Karkat's eyes widened as the beeping noise drew down, and a low monotone male voice came through his speakers instead.
"Attention. This is an emergency broadcast. We are strongly encouraging evacuation on the following cities."
Karkat listened in annoyance as cities were listed until he heard his own. He leaned forward, desperate to hear more.
"Please be cautious. There is an unknown infection terrorizing the public. Please be cautious of individuals with the following symptoms and/or traits. Jerking movements, Foaming at the mouth, Darkened skin, rolled back eyes, missing pieces of flesh, extreme rage, high-pitched scre-"
Karkat had long since stopped listening to the voice, having rolled away from his computer. He jumped up and grabbed his sickle, gripping the handle so tightly his knuckles were white. "CRAB DAD! COME ON, WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" His only response was the usual. It sounded a bit different from how it normally sounded, but Karkat wasn't paying attention. He didn't even notice how it ended differently.
"SCREEEEEEEEEeeee-"
"DAMN IT, YOU UNINTELLIGIBLE PIECE OF SHIT."
He grabbed a backpack and shoved some things in that he might need. Food, blanket, two extra sets of clothes, First aid kit, and a water bottle. He zipped it up and slung it over his shoulder, keeping the sickle in his hand. He stopped briefly to admire how fucking clever he was. Only a leader would think to pack up instead of just leave their hive. Without supplies, they were doomed. He could put other trolls at his mercy if they ran out of necessities. Heh heh, who's the leader no-
CRASH.
THUMP.
"SCRAAAAAAAAAAAA-A-A-A-A-AK!"
He turned around quickly, holding his sickle tight. The first thing he saw was the broken window. Next was that…thing on the floor. It was HIDEOUS. Like, Troll Jocelyn Wildenstein hideous. What precious little skin it had left was black and mutilated. Light blue blood oozing out of its empty eye sockets and multiple gashes on its face. Its elbows and knees were bent in just completely fucking wrong directions and…and it was…
AND IT WAS CRAWLING STRAIGHT TOWARDS HIM AT FUCKING ALARMING SPEEDS.
Karkat was paralyzed for a split-second, but he moved fast, lifting his sickle and bringing the blade down upon…its head. He couldn't even tell if it was a boy or a girl. It flailed for a moment, screaming and clawing at him without success. When it finally stopped moving, he pulled the sickle out and stared at the black and blue mess on his floor, shuddering. When he finally worked up the nerve to move, he ran down the stairs, searching for his lusus. He was about to shout for that procrastinating bastard when he stopped abruptly at the door at the end of the stairway, leading to the Nutrition Block.
Cautiously, he placed his pointed ear on the door, listening for noises. He heard raspy, low volume screeching not unlike his lusus' along with hardened flesh tearing and smacking lips. He covered his mouth to prevent the sob from erupting from it.
"Crabdad….oh...god...Crabdad…" He whispered, keeping surprisingly quiet. Much as he hated to show it, he cared for his lusus. And now...
He continued to listen, but suddenly all went silent. It was sudden, so it wasn't like they had finished their meal and left. He was unnerved at the silence, to say the least. It couldn't mean anything good. His ear that wasn't pressed to the door began to pick up something from the top of the stairs that confirmed his theory.
...thump…thump…
…
"SCRAAAAAAAAAAA-A-A-A-A-A-AK!"
"SCRAAAAA-A-A-A-AK!"
"SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-A-A-A-A-AK!"
THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP-
"OH SHIT!" He screamed, pressing himself against the door. That sounded like more than one. Even more terrifying was the handful of screams, followed by pounding on the other side of the door. The hinges would give any second, but he couldn't run upstairs. Even if by some chance, he managed to dispatch of his unwelcome visitors, he would have nowhere to go. His room was at least 40 meters above the ground. It wasn't like he could just scream TALLY-HO! And jump out the window, expecting to escape without a scratch.
He was officially screwed.
Just as the disgusting shambling beings came into sight, running down the staircase full-speed, he couldn't help but notice just how truly disgusting they were. Festering rotted skin covered by tattered rags that were once clothing. Only one had eyes, and his were rolled back, showing no pupil but only clouded yellow. Blood of multiple colors covered their skinny bodies from which flesh appeared to be torn of completely in some places.
One of the hinges on the door broke off, and a number of rotting arms clawed through the new opening in search of their pray. Karkat gulped and closed his eyes, not wanting to stare at the hellish beings less than 5 meters away from him. He was prepared to start blindly swinging his sickle in a last resort to defend himself when a loud voice broke through his fear.
"HEADSS UP!"
Karkat's eyes opened just in time to see the three ghouls, their swinging claws less than a meter away, decapitated by a large, ash-colored blade which passed through their necks in one swing, burying itself in the wall. The bodies and heads fell to the ground and he heard a chuckle at the clever wording before a hand grabbed his wrist and started leading (more like dragging) him up the stairs.
As if on cue, the door he had just been leaning against flew off the hinges, and a horde of 15 if not more of those things came running up the stairs after them, the bright red blood of his lusus coating their mangled faces.
"Come ON!" That voice again snapped him out of his momentary depression. He could barely keep up with the speed of the stranger who was pulling him into his room and shutting the door. As he leaned over and put a hand on his chest, trying to catch his breath, he finally managed to look up and observe his savior.
It looked like a guy, from the gray denim jacket with the sleeves ripped off, and cargo pants tucked into hiking boots. The hair was put up into a somewhat long ponytail, but it was probably just like an Equius type of thing. After catching his breath, he began to shout at the stranger.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? DO YOU REALLY FIND IT NECESSARY TO POLLUTE THE AIR OF MY CREATURE-INFESTED HIVE WITH YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSES OF PUNS AT THE MOST UNFITTING TIM-"
His rant was cut off when the stranger turned and put a finger to his li-
Oh wait. It was a girl.