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The cure


Zombiepupz

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Hey! I wrote another story, hopefully better than last time :P I'm gonna post it on here, mainly because this whole community is amazing and even if I don't really speak alot I think y'all ace! ;)

and because it's something to do and weeell, it IS a zombie place? right? :) Let me know what you think, or just y'know enjoy it. 

Tryin' my best to update everyday-ish. Chapter 7ish part dos coming nowwww...

 

 

 

Chp 1

 

My breath came in short bursts, forced out of my mouth at an un-natural speed. The soles of my worn trainers slap the concrete in pace with my hectic breathing, interrupted only by a trip or stumble. Still, I pushed on motivated by the grunts and growls behind me, I knew it was only a matter of time before the beasts caught up with me, but some animalistic instinct forced me to go on.  A warm, thick liquid dripped down my chin leaving a rusty red trail behind it. It was several seconds before the pain hit, the adrenaline rush numbing my senses to the point I barely recognised my teeth digging a trench in my lower lip. As the noises behind me grew louder and increasingly agitated I realised my time was running short. One more trip and I may not have the energy, or will, to pick myself back up. Keep going. Run, run, ru- My feet go out from under me, sprawling my exhausted body on the gravel.

The pain finally comes through in overwhelming spikes; the gravel gouging bloody holes in my hands, the crimson liquid dripping from my lip in streams, my heart threatening to give up as I use the last of my energy to roll onto my back. Only to be met by the decomposing faces of my pursuers. Rotting flesh hanging off their faces in strips, eyes glazed over with the urge, the nessisarity of the hunt: the kill. The hunger in their eyes, the sheer desperation almost convinced me to let them take me: release me from this torture, only to be snapped back to my senses as the ruby red blood of their last unfortunate victim dripped from their jagged teeth.
Fuelled by a sudden rush of fear I brought my fist up, grasping a dull rock in my sweaty palms, and swinging it in an ark to hit my aggressor solidly in the side of the head. A wet thud punctuated the hit. Without daring a glimpse at the damage I shuffled backwards ignoring the small stones digging into my palms. A sob exploded from my throat, filling the air with the sound of my own desperation, as I saw my incoming doom; rounding the corner was at least four of the creatures: each as hideous as the next. Flickering in and out of my flicking vision- running towards their helpless prey, feet dragging along the pavement. A pathetic gasp escaped from my lips, this was the end. There was no fighting this. This would be where my life would meet its end, huddled in the corner of an alley way, screaming in torture as they ripped the skin from my body. I can’t end like this...right? I squeezed my eyes shut, awaiting my doom with little more than the clothes on my back and a blunt stone between my hands.

The seconds dragged out, one became two, two became three and every second I spent sitting there the shuffling footsteps came closer: their limited minds realising that their prey wasn’t going to escape any time soon. Then the impossible happened, deafening shots exploded from above my head. My eye lids fluttered open to meet the scene of the horde slumping to the ground, one dead eyed creature at a time my hope was returning to me. Exhausted beyond the ability to control my own limbs I lay slumped in the corner, absently withholding the hope that these people would be my saviours. A metallic clang sounded throughout the alley way, it could be anything from a sword dropping to jewellery around someone’s neck, but a glance to my right confirmed my suspicion: A ladder dropping to the ground from one of the rooftops. How silly, a ladder wouldn’t make my corpse look any prettier, couldn’t even put it round my neck. Stupid. Images of rotten teeth tearing the meat from my arm, a bright light surrounded by a pool of blood clouded my delusional mind. What if this was a dream? Is the rescue just a product of my desperate mind? A sharp pain on my cheek shocked my eyes open for a few brief seconds. Just enough to see the face centimetres from mine; wide, deep brown eyes, its mouth almost seemed to be trying to form a word. Funny, I didn’t know these creatures could talk? I forced the corners of my mouth into a smile as my mind faded to darkness. Whatever happens now, I’ll face it with a smile.

 

 

 

Chp 2

 

As the waves of exhaustion lifted I found myself in a warehouse room, unable to move, or do anything except stare at the dirty silver ceiling. The startling, bright lights pierced my eyes, unable to do anything I lay still as I gathered my senses. Entrusting all hope in my situation. After a few while I began to regain my senses and became more aware of my surrounded, I heard parts of a muffled conversations.

‘She… it awake?’ Growled a deep throated, gravelly voice.
‘Go see...’ Whispered another strained voice, as rough and tired as the last yet holding infinitely less hostility.
I decided I liked that one, more than the first one, for some reason I liked the person who sounded less likely to kill me more, funny huh? Curiosity finally got the better of me and I allowed one of my eyes to drift from the ceiling. I moved my head from side to side, wiggling my fingers and toes to check for any injuries. None. Thank god, not that he’d helped much recently. A sigh caught in my throat as my chest as exploded in pain that spread out from my ribcage. A whimper pushed its way out of my mouth. I felt the urge to curl into a ball, but my body was restrained, any attempt to move resulted in a sharp pain. I decided against it.
‘Sleepin’ beauty’s awake.’ Grunted the first voice.
‘Is she… y’know?’ The second inquired.
‘Let’s find out’ the first one snorted.
I felt a large hand wrap around my cropped hair and in one sudden movement my head was yanked backwards.
‘Watch it!’
I snapped, before I could stop myself. My outburst was punctuated by an explosion of laughter the rough handed man behind me.
‘Definitely alive’ Sniggered the man.
‘Feisty one, ain’t she?’ Came another voice, this one was equally rough, but a great deal more feminine. ‘Let ‘er up then.’
Suddenly, three pairs of hands were all over me, undoing the restraints around my wrists and feet, hesitating at the strap around my chest. The feminine voice laughed before I felt a daintier pair of hands undo the buckle. I suddenly snapped upright using my hands for leverage. Very bad idea. I stifled a scream; the pain was everywhere spreading from my chest outwards. A pair of hands wrapped around my middle, pulling me into a loose embrace, patting my back awkwardly. I pressed my face into the person’s broad chest, disguising the streams of tears making watery tracks down my face. Once I had regained my composure, the person supporting me having waited awkwardly for at least five minutes whilst I wept. I placed my hands on their chest and extracted myself from their embrace, as I pulled away I got my first good look at their face. Striking deep brown eyes, covered partly by a mop of scruffy brown hair, a nose ever so slightly hooked at the end. I went to bite my lip, only to cringe and pull away as the scab that had formed protested. I opened my mouth to state the obvious.
‘You saved me.’

He nodded and looked to his side, pulling away only slightly. My answer came from behind me. The feminine voice replied in calm, honey sweet tone.
‘Yes, not his brightest moment.’ She laughed softly, the slightest hint of hostility in her voice, and changed the subject. ‘How are you feeling, dear?’
I nodded and answered her in what I hoped was a confident and strong voice.
‘I’ll live.’
My voice betrayed me and my voice cracked in the middle. The women nodded and smiled sympathetically. She reached out to hold my hand, the other hand reaching around my hand to support my weight.
‘Greg, go get the bandages.’ She took a quick ‘once over’ look at me, nodded and continued. ‘And painkillers.’
The woman and I stumbled over to a wooden door at the corner of the ‘lobby’ of the warehouse, a bathroom I assumed. The burly man, known as ‘Greg’ went the opposite way for the medical items, he must have been the first voice. As soon as we entered the small bathroom she sat me on the edge of a bathtub and smiled weakly. Minutes later Greg’s callused hand reached around the door and deposited the items on a stool just inside the door. The woman reached out to pick up the painkillers and held them out to me.
‘Just two, not much to spare I’m afraid’
Gulping down the pills I set my face in a persistent frown, this was going to hurt.
‘Might want to take your top of. Nothin’ I ain’t seen before, dear.’ She teased.
She rambled on as I took off my blood soaked hoodie, followed by a formally white tank top.
‘Names Ginny, by the way. Used to be a nurse, so don’t you fret.’ She smiled and picked up a cloth.
‘Now, not much we can do for this, I’m afraid. Y’know, not exactly a hospital is it? A wash n’ a bandage is gonna have to be enough.’
I nodded and looked down at my ribs. Immediately regretting the decision, my side was severely bruised and bloodied, skin torn and scratched at the side uneven by the gravel. Ginny hissed in air through her teeth.
‘Ouch… have a fall, did we? Looks like a bad bruise, fracture at worst.’
She got the cloth, wetted it in the sink and started dabbing delicately at the wound, stopping every now and then to wash the dirt off the cloth. After a few solid minutes of doing this in silence, she stopped and smiled.
‘Nice n’ clean, gonna put a bandage on now, to keep it that way. May hurt, I’ll do it quick.’

With that, Ginny reached for the bandage and started wrapping it around my waist, tightly almost like a corset, only made of cloth instead. I bit my lip hard, ignoring the scab as I tasted blood. She was right though; her expert hand only took a few minutes, although it felt like hours. I stumbled to my feet and stared at my face in the dirty, cracked mirror. Striking blue eyes stared back at me, with every ounce of defiance I lacked at the moment.

My copper red hair fell forward; uneven strands of hair clouded my vision. My face looked pasty pale, though I blame most of that on the torment I’d put my body through in the last few days. I’d always been thin, but this was pushing it, the weeks following the ‘unspoken day’ were the worst you can imagine. Children starving on the streets, creatures running amok, feasting on the petrified souls. Humanity had taken a blow that day, and it may never recover.
I thought back to the last time I’d stood in front of a mirror, with my mother standing proudly behind me as she trimmed my hair. It had been long then, running down my back in streams, now cropped short ‘like a boy’ as my mother would have said. How much had changed. I was drawn out of my trance by another figure appearing in the mirror, only slightly shorter than myself. Ginny placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder and smiled warmly. When I looked back at the mirror; my mother was replaced by the stout form of Ginny. Her dark hair tied up in a messy bun, eyes a comforting shade of grey, her lips pressed into a sympathetic smile. After several seconds I cleared my throat and entrusted my new ally with my identity; my name.
‘My name, It’s Jaye.’
‘Nice to meet you Jaye.’
She replied, I shook her extended hand and we returned to silence. I yanked my tank top over my head, it was still sodden with blood and grime and my ribs protested painfully as it passed over them, but I felt assured that there were more important things to do. Unsteadily, I hobbled out of the bathroom, Ginny following behind me, hands primed and ready to catch me if I fell. It felt good to have someone watching my back, a privilege I’d yet to encounter since I lost my mother. Determined to make up for appearing so weak earlier I made a scene of walking into the warehouse with my head held high, trying my best to ignore the aching pains in my chest.  Ginny walked past me and strode toward a small table that Greg and the man with the brown eyes sat at, she shared a glance with Greg that suggested all was not well. I clenched my teeth and approached the table, mimicking Ginny’s confident stride. I stood about a foot away from the table, arms crossed protectively over my chest, an eyebrow raised in confusion. Greg let out a throaty growl and snapped.
‘Sit down, girl.’
My hands dropped down to my sides, clenching into tight fists. I took one threatening step forwards, preparing to lash out, but I thought better of it. Curling my fingers around the back of the chair I pulled out the wooden seat.  I let the silence draw out as I took my time to get comfortable; placing my elbows on the table to support my head I rolled my eyes and replied after a prolonged wait.
‘Spit it out then…boy’

Ginny shot me a warning glance and raised her finger to her lips. Greg, however, was much less practised in the art of concealing his anger. The table shook as Greg’s fist hit the table, aiding the angered giant in his attempt to stand up. He towered over me, his anger only intensifying the tension between us. I found myself standing before him, fists clenched and ready for a fight, all pain forgotten in the fray. I felt a hand on my chest, furious I made to swipe it away, only to halt when I realised who owned it. Ginny stood in the middle, arms outstretched and hands placed on each of our chests. Her face contorted in anger in such a way that made her appear more intimidating than the giant known as Greg ever could. No verbal communication was needed at this point, despite Ginny’s slight form, I felt compelled to do as she was told. Apparently, Greg felt this same urge, as we both sat down rather abruptly. 
‘Thank you’ she said dangerously quietly and glanced at us both in warning before continuing ‘Now, I’d assume you’d like to know why you’re still alive, hm?’
She aimed the question directly at me, it took me a few seconds longer than most before I realised.
‘Of course.’
I replied in my politest tone, desperately trying to recollect my wits and find wherever the remains of my dignity had run off to. I turned to Ginny, expecting a reply, but the brown eyed boy replied instead.
‘I saved you.’ I stared at him, expecting him to go on, tilting my head to the side in anticipation.
‘Because, Felix here is merely a foolish child and he didn’t know any-’ Greg grunted.
Greg was silenced by a furious glare from Ginny; he sat back in his chair, content to taunt me with a twisted smile. Felix, I guess was the brown haired boy sitting to my right on the edge of the creaky old chair, anxious to leave. Now that I thought about it, a dark corner of my mind reminded me. Why shouldn’t he be, why shouldn’t you be? I gripped the sides of my seat, digging my nails in the soft wood, fighting off the feeling of paranoia.
‘Enough chat. Deads moving in from all corners, we need to move and at the moment I can only think of one way you could be of help in our escape.’ Greg snapped in a commanding tone, sneaking a sly glance at Ginny. Alarm bells sounded in my head as I realized what that way was, ‘our’ escape, what exactly were they going to do with me? Adrenaline ran through my veins like white hot energy as I leapt to my feet, snatching a razor sharp pocket knife from my belt as I completed the motion. Wide eyed, I stood before them, nothing but this stumpy blade between me and whatever they had in mind. Heart thumping ten to a second I barely registered the careful footfalls behind me, pivoting on one foot the knife moved like as extension, slashing out carelessly. Too late. The object collided with my head full on, fireworks on pain exploded from the point of impact; the lights went out in excruciating fashion

 

 

Part 3

Golden electric shocks dominate my brain; distorted shapes crawled around the desolate place that lay behind me eyelids. So is this what death felt like? Cold, hardness seeped in through my thin clothing, each of my senses screamed out in agony in the sheer pain and discomfort of the moment. No, that’s not right, dead people don’t feel. What? Groggy with exhaustion, I forced my eyes open; only to be confronted with a sight not much better than the oblivion before. The darkness seemed suffocating in the claustrophobic chamber, the walls crawling closer inch by inch as my senses took yet another excruciating second to return to me. I sat up with a gasp, as pain wrapped its spiked tentacle around my middle and tugged with all its might. Why couldn’t something just be easy for once?
My breaths came out in a jumbled rush, each gasp fighting the last for oxygen, as I forced myself up to lean against the wall. The events of yesterday- or an hour ago, time didn’t seem to be working in this disconnected universe I was in- came rushing back to me accompanying another burst of pain. Hissing air through my teeth I stumbled to my feet, using the wall as a prop. As the moon glow finally reached my eyes, allowing me to see in the dim light of the cell without feeling similar to my eyes being gouged out, I made out the faint outline of a prison gate. I groaned, finally ready to succumb to my fate- whatever that may be- pain washed over my exhausted body, all the thoughts I had struggled to repress crawling up from the depths of hell to claim my mind. Maybe this was it… A sob escaped from my strangled throat, breaking me apart, as I sunk to my knees.  I clutched my knees to my chest, locking my sobs behind pursed lips. A scraping, metallic sound caught my attention; a subtle glance upwards betrayed the presence of my captor. Wiping away the tears on the back of my hand I stood up, desperately trying to salvage my dignity in my last moments.
‘Are you here to take me now?’
I asked in the most dignified tone I could muster.
‘Shh, If you want to get outa here alive. Keep quiet.’
My captor hissed through his clenched teeth, for he was a man. Which left two logical conclusions; either Greg had changed his mind or that Felix kid wasn’t as rotten as his parents and one of these made significantly more sense than the other. A large hand wrapped around my wrist, another securing itself on the small of my back. Easing my out of the cell with unexpected delicacy, despite this extra assistance my escape was by no means easy. Each step ached like a thousand knives, the bandages seemed to only serve to constrict my breathing and stop my lungs from dropping out as far as I could tell. To his credit, Felix, who couldn’t have been much older than me seemed to cope with the extra weight admirably- supporting my weight the entire way. My foot snagged on the uneven floor tiles, sending us both sprawling across the hallways. The noise echoed all around us as Felix’s concealed pistol clattered from his waist-band landing mere feet from my outstretched arm. Pain consumed me, allowing only a short yelp to escape as I curled in a tight ball. I couldn’t tell where we were, but my companion seemed to sense the immediate danger, stuffing his pistol back in his trousers, Felix scooped me up cradling me in his arms as he raced of down the corridor- apologising profusely.
‘Felix, Is that you?’

Cried out a voice I vaguely recalled as Ginny’s, suddenly the dots connected in my brain; If this was where Ginny slept, Greg wasn’t far behind and carrying a prisoner isn’t exactly the best position to be found in, for either of us. After Felix didn’t respond, I heard footsteps following us down the hallway making no attempt to mask their presence. After a second I picked up another, heavier set of footsteps. Greg…crap. Our pace picked up rapidly, adrenaline racing through his body similar to mine, my inability to run forced my heart to at an unnatural pace; missing a beat every now and then. We skidded around a bend and Felix hugged the wall, sliding to a stop and hissing a few words with urgency.
‘Get on.. back.’
The words carelessly flew through my head without so much as acknowledging the urgency of the situation. After a few precious seconds and an exasperated look from my rescuer I stumbled on his back and looped my legs around his abdomen as he quickly accelerated, reaching our previous speed in seconds.
‘Felix!’
Cried a voice from down the corridor, practically screeching with disbelief at being deceived. Sweat dripped off my forehead as I realized what was on the line here. My life.  I placed my forehead on Felix’s back, between his shoulder blades, and struggled to control my hectic breathing. In… out… My heartbeat fluctuated, switching between frightening periods of silence and hectic beats which threatened to burst out of my body and take off running.  I desperately tried to match my breathing to the steady pace of Felix’s running, each footfall even spaced and swift- thwarted only by my dead weight. We rounded another corner. Trainers slipping ever so slightly, his balance put off by my extra weight, in the second before impact I unwrapped myself and brought up my arms. The air exploded out of my chest, my lungs felt weirdly empty, before I gasped instinctively; drawing in as much air as I could without physically expanding. I lay on my side, odd shapes and colours swimming in the darkness of my vision, mocking my vulnerability with their carelessness. My ears rang, it was seconds before I was brought back to the present by the pain exploding from my side and the person violently shaking me in obvious panic. I clamped my hands on their shoulders.
‘stop!’
My request was immediately met, I only had a moment quiet before a hand secured itself around my wrist and half dragged, and half lifted me into a small supply closet. No more than a second after the door was slammed shut in front of me, sealing me inside a claustrophobic container against the sweaty form of someone I barely knew, had the footsteps caught up with us; bringing with them an exotic assortment of vulgar language.
‘You let them go, you…’
‘Well if you’d called me sooner, don’t blame me, not my…’
‘Ah now what are we gonna do? If we attempt to leave without a distraction…’
‘…Bloody dinner bell!

The minutes it took for them to leave seemed to stretch out as I held my breath, ignoring the startling pain it caused. As I steadily recovered from my panicked daze I recognized a strong arm clutching across my stomach, pressing me against him a little too tightly for comfort. The cold, damp feeling of someone that had been running for their life slowly seeped into the clothes on my back. Yuck... Not that I felt any better I correct myself, in fact I’m sure I reek of something along the line of blood, sweat and a variety of other substances I’d rather not name. Apparently realizing the pain he was causing me, Felix released me, letting out a heavy breath along with a word I took as ‘sorry.’ I felt his chest contract behind me, and a weird noise escape from his mouth that vaguely resembled a laugh. He bent down slightly and whispered in my ear.
‘Not exactly as planned.. ahah..’
I feel a warm heat crawl up onto my cheeks, selfishly broadcasting my emotions without even consulting me. Thank god it’s dark. As the silence draws out into awkwardness I suddenly proclaim.
‘let’s go.’
Reaching to grasp the door knob and slowly twist it, making sure to peek out before even daring to put a toe out of my compact haven.
Words cannot describe the weight lifted off your shoulders when death is no longer hanging above your head; like water in a desert, or a blanket when tears turn to ice, it’s a comfort you can only realise when you have nothing. I stepped out into the corridor my pursuers had been stalking just moments before, knowing they were so close only made the air seem thicker, the darkness deeper and my skin crawl at the thought of how close I was to death’s sweet embrace. I felt a warm hand lightly touch my arm; I turned round to see Felix hesitantly biting his cheek; eyebrows furrowed in thought as he whispered our next course of action.
‘We- urgh- need to get our stuff. It’s in my room.’
Felix’s eyes seemed unusually wide, flickering rapidly from left to right as they scanned the dimly lit halls for any sign of danger, however slight; His face a sickly pale colour. I got the impression he wasn’t used to daring escapades. I nodded and he let out a shaky breath he appeared to be holding for a long time, he tentatively reached out and rested his finger tips on my arm; slowly clutching onto my wrist, gently at first then firmly as the realization grew that I wasn’t going to bite his head off. Together, connected by the grasp on my wrist, we felt our way down the dark corridors, wincing at every noise our shoes made until I pulled to a stop and begrudgingly took off my shoes and held them in my spare hand whilst we attempted to reach Felix’s room in haste. With Lady luck smiling in our favour for once we reached the door without further drama, despite the apparent twist of fate I still had a niggling doubt at the back of my mind; Where were Ginny and Greg? All these thoughts were flushed from my mind as Felix reached out, chest heaving from the long run, to open his door. The door swung open to reveal a smart apartment, with a single bed shoved up the corner along with several storage containers; another door inside the apartment led to what I assumed was the toilet. Felix strode in, making a B line to his bed; I follow cautiously aware that at any moment the door could swing shut behind me and end our escape. I threaded my fingers together, occasionally using my palm to wipe the perspiration from my forehead, glancing out the doorway every so often in what was becoming a paranoia induced habit. Meanwhile, Felix lay on the floor by his bed, sticking one arm under the bed and feeling around in the dark.  After a few, stressful, minutes he looked back at me wearing a stupid grin on his face and letting go a triumphant ‘ahah!’ He retracted his arm, bringing with him two small backpacks; one of which looked suspiciously like the one that I dropped when I was escaping the dead-heads just a few days ago. I couldn't suppress the glee as my face lit up; I dropped to my knees and took it off him.

My mouth fixed in a permanent too big grin as I hugged it to my chest. After a few seconds of uninterrupted joy I looked up to see him kneeling less than a meter from me; the grin still plastered over his face. A thought floated into my mind, completely disregarding the situation as I realised how good he looked, outlined in the moonlight, his eyes glowing from either a rare moment of happiness or something else entirely. Gazing into people’s eyes had never been something I made a habit of. Quickly I realised that I had been staring at him for way too long (Damn, you barely know him!) my eyes darted towards my bag as I found myself shuffling through to check all my possessions were intact. My fingertips brushed against a thin piece of paper, I allowed myself a small smile as I pulled the photo out; I rested it upon my lap, yet again I was struck by how much I had changed. It was on old photo, I stood in front of my mother, her delicate hands resting on my shoulders where I saw my hair snaking down my front in a long, fiery mane. The younger, arguably cleaner version of me wore a massive grin, my eyes staring up at my mother as we both struggled to supress a laugh. It was the last evidence I had of my mother, last evidence I even had a mother. Gritting my teeth I supressed a sob I had no time for at the moment, stuffed the photo back in my backpack and stubbornly reminded myself we hadn’t time for that now. Instead of the photo, I pulled out the familiar weight of my blade; a stout knife I had salvaged from a dead survivor, poor bloke probably couldn’t take it.
The memory of his tragic death was hard to ignore, I found him slouched on manky bed sheets, a bullet through his brain and his wife clutched in his arms: a nasty bite mark on her throat and a matching hole through her forehead. All his possessions were laid on the bedside table, atop a painfully depressing note; the pages was crumpled and stained with the tears of the dead, his blade lay on top of it waiting to be claimed. It was a blade to be proud of, over to past few weeks, months even; it had aided me in the struggle to outwit death many a time. It was about a foot long, razor sharp and smooth- not serrated- I’d been disappointed with that at first, but after bearing witness to the bodies strewn along the highways, blades stuck in their murderer’s only inches away from a killing blow I had learnt to love its quirks. Shaking away the memories I secured my grip on the blade, bringing my gaze up to match Felix’s, with a determined look set on my face I nodded.
‘I’m ready now.’
The smile disappeared from his face, retreating behind the big stone wall in his mind, as the serious attitude reappeared just when we needed it. A single nod, that was all it took, as we rose to our feet securing our bags on our backs tightly, clipping them at the front and making for the doorway.

 

 

 

Part 4

Despite feeling a lot more confident with my trusty blade in my hand, I let Felix lead the way, mostly because he knew the way and partly because I had a suspicion that being in control was one of his coping methods. I followed him down the hallways; a dark shadow in the night, footsteps in the moonlight, tracing my fingers along the reassuringly sharp edge of my knife. After roughly five minutes I sped up, falling into step beside him, gently knocking him with my elbow to get his attention.

‘Time?’
I mouthed. In response, he shrugged, a gruff scoff escaping his lips. We were almost at the door; I could even see moonlight shining through the gap at the bottom when someone politely coughed behind us. I spun around, eyes wide and feral as I held my blade in front of me, ready and willing to do all manner of things so long as this is not my last breath. Before me stood a short, slender girl, with curly golden hair and a youthful appearance, she had big deep brown eyes that would have looked innocent if she had not clutched a machete in her hands. Not that she looked very menacing, the machete hung limply in her grip as she inched forward, as if she barely knew what it was let alone what she was going to do with it. I almost felt guilty as I moved forward, knife gripped in my fist, to remove the threat. Yet again, I found myself restrained by a single hand upon my chest, Felix held me back gently before realising what he was doing and swinging around to face me, leaning in close and whispering in my ear.
‘It’s my sister…’
Felix moved forward slowly, his eye brows meeting in the middle in confusion as he reached forwards to wrap his hand around the blade, taking the object away from her and tossing it to me. Without warning, a sob exploded from her mouth and she projected herself forward, wrapped in Felix’s arms as he quietly consoled her.
‘Y-y-your leaving, aren’t you?’
She sobbed into his jacket, already soaking with her tears. He nodded slowly, which only made her crying worse. What? Unsure of what I was expected to do I stood to the side by the door, arms crossed protectively over my stomach, my blade still clutched in my hand as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. Anxious to learn something of the conversation that was stopped me from leaning I leant in a little closer, hoping it was subtle enough not to be obvious that I was eavesdropping.
‘…Have to?’
The woman asked, her voice still choked with tears, she sounded so vulnerable as if she hadn’t been holding a knife to me earlier.
‘I have to, I couldn’t let her die, and mom and dad know I helped her escape… they’d kill me.’
She paused for thought; twirling her shirt between her fingers, before leaning back, rolling her eyes and let out a sigh.
‘Well… I could come with you?’

Each word pronounced slowly, as if the clarity of her words alone could convince him to allow her to tag along. She angled her head down slightly, widening her eyes and blinking excessively, I got the impression she wasn’t acquainted with the word ‘no.’
‘Ally... Alison, you can’t, cannot, come. Alright?’
‘ No-‘ She shrieked, furious ‘You are not leaving me here.’ Her voice dropped dangerously low as she sneered out the remainder of what she had to say. ‘Besides, you are taking their last distraction. Who do you think they would volunteer next?’
She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away with a snarky exasperated ‘huff’,  her face twisting into a half smile, eyebrows lowering in a way that shouted ‘I won.’
‘Fine.’
He snapped, face contorting into a scowl, he turned on his heels to face me; half-heartedly motioning to Alison’s knife still hanging at my side, before brushing past me and wedging open the door. Alison bounced along behind me, receiving her knife with a glowing smile; she would have almost looked as innocent as before if not for the tricksy glint in her eyes. I followed along eagerly, my legs seeming to be full of electricity as I neared the escape, as I neared freedom. Alison slipped her hand inside Felix’s, squeezing it and shimmying up to his side.
Freedom tastes so damn sweet. Standing in the middle of a damp street in the middle of the ruins of London, the chilly air felt like ice sliding down my throat, but it was better than the heavy, claustrophobic air inside. A grin transformed my face, I bet I looked like a loony, but I couldn’t stop myself spreading my arms and spinning with glee. Feeling the night air spinning around my body, knowing that whatever happened now, I’d at least have a chance. Alison raised an eyebrow, snorting at me as if she was so superior, before turning around and strutting off ahead. Felix on the other hand, seemed almost as excited as I was; prancing over to me, his slightly uneven teeth shining brightly in the dark as he grabbed my hand a little to tight, as we skipped after Alison.  After scoffing dramatically, Alison announced.
‘Let’s go to Harley Stars hotel tonight, it’s too dangerous out here.’ After realising that she’d said something actually worth saying she added quickly. ‘Besides, it’s blooming freezing!’  Before tottering off into the dark, Felix hot on her heels, leaving me practically alone- alone in the dark- the only way of knowing where they were the shadows and sounds in front of me. Suddenly the darkness hit me, the suffocating darkness, and the same darkness that hides the monsters under your bed when you’re little. Only difference between when I was little, huddled in my bed with my duvet around my ears as I hid from the ‘scarys’, is that now the monsters in the dark are real. ‘I am not afraid of the dark’ I reminded myself stubbornly; the darkness doesn’t scare me, not really not anymore, it’s the things you can’t see, the vulnerability of not being able to defend myself that scares me. Urged on by primal instincts, I jogged on ahead, a jog which quickly accelerated to a panicked sprint as the darkness started to push in from each angle. It was too much. Oh god. I let out a whimper, a small cry which threatened to turn into a scream.
‘Felix…’

I said, as loud as I dared, without losing control and letting the tears overwhelm me, or worse yet alerting someone-something- that I certainly didn’t want to hear me. Strong arms clutched my forearms from behind; I let out a yelp and struggled to free myself, but the person turned me around, leaning in slightly and staring straight into my eyes, their brow furrowed as they struggled to figure out the problem.  They sighed, a warm and husky voice shattered the silence.

‘shh, it’s me. What’s wrong?’
I looked up, seeing the dark, familiar eyes of the person I’d only met days ago.
‘Felix, we-‘
Snapped the high pitched voice of his sister from behind me, suddenly cut off when we came into view. I pushed away from him, flicking my hair carelessly from my face, muttering in an offhand way.
‘Nothin’, don’t just grab me next time.’ I snorted ‘Or I’ll have to treat you like the other undead grabby people.’
No response: Fine. I don’t need their approval anyway, I thought to myself, as I stalked off to stand a few feet away from them with my back turned. As the silence drew out to the point where it became awkward I spun on the balls of my feet, facing them with my best ‘annoyed’ face on.
‘Come on!’
I could feel the walls going back up; communication had never been a strong point of mine, but there was something about Alison, be it the way she holds herself like she’s infinitely better than you or the way her eyes look at you slyly, as she sees through you, like every move you make you’re playing into her trap, that made me feel uneasy. The same sort of cold calculating indifference the ‘popular’ girls used to wear like a coat of thorns at school, I wonder if she would have been one of those girls just a few years ago. We spent the rest of the journey in silence, Alison walked next to Felix, the odd muttering the only sign of talking between the two, and I trailed behind.
  I wasn’t sure what time we arrived at the hotel, but judging by the increasing darkness it must have been creeping up on midnight by now. As the concrete structure came into view I let out a sigh of relief; being out on the streets at this time is only a good idea if you want to get munched. I stalked up behind Alison and Felix, eager to get to safety as soon as possible, the events of the last time I didn’t make it home in time replaying in my mind. Felix spread his hand out in front of me and Alison, foot poised to kick the door in front of him. Five. Absently a memory played in my head; My step brother, standing by a bathroom door, smiling as he told me always to knock on the door before entering; ‘Lure out the baddies’ he’d said, I was only thirteen then, but it made perfect sense then and it makes perfect sense now. A dull thump echoed around the car park as his foot impacted the wooden surface of the door. We stood still for several seconds, ears perked as we strained to hear any slight sound from inside the hotel room or behind us.
As the seconds drew out, my patience dwindled to a shred, I moved forward, twisting the door knob and stepping inside. I slid my hand into a side pocket on my backpack, feeling around the hoarse material until my fingers stumbled upon the metallic surface of the torch. I used my thumb to push the switch up into the ‘on’ position and quickly flashed it around the small room, check each crevice for a hidden aggressor. When the dead heads didn’t come flocking towards the light, I let out a little sigh, smiling and strutting towards the surprisingly clean silky bed sheets. I stood at the end of the bed, backpack thrown by the bedside cabinet and spread my arms, pushing off with my feet and propelling me onto the king sized bed. I faintly remember making snow angels in the pristine sheets
, messing them up, before crawling underneath and allowing my heavy eyes to drift shut.

 

 

Part 5

‘Jaye’

My name came floating into my unconscious mind, gentling nudging me at first then growing with urgency until the desperate, throaty hollering forced me to open my eyes and snap into an upright position.  My heart pounded, chest rising and falling in time with the frantic beats as I stared wide eyed into the darkness. Light started to drift into my vision, flecks of golden sunshine at first, slowly but surely filling the room until it was almost blindingly bright. In front of me Felix perched on the bed, eyes bright and bursting with glee, mouth stretched into an unnaturally happy grin. He slowly reached out, caressing my face with one hand, I leant into his hand and he mimicked me.  A smile played across my face, all panic forgotten in a moment of unexpected delicacy, I parted my cracked lips and made out to question his actions, but I was stopped in my tracks.  It started with a tiny, insignificant fleck of skin, falling to the ground at my feet. Alarmed, I pushed him back, scampering away from him as quickly as I could, until I was stopped by the solid surface of the headboard. He turned his head from side to side, the smile wiped of his face, his brow creased with concern. He opened his mouth to say my name; dozens of pearly white objects fell from his jaw, breaking the eerie silence as they clattered to my feet. Strips of lightly tanned flesh fell from his face, revealing the bloody muscle below, as he moved closer to me. 
‘It’s al-‘
He started, his lips cracking and ripping in the most gruesome manner, the words cut off when strips of muscle snapped and his jaw hung uselessly off his skull. A strangled sound escaped the monsters throat, a sound which sounded horribly similar to a laugh, as it crawled closer to me. I could see its tongue moving inside its mouth, licking the remains of its lips as it anticipated my flesh.  Unable to contain myself any longer, I opened my mouth, squeezed my eyes tight shut and allowed my terror to escape in the form of a throat scraping scream which would have put horror films to shame.

 

 

 

Part 6

Grasping for a hold in the waking world, my eyes flew open, my mouth gasping for breath. My gaze flickered around in the darkness of the hotel room, desperately trying to find something familiar and solid: Real. I settled on the sleeping form of Felix, sound asleep with one muscular arm carelessly flung off the side of the bed, across Alison’s stomach. Cautiously, I extended a hand, running my fingers through his hair, barely visible in the dim morning light. His eyelids flickered, his mouth twitching before settling into a lazy smile, his expression questioning. I mouthed sorry and was about to shift my body off the mattress when my eyes widened at the sight of a light shining behind the curtains, illuminating the room in an eerie glow.
Stifling a surprised gasp, I clamped a hand over Felix’s mouth to stop him alerting the intruders. I could feel my fore head dampen with sweat, my whole body trembling as a raised myself to my feet as quietly as I could. A nervous look to my right revealed Felix anxiously trying to simultaneously wake Alison, but also trying to quiet her moans of protest. I dragged my body, which seemed to think it was still in a state of rest, towards the windows and attempted to muffle my clumsy footsteps.
Unconsciously biting my abused lips, I lowed myself to the ground and peered over the window sill into the night beyond, and instantly regretted my choice.  Looking down his nose at me was the roughest half man-half monkey I’d ever seen; Hair had managed to root itself in places hair certainly shouldn’t be able to grow, with a nose that resembled a mouldy cucumber and ears rosy red in the night air, a true monster glared down at me in surprise through beady, rodent like eyes. Letting lose a string of mumbled swears under my breath I pulled back, tripping over my own feet in my haste.
Twisting around, I pulled myself to my shaky feet and stumbled towards Felix and Alison, now standing by the bed, Alison staring a hole in the back of his head. I barely managed to splutter a ‘Hide’ before momentum forced me to vault over the bed. Panting, breaths coming out in quick bursts, I leapt to the first hiding place; a compact cupboard. As I slammed the cupboard shut, I caught a fleeting glimpse of Felix dragging Alison into the wardrobe behind him. Mere seconds later the monkey-man burst through the door, his heavy, nasally breathing all that could be heard in the deadly silence of the room. He coughed. A horrible, throaty, wheezing sound that screamed disease.
A second set of footsteps joined him, heavy boots that scraped along the wooden floor, and made a metallic clang with each step; a sound that stayed with you and harassed your ear drums long after it had stopped. With a series of incomprehendable grunts and groans, which I assumed were accompanied by motions, the beasts communicated. My lungs screamed for air, my heart screaming inside my chest, I clamped a hand over my mouth and took in a shallow breath. I wrapped my arms around my legs, curled up in the compact compartment, my eyes closed in an attempt to calm myself. Distracted by my own silent panic, I barely noticed the voices and grew quiet. My eyes grew wide, I’m sure that if I could have seen myself I would resemble the dead; their face white and still in a permanent state of shock. I pushed myself further into the back of the tiny cupboard, the familiar pain my lower lip.
Had they found me-
‘Get out of there!’

Growled a thunderous voice.
‘You’re surrounded.’
His companion snarled.
Crap.
Resigned to my fate I shifted my weight, unwilling to leave the meagre safety of the cubby, equally anxious not to anger them further. I reached out to push open the door, and stopped.
‘I-I’m coming out!’
Squeaked a familiar voice, cracking in the middle as though she was holding back a sob. I pressed my eye to the crack of the cupboard, holding my breath in anticipation, as I watching the scene unfold through the slit my world had come down to. Two figures, clothed in the rags that seemed to have replaced clothes in the recent months, loomed over my companions standing a good foot over the cowering form of Alison. She looked so small and vulnerable; her face wide eyed and frozen in unguarded, undeniable fear, with her arms wrapped around her waist protectively. Stepping out the wardrobe behind her was Felix; wild eyed and on edge as his eyes flicked around for an escape. One of the men stepped forward, from the back my vision was limited, but there could be no mistaking the metallic looking object he held in one meaty hand. He levelled the barrel of the weapon at Felix, snapping commands in a voice that demanded obedience. Felix gritted his teeth, his face changing to mimic Alison’s terror as it dawned on him that he may not escape.
‘P-please don’t h-hurt me.’
Alison whimpered, tears freely falling and collecting in salty pools in the wrinkles of her scrunched up face. For the first time since I met her, she wasn’t in control, despite all her snarky confidence she was broken, shaking in fear and with complete disregard of how she appeared. It was chilling. Seeing someone so confident and comfortable themselves was simply unsettling.
I had a sudden yearning for the comforting presence of my knife, my protection, but reaching for my backpack I realised it was gone, gone! A heavy pressure settled on my chest, horrible thoughts slinked in the dark corners of my mind, pressing on my anxiety’s I was trying too hard to forget. The darkness, broken only by the slit of light from outside, outside where the men were, the men that symbolised death and danger everything I’d tried to forget. I suddenly wanted, needed; to escape the claustrophobic confines of my refuge come prison.
I held in an anxious whine and pressed my face to the crack again, eyeing my backpack out of the corner of my eye.  The monster holding the gun to Felix’s head chuckled, a predatory growl of a laugh, carelessly flicking the gun towards Alison. He advanced, each colossal footfall breaking the silence as the tension grew, Alison tensed, her sobs quieting to whimpers and barely contained gasps. The brute of a man still moved forward, raising the gun to Alison’s forehead in a silent threat, he stopped mere feet from her and leaded in to whisper in her ear. I couldn’t make out the words, but Alison’s face told the whole story, paling beyond a healthy colour, her hand clamped across her mouth as she collapsed against the wall.
The man turned to face his friend, his deformed face twisting into an unnatural smirk. The men shared a hacking laugh, before one man announced his intentions.
‘We have to go in five, Harris, bring the girl’ He paused, eyeing Felix up and down ‘and the bloke.’
The man spun on his heels, revealing himself as the guy in the window, he hesitated and look back over his shoulder.
‘Harris, I could have sworn the girl in the window was a red head.’
He questioned, I imagined a frown settling over his weasely eyes.
‘Probably the light, John.’
The other beastly man replied with a resigned ‘hmmf’ before stalking out the door, leaving ‘John’ to deal with Alison and Felix. John advanced on my friends, cracking his fingers in a way that suggested menace in his intent. Not for one second did I entertain the possibility that perhaps he wasn’t going to harm them, not even as I placed my palms on the smooth surface of the cupboard door as it swung open to reveal the full scene. Alison’s gaze was trained on my sudden appearance, her brow furrowed as if she was being tasked with a particularly challenging puzzle. Felix, however, seemed much more aware, his eyes widening as they met mine.
‘Problem, sonny?’
The man smirked, attempting to laugh but getting caught in a violent coughing fit. Seizing the moment, I leapt forward, my veins on fire with raw adrenaline as the door slammed into the counter beside it. The crash echoed across the room, shaking the man from his trance, John snapped his head around to watch me with a predatory gaze.
My heart screamed at me to escape this situation, beating so hard and so frantically I honestly feared my chest would break open, I forced my feet to propel me towards me backpack where my knife lay strapped to the side. Three more steps come on. Three steps towards safety, protection. The world slowed down, my life resting on a knife point, as my body brought me towards the backpack. I reached forwards, wrapped my fingers around the hilt and pulled it out the bag. It stuck. My eyes widening in panic, sweat dripping off my brow, as I swung the bag in front of me bringing the horrific bulk of John into my view. John still stood by Alison and Felix, torn between pursuing me and keeping his prisoners captive. I gritted by teeth and drew in a gasping breath, tinged with disbelief that I was even in this situation; trapped, being stalked by a man intent on seeing my blood. I let out a guttural yell and wedged the backpack between my feet and, gripping the blade solidly in two hands, hauled it from the pack.
  My vision narrowed to slits, focusing on the man standing in front of me, forcing my breathing to calm down to almost normal.  He stepped forwards, practically growling at me in a feral manner, lips curled back as he advanced on his prey, on me.  Using the wall as a support, I rose to my feet, the knife pointed out in front of me still grasped in two hands. I met his eyes, steadying my breath and not risking a blink even when my eyes started to burn, he slowly moved forwards the gun loaded and levelled at my chest. He moved until he was mere feet from my face, the gun almost touching my chest, his finger curled around the trigger. Letting out a shaky breath, I acted.

Shifting the knife to my left hand, I leaped to the right using a foot to push off the bed and bend my body around John’s hulky form. My left arm followed my body in a curve, drawing a bloody line across Johns face missing his throat by inches. A gun shot exploded from the barrel, where my body had been moments before, carving a glowing hot hole in the thin motel walls. I landed, my ankle twisting as I misjudged my jump, and crashed to the floor in a heap. Ignoring the pain streaking up my leg, I scrambled to my feet, almost stumbling into Felix and Alison.
Two strong hands caught me under my arms, lifting me to stand on my feet. I send my flittering gaze upwards to rest upon Felix’s face, riddled with worry as he struggled to figure out what to do. Suddenly his eyebrows settled lower on his face, eyes hardening as he seemed to reach a conclusion. He shifted his hands to my back and pushed me towards the door, swinging Alison in the same direction, slipping my knife out of my hand in the process. I glanced over my shoulder, befuddled as I attempted to figure out what he was doing. Oh. The answer dawned on me; he was giving us a chance at escape.
Refusing to allow myself to become sentimental, I gripped Alison’s hand, she seemed barely conscious of her surroundings flittering in and out of the situation, and hauled her towards the exit: our escape. The door flew open hitting Alison square in the face; she collapsed on the floor in a daze watching the blood drip into her hands as though it was raining gold and slowly retreated into her mind.  I leapt back, narrowly avoiding a sloppy swipe from Felix aimed at John, as the other man burst into the room.
A throaty growl escaped the man’s throat, not unlike a bear as he discovers to his disappointment that an easy kill has turned into a hunt, as he stepped forward to grab me. I dodged to the left, only to be met by the side of his gun whacking me solidly on the head like a club. I dropped like a stone, my head exploding in pain and fireworks, as I curled up in a ball at the man’s feet, desperately seeking protection. I peeled open one eye just in time to see the man reach down and secure one meaty fist around my upper arm, dragging me into his chest none too gently. I brought a fist down on his chest in a last ditch attempt, moving in slow motion as the light left my eyes and I sunk down into his chest. My eyes fluttered shut, darkness clouding into my mind, finding the nooks where the last bits of consciousness still clung on and swallowing them into the depths on my mind.  The darkness swallowed me whole.

 

Part 7

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