They hold out their flashlights, and we start walking to the building. What’s left me wondering is why would a horde of bloodies divide into smaller hordes and be in different areas, forming a circle—if that’s what they’ve ever noticed—and just standing, not doing anything? If I add Dan’s words, they may be worshiping. But who are they worshiping? The boss bloodie? Could there be a boss bloodie?
If so, is it why there’s a zombie apocalypse because the boss bloodie went on a killing spree and he’s the reason for all of our sufferings and losses right now?
The building’s jet-black entrance is in front of our faces. The doors are transparent glass, just like the ones we had in the shopping mall. A couple of flashlights are pointed inside, showing a faded view of a flight of stairs, and scattered seats lying on the floor.
Finn walks in first, squatting as he takes his steps cautiously, Dan and Stephen behind him. Something almost tripped me as I stepped on something hard. I look down, putting my foot away, and see a huge damaged padlock on the ground. I continue walking. Dan crouches on the floor, picking up something while one of his hands is holding both his gun and flashlight.
“Bullets?” I hear him murmur.
We are all now inside the place, looking around the first floor. More features of the room are familiar to us. Thrown-out seats, a non-functional fountain in the middle, torn-out paintings on the wall, and a glossy red counter. Behind the stairwell is a way to another room which is way blacker than jet-black.
I toss Riley up again as she slowly starts sliding down on me. Sweat beads on my forehead, unable to wipe it off. Her arms then move, wrapping around my neck, and a moan escapes her mouth. It tickles my ears, making me shiver a little. I look over my shoulder to take a gander at her face that’s covered with her sweaty hair.
I whisper to her, “Don’t worry. You’ll get a good rest soon.”
She digs herself into my nape, which makes my heart beat faster and my face starts heating up.
“Why’s there a bunch of bullet holes on the wall?” Josh asks, touching a line of bullet holes on the hard wall.
“There could be a war that happened here.” Jay theorizes.
Wait, Jay is alive?
“You rarely speak, Jay. What happened?” Katy says.
That’s what I was thinking!
He replies without a beat, “I’m saving up words.”
“Hey, is this what I think it is?” Lenore’s loudness of her voice makes us all face to her. She’s currently inside the counter.
“What is, Len?” Mark approaches her.
“I can’t touch it. I might cause some trouble.”
“Damn. This is some M16.” Mark gasps, his expression of awe.
“A what?” we almost say at once.
He lifts up the rifle, which makes each of us gasp, also in awe. I question, “Does it have some load?”
Mark browses the body of the weapon as he replies, “I think so.”
The dog growls, its sight locked in the dark room behind the stairwell. A snarl echoes, but it’s not from the dog. It’s in that room. The team forms around me, protecting me with their own. Stephen gestures to me to stay back, and I do so.
“Alright, Riles. You better wake up now.” I whisper to her. “We need you. Come on.”
I badly want to do something. I can’t risk another life lost.
“Ste, be careful.”
“I know. We got each other’s backs. Don’t worry,” he replies without leaving his sight on his front.
“Inner circles. Gather around.” Nathalie commands, and the inner circles come to us.
The Inner Circle are the ones that need protection. They’re the ones who bring the supplies and food to give to us. I won’t say weak, they just lack training. They bring their own weapons, but they’d have a hard time using them since they bring the supplies and other equipment.
The members of this group are Lenore, Kirby, Claude, Katy, Ysa, Gwen, and Aaliyah.
They’re all too adorable to be in the way, so we’re putting them behind.
Snarls begin to overlap, piercing our ears. Not for long, we can hear footsteps, getting louder and closer. Then a large open mouth appears out of the dark. Stephen gets its aim, then he strikes his bat onto its head, knocking it down. He kicks it repeatedly, and Dan helps him with the abuse.
“Look out!” Nathalie yells.
Adam gets to the front, despite being an Eye of the team. He swings his baseball bat, hitting the bloodie’s stomach, sending it down. Both the bloodies are in an army uniform, and now they’re starting to get up. The Protectors beat them back down until they die. Well, for a while.
More snarls are heard, now they’re everywhere. I look out of the windows, shadows on the walls of the houses all swarming toward the building. Josh and George close the doors and block them with a pair of chairs.
“Watch out!” Gwen yells, pointing to our front.
Another bloodie comes, but it’s coming toward me. I shake my head as I say, “Oh, no, you don’t!” I hastily take a long step backward almost losing my balance, and Stephen hits the bloodie on its head repeatedly.
The dog barks aggressively, pushing itself forward, making George lose his grip on his leash. “No! Luke!”
The dog runs to the dark room. Roars from the bloodies echo on the first floor. George looks devastated, kneeling down on the floor, his hand reaching out, tears falling from his eyes.
The bloodies from outside arrive, wiping their bloody faces on the once-dusty glass doors. “Come on, we gotta go up!” Nathalie demands, grabbing Gwen’s hands.
We start moving toward the stairs, while Mark and Josh struggle to pull George up from the ground. I take my steps carefully so I won’t trip and drop my Riley. The glass doors are starting to break by the force of the bloodies.
We arrive at the second floor, meeting another door to another dark room. We yelp as the bloodies inside hit the doors, opening them widely. Nathalie and the others use their strength to block them from getting to, their weapons held across, pushing the bloodies off. We run to another flight of stairs which makes us meet even more bloodies. Then a rapid gunshot startles us, making us duck down. Mark uses the rifle to hit one bloodie left and then we keep running. More of them are behind us, so persistent to get any of us. They will never run out, huh?
We’ll always be outnumbered, and now I’m kinda useless in this situation. But, I have to be for a while, for Riley. I have to get her to a safe spot right away. We hit the fourth floor, and Stephen and Mark bolt the doors closed. Good thing those doors aren’t see-through. They seem metallic. We all flinch when a loud bang echoes, denting the door’s body. We take a few steps backward not leaving our sight on the entrance.
As I look around, using a little of my night vision—thanks to my blue eyes—I find a worn-out sofa bed which makes me think immediately of putting Riley down. I walk closer but then a grotesque face suddenly appears right in front of me, and I immediately pull away. A bloodie comes out of nowhere, now targeting me. It sways its bloody hand, which I dodge away, and then Nathalie grunts as she hops as high as she can, a machete held above her head, and then she strikes it on the bloodie’s head as soon as she lands. The hit makes its skull crack in half, then the whole body falls dead on the ground, making a loud thud.
The boys help each other out as they soon throw the body off of the building, and now we can breathe a little. “Adam, can you spot me on the couch for a moment?”
“Sure.” He puts his light on the couch, showing torn-out pieces of foam everywhere.
I sigh, not having a choice. It’s the only furniture available in this room, and every corner is blank. “This will do it.” I sit on the couch, my back aiming at the edge of the furniture, my hands now releasing their grip on her thighs and now holding both her arms as I guide her to lie down.
“Wait, I’ve got a pillow,” Lenore says as she digs in her backpack. “It’s small, but it’ll do.”
She shows a small square pillow and lends it to me. I place it under Riley’s head. “Thanks.”
Another loud bang makes us flinch. My chest thunders. They slowly walk toward the doors, weapons ready. I take a glance at Riley and place her hands on her stomach. I sigh as I get up preparing my fighting stance. Bang, loud again.
“It’s me,” a familiar muffled voice comes from the other side. The voice is calm like it’s filled with sorrow. It says again, “It’s me, you morons.”
“Oh!” Adam hastily unlocks the doors, and then Aaliyah appears behind them.
We sigh in relief.
But then…
“Wait!” I halt her. “Where did they go? Stay right there!”
Aaliyah looks puzzled, her face is expressionless yet her eyebrows are lifted. “Oh, they’re gone. I think.”
“She’s fine.” Adam defends.
I shake my head, disagreeing with him. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Just let her come in first. They’ll be back.” Lenore says, then Mark agrees with her.
Then a dog bark surprises us. Our dog appears behind her, wagging his tail. But then his canine teeth are bringing something. He drops it on the ground and sits, his tongue is out.
“Luke? Luke! Glad you’re alive!” George runs to him, giving him cuddles. Then he looks down at the dog’s gift. His face frowns in disgust. “What the heck is that?”
“It’s an arm,” Nathalie replies.
They bolt the door shut again, and we start to form around Aaliyah, our weapons held out.
“Hey!” Adam walks next to her. “She’s all right. Calm down!”
“Check her body,” Nathalie instructs.
Then we search for any signs of wounds or injuries on her. She seems clear, her clothes even look neat and clean, yet she smells almost similar to the bloodies.
“You left me behind, you idiots. I’m all right. They didn’t find me.” Aaliyah speaks in a strangely calm yet threatening way.
Adam hugs her tightly squeezing his narrow eyes shut. “I’m sorry. That won’t happen again.”
“It’s okay.”
“So, how about the dog?” Nathalie crosses her arms as she looks at it. “Earlier we saw how he ran into a horde and now he’s still alive.”
“He’s agile and small, they couldn’t get him.” George defends.
Well, for now, we can believe that, but as far as I know, Riley told me dogs could be infected too. I want to say it out loud, but I don’t want to burst George’s bubble, especially when he thought he’s already lost that little monster. And now he’s even naming it Luke. We fall into a deep silence, our eyes are static onto the doors, ears are listening to those muffled roars outside.
“Where are we?” A familiar voice sounds like it comes from behind us.
We all look behind only to see an eerie figure of an almost deranged silhouette standing right behind us. We yelp.