A beautiful night sky opened before Eden's eyes, relaxing her for a few seconds, unfortunately all the events that had occurred suddenly returned to the young woman's head, making her stand up and look around. The fall had been painful, the backpack on her back had managed to cushion the blow from her back but not the blow to her neck that managed to make her head hit the ground hard. Feeling the area, she noticed a lot of pain in the crown and a slight scab, there must have been bleeding but the wound had closed by itself, which she could be thankful for, if it had been a major wound she could be dead. Internalizing that thought again paralyzed her for a second.
- I could be dead- her whisper returned to her ears cooling the blood in her veins
By this time it was completely dark, the woman who had grabbed her seemed to continue with her arm out without losing hope of getting to take her to her mouth. Far from her she could see the school in the area, inside there seemed to be children and adults staggering, sadness invaded her, she could not understand how they could have allowed that situation.
Even further away, thanks to the moonlight, she could see more people scattered about, the shadows did not help to differentiate their actions or directions, but she knew she should not approach.
Getting up slowly, she felt the weight on her legs, the left one was more sore than desirable but it would have to do if she wanted to hide. Limping she approached the nearest building. Eden looked through the dark glass of the door without seeing anyone inside, feeling a slight smile she pulled on the door handle finding that it was completely closed.
-Fuck- she whispered biting her cheeks
Staring at the glass in the door, she could see that several were broken at different heights, too small to pass but large enough to attempt to open the door from the inside. Standing on tiptoe, she put her arm through the opening closest to the lock, feeling it carefully, she noticed the button to be pressed, and pressing the door it was unlocked allowing her to enter.
She could already take out her arm when a man came out of the shadows startling her, trying to move quickly away the remains of glass from the broken window tore the sleeve of her clothes, causing a cut on her forearm.
Eden did not know what alerted the horde first, if the smell of blood or the scream that she could not silence, but the infected that previously seemed scattered began to advance directly towards her. Tears in her eyes clouded her vision, grabbing her arm tightly kicked the door knocking the man that had attacked her in the process and stormed into the elevator, just a touch confirmed what she feared, the electricity had been cut. Without even stopping to process it, she turned and ran up the stairs. Checking every door as she passed, she went floor to floor but all were closed, she could hear grunting noises and footsteps behind her.
The oxygen ran out, taking a wrong step she fell forward hitting her knee again. She couldn't take it anymore, her breath came out in heavy gasps, climbing the ladder practically on all fours she reached the fifth floor. The doors were still closed but her legs were barely keeping her on her feet so going higher was not an option.
An idea arose in her head, taking out her wallet she grabbed one of her cards, at this point nothing mattered, if she managed to get out of there it would be a miracle so she would break any card in order to get inside. Swiping the card through the corner of the door, she reached the lock area and began to fight it. She could hear the infected approaching and that did not help with her nervousness, the blood from her wounds trickled down to her hand making the card slippery
- Why can't it be like in the movies?
Entering, she closed the door with a loud bang and wedged in the first piece of furniture she found on her way, dropping dead weight against it so that the door wouldn't open. The knocks were not long in being noticed, they had force, but the door was thick and was surprisingly well blocked to the happiness of the young woman. After waiting for everything to settle down, she could feel the drops of sweat that had formed on her forehead as a result of effort and pain, her wound had cooled down, making it unbearable.
Once she was completely sure that a soul was not heard, she began to advance into the darkness of the corridor. Trying to turn on each switch in the house in vain, she came to notice the knob of the first door, when she opened it she could see slightly how the moonlight illuminated the room. She was in the kitchen. Entering the room completely, she was petrified, someone was there, Eden observed her new companion but he did not move one bit, that in a way gave her courage, of course if she compared it with all the previous events, if the man was like the others should make some noise.
Approaching him, sadness invaded the young woman. That man had been dead for so long that he had been mummified in a natural way, in his hand she could see an old yellowed photo in which he and his wife appeared to be young.
That old man seemed to have died in peace, he was well dressed, could even say that he was elegant, his face did not show signs of suffering. She was only a nurse, but judging from the posture leaning against the wall and his closed eyes, it seemed that the gentleman had fallen asleep gently and had not awakened again.
With a silent apology she began to search the drawers. Among all the objects accumulated there she was able to find a half-finished matchbox and a lighter that seemed to still have enough gas to light.
Putting the matches in her backpack, she lit the lighter and went out into the hall again, this time she could see where she was moving, she needed to heal her arm and get some sleep. Observing each room of the house she came to the conclusion that doors without latches and windows were not completely safe to rest, so approaching the living room window which allowed her to see quite clearly, she inspected her arm, the wound was bleeding a lot but it was a clean cut. Holding her breath and after removing her sweatshirt, she disinfected her forearm and bandaged it, it was not her best work but it would have to be worth it.
Taking a last look at her arm, she carried a pillow and several blankets into the bathroom, the door had a latch and the bathtub was large enough so after creating a makeshift bed, she could lie down comfortably in it. The young woman was in complete darkness in there, on any other occasion it would make her hair stand on end, but at that moment she was calm.
Sleeping was not an easy task, but by taking several deep breaths she managed to fall asleep soundly. The darkness and silence were strangely comforting, the bedding smelled musty but nothing mattered since she was safe now.