Iain was practically a celebrity in Acttio. He was attractive, kind, funny, young, and strong—very strong. I had never spoken to him directly, but from what I could tell, he was a good guy. Every time I saw him walking around town, he always had an honest and beautiful smile on his face. Therefore it was unnerving to see him so serious.
Iain wasn't smiling; instead, he glared at the Infected. A chill ran down my back as I watched him. Suddenly, I completely forgot about the Infected that had almost killed me moments prior. All my attention was focused on Iain Auct, the number one officer in the city.
The Infected was still bleeding from the arm, but it let out a bellowing roar and charged at Iain. Iain didn't move at all. Within seconds, the Infected closed the distance between them, lifting its hammer high as it assaulted Iain with a barrage of furious attacks. If any other officer had been sent here, surely this attack would have ripped them apart. However, Iain wasn't "any other officer."
With pure ease, Iain was able to dodge every single swing—right, left, down, up—it didn't matter. Iain was able to avoid them all. In desperation, the Infected took one more heavy swing at Iain's head. In response, Iain skillfully took a step back, completely avoiding the attack. He then lifted his gun and took two shots at the Infected's wrist, blowing off its hand completely, hammer and all.
The Infected moaned in pain, giving Iain the opening he needed. He fired at the Infected's head... BLAM. BLAM. BLAM. After the third bullet, the Infected's head was completely blown off. Iain let out a soft sigh and slowly began reloading his gun. While doing so, he turned towards me with a smile on his face.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he approached me, still loading bullets into his gun. "Oh, yeah, I'm okay. Thank you for saving me," I replied. "Ah, it's no problem. I'm just glad that you're..." Before Iain could finish his sentence, a giant fist slammed into his chest, sending him and his gun flying.
"Iain!" I yelled out his name before he hit the ground. Now standing before me was a beheaded and bloody Infected. Upon seeing it like this, I finally realized that what Iain was fighting was never an Infected. It had been a parasite!
"Oh shit, shit, shit. That means we have to find the tiny parasite and kill it!?" I panicked. "It could be anywhere in the body. How are we supposed to find it!?" Fear consumed me, and I couldn't move. The Parasite let out another roar before swinging its fist directly at my face. The punch came in slow motion, yet it happened in an instant. Truth be told, I don't know what happened or what I told myself in that second. You never truly realize how much can change in an instance. Right before the fist was about to connect, I ducked down, completely dodging the attack. After dodging that one attack, all the fear that was in my body vanished. It was like pulling the plug from a bathtub.
Then the image of the gun falling out of Iain's hands came back to mind. I frantically scanned the town square, hoping to see it. After two or three brief scans, I finally spotted it. The distance between me and the gun was hardly 20 feet. I could reach it! The parasite wasn't done yet, as it followed up the punch with a kick directed at me. Because I wasn't frozen in fear, I was able to dive to the side, nearly avoiding the kick. Then, with all my energy, I sprinted towards the gun.
I could hear the Parasite chasing behind me, but at this point, I couldn't care less. If I got that gun, I could end this! Fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet, one foot!" I lowered my hand to the ground, and somehow—I reached it! The gun was secure in my right hand, fully loaded. Then, using all my weight, I shifted my body towards the Parasite. Because I shifted my body so fast and was running beforehand, I fell backwards while aiming, but it didn't matter. I won... BLAM! BLAM!
The two bullets soared through the air before piercing the Parasite's left leg, sending it crashing into the ground. I also crashed into the ground, falling on my back, while the parasite fell on its face—or what was left of its face. But who cares, I won.
I slowly rose to my feet and watched as the parasite screamed and writhed on the ground, almost like a baby throwing a fit. "H-hey..." Iain limped toward me, calling out to me. He was holding his chest. "Iain!" I ran towards him. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry. If I hadn't been in your way, you would've never gotten hurt." Iain let out a chuckle. "Enough of that. You saved my life. I thank you." I felt a warm feeling in my chest when he said this. It was weird.
I spoke up again. "N-no problem, uh, more importantly, this guy is a parasite. That's why it was able to survive even though you blasted its head off. I was able to hit it, so it shouldn't be moving anymore. All we have to do now is find the actual parasite and kill it." "I see." Iain lifted his pointer finger to his chin before looking at me straight in the eyes.
"What's your name?" he confidently asked with a smile on his face. I was caught off guard by this but I quickly blurted out my name. "Uh, Eve Loah." Iain looked pleased. "Nice to meet you, Eve Loah. My name is Iain Auct!" (I knew that). He extended his hand, so out of obligation, I extended mine, and we shook hands. I thought to myself that it was a little strange that we introduced ourselves right here, right now, but it seemed like Iain Auct was a strange person, so I left it at that.
"Sorry, Eve, but is it alright if I borrow that for a second?" he pointed to his gun in my hands. "Of course, this is YOUR gun. Sorry for using it without permission!" I quickly handed it over to him. He lifted his gun and fired the eight remaining shots into the parasite. "ARRRGHHH," the parasite moaned and groaned, desperately trying to get up. "Alrighty then," Iain reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, clear plastic baggie full of blue pellets. "What are those?" I asked, squinting my eyes. "Oh, these are special bullets." Iain loaded one of the bullets into his gun. "Just watch."
Iain raised his gun one last time... BLAM! As soon as the bullet connected with the parasite, I heard a small hissing noise coming from the body. After about five seconds, the hissing was gone, and the body started to crumble. Little by little, the body faded away, and in about five minutes, the body turned to dust...