(Ray)
"Ah, shit…" said Ray.
"What's wrong?" Rody asked.
"Momo says she sees the horde moving towards F block. We need to get inside before it reaches the building. If we don't, we're going to be stuck out here in the open."
Leon gulped, "A horde? Are you serious?"
"We're on our way. I'm cutting the call for now." Said Ray.
He slid his phone back inside his pocket and flicked his head in the direction of the F block building. The other two nodded in response and they set off towards their destination. Not even a few steps later, Leon dropped to one knee and placed a hand against his chest. He breathed out hard and scrunched up his eyes.
"Yo, dude…" said Rody as he rushed to his friend. "You good?"
"Ahhh… I think so." Leon said, "It hurts though."
"I got ya," Rody assured him as he bent down, swung Leon's arm across his shoulder and lifted him up.
"Leon, are you sure you can walk?" Ray asked, "If not then we'll try to find another way into the building."
"Yeah, yeah… I'm sure, I'm sure." He said, nodding vigorously.
Ray squinted his eyes but didn't argue. Instead, he started moving again. He quickly climbed up the stone steps and scanned around. He heard the horde before he saw it. An eerie hum lingered heavily in the air. It was like an annoying fly that wouldn't stop flying near your ears, only way more terrifying.
The horde was steadily approaching from the left. As Meghan had informed him, they looked to be moving towards the F block building. Ray furrowed his brow. He desperately wanted to understand the pattern of the horde's movement. From just the brief glimpses he got so far, he understood practically nothing. A myriad of questions plagued his mind. Questions that he knew he could answer, given time. But that was the one thing they didn't have at the moment. He looked back at his friends, they were still a few steps away from him.
Ray clicked his teeth. He nervously tapped a foot on the topmost stone step.
'Ah crap, are we going to make it?' he asked himself, 'The guys are almost here but the horde… it's so close. Oh no, I don't think we're going to make it…'
The frontline of the horde was merely a few feet away. Their horrible snarls sent shivers down Ray's spine. The moment his friends reached the top of the stairs Ray quickly stepped beside Leon and got underneath his other arm.
"Rody run!" he said, "Drag him if you have to. Just run!"
Together, Ray and Rody half-pulled, half-dragged Leon towards F block. The horde was now right behind them. Their collective moans blocked out any other source of sound. Ray didn't know if they were outpacing the horde or not but he didn't dare look back to check. He focused all his attention on running towards the building.
Ray started panting heavily after crossing the halfway point. He glanced over at his two friends. Rody looked tired as well but seemed to be doing far better than he was. Leon, on the other hand, appeared to be having the worst time of all. His whole face was contorted in pain. The skin on his cheeks was beet red. He was biting down hard on his teeth to prevent himself from screaming. Suddenly, Ray didn't feel that his weariness was anything to complain about.
"We're almost there, man" he told him, "Just a bit further."
By the time the three of them reached the F block entrance, Ray's shoulders sagged heavily from the weight. His muscles burned from exertion as he struggled to pull Leon through the open glass doors.
"Get to—to the fire exit," Ray breathed out.
A couple quick steps later, the three friends entered the elevator area. But they weren't the only ones there.
A young boy stood in front of the fire exit door with his back turned towards them. His height suggested that he was in his early teens. He had scruffy black hair and a thin physique. He was wearing a red and white striped T-shirt with navy blue shorts.
Very slowly the boy turned around.
Ray's eyebrows shot up as he controlled the urge to gasp. The boy had no face. Or rather, it seemed like his face had been ripped clean off. A bloody red mess existed where his skin should have been. His nose was reduced to misshapen slits. Both of his eyeballs were missing, leaving only two revolting empty sockets. Because he had no lips, the boy looked like he was constantly gritting his teeth.
'He can't see us.' Ray thought to himself, 'If I can somehow get behind him, I can knock him down and restrain him long enough for Rody and Leon to get inside the fire exit. I just need to move quietly… quietly…'
Ray placed a finger against his lips and slowly removed Leon's arm from his shoulder. He stepped once to the left as carefully as he could. Then another step. And a third.
'You're doing great,' he told himself, 'quietly now…'
The Deathless boy, however, seemed to have no intention of standing still. He groaned loudly and started shuffling forward aimlessly.
Ray looked at Rody and waved his hand sideways, indicating to get out of the boy's way. Rody took a step to the right and waited for Leon to follow suit. Leon moved one leg carefully enough but as he stepped down his other foot, it gave a little tremble and he could no longer suppress the pain.
"Aghh!" he yelped.
The Deathless boy screeched loudly and charged towards Leon. Rody pulled him out of the way just in time for the boy to go hurtling past him and land awkwardly onto the floor. He screeched again and jumped up to his hands and feet like an animal.
'Fuck, it's an Erratic.' Ray realized.
"The fire exit!" he shouted, "Get inside the fire exit!"
Rody ran forward and opened the heavy door.
"Get in!" he called out.
But before any of them could move, the faceless Deathless lunged at Rody. Instinctively, he dodged out of the way and accidentally let go of the heavy door. The boy dove into the fire exit as the door closed shut, trapping him inside.
"Oh no! Fuck!" Ray cursed, "How do we get upstairs now?"
The loud moans of the horde had reached the F block entrance. The eerie buzz reverberated through the corridor they were in. Ray turned towards the entrance in horror to see several Deathless streaming in through the doorway.
"Ray, we have no choice. We have to take the elevator." Said Rody.
Ray bit his lower lip, "Damn it all…"
He pressed the elevator button on the wall. For some reason, it was already on their floor. The twin doors opened up, revealing the corpse of the woman inside.
"AHH!" Leon yelled, "It's another one of those freaks!"
"This one's dead. Come on, hurry!" Ray shouted.
He was the first to get in. Rody helped Leon walk as Ray punched in his floor number on the panel. Once all three of them were inside, Ray started tapping furiously at the 'close door' button.
'C'mon… close dammit, close!' Ray thought.
As the elevator doors slowly started closing, a Deathless appeared in front of them. Its creepy eyes found them standing inside the metal box and stretched out an arm in their direction. Ray gasped loudly. He took a step back, fearing that the Deathless would block the doors from closing at the last second. But it didn't. The door shut completely and he felt the sensation of the elevator moving up.
"Ahhh…" Ray breathed out in relief and reclined into the elevator wall behind him.
He titled his head back and shut his eyes for a few seconds.
"That was way too close. I feel… almost as dead as this woman on the floor." Ray said.
"You sure this thing won't jump up suddenly and try to kill us?" Rody asked cautiously.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Momo and I are the ones that finished it off. We didn't want to leave a dead body on her doorstep so I tried to get rid of it by dumping it in the elevator."
"Ahh, Okay." He said.
Ray grinned sheepishly.
In between all of this, Ray noticed that Leon was breathing heavier than normal. "Hey Leon…" he said softly, "What's wrong?"
"Ahh, I don't know dude. My—my chest is killing me. I might have broken a few ribs."
"Undo a couple buttons on your shirt." Ray instructed.
Leon carefully undid the first three buttons but even that action seemed to be painful as he winced several times. He then slowly moved the fabric out of the way, exposing his chest. A dark blue welt stood out prominently along the right side of his rib cage.
"Holy shit…" said Rody softly.
"What?" Leon asked in a panic, "It hurts too much to bend my head down to see. Is it that bad?"
"Uhh—yeah, Leon…" Ray spoke ruefully, "It's pretty bad."