Two silent silhouettes walk the city's curbs and hide under the darkness of rooftops. They cling to the walls of the silk buildings lining the streets. Gallons of blood fill the streets and stray people are in fetal positions in the middle of the streets mumbling something under their breaths. Some words come out like hoarse and scratched speeches."The next one is just a few blocks away, I heard the owner goes to visit his wife in the next province every holiday." Bliss shudders as she looks at the bald people causing her to walk faster. "What's wrong with these? Why don't they move?""I don't know" Zylith wants to have minimal conversation in caution of them hearing but Bliss keeps talking to calm her jittering nerves."What would we do if they were to see us and attack? Run?" Bliss presses on."Let's just hope they don't find us. We won't be able to outrun them" Zylith states as she clutches her knife close to her body, the heels of her feet raised slightly off the ground and her eyes darting left and right, up and down expecting something to pop out of thin air but also carrying the gait of someone that knows what they're doing. A sense of calm. A façade."How do you know?""I just do," Zylith says as they cross over to the street to avoid a person repeatedly banging their body into a crashed vehicle.They get to the rectangular store and the doors are on automatic lock. With the lack of electricity that most technology runs on it would prove impossible to do anything.Zylith looks at the pale wire that runs in the middle of the door. The viscous liquid in it now still, like most wire in sleek metal buildings and asphalt of the road. The beating heart of the city was dead. And all that remained was a murky grey liquid that didn't carry the same vitality it did."Shucks, let's go to the backdoor" Bliss blows raspberries at the door.They go to the back, where the back door to see it has a metal door with a heavy padlock in an equally heavy-looking chain. "Are you sure the owner won't be in here?" Zylith crouches down under the ceiling. "Yeah, I'm telling you, I'm 100% sure. Trust me. " Bliss nods. Zylith looks back at her and blinks. "My mom would say I should come closer and promise she won't beat me when I do something wrong. She says that while holding a flip-flop behind her and telling me to trust her" Zylith admits.Bliss's face scrunches up into an ugly frown. "Is everything okay at home?" Bliss asks instinctively. "It's perfect now" Zylith smiles back at Bliss's look of concern. "Do you have a pin?"Zylith finishes packing up a bunch of clothes she had selected when she hears Bliss's squeal. Leaving her bag pack, Zylith races to the source but stops midway when she already sees Bliss standing there with a pink fur coat. Zylith's heart slows down and relief washes over Zylith's face noticeably. Her eyes dart around to a few broken windows that let in light."Seriously?" Zylith's frightened eyes go back to dead eyes. She questions her life decisions and massages the skin between her eyebrows."What~?""A fur coat?" Zylith whisper-yells in disbelief."*Gasp* Excuse me? This isn't an animal fur coat, it's fake fur. Fake!""Let's just go back, I think our hurl is enough to last us for another week now" Zylith briskly pulls a bag over her shoulders and carries two more heavy ones. "I don't know why not just stay here? I mean this place is really big and it has pretty good clothes.""That's the problem, some windows have been broken into which means we're not the only ones that thought of robbing this store, if someone were to come in here, we wouldn't even know. Our place back there is small enough for two of us to protect." Zylith grabs all the bags they had filled to the brim with necessities."Why would other people want to harm us? It's only been three days, people won't go crazy that fast" Bliss fingers the fur of the clothes that have a bright glittery pink all over it with a word written on it."Give it some time and it'll happen. You won't get to witness that because I'm not letting you." Zylith walks past Bliss with their bags filled with clothes and equipment of various kinds."But I found a Vintage coat! I can trade other people with the clothes for our protection!" Bliss calls after Zylith. "Who wouldn't want a fifty-thousand-dollar coat?" Bliss whines."People who can just steal it for themselves or people who are just worried about their next meal. A lot of people won't want a fifty-thousand-dollar Barbie puffer coat. Just...keep the flashy clothes in the bag and let's please go back." Zylith massages the crease between her eyebrows."Okay," Bliss lets out a small pout.Almost at the confinement of their base. They climb down from a ladder and reach the ground A shelter from the hands of bloodshot and skinny malnourished bony people who constantly hunt for the whiff of people. Zylith and Bliss round the alley to the basement, surprisingly not having had a direct encounter with any of the mindless beings. Bliss halts their advancement.'Weird' Zylith thinks.Weird.Weird. Shit."Um...I need to pee.""That bad?""My bladder might burst. It's really bad.""Fine, let's go" Zylith drops the bags onto the path and cheeks the drones up in the air that scan the area."What? Don't follow me, I can handle it. Your drones will get a good view of my ass, I don't need you on my neck.""Better safe than sorry, Bliss." Zylith raises an eyebrow at the attitude."No, I want to go alone. Give me some space" Bliss adamantly refuses. "It's already bad I'll have to pee in this disgusting alley that the drones have been monitoring for hours by the way and no zombies. Lay off a little""Fine, I'll be right at the entrance of the basement, just don't spend up to a minute.""A girl needs her time, give me five""Three minutes""Four""No, three or I'll have to stay""Fine three" Zylith shakes her head walking just twenty paces away and Bliss rounds behind a dumpster."Sod off, perv" Bliss calls out to Zylith. Zylith snorts in frustration and walks 30 more paces to the building.Three minutes passed and Zylith shoved all the bags through the tiny basement's window. She's about to go back out when she hears the scream of Bliss and soon Bliss comes running out from the corner.A tall skinny being with barely anything to call a skin, more like bones is hot on her chase. The jaw is wide open and elongated. Huge lumps over its back ooze out a yellowish substance. It lets out otherworldly screams as it crazily chases Bliss who somehow sprints fast and just as it takes a swipe of her, Bliss skids onto the ground and enters the dimly lit basement, getting shards of rocks into the skin of her knee. The only way to enter the underground basement is to bend down and enter through a broken window.Bliss falls onto the couch that is used as a cover for the window at night when a skinny cold hand with bulging veins wraps around her calf and pulls her out with a simple tug. Zylith scrambles after her with a gun in hand and upon seeing the skinny figure that still manages to bear human features holds Bliss with its long limbs that are dropping to the ground. Bliss is on the ground, face scratched on both cheeks with trickles of blood sliding down her knees onto the rocky pavement.The being is about 6'5 and has a hunched back with a series of lumps on it, the arms and hands are so long it reaches the ground, while the legs are shorter in comparison. A stretched leg sported a shoe and a stained skirt that used to be dark blue but now covered red, making it purple. A patch of clothing barely hanging off its left shoulder shows a school logo."Zylith help" Bliss screams hysterically. The person flinches back in pain, they howl to the air. 'Are they sensitive to loud sounds?'"Leave her alone" Zylith deadpans. 'It's a student.'"Mo-mo-momm-mommy" Its voice warbles to Zylith and it lets out a screech into the air.Bliss lets out a pain strangles gasp at the tightening of the grip around her heel."I said LEAVE HER ALONE" Zylith thunders with rage, her voice dips levels lower and she raises the gun to them. She remembers her training and holds the gun steady.The creature startles backwards and feels the anger roll in waves off the girl with a gun. Bliss feeling pressure lessen on the heel lunges forward and jumps herself just a few inches from her position. She scrambles to crawl away.The creature moves to Bliss and Zylith pulls the trigger. Her jaw is so tight her teeth show through the skin of her cheek. Bliss flops back to the ground at the loud bang of the gun."How dare your filthy piece of degraded species call her mommy?" Zylith walks up to the gasping human on the ground. She shoots it once more in the head and the blood splatters."Get in and block the window" Zylith turns back to Bliss who is holding her heel. "Wash, disinfect, ice, bandage wrap, and rest the leg on the couch." Zylith enters the basement and comes out with a plastic sheet for garbage."Wha-"Before Bliss has the chance to ask more, Zylith shoves the plastic wrap over the body drags the body into the distance and walks away from the alley with the bag behind her.Zylith is feeling a wave of emotions. Disappointment, guilt, wonder, anger. Zylith never gets angry. But that is not the most disturbing, she feels fear. Fear of what could have happened to Bliss, fear of why this happened to Bliss, fear of what might be happening to Bliss back in the basement. All because of some PERSON. THING?! Person.'How dare this filthy piece of human to call her...'"Mommy" Her eyes widen in understandingZylith rounds the corner and drops the twitching body into a small dump that consists of rocks, planks, and a hammer."When I'm done with you, you'll learn not to act smart with me" Black swirls in her eyes.The creature lets out a soft pained moan as its flesh comes back together and it comes back to life."See your mom in heaven, you fatherless ugly pig" Zylith grabs a stone and drops its heavy weight on the creature's head. Over and over and over. Until the creature can no longer recuperate.Zylith turns around and stares around. She moves her head looking for something after she has just finished her job with the human now lying hopeless on the ground.And looks into the distance. Hello.'How could I miss a 6'5 creature, it's like it just appeared out of thin air as if it was put there .' she tilts her head.'By someone' No'By something' Bingo. Ding ding dingZylith smiles and lets out a laugh, a crazy deranged laugh. She lets out a small hiccup and a laugh and then a soft snort then glares at the sky."Game on" She lets go of the metal piece and it clangs onto the ground, its reflection streaming in black bloodI guess the games have started, huh?