Prompt Video Games

Groaning… "Oh where am I?" her voice muffled and groggy. The room she finds herself in is darkened with only a small bit of moonlight filtering in through a curtain-less window. Turning over slowly her stiff and sore body aching with every movement. She looks down at her hands that are pressed against the wooden floor planks, they are dirty and cut up. "What happened…" Her mind flashes back; the abandoned farm house… oh no they found us!Running, they were running away from… she's screaming… then he screamed and pushed her, pushed her out of the way of… and then falling… She looks up. There is a hole in the ceiling from the second floor. 'I fell through there…' "Oww!" she grits her teeth as the pain in her head finally reveals itself, reaching up she feels something wet and sticky running down her fingers; blood. 'I must have hit my head when I landed...'

As soon as the outbreak had taken on a life of its own; she, her boyfriend Natsu, best friend Levy, and Levy's boyfriend Gajeel managed to escape The City before the gates were sealed shut thanks to friends in the RPD. Of everyone they knew, they were all that remained, the others either killed or worse… The four had been constantly on the move for the last couple of years, travelling up and down the Midwest trying to avoid the hordes figuring the bigger cities would be overrun. That is, up until a couple of weeks ago when they were caught off guard while hiding in a motel near Las Vegas. The zombies caught Levy, who now turned and attacked Gajeel. She and Natsu managed to climb out of a back window and escape by hotwiring the nearest car.

….and now here they were.

That's when the sudden realization of being all alone enters, 'Oh no!Natsu?!' She sobs lightly. He had saved her but at what cost?

She staggers to her feet, keeping a hand pressed against the small wound. Barely able to see she shuffles her gait and uses her arms and hands to feel in front of her. The room she landed in is empty save for a box of what looks like old magazines and a broken chair, 'Damn' nothing she can really use as a portable weapon. Squinting she notices a little bit of shine that catches her attention, her heart leaps; a door knob.

Pressing her ear against the wooden door she hears nothing and exhales as she slowly turns the ancient knob. Slight whine as the old gears turn metal against metal… She holds her breath and prays, 'please nothing hear that…'click. Pushing the door inch by inch the rusted hinges groan and creak until there is about a foot of space. Steeling herself for whatever may lie beyond she peeks her head out just enough to listen; she holds her breath. Left… silence. Right… silence. But there's a problem, the hallway is much, much darker.

Retreating back into the shadows of the room. 'Think Lucy, when you entered the front door what do you remember?To the right was a kitchen, left a living room, in front of you was stairs leading to the second floor and right next to it, the hallway!But which side of the hall am I on?The wrong turn and I'll hit the wall at the end…' She exhales, 'I'll need to use my phone to see, b-briefly.' Her hands shaking as she fumbles for the phone in her pocket. Pressing the power button, she breathes a sigh of relief; thank goodness for car chargers. Using her hand to control how much light is visible she returns to the hallway, listening one more time for any sounds before flashing the light. Right, wall! 'The front door is to my left!'

Keeping her back pressed up against the wall she creeps along feeling with her feet for any obstructions. 20 feet. Silence, so far so good… 15 feet. Her eyes are starting to adjust to the conditions, light from the front windows providing a slight ability to gauge her surroundings. 10 feet. She's nearing the kitchen. Freeze! She hears a shuffling sound and comes to a dead halt, staying still; only her eyes darting around searching for the source of the noise. A shadow crosses in front of her but she cannot make out a specific shape. Her breath hitches and her eyes travel along the staircase up into the darkness of the second floor. 'Whatever attacked us could still be up there!'

She remains motionless. 5 minutes pass by, no further noises. She darts her eyes to the front door. 'Should I take the chance?' 10 minutes. 'What if, whatever it is upstairs is watching and waiting too?' Most of the walking undead were slow and only had one primal urge, to eat; eat anything they encountered if it had flesh. But, they had heard from other travelers about zombies that seemed to, almost think. And then after Levy had become one of the undead they saw this with their own two eyes. Levy had 3 options in the room; attack her who was the closest, attack Natsu who was right next to her, or attack Gajeel who was across the room; she chose her boyfriend. But why? Was it familial? Some underlying emotional tie?

No time to think about it. The front door was right within a short running distance, 5 full gaits if she sprinted. To… 'Stay.Go.Stay, No. Go!' She pushes herself off using the wall as a springboard and takes that first leap. Creak! 'Shit!' Second step. Whoosh!Thud!"NOOOO!" her shrill cries echoing against the silent walls as something pins her to the floor. Thrashing against the assailant she screams in absolute terror and pain as it pulls at her hair. Shredding through her clothes it claws at her back and its nails dig deep into her flesh. "AHHH! Stop! Get off me!" Finally, she manages to twist her body enough to turn over, her matted hair blocking some of her vision she grabs onto a pair of arms. "Oh No!" Her eyes grow wide as soon as she sees the attacker. She starts to whimper. "Natsu. It can't be!"

A large wound to his throat, hair no longer spiked but flat in some areas from all the blood, patches missing in others. What is left of his clothing is either shredded or filthy. More wounds already starting to fester pockmark his arms and upper body. Through lifeless green eyes he stares down at her. His canines, that she once thought were cute now become his most menacing of features. "Natsu Stop…" she sniffles. He halts his assault for a moment as if he recognizes her voice….

That fleeting hope of recollection is dashed when he bares his teeth and tries to bite her. She screams. "Natsu Nooo! Please… Don't!"

"Natsu Nooo!" she tries to push him off of her

"Lucy!" he shakes her

"Nooo! Please! Don't!" she flails against him

"Lucy wake up!" he shakes her again, harder this time

"Don't hurt me!" Her eyes pop open and she bolts into a sitting position with her hands still poised as if fighting off an attacker.

"Lucy, it's okay, no one's gonna hurt you!"

"Wait!" Now completely awake, "Where am I? I was just…" She looks around in a state of shock, no longer in an abandoned farm house but their apartment. She blinks, "…but you were a zombie… and you were attacking me… and…"

"Zombie? Attacking you? Lucy you were having a nightmare."

"No! It-it was so real…" she checks her body for wounds, reaches up to her head convinced there'd be blood but nothing. Tears welling up in her eyes, "I swear; I could feel the blood running down my fingers, I could feel every slash from your nails…"

He pulls her onto his lap and holds her tight to his body, "Well it's over now. You're safe. And if anymore zombies try to attack, I'll protect you."

"Tch," she crosses her arms, "Don't tease me! You're such an ass sometimes."

He laughs harder, "I'm sorry babe, I couldn't help myself. But I think no more scary video games for you anymore."

She punches his arm, "You're the one who made me play it! I told you Resident Evil terrifies me!"

Still chuckling, "I just wanted you to try it once, didn't think you'd get so rattled."

Sigh, "I'm just gonna stick to Pokemon Go! from now on."

"WoOoOoOo!" he tickles her side, "Beware of the Charizard babe, it might scare you."

"Oh please, I love my fire dragon!"