The whole atmosphere is gloomy and sometimes suffocating due to the horrific condition it's in. The tainted lockers that were recently before the catastrophe, used by students were now covered in crimson liquid with a noticeable odor. Lurking down the hallway, there might be a walker hiding in the corner of a room door, waiting for a quick snatch and bite.
As I was straddling down the hallway, a growl could be heard from somewhere. I attempt to expose my ears to try to close in the noise just to recognize what it is. Well, it is a walker since no humans would growl... right?
A screeching sound coming from behind me, like something is trailing its pointy fingernails across a solid metal locker coming close to my direction. I loosened my steps and then stopped. Everything is still except the growling noise and the screeching sound, both seem to be coming closer as I kept walking. As I stopped, the growling noise remain in its place, which means, the creature is remaining still somewhere around me but the sound of the creature making the screeching sound isn't stopping me from getting closer.
Therefore I quickened my step, trying to escape away from the noise. The hallway in front of me was doomed with darkness as no passing sunlight went in. The noticeable red stains on several windows and a handprint on that particular door to a classroom. As I head further ahead, the darkness consumed me as I head in deeper and deeper until I stopped immediately as I noticed something. Something is not right.
The noise, the growling, is not from behind me, which means, it was in front of me, as I saw two yellowy glowy monstrous eyes staring at me within the darkness whilst the screeching came closer and closer. My instinct made me grab the handgun out of my holster and pointed it toward the creature in front of me. It looked strange, glowy eyes? It seemed shy for some reason as its hiding behind a table that was flipped over its side.
Growl... I immediately took a step back. Out of a sudden, it started to step out of its hiding spot. The noise of the creature scratching the locker is reaching closer and closer to me. I started to move aside, backing towards the presumed exit way, wanting to find a way to get out of this entrapment then an explosion of roar came out from the shadowed creature. It erupted the entire school. Noise could be heard from all directions as roaring and feet stomping surrounded the entire building. That's a horde coming. Not good. I have to go.
Pivoted my feet, I begin to run in the opposite direction even though it is the direction of the screeching sound. No. Stopping to a standstill. I can't lure the horde toward my brother. Turning around, instead of running back, I head straight towards the creature with glowy eyes.
I heard the creature growling as I head straight toward them. Any creature that comes from the dark, needs to have some inexperience with sunlight, if you could hold up a flashlight, you can shine it right through its eyes, blinding it. Taking out my flashlight, I immediately turn it on, sending a ray of light toward the creature. It immediately got shined and raised one of its hands to cover the blazing light. The zombie appears to look like a woman, with her cheek teared up. But what in particular makes me surprised is the length of her nails, it extruded out to an immense degree. That doesn't look natural.
Gotten closer, her arm raised then she swiftly swing her fingernails through the air and straight toward my head. Ducking her attack and puncture a knife right through her face, for her brain. I can extirpate her immediately with this. After rendering her immobile, I kept running.
Hah hah... exhaling and inhaling, I kept running through the hallway as zombies kept chasing me.
Where's the way to the gym? No, my brother is here. I can't leave him behind. As I ran, suddenly, toppling over a table, I noticed a ventilation hole I can fit myself into. Before the infected could grab me, I quickly crawl and jumped towards it and slid into the hole with ease. The zombies almost took hold of my vest. As they were screaming, wanting to bite into my flesh and tear it apart, I pulled out my pistol and fired shots at the zombies. Crawling further into the vent, the infected surely made a blockage because they kept squeezing themselves into the vent, momentarily blocking it.
"Finally..." I whispered out as to give a sense of relief that I could finally catch my breath for once. I kept crawling deeper and deeper inside. I see blood stains on other ventilations hole connecting to this one. There must be an infection inside the ventilation system. I need to watch out.
The growling of zombies as I kept on crawling up the hole. All I see are several directions toward different rooms around the facility. There is one with a locked vent and others opened. I kept crawling but eventually, I crawled by a room that seemed to have a locked door and vent. I flipped my head, garnering strength my strength, I busted the vent open. It came crashing down onto the floor, but it seems that this hall is empty because none of the zombies are trying to slam themselves into the classroom door after that loud crashing sound.
Guess I'm good for now. I still keep my alertness as there could be a potential danger since I'm already surrounded by danger. I slid down the hole and landed on a table. Holding my pistol, I check its magazine to see how much I have left and replace it with a new one. Then I sat on the ground, waiting for the day to end and the next sunlight to come. Time went by as I slumped through the night.
Morning came up and my stomach makes a rumbling noise. Ah. I'm starving.
Taking out a wrapped protein bar, I took a bite and eat up all that was left from the wrap. I stood up, looked around, then walked towards the door and surveyed the area outside the classroom.
There's none.
Good to go now. I opened the door from the class and sneaked out like a cat. As I was walking, I stumbled upon a severed arm of a person, through further examination, it came from a girl. The trail of blood could be as I traced it with my attentive eyes. Her organs, even her intestine lie in front of a certain classroom that appears to have a blood pool dripping from the bottom of the door.
The blood looks fresh, there is something on the other side. Not trying to be curious, I stepped away and head to the room where my brother was hiding.
The school seems like it's empty in the morning. The infected are unusually classified as nocturnal creatures. I kept strolling around while humming.
I wasted 5 bullets yesterday on zombies' legs. That means, there are 2.. left. Ambling across the hallway, I eventually came to a blockaded room. Guess they're still safe.
Blood stains can be seen plastered on the front door that wasn't there yesterday. I'm talking about the new red ones, not the boring darkish brown that has been oxidized. They're quite busy yesterday. Beats me, I don't know how they will react if there is a person in front of this room like last night. I pulled out my phone, attempting to text my brother whether he was still alive.
But for some reason, he doesn't respond.
"Hm" humming while pondering about several reasons why he didn't read the text.
Either he's sleeping, making out, playing, or dead. Turning off my phone screen, I slipped it back into my jacket's pocket. Hope he's still fine.
Another body.
It was merely when I turned around a corner. A guy. His stomach, and organs, are completely exposed. His body looks like he just got eaten last night.
Wait... I came to a tight spot. Did they try to escape last night? Taking out my phone, I stared at it, saddened by the fact that my brother hasn't replied yet.
That is probably the reason.
I went back to the fortified room and knocked on the door. But there's no answer. I waited there for a while, but still no response from my brother. I intended to wreck the fortification but there is a possibility that they're still in there. I scrutinize how to get in and fortunately, I concluded that there is probably a vent up on their head because every room there is connected to a ventilation system.
Immediately, I ran and slipped myself into some random vent and crawled around the entire school just to find the vent to that particular room. And eventually, I reached the room. Trying to stick my head through the vent to survey the room. Luckily, there's that mountain of chairs stacked to keep off the infected with the presence of canned containers and food peels. It was empty but as I stuck my head further down the hole from the vent, I noticed a back door, which leads to another room, but the back door has been opened or maybe, peeled out since the lock seems to be wrecked.
So those two I just saw, are probably the members that were stuck here with my brother.
Tossing myself down from the vent, I strolled through where the doors lead me and there. I saw another body, that was mangled to an unrecognizable point. But I immediately noticed that was a girl because her uterus was being ripped out and smashed. Then by the end of the intersected hallways, I saw the body of a boy, laying there, immobile. His head was crushed and was also mangled but not to the point that happened to the girl.
Did they die here last night? I assumed it to be like that.
A pain shot out from my chest as I was shocked by this. I wasn't expecting this to happen. Hopefully, my brother is still out there.
Looking around, I stared at the trail of blood, appearing on the floor, walls, and ceilings. I ran towards where the blood trail led me. At that time, I came to a stopping point, contemplating what the heck is that as I stared at the destroyed wall as if something just crashed into it with immense force that had broken an entire wall.
I pondered to myself. That isn't something that is supposed to happen. The demolished wall lead to the outside. Possibly, they ran out of here since the front was heavily swarmed by infected.
I need to go.
I head back to the gym.
Igniting the car engine. I drove out of the gym. And intentionally smash through a small number of infected.
Going around the school, I head toward where the hole is located and try to narrow it down to where my brother and his friends went.
"Alexa, can you still receive my brother's phone signal?" I questioned her.
"Yes, his phone still has some battery percentage left. An estimated 32 minutes before it fully disconnects from any source of power to allow any receiving of radio waves. Right now, his phone is down to 0 percent but not exactly zero, there's still a semblance of electricity in it so we can trace him down." She gave me a heck of a long but very informative answer.
"And where is he?"
"I'm turning on the map so you could see." She directed me towards the map on my phone and gave me a pinpoint location of my brother.
"Thanks" I appreciated her help but it appears that she didn't reply to my act of appreciation.
"Not cool." I sounded angry but she was as silent as ever.
I huffed then directed my attention towards my finding of my brother. Taking up the pace, I slammed on the pedal, taking a trip towards downtown, the whole food market.
"Why would they go there? Don't they know that populated centers are easily populated with walkers?" My jaw clenched. Please don't die yet, you're the only one I have left.
As the sun rose and the moon slumped down to its course of natural direction. The blinding light loomed over me and lightened me from the shadow of the terror of the night. Bleeding profusely on the ground, my mother warmly held my hand, carrying me to create a soothing effect.
"You're brave so you should stay strong." I held up both her hands just to feel the last of her being in this world.
Brother is resting his head on her stomach, wetting her recently bought the jacket. His tears resemble someone who is going to lose a very close person. While I, who shed no tears, stared blankly at my mother on her last breath. My mouth hasn't moved, and my lips have not either. I was staring at her, my pupils seems to have sunken to nothingness.
I was 17 back then, supposed to turn 18 and be having a moment of my life. But this created a devastating effect on my personality and all the relationships I had.
And still, she held up that smile while looking at me, caressing me until her hand began to descend and fall. Her body is now unmoving, her heart seems to have stopped. I noticed every aspect of her body seemed to have been rendered immobile.
As my brother shed louder tears when he noticed her passing. I was not, I was standing there, staring at nothingness. The person whose life I spent with is nowhere near me anymore.
Clenching the steering wheel, I commemorate the moment of my life and strive to pass on this moment but instead of letting it happen again, I'll prevent it no matter what I can do.