Just a bite

I fumble through the thicket, my legs burning as I run They are just behind me, I can feel it. My friends, or what remains of them. They slaughtered everyone in the dorm. Everyone but me. I've always been the fastest among us, my legs the strongest.

I should have stood my ground, fight back like the others. I'm a soldier, not a damn wuss. But we all heard the brief. We can't reason them, we're weaker than them. So I ran to get help in the dead of night.

Too late, the camp was already overrun from the inside when I got out, the armory in flames. A driverless Jeep slammed through the fence. My way out. Live to see another day, live to warn someone, anyone.

My legs hurt so much, but my breath is steady. I was trained for this, advance recons need to be able to outrun any threat. And just like that, I've done it again. The forest is silent, save for my irregular breath. The horror I've just witnessed come to bite me as adrenaline flow back. I throw up yesterday's dinner. I went easy on the meat, but a whole chunk splashes on the ground. It looks raw, no wonder I had a stomachache before going to sleep.

I wipe the saliva off my chin and gather my thoughts. Returning to camp is not an option. From what I've seen, the camp is no more. As for me, I'm stranded in the middle of fucking nowhere, between hill no-name and mount don't-care, unarmed in a forest swarmed with killing machines out for blood.

In short, no way back. So I go forward. I stand back up, my legs still hurting. I need to find my way to civilisation, where doctors will fix me.

Has it been hours, or days? I'm certain I slept at some point. The legs are getting worse, and hunger came to join the party. I've not eaten since the camp, and I threw up my last meal. Talk about an empty stomach.

I smell something. Something delicious. Food! Campers, maybe? Or it may be that I'm closer than I thought, because that's the smell of a good old fast food. Beyond the treeline, I see it. It is the biggest fucking burger that I've ever seen, just laying on a picnic table. No one seems to be around. Have I stooped this low, stealing food from travellers? It won't look good on my military record, but that's only if I'm caught, right? I can't wait for whoever cooked this to come back, I feel like I can collapse at any moment. I'll take just a bite, it won't hurt anyone.

Are burgers supposed to struggle and kick? I guess so, but this one is especially feisty. It's alright, I'll leave it alone soon enough. It will be just a bite.