Kenopsia - Chapter 30: Chapter 30

I looked at my map.
So much I still haven't explored.
"I am going out."
"Where?"
"Out!" I snapped, not in the mood to be questioned. "Will I need to keep reminding you that I own Rain-point? I am the boss, I decide and you have nothing to say.... Now I'll be going out, you can too but I am going out alone."
I left, jogging even if it was tiring, when I am not in danger it is the best time to train a bit.
I jogged further then I thought I would, stopping near the soccer stadium.
I walked around the still set up portable metal fencing to make a winding line into the stadium, maybe we could carry this home and block off a part of the outside, giving us more living space where we are sure no husks' wondered into between our visits.
I walked inside and hopped over the ledge and onto the fake grass of the field.
I marched to the middle and put my foot on the ball left near it.
I closed my eyes, conjuring up to sounds of a match, the cheering crowd, ball bouncing, the announcer.
"Where have the months gone?" I asked, opening my eyes as I backed up before taking a running start and I kicked the ball with all my strength in a straight line.
I watched it bounce unimpeded and finally roll into the goal.
"Wow!" I threw my arms up and sprinted over.
I picked up the ball in my hands and sighed, how much of humanity will remain if we survive? How much will be lost forever?
"So many things will never be known.... How funny that I remember this quote, 'I don't know with what weapons world war three will be fought but I know that world war four will be fought with sticks and stones'... Who'd have known world war three would have been humanity against the dead? No one.... It was as likely as bird growing teeth."
I bounced the ball as if it was basketball.
I looked up at the caw I heard, expecting a raven.
"Yuck." I shivered.
It WAS a raven but.... Off...
I rose a brow, holding the ball so it wasn't bouncing.
There was something with it that was not normal.
In its beak it held something, wet and dripping of blood, a piece of meat.
Then it cawed at me and the flesh flapped, alive.
I backed up from the bird watched it fall off its perch before standing and it flew at me.
I threw the ball at it and it got smacked down, that weird flesh reaching for me, was that shit its tongue?!
The bird shook off the hit.
"It fucking grew teeth!!" I yelled even if it was more of a grotesque, prehensile tongue that dripped blood.
I ran, hearing wings flapping, NOT TAKING RISKS!!!
I vaulted over the wall between the field and the spectator area and ducked behind it, picking up a discarded selfie stick and swung.
Blood splattered on my face and lucky me my mouth was closed or I'd have gotten it in it too.
The bird twitched on the ground and jerked, still alive.
I stood and looked around, finding an unopened plastic bottle and cleaned my face off.
"It infects animals now?" I asked in a worry as it meant my worries with Whiskers were well founded.
I walked back to the bird and took a deep breath before stomping its brains out.
I wiped my foot on the ground, the long deformed tongue still twitching for a while.
"Raven's eat corpses no?"
Dread struck me.
I told myself I should be burning bodies but never took to time for most even if now there were parts of the city smelling of decay because of that, making me want to do that even less.
But if a raven was in this state, it feasted on a corpse that was infected, there can't be another way, Whiskers was not infected so it must be by eating that is transmitted through the animals, they do tend to abandon weak or sick members of their species to die....
"I need to burn every last one of them." I muttered in mounting terror as to what new danger I might have created by slacking off on burning bodies. "I need to burn every last one of them."