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The parking garage was completely silent as Emily, Derek, and Penelope stepped out the door. Emily and Derek held their guns at the ready and moved forward, checking around cars as they went. Penelope trailed close behind them, taking Emily's duffel bag with Sergio in it and holding it against her chest to keep the cat from meowing and giving away their position.
Looking behind him, Derek met Penelope's eyes and nodded for her to hurry along behind them. She went along and hugged the duffel close to her chest. She glanced side to side and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that no one was around.
"Come on, Garcia," Emily hissed.
"I'm coming!" she whispered.
It was completely silent in the garage, almost serene. It was hard to believe there was any disaster happening outside it. Emily motioned to her SUV and they made their way over to it. As they were running between the other cars, Penelope tripped and fell over, the duffel bag flew forward. A shooting pain flamed up in her knee and she bit her lip to keep her gasp from being too loud. Derek looked behind himself and his face became panicked.
"Penelope!"
Emily stopped momentarily and picked up the bag with Sergio in it, slinging it over her shoulder, ignoring the yowl of protest of the cat. She panicked when she saw her friend on the ground. Before she could say anything though, a piercing scream broke out through the garage, echoing off the walls. The first scream was followed by another that was equally as terrifying. Both sounded inhuman, animalistic.
All three of them stood completely still, their ears taking in the sound that they had just heard. Derek pulled Penelope to their feet as the sound of running filled the garage.
Then, they came into view. Three blood soaked, crazed human beings.
They weren't human anymore. They'd become Infected.
Emily immediately looked at her friends and yelled, "Run! Get to the car!"
Derek and Penelope burst into a jog and flew towards her car. As the three of them hurried down the pavement, they heard the sounds of the three Infected chasing after them, their feet pounding against the ground. Fear filled Penelope's heart and she held Derek's hand tightly as he dragged her along. She glanced behind her to see how close their pursuers had gotten and yelped; they were gaining on them. Fast.
Emily threw the door to the driver's side open and jumped in, slamming it shut and starting the car. Penelope and Derek followed suit into the back seat. "Hold on," Emily growled, putting the car in reverse. The car shot backwards and Penelope and Derek held on tightly to the hand holds on the ceiling. All three of the Infected fell prey to the car and they were crushed beneath the wheels of the car.
Slamming on the gas pedal, the car sped through the half empty garage. Along the way, they passed several more Infected, all their faces covered in blood and their eyes crazed.
Penelope was breathing heavily and looked down at her jeans that had ripped when she'd fallen. Her knee was scraped and bleeding, a bruise forming around it. Derek pulled her leg towards him and grimaced. "This looks bad," he murmured. "How's it feel?"
She bit her lip and nodded. "Stings like hell, but I can walk," she ground out. She looked into his concerned eyes and shook her head. "I'll be fine."
"Good," he said, kissing her forehead. He looked outside and squinted when they emerged with screeching tires from the parking garage and into the bright light of the day. All along the street there were fires and broken windows and people not sick running frantically from people who were. "Jesus," he breathed, looking at the chaos unfolding outside the safety of their car. "We've got to get out of here."
"No shit," Emily said. "We're on the - oh, fuck!" Her voice had risen to a scream and Penelope and Derek looked out the front window to see a small child standing in the middle of the road. Emily veered the car to the left in order to avoid hitting her and Penelope and Derek yelled as the car slammed into a telephone pole.
XXXXX
Derek's head was pounding and his ears were ringing as his eyes fluttered open. He looked around frantically and finally the sound of Sergio's yowling made it into his ears. In the driver's seat, Emily groaned and sat up.
"Prentiss! Prentiss, are you okay?" he asked, rubbing his forehead.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good," she said with a nod. "Damn, my head hurts though? Is Garcia okay?"
Next to him in the back seat, he saw an unconscious Penelope, a cut on her forehead from her head hitting the window. Panic filled his heart. No, she couldn't be -
But then her eyes started to open and she looked around, rubbing the blood from her forehead. "God, my head hurts," she whimpered. She looked at her blood covered hand and gasped. "Oh, no! I'm bleeding!" She looked over at Derek. "Derek! Oh, God, are you okay?" Her gaze shot to Emily. "Emily! Emily, what about you?"
Derek nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. Other than the cut on her forehead, she was just like she usually was: worrying about everyone. "We're both fine."
"But we won't be in a few minutes," Emily said hoarsely. "Now that we don't have a car, we need to find someplace to go and stay low to regroup and find another way to the airport."
Cold dread filled Derek's chest. This couldn't get any worse. His main concern was getting his friends out of here, but when they had no car, it was bound to get ugly. Avoiding the Infected would be harder. And then there was the matter of the child they'd found in the middle of the road. There was no way they could leave her behind.
Penelope had apparently thought of the little girl as well. Her eyes grew wide and she shoved her door open. "We have to get that little girl!" she gasped, rushing into the road, through the smoke that was rising from the front of Emily's car.
Again, Derek panicked. "Penelope!" he cried. She was going to get herself killed if she ran into the road without any thought as to what might be out there. Her compassionate heart could very well get her killed. So he too jumped out of the car and followed her, pulling his gun out of his jeans and making sure the safety was off. He looked around and made sure the coast was clear for now; so far, no Infected were in sight. He joined Penelope who was leaning down in front of the terrified child, her hands on her shoulders.
The child was clutching a teddy bear and her face was covered in soot. Her jeans and shirt were in terrible condition. She couldn't have been more than six years old. "Sweetie, what's your name?" Penelope asked, touching the girl's chin.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks. It was clear she was traumatized. Derek continued to look up and down the street. By now, Emily had joined him, the bag containing Sergio slung over her shoulder. She had her gun pulled and was helping him look for any incoming threats.
The girl had not said anything and Penelope asked, "Where are your parents?"
"Dead..." the girl murmured. "The monsters killed them."
Penelope looked up at Derek and Emily. "Guys, we've got to take her with us," she said.
Derek nodded and leaned down. "I'm going to pick you up, okay?" he said. "We have to run."
She nodded. When the sound of screaming Infected rang out, her eyes turned terrified, and she practically jumped into Derek's arms. Emily looked at them all and nodded. "Run!" she said hurriedly.
"Hold on, sweetheart," Derek said to the little girl in his arms as he, Penelope, and Emily took off down the street.
They ran, ignoring the burning in their lungs and muscles. The sound of screaming could be heard and they sped up. "We've got to find somewhere to stop and hide," Penelope gasped.
Before Emily or Derek could respond, they turned to corner to a side street. However, once they did, they had to come to a screeching halt. On the street, running towards a trio of men, was a gang of Infected. Their speed was shocking, and they reached the men in a matter of seconds. Their mouths dropped open and they saw up close what the people affected by the virus were doing to people.
The Infected grabbed the men, the whole group shrieking and digging their nails into their victims' skins. All the men screamed in agony as their necks were bitten into, their throats being torn into and blood gushing from the wounds. They collapsed to the ground, convulsing and shaking, their mouths dripping with dark crimson, almost black blood. The ground around all the men became stained with the blood and Penelope had to force herself not to gag.
A mere ten seconds after they were torn into, the men who had been attacked rose from the ground, their eyes and mannerisms now mimicking those of the Infected. And right then the whole group was looking in the direction of Emily, Derek, Penelope, and the little girl. Hisses escaped all their throats.
"Turn around," Emily growled. "Go back!"
None of them hesitated. They returned down the street they'd come down and their feet pounded against the pavement. Penelope glanced behind them and saw the Infected gaining on them. Emily had done the same thing and she pulled her gun out. She halted and looked at Derek and Penelope. "Go! I'll catch up...soon as I kill these bastards."
Emily turned, took aim, and shot one of them in the forehead. She was in full on soldier mode, ready to shoot down any threat. Her focus increased and she fired, each time hitting their pursuers in a place that caused them to fall to the ground. The last one standing made it to her and tackled her to the ground. She fell backwards with the man on top of her and she was forced to hold him by his neck, keeping him off of her. He hissed viciously and his jaws snapped, eagerly wanting to sink his teeth into her flesh.
Getting a grip on his neck, Emily hollered viciously and twisted the Infected's neck, his head lolling to the side, broken. Shoving the blood covered, lifeless body off her. She huffed and rose to her feet, retrieving her gun. Momentarily she stopped and looked at the man she had just killed. Now that he was dead, he looked peaceful. Covered in gore, but peaceful nonetheless. It was sad to her. This man had a life that he'd been torn from because of a virus.
In a sense, he was innocent.
Shaking her head, she took off in the direction Derek and Penelope had gone. The most important thing now was getting off the streets, not the life a man had lived before becoming sick.