There was blood dripping from the vented ceiling, the group didn't know what to expect after following a stranger in the middle of nowhere, it wasn't so dark within the passage as it was close to the outer side.
"Out of all the things I could injure, why does it have to be this thing??"
Blessy whined while holding onto her left ankle, it was sprained from sliding down the angular vent way they took. "You idiot!"
Rissa rushed forward to see her sister, she pushed past the group of guys, and they watched over the little girl while the oldest female treated her younger sister.
June returned with the screwdriver that Rissa owned since they had to shut the passage entrance, hard enough to hold back the monsters.
"Where did you head when we were at the supermarket? And when did you get changed?" Rissa asked all the questions that she has been keeping to herself all this time though her sister just rolled her eyes at her, there was no point in explaining since...
"Just be glad that I found you." Rissa scoffed at her sister's reply.
"You two better get along as fast as possible, I think we triggered a monster's senses." the eldest spoke up, warning all of them as he looked back from where they came from.
"One point for you." Blessy confused the new people as she sat straightly, they had to prepare themselves for the worst-case scenario now that there were a ton of them in the group.
"They helped me a bunch of times, we can't leave them behind."
Rissa attempted to lean in and whisper to her sister but the little girl eventually heard this, she repeated what the older female said because she thought that they would leave and abandon her. "Who said that??" the silver-haired boy was alarmed by this statement.
He had the girl in his hands and covered her ears.
'This is awkward but it doesn't really matter...' Blessy couldn't comprehend what they were trying to say since she is wearing her headphones, it was playing a calm and impressive soundtrack, keeping her relaxed as she currently is.
"Oh, now I get what you mean." she replied, turning to look at the group.
"Of course, we wouldn't leave you behind. Most importantly, I would never abandon anyone." the younger teenage female smiled at the girl, trying to make her understand of what she intended to do to them.
"Yeah, that's what I was trying to say."
Rissa backfired as she unintentionally knocked on the wall.
The monsters definitely heard that as it echoed throughout the entire place since they are all in the vents, to begin with.
'This is ridiculous! We've been right in front of the parking lot this whole time.' June saw it, he urged the eldest female to bring out her screwdriver as quickly as possible.
"We're gonna die!"
The youngest of them didn't panic from the tension and suspense there was, he pushed past the older ones and kicked the vent cover very hard that it drove the undead creatures' attention directed toward them.
He kicked it once again before it started to break while some of them cleared the way to make room for the boy to open the way for them.
Rissa joined him to increase the power required to bust the cover before they run out of time since the living undead creatures were practically after them at that minute.
'I don't think I can run in this condition but since I don't want to die in this way, let's just finish this...' Blessy followed after the rest at the very moment the vent opened, they each left the building one by one without forgetting to prioritize all of their safety.
"Quickly, dodge them as much as you can!"
A monster almost pulled the girls back as it came from the other side of the vent passageway, the infected creatures were slowly catching up to them, leaving the group pathless as they ran outside where there was plenty of other undead to attract with their screams.
It was a close call yet none of them could stop.
"Everyone! Split up and hide!" June instructed them as he broke the glass of a car door, trying to create a huge distraction to help his friends and make it easier for them to lose the monsters.
"Look out!"
The little girl held onto the silver-haired boy as he carried her and ran for their lives, she was keeping an eye on those people that were far back, seeing the enormous southern creatures lurk around them.
They were everywhere and not a single human being except for them was present around, their small and weak figures could never be compared to the monsters as they acquired such uncanny forms after so long.
'Is that one literally flying like that one dinosaur..?' the eldest boy had slid under a truck, he was the safest survivor amongst them, there were merely undead creatures surrounding him.
He shrugged the thought off since he clearly doesn't know what type of dinosaur he was trying to describe. Nevertheless, it was certainly obvious that their lives were in grave danger, however, Blessy was concerned about the others' safety far more than she felt for herself.
The girl motioned her sister to find a safe place ahead of time and gather everything they might need, wanting to keep them all free from scratches.
"I can't just leave you like this!" Rissa yelled as the noise around overshadowed their voices, they were still running hand in hand but the two of them had contrasting opinions despite the crisis surrounding them. Blessy forgot her sprained ankle and fell, pushing Rissa away, they were an inch close to getting bitten.
She kicked the infected creature's head while holding onto her left leg, trying to add more force as she ignored the slight pain.
Rissa, on the other hand, listened to her sister's advice and they both got back up on their feet before peacefully parting ways, she ran while telling the others not to do as they did.
"Don't copy any of this!" she hilariously shouted that it was no joke.
Slowly but surely, they all moved and started doing something instead of running or hiding all the time, it was too much to process, after all.
Meanwhile, June decided to assist the injured girl, she was slowly losing strength and limping as she tried crushing another monster's skull although, most of them were still moving even after losing their head.
"This really isn't a joke." he mumbled under his breath as he took grasp of it, trying to divert the monsters' attention by launching it far away from them, the little girl didn't remain resting as she saw the silver-haired boy look around for any object.
It was pressuring to stay hidden when their friends are surrounded by tons of deadly infected monsters, she wanted to help them if she had the chance...
'I guess this is my cue.' she tapped the older boy's shoulder and pointed toward an unlocked car with its keys hanging on the keyhole, they were very lucky to have such a convenient solution to their said problem.
"Do you even know how to drive?" the youngest boy managed to find his friends again, jumping over the pile of debris as he noticed what the plan was.
Rissa headed to the right and passed by the eldest boy from the group but didn't see him, his eyes followed the girl's direction as he saw a bunch of ordinary monsters.
He couldn't just stay hidden after figuring that out, he also caught a glimpse of someone behind the wall right around the corner.
He waved at the boy while taking plastic from the floor to cover the creature's mouth as it took advantage of its opportunity, the eldest boy was surrounded by the flock that Rissa had.
'I can't find anything useful, even myself isn't that full of use!' the black-haired boy panicked as he looked around for things that they could use in that situation.
There was nothing around them since they were in the parking lot, the street barely had anything hard to use as a weapon. 'This is pointless.' he thought.
He checked his older friend if he was still struggling, and indeed, nothing much changed that entire time. His eyes watched the pair in the center, using their fists and surrounding to fight the creatures while his older friend stood on the top of a truck, holding the plastic as it got stuck in an infected undead's mouth.
Beeeeeeeep... the sound of a car horn started attracting all of their attention including the survivors there, three of them were riding a car and running over the monsters, and with that, half of their problem was solved after overcoming the fear of being defenseless.
"One point each for us, three." the little girl cheered.
"Over here!" the eldest called to them as the monsters climbed each other and almost reached the boy. Everything was going fine as gold and no matter how tiring or difficult their situation became, every one of them grew stronger as they stayed together as a team.
"I'm back, you sick monsters!" Rissa held her hands up high as she roller-skated toward the others, she was smiling like a crazy person as Blessy said.
'This a do-or-die battle and yet, here we are...' the younger female thought to herself.
She knew that sending her older sister out in the open, to 'find' a hiding place and 'gather' useful items for their safety meant that the older female would head on back to their dorm, bringing out her own licensed weapons.
'We really are sisters.' she spun around to accidentally kick the black-haired boy as she reminisced the moments when she and Rissa had very great telepathic communication.
"I'm sorry! Reflexes, dear goblin." the girl name-called him as they gathered together, facing the crisis once again for the last time that day.
============
The place was dark and stinky, it smelled like there was a pool of blood lying somewhere within the cave, the boy managed to stay alive amidst the chaos around him.
Creatures from the Southern Island were all endlessly still jumping from the other side and causing the ground to shake.
"And we seriously still call him our friend..." he whispered quietly, he felt frustrated because of his friend's idiotic betrayal towards him.
'I wonder if there's anyone alive around here.' he thought to himself.
He walked without a plan in the dark, causing the puddles to splash and ruin his white shoes with blood. The boy kept on walking in the dark until...
There was visible light to be seen, he caught a glimpse of a girl on a pile of dead bodies lying on the cold and hard ground.
"Hey!" he called but the girl disappeared.
The ground began to rock back and forth from side to side, and by this time of the day, they were all used to it already; not a single day has passed, yet it felt like a long time since the outbreak occurred. He took cover under the pile of bodies, not minding the disgusting odor and icky feeling when touching it.
Rissa took her sister's hand and asked her if she was wearing her rollerblades, the younger female nodded and pulled the black-haired boy into the car where the others were already.
"We'll meet you there."
Blessy looked at her sister as she informed them about the unfinished 20 feet tall hotel behind the mall, across the parking lot. "There's no time, get in and start the car!" June urged them to enter the car but the girls shook their heads in unison, closing the doors before running off.
"Let's go!" the eldest held onto the driving wheel while the youngest of them stepped on the pedal. Meanwhile, Blessy unlocked the cover of her shoes, dropping down and setting up her rollerskates which were hidden all this time.
"This is the opportunity to use your skills, you show off..." Rissa skated ahead.
The girls knew that simply driving away from the creatures would be a huge hassle and so, they planned things through even without saying anything at all.
"You handle the ones on the right, I'll go to the left." Blessy constructed a way to divide the hoard of infected monsters.
The car drove off with only a small number of creatures on its tail, however, they were as hard as the big flock of monsters that Blessy or Rissa had to handle at that very moment.
============
"Blessy!" Rissa was whispering with all her might, drenched in dark brownish blood after hours of fighting the hoard of monsters that followed her around the town, luckily, she managed to lose them without a single injury in spite of all her scratches.
'I have to clean up before meeting with the others...'
The group of survivors huddled in a circle, taking all the time they needed to regain some energy after a very long day.
The sun was slowly setting and giving the people a bit of peace before the moon rises soon.
'I wonder if she has anything to eat in her backpack.' the little girl unzipped Blessy's bag that she had left, knowing that they might need it when she isn't around.
"Look." her face lit up as she took out the water bottles and pieces of bread that Blessy had gathered that entire time they spent inside the mall.
Rissa sluggishly dragged herself up the stairs, tired from skating in circles earlier.
"It was also my idea to stay overnight at the very top of this high building." she lightly hit herself before calling for the others and finally asking for the help she deserves after everything they went through. "Uhmmm... Hello?"
Another voice called out to the group, carefully rollerskating towards the center.
Rissa scoffed in frustration as the group of men looked at one another, trying to understand what Rissa's problem was when her sister finally arrived.
"I'm assuming you're both not on the same page..." June said, avoiding creating any conflict between his friends and the girls.
"What are you doing?" the silver-haired boy didn't mind the issue that the others had but instead, he and the little girl bonded, for the time being, he was aware that she can't fully comprehend anything that was happening lately unlike how they, the grown-ups did.
'She must've been terrified.' he thought.
A fire lit up as soon as he lowered his gaze to the floor, he was sitting beside the little girl, letting her sit on his lap as the ground was too cold.
"You know how to make a campfire?" he was obviously amazed. "You know, those monsters can hear you yelling even if they are miles away from us." Blessy tried calming down her older sister because nothing they both did was going to get them anywhere.
"If you hadn't run off like that, then none of this would have happened." the 21-year-old female replied, stating her claim as they argued without a care in the world.
"Are you two always bickering and like this?" the eldest male questioned, wanting to put a stop to their... "Formal argument, we aren't bickering."
The two girls were practically twins if not for the difference in hair color, eye color, and voices, they were speaking as if it was all scripted, in the first place.
"Yeah, right." the youngest took a seat beside their small leader and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the commotion that was happening in front of him.
"I have an idea!" the black-haired boy raised his hand and briefly smiled as if nothing much had happened. "Spill it but quiet down."
Blessy agreed and forgot all about their topic just now, while her older sister was in disbelief at how fast the other drifted away from their argument.
"I agree, what do you have in mind?"
The whole group listened closely, gathering at once as the moonlight overshadowed their fear and anxiety. "I think we should have a little introduction since we're technically a team now..." he shyly suggested that they all have a moment to express themselves.
"I'm out." Rissa hastily uncrossed her feet and stood up.
"Hey, it wouldn't hurt to speak about yourself." Blessy insisted that they all do as the black-haired male asked because she too, wanted to get to know them all, especially her older sister.
'I want her to speak for as long as she wants instead of just keeping her mouth shut.' they carried on with the conversation.
"Alright, I'll start." the male who suggested the introduction had spoken, trying to brighten up the mood just like the little girl and Blessy who were attentively paying attention to him.
"My name is Sha-" he was somewhat interrupted though, his friends didn't trust the girls one bit. "Can we like do nicknames?"
The youngest seemed to be in the same boat as his older friends, wanting to hide his identity as well from strangers because who knows?
'After all this, they could be criminals or whatever...' Rissa was also hesitant.
"I guess if we don't trust each other that much yet, we can come up with code names." Blessy agreed as she noticed their reactions, she fully understood why they were kind of against the idea. "Come on, isn't it weird to just call each other by our physical traits? I mean, this is the least we can do for one another."
Everyone didn't dare look anywhere else but the ground, the mood became dark once the others emitted such negative vibes but still, Blessy being the extrovert she is, went along with the flow by introducing herself first without even considering her older sister's insecurity.
'I hope she doesn't mention her name.'
"Since none of you are willing to do it... I'm Blessy, and before you even say anything. It's a nickname that many people call me because my name is very complicated." she lightly chuckled, forgetting about the bad vibes that the rest of the group was spreading.
Rissa, on another note, facepalmed in annoyance but it was better than what she expected.