Wanderer (Book 1): Wanderer

and now I could see the extent of my leg injury. The metal rod was one of the chair legs that came from the pile. The blood had turned my entire left pant leg red. I knew then that the rusted leg had punctured an artery. Maybe I couldn’t heal after all.
I was too caught up in what is going on outside the windows to really care how bad I was injured or whether or not the scavengers were going to get me.
I watched the shadows flicker back and forth on the linoleum floor. Some of them were banging on the windows, others were rubbing their faces against the glass like children, leaving huge swatches of flesh and blood behind, their glazed eyes staring into mine. All of them could smell the blood pouring out of my leg.
I always said I would die before I would become like them. This wasn’t going to be easy. If only the gun hadn’t fallen out of the holster, or I had grabbed the rifle as I fell.
I let my head fall against my chest, half out of disbelief, half out of lack of energy to keep it up. I was already getting light headed and I thought that if the rod did pierce an artery I could pull it out and bleed to death in a matter of moments.
I wrapped the fingers of my left hand around the rod and I was ready to pull when I noticed my right hand sitting limp on the floor. There was a piece of cloth in it.
I remembered just before I fell grabbing on to the scavenger’s jumpsuit and it tearing as I fell. I can’t believe I’ve held on to it this whole time. There was some stitching on the back of it, it was a patch. I opened my fist to view the design and I was dismayed at what I saw, a red shield with a gold rim and a gold hammer in the center. They weren’t scavengers after all. They were the search and rescue team. Sure they could have stolen the uniforms, but I doubt it. They weren’t chasing me they were trying to save me.
I shouted for them, hoping they were still in the building. I didn’t hold much hope that they would show up.
My vision was now starting to blur. I threw the patch on the ground. It had been a few minutes and I hadn’t heard anything other than them. I shouted once more, but I was losing energy fast.
If someone were to find me down here I thought it only fair that I leave behind some sort of legacy, complete my journal and leave something that could quite possibly help them. And if the rescuers do come and I’m already dead, I’ll want them to know that I’m sorry and thank them for trying to save me.
I made my last entry in the journal. It was hard to hold the pen and stay concentrated. I hope my writing isn’t too sloppy.
After I was finished I made sure it was stowed away securely in the breast pocket of my coat. I felt something else inside the pocket and I pulled it out.
It was the rosary that was hanging from the rearview mirror of the SUV. I didn’t remember putting it in my pocket after I snatched it from its spot above the dash board.
I’ve never been a man of God and I wonder if He would even listen to me. If I even knew what to say. I don’t know how to use it, but at least He can keep me company.
A quiet sound of click clacks started from around the corner to my right. I groggily turned my head toward the noise. A small black object had appeared and was heading toward me. My vision was still blurred and I couldn’t tell what it was.
It wasn’t until it got closer that I recognized the black fur. Mandy sat next to me and proceeded to lick my face. It had only been a few hours, but I already missed her so much and seeing her now told me it was time.
The banging on the glass intensified and it started to crack under the attacks. It wouldn’t hold much longer. Mandy sat unflinching next to me. I couldn’t wait to see my family again, to catch up on all the times we missed in the last few years.
I stalled a few minutes more to see if anyone would show up, but I didn’t think they would.
I was surprisingly calm now that I’ve accepted my fate. I leaned over and gave Mandy a kiss on the top of her head.
I gripped the rusted chair leg one more time and yanked. There was a little bit of pain, but that wouldn’t matter in a second. My life really did flash before my eyes. I was bombarded by memories. The science fair. Playing with Mandy in the park when she was a puppy. My first kiss. Dad teaching me how to golf. Maybe now I’ll be able to beat him.
None of it really mattered now. I could feel the blood leaving my body. The temperature change was noticeable. The world is moving on and I take one last look at its new dominate species as my world fades to black.

Afterword
I would like to thank you for time in reading Wanderer. Hopefully you liked it.
This was my first book and much to my surprise it wasn’t easy. I had originally started out on another book (hopefully that book will be finished soon) and I had wanted something out around Christmas time of that year, but at the rate I was heading I wouldn’t have been able to finish anything on time, which in the end didn’t matter anyway. I decided to switch my attention to Wanderer in the hopes of meeting my personal deadline.
Wanderer started out as a short film and so was a fully formed idea, at least that’s what