spilled that night.
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