Raccoon City : Demon's Gate
Chapter 2
September 26, 1998
The first few hours of that bitter morning passed without the silent air of the outside world being stirred by a chirp from a bird or even a song from a cricket. All seemed to remain silent, as if awaiting for the moon to set below the horizon and for the sun to rise in the east, and even as Rowan watched tiredly as the orange-tainted moon, the Blood Moon, fell beneath the mountains and stared on as its eerily-glowing hue faded from sight, and the first hints of daylight appeared on the opposite horizon, the noise that would normally accompany the mornings never did come.
Well, that's at least what she thought. Her eyes lit up for a moment when she heard a blue jay start to sing in the distance, and no less than a second after the song had started, and entire symphony arose from the fields surrounding her cheap little trailer called home. Normally, the sound of those late-night dwellers that inhabited the fields, the forests, and the trees would normally seem to engulf the entire house, something Rowan took comfort in, and something that would often lull her to sleep or calm her mind when it was in turmoil. Now, however, the songs seemed fainter, as if the musicians were moving farther and farther into the distance.
Musing silently over this odd occurrence, Rowan turned over in her bed to lock faces with the clock on her redwood end table. A curse found its way from her lips as she noted how little time had passed - 6:34 A.M..
If only that would remain the time for the next few minutes, or better yet, for the next few hours, mainly around noon, when her mother had given her her word to drive Rowan to the Raccoon Mall to meet up with her friends. That way she wouldn't have to feel the overwhelming sensation of guilt that plagued her mind even now - the guilt of her parents worrying about her safety. Her own worries had made that feeling no better. Bitterly she wondered if she would make it out of the mall and back home safely without being tracked down by a cannibalistic incarnation of Ed Gein.
The latter thought of the old horror legend that spawned The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was not a good thing to bring up to her already overactive imagination, and immediately the images of her own grizzly death were brought to her closed eyes, and over and over again she saw the visions of her friends, dead or dying in massive pools of blood, inhuman and mortal wounds etched deep within their back and their legs, and more prominently, their necks. Reflexively she threw herself once again beneath her blanket and drew it tightly around her, tucking her head in to get ready of that horrible vulnerable feeling that accompanied the visions.
Mentally, she gave herself a kick. Why should she be scared? The mall was full of people, and if something should go wrong, somebody would take notice and call for help, or someone would fend off the wrong-doer, whoever or whatever it was. Plus, she would be in a small but tight group of friend, who would look out for her safety as well as keeping sure to tend to their own. What had she to fear?
Of course, there was still that possibility that there was more than one cannibalistic human in that city of hers.
Rowan winced and closed her eyes tightly, wishing that the sound of those crickets and the early-rising birds of the morning had not wandered off to a farther and probably safer dwelling that morning. She needed their comfort, their songs, to clear that terror-ridden mind of hers.
Relax... Think of something soothing.
Thinking of nothing calming to quell her fear, Rowan could do little more than close her eyes. When she stirred, the surroundings seemed to leap through the boundaries of time. She felt the warm sensation of the sun peering down on her back, turned towards the window. In the distance, she could hear birds, which were quickly muted out by the noise of traffic and engines revving up. Dawn had succumbed to day.
She opened her eyes to peer at the alarm clock before her. Ah... 11:03 in the afternoon.
Wait a minute! I'm supposed to meet the others at the mall at noon!
Rowan seemed to leap from her bed just as a knock echoed on her bedroom door. Just like her mother to wake up late and, in turn, wake everyone who needed to go somewhere at a later time then was meant.
"Rowan, it's eleven o' clock," came her gentle voice on the other side. Rowan let out a hastily whispered string of curses and gave a quick response to signify she was up. She flung herself at her dresser and nearly tore the drawers out of it, searching for something to dress in before she went on her way to the mall. Her friends would be ticked a little if she were late!
...Ba-dump...Ba-dump...
12:17 P.M.
The drive to the mall was unnaturally quiet. While her mother would usually chat her way through the short trip with small talk and being annoying by talking her mouth away, no breathe that passed out of her mouth contained a single note that was meant for Rowan to hear. The 13-year-old girl blinked and looked at her helplessly from time to time, wondering why on Earth she was being so quiet, and then she would remember the argument she had had with them last night about her leaving home when the world outside seemed to be ready to burst with something terrifying. The reluctance that shimmered in her mother's eyes was all she needed to know that her visit to the mall was still not a very welcome idea.
The silence continued on until they were two minutes from the mall, when her mother focused her pupils on her from the corner of her eyes.
"They found another body early this morning."
"Oh?" Rowan's voice copied interest, though her mind was still wandering and tried not to sound too interested, even though the news made her quiver slightly. It was getting bad...bodies by the day. All of them being found with those marks on them.
"I want you to be careful, Rowan. I don't want you to go out until this all gets settled; I didn't want you to go out until everything was cleared up, but-"
"I guess I should say that I want you to be careful, too," Rowan cut her off. She locked eyes with the blue orbs of her mother. "You're no safer than I am. And I have a group of friends to protect me and be safe with."
"You also have the AT&T card. Call if something happens."
"I know."
Celia, her mother, nodded, her black curls bobbing with the movements of her head. The old station wagon pulled into the parking lot of the Raccoon Mall and stopped. Celia shifted the gear into park but left the engine running. "You know I love you."
"I know," Rowan responded, leaning forward and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "And I'll be fine. But you have to be careful, too. And don't go calling the mall ordering me home."
"I will, and I won't." Celia smiled. "Go on - aren't those your friends by the entrance? They look impatient."
Rowan gave a small smiled and stepped out of the car, closing the door behind her and waving her off. As soon as the vehicle was out of sight, the girl turned and took to a run for the revolving doors of the mall. She stopped between Kristin and Sarah, the latter of whom was standing the closest to one of the revolving doors.
"Woke up late," Rowan told them, and absently reached out a hand to tap Sarah on the shoulder, then gave her a little shove, just enough to take her off of her feet and send her stumbling into the revolving door as somebody started towalk through it. In the next minute, Sarah was inside of the mall, staring out of the large window walls with such a fuming look on her face that Rowan didn't know whether to cringe or to laugh.
"It's about time," Victoria said in a mock-angry voice, although it began to crack as her lips turned upwards in a sinister smile as she looked at Sarah on the opposite side of the window. By the time she spoke again, she was holding back chuckles. Kristin was giggling. "A-Anyway... C'mon, let's go in!"
"Clothes shop first?" Kristin asked, tilting her head to the side. "I want to try some things on."
"Will anything fit you?" Sarah joked as they came into the mall. She rammed Rowan in the side before joining the others in their mediocre walking pace.
Kristin automatically slapped Sarah on the arm, although the look on her face was harsh, and the slap harder than playful. Sarah cringed lightly and turned to look downwards, suddenly finding something interesting on the floor as she walked.
"Let's go for clothes first, but I wanna go to the games store!" Rowan whined jokingly.
"On a playstation game kick?" Victoria asked.
"I heard rumor that there was a sequel to Silent Hill."
"After the nightmares you've been having?" Kristin blinked at her in confusion. "And yet you want the second one... You're original." The last words had a sarcastic note to them.
"We'll check out the games after we go look at clothes. I guess...," Sarah paused to think. "Well, we'll just figure out what to do when we're done with the first things. This is the weekend, and a break for us after hard school assignments and the bad news around Raccoon. Let's get a kick out of the day while we still can."
No one argued with that. The group of four friends took to a steady walk towards the J.C. Penny's that was a good walk across the store.
...Ba-dump...Ba-dump...
A good deal of time had passed since the four friends entered the huge mall in search of the various things they wanted to buy or wanted to look at. By the time they arrived at the food court, it was 5:00 at night and the sun had already started towards its abode behind the horizon, already three-fourths of the way there. The gang of children, who had entered the place with empty hands and huge grins, now had bags laden on their arms and dragging behind them, and satisfied smirks on their faces. Four seats were taken, the bags were laid on the side, and the table was soon covered with small mini-cartons and paper plates of food.
The only bad thing that had happened at all that day occurred at that time. While they sat and enjoyed their cheap meals of Burger King cheeseburgers and the little baby corn dogs, people around them began to circulate the news of something terrible happening. According to the words that were being spoken, two more bodies had been found, and another person was found nearly dead, apparently attacked but able to get away from the person by limping away, which didn't say much about the assailant other than that he may have been someone slow, but powerful.
"That makes the death toll nineteen, including the one found this morning," Rowan murmured, taking a bite of her cheeseburger.
"I wonder if those were the missing people?" Victoria asked.
"More than likely," Kristin added with a sigh.
"Welcome to Raccoon City," Sarah began, the carton before her that held chicken fingers now empty. She lay her head on her forearms and smiled. "Population : two-thousand and decreasing."
Rowan snickered. "As crude as that was, they should put it up on the highway before anyone drives into the city."
"Way to scare off visitors," Victoria grinned.
"Not like we get many, anyway," Kristin noted. "Anyway, are we done for the day?"
"Done for the day? What planet did you grow up on," Sarah asked her, looking at her without almost pure astonishment. "We still have one thing we need to do..."
"Which is?"
"The movies, of course! Rush Hour just came out, and it looks hilarious. I've heard good things about it."
"I don't know...," Rowan began. "My parents'll be worried sick if I'm not home early enough, and Vic's parents are coming to pick us up at seven. Will there be time?"
"It's about an hour and a half long. We'll be out long enough to relax and get a drink, maybe some ice cream or something." Sarah rose her head and curled her hands together into one fist. "Pleeeeeeease?" Her eyes took on that of a begging puppy.
There was silence for a moment or two, then the other three rose from their seats. Victoria looked down at Sarah with a nod. "Fine, but after that we leave. Even I don't want to stay out when it's as bad as this around the city."
Sarah smiled and picked up her tray of food, her bags with the unfilled arm, and headed off with the others to dump the remains of their food and stack the trays atop the trash can, and then to the Lowes cinema on the opposite side of the mall.
During the trip, Sarah argued that they were getting too much exercise by walking back and forth, which Kristin countered with, "I though you said I was out of shape?"
After playful pushes and shoves between the two, the four of them walked into the theatre and ordered up the tickets to view the movie.
About two miles away, near South Campbell Street, complaints arose from the citizens inhabiting the area of shady figures lurking through the area. In a half hour after Rush Hour started and when the sun had gone beneath the mountains marking the horizon, police had been called to the area, the phone calls being made to them from the citizens there taking up an urgent and pleading tone.
What would occur then would change their lives forever.
...Ba-dump...Ba-dump...
Rowan was in the middle of laughing through a part of the movie with most of the other people in the theatre, her friends included, when suddenly the screen cut out and all was black before them. The light above began to brighten, and soon the entire auditorium was lit. Questions and frightened words were passed from person to person, and the room was filled with a loud murmur of voices.
"What the Hell?" Sarah inquired, looking up as if to find an answer in the man running the projector, who was seen talking to somebody in the room who, after a second, left to go to the auditorium. "What's going on?"
Kristin opened her mouth to speak, but paused. She rubbed her hands together and eyed her friends. "Do you think something's happened outside?"
"With our luck, somebody probably got murdered in the mall," Victoria murmured, rubbing at her eyes.
"We're about to find out," Rowan pointed out. She nodded her head in the direction of the doors leading to the main hallway of the movies, where three security gaurds were walking down towards the crowd of restless and now very nervous people. If the security gaurds were involved...
Rowan noticed that they all had their hands by their guns, and the other by their radios, waiting for any word of what was going on in the mall or the outside world. At this sight, she shrunk back, remembering her nightmares. Was there really something that bad going on? She wondered in the back of her mind how other people were reacting to similar things all around the mall.
The security gaurd standing in between the two took a step forward and held out his hand. "If I may... IF I MAY HAVE YOUR ATTENTION!" He bellowed out the last few words as the talking of the people began to raise into panicked and hysterical cries and screams. Instantly, most of the crowd quieted down, the gaurd gaining most of their attention. Satisfied with the result, he continued to speak. "There's been a disruption within the mall and the city itself, and we ask you... we ASK YOU-" -the crowd, having panicked at the words prior, quieted again- "-to remain calm."
"Remain calm?" Kristin hissed. "Is he shitting us?"
"Please make your way-"
This time, the gaurd was not cut off by a the loud voices of the people in the auditorium, but by something outside. There were noises growing in intensity, and Rowan began to wonder if those were people in the other auditoriums, also growing tense and fearful. But when multiple screams of pain broke through that monotonous buzz of noise outside, and the three gaurds tensed their hands and grabbed for the handles of their guns, she knew that the noise was not coming from the people in the auditoriums around them, although she was sure that the screams and the quick thuds of footfalls that were heard came from people in the mall trying to get away from something. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw many people making their way to and through the many exit doors in the theatre, too frightened to face what may come. Sarah was gripping tightly to Rowan's arm, half-strangling Kristin and Victoria with the other, both of whom were shivering in discomfort and fear. Rowan wasn't sure why she hadn't taken off through the exit doors herself.
Second later, screams came from out there, as well. And a few moments after that triggered some panic in the huge room, the doors leading from their auditorium to the hallway crashed inward, and multiple figures landed on the floor with dull thuds and groans, while a few of them were capable of getting through the door without falling. What accompanied them was a disgusting stench that made Rowan's stomach turn, a smell that would never leave her nose.
If that wasn't enough to send the frighten the people, the appearances of the people who came crashing in would, and did, send many of them into frenzies of fear and sent them running to the exit doors leading outside, despite the dangers that may have been there.
The people before them were something that seemed to have come out of a classic horror movie made back in the 60's, although this was more than just simple movie magic. The faces of these people before them, all with no traces of the life that once took hold of them, were deathly pale and matted with blood, while others were scratched and torn to the point where they couldn't be identified. Their mouth were open, their teeth glistening with crimson liquid, and their bodies, ripped and disemboweled, marked with bites and scratches and one or two with huge gashes running down parts of their bodies. Their clothes were torn and bloody, and one of the group of...things... had his clothes so badly torn that he was nearly completely nude.
But the most horrifying, eerie feature were their eyes. Their irises and pupils were all made into very faint specters of their former selves, coated with a thin film of glossy white.
In retrospect, they looked like...like...
Zom...bies...?
They even began to act like them. Five of them made to lunge at the gaurds, while the others, their inhuman eyes locked on various targets in the auditorium, began to stumble forward quickly, some tripping over the seats and falling, others being lucky enough to avoid the rows. Gunshots were fired by the gaurds, and holes were made in their chests, where their heart lay. But they kept moving, kept attacking, and kept biting. Two gaurds did not get back up. The third, thoroughly bitten, began to order the citizens out of the auditorium by using the doors leading outside before more of the undead beasts piled through the door by groups of five or six.
Rowan had been standing still during all of this time, and only when the second group of monsters began to head into the doorway did she realize that her three friends had hauled her halfway through the auditorium. Blinking away her stupor, she found her feet and began to run alongside of them, heading to the closest exit that wasn't blocked by frantic people or ravenous creatures.
"What the HELL was that?!" Rowan was yelling.
"They're dead...they're dead...," Victoria kept chanting. She herself looked as if she was falling into a trance. Rowan grabbed onto her arm and shook her, then dragged her behind them. Her steps were growing slow, and Sarah noticed her pace and grabbed her other arm. Together, Rowan and Sarah were able to get Victoria to the nearest exit, with Kristin leading the way.
"C'mon, Vicky, you lazy ass," Sarah growled, tugging her harshly, "speed up!"
A laugh was the only thing that came out of her mouth. But she also broke from the trance and took to a run, stepped on a creature that was hunkered over a body on the floor, made still by the loss of blood, chewing on its flesh. It grunted, but didn't seem to feel anything, although the movement made it aware of live pray and led it to try to stand. It was quickly sent to the floor by a sharp kick from Sarah to its legs.
"What are they?!" Kristin was shouting, slowing for the others.
"Dead," Rowan responded briskly. She tagged after Victoria, who was heading for the nearest door. Before she could catch up to her, the slightly older girl pushed against and opened it.
Victoria was quickly pressed against the floor by the lurker on the other side, and she was screaming, pushing against its shoulder, trying to shove it off of her. The closest person being Rowan, she kicked at the beast, which knocked it off of her slightly. It's arms, however, still gripped tightly to Victoria's shoulders, and they dug into her, cutting with its nails. Another kick was delivered, but the zombie turned its torso towards Victoria and, before it was completely knocked off, managed to bring its gnashing teeth towards the other girl's neck. There was a ripping sound as flesh was torn from the body, and Victoria's scream, mixed with a pained groan, before the zombie was knocked off of her and then thoroughly kicked in the head, which Rowan deemed to be the weak spot after a quick rundown in her mind of the Night of the Living Dead movie. Sarah and Kristin went to scoop Victoria up, vaguely aware that more creatures were coming through the door and charging for them, although they couldn't seem to run.
"Victoria - shit - can you stand?" Kristin was asking quickly. No response came from her bubbling mouth, and blood dribbled from the corner of it. Kristin made the best effort to cover the bleeding neck with her hand, but with the extent of the bite...
"Rowan, make sure its clear out there!" Sarah ordered. Without hesitation, Rowan headed out. There was the sound of a brief struggle and of something falling to the ground, and she returned to the doorway, waving her hand for them to come through.
"Apply pressure to the wound, Kristin! Bring her through!" Rowan was yelling. She had one foot on the chest of a zombie that she was able to knock over, but without anything to fight with, and unable to remove her foot until the three were through the door for fear it would get up again, she could do nothing to help. Around her, others were fleeing the mall, wracked with fear and pain, bitten and bleeding or wound-free, from whatever door they could find. She heard the faint sound of an alarm triggered by somebody walking through a wired exit.
Carefully but hastily shoving Victoria through the only exit that seemed to be devoid of the swarming beasts that filled the parking lot and the small field surrounding the back of the mall, Kristin and Sarah were quick to head to where Rowan was and safely past the undead creature that was pinned to the ground by the foot of its overcomer. Rowan stared down for a moment, only releasing her foot once she was certain that the three were well past the danger point in case the bestial human was able to move after them with sufficient speed, and brought the other to kick it sharply in the chin, hoping to give its brains and possibly the spinal cord a nasty rattle. It gurgled a moan, but its hands still swayed. Yet Rowan had to hold back the bile that threatened to rise - the jaw of the thing was now disgustingly misshapen after that kick.
Choking back a groan of disgust, she took a step back and swerved quickly in the direction of Sarah and the others, taking after them in a run. The darkness of night was descending quickly upon them. The scenery was black, lit only by the streetlights and neon signs, along with the occasional headlights of speeding cars, and the flashes from the crackling guns in the distance and somewhere behind them. The air was filled with screams that drenched the night with a sense of fear, and for a moment, Rowan felt that her surrounding were so surreal and unrealistic that she wondered if she was being delusional. She swayed on her feat for a moment, suddenly feeling light, and firmly shook her body.
There was a rut in the cement pavement before her, and she struggled to regain her balance. When she got on both feet again, she didn't notice the pair of hands behind her, reaching for her shoulders until they grappled her so hard and painfully that it seemed like a wonder its nails didn't dig into her skin. She let out a gasp, trying to twist from her captor, or to at least face it, but she felt herself being pulled back by the strength of... of what? For a moment, the thought of it being a human flashed through her shaken mind, but then she felt the distinct clammy feeling of its hands running through her shirt and to her shoulder. She screamed and tried to pull away.
It was in her best luck that Sarah and Kristin hadn't wandered too far off. They swung around at the sound of her cry, now strangled with utter fear and gasps of terror. Sarah's eyes went wide, and, releasing her grip on Victoria's left side, she began forward at a quick pace, and Kristin released her grip on the injured femme's right side. Rowan saw Victoria sway for a moment, and Sarah rushing to help her, but then found her eyes closed. She was being dragged backwards by those arms made desperate to feed the unfillable stomach of the once live human, and suddenly another pair of deathly hands clasped at her ankles, locking her feet from moving. She didn't have the strength, nor the will, to fight back. For an instant, all those nightmares and visions she had for the past few nights came flooding back.
They were knocked out of her in an instant as she suddenly found herself flying forward and propelling into a body before her, this one warm. It cushioned her fall against the cement, and frantically she fumbled for her footing, fearing it was something freshly killed or something of an abomination. Rowan blinked to see Sarah lying stunned on the ground, and then at the blank face of Kristin about two feet away.
"Victoria?!" The sound came out more of a rash whisper than a scream as Rowan swung 'round to face the two that were grabbing her, and her savior. Before her, Victoria began to slink backwards, but far too slowly. Blood from the bite on her neck stained the white blouse she was adorned in, and only now did Rowan notice an occurring additional wound - a deep slash in her ankle as the zombie limited to crawling due to the kicks delivered from Rowan to its legs slashed in what seemed to be a demonstration of frustration at Victoria's legs. Startled and weak from the loss of blood she already sustained, she crumpled to the ground with a weak gurgle. All too quickly, the two feral abominations grabbing at her clothes and skin, clawing at her body, biting at her flesh-
"Victoria!"
The yell did not only come from her. As Rowan took to a run to her disabled friend, she barely took note of the two comrades of her's running beside her. Together they attacked with all the physical strength they could pack into their fists and legs.
The onslaught that resulted lasted only a minute. One of the creatures received so many nasty blows to the head that it fell back and down, never to get up again. The other seemed immobilized, its arms seemingly both broken or the bones so twisted that it could no longer inch towards them, although its jaws still gnashed and its growling moans still rumbled.
Victoria was lying still on the ground, her eyes wide, blood dripping from the new wounds on her cheeks and her neck. Rowan took a step forward, inadvertently bringing her foot to land in a puddle of one of her best friends', one of her only friends', blood, but that didn't seem to bother her. She fell to her knees, the liquid sloshing somewhat at her jeans and seeping into the clothe. Above her, Kristin stared, the lower half of her face covered with the palm of her hand, her eyes wide and watery.
Sarah kneeled to Victoria's head after kicking away the 'dead' undead from her friend, clasping her hands around her cheeks that had so often been found lifting up in a smile or a laugh. "Vicky? Vic?" Sarah sought out the wounds on her neck and applied pressure in hopes to keep the life's blood that had not been lost safely within. "C'mon...wake up." she whispered, though her voice was shaking.
A moment passed. The eyes that once sparkled with life and joy did not shine in recognition or reassurance. The cheeks didn't rise in the grin she usually placed on her face to inspire another, but was instead locked into something of a crazed smile, a small stream of crimson leaking from the corner. It flinched somewhat as the body shook from a small convulsion, but nothing more.
Sarah stared at the limp body before her, placing a hand on her chest to feel for a heartbeat, then on her wrist. She sat silently for a few seconds, and then her hand went flying to and fro across the cheeks of the lifeless teenager in front of them, leaving red marks on the smirking cheeks.
"Damnit! Victoria, wake up! Quit playing!" Sarah was yelling at the top of her lungs. Tears coursed down her cheeks, dropping off and onto the blood-stained blouse of Vicky. The slapping ensued for a moment, and shocked as well as angry at how Sarah was acting towards their friend, dead or alive, Rowan reached out and grabbed on her shoulder, then lowered her hands to her arms and placed them firmly against her sides.
"Sarah...!" Rowan's voice held a harsher note than she intended. She cleared her throat to start over, and hiccuped as it combined with the sob she was trying so hard to hold back. "She's...stop, Sarah... Vic-Victo..."
Suddenly Rowan lost all her words to the silent tears that flowed from her hazel orbs. Kristin, from behind, said nothing but took a few small steps forward. She placed a hand hesitantly on Rowan's shoulder, then turned away and walked back to where she was, facing the road, not wanting to face the body that lie in the middle of the concrete parking lot. Not wanting to accept the death of a friend.
A moan from behind them caught most of their attention, and the second and then third ones that followed somewhat snapped them out of their daze, but no their grief. Rowan hoisted herself, losing her balance for a minute and sniffing, then pulled up Sarah by her hand. The latter held her head down reluctantly, and Kristin, her face turned towards the source of the moans, could not hide the glimmer of tears in the streetlights.
From an alleyway a minute's walking distance away, two figures lurched out, their clothes and skin ragged and torn. Another crawled its way out of the driver's seat of a car they only now noticed had its door open and smeared with blood. They were all too close for comfort.
"We have...we have to go. T-there's gotta be some - shelter," Kristin spoke in an uneven voice.
Wordlessly, Rowan walked towards Kristin, a limp and broken Sarah beneath her arm, and all three of them moved as quickly as three broken-hearted teenagers suffering the loss of a loved one and a close friend, but enough to get them away. Far, far away...but not near enough to tear away from the distress in their hearts.
It seemed to be a miracle how they managed to maneuver through the streets and the alleyways, through the parking lots and the backyards, through the darkness and the fear, with the scent of smoke and death around every single corner and route that they took, without once getting bitten, although numerous of the undead humans that took the life of their friend clawed and tried to grab onto them as they half-walked, half-ran past them. The sounds of guns and other noises - the screams, the yells, the shouts and pleas for help - went to their deaf ears. Once or twice, and explosion shook the ground they stood on.
Too weak to keep moving, too tired to keep searching, and too shattered to keep hoping, it was also in their luck to find an old tool shed in the backyard of an almost empty house. Opening the doors of the shed and stumbling in after making sure it was truly empty, they didn't notice nor hear the pounding on the windows of the second story of the house whose backyard held their small sanctuary as a woman fought off a horde of the creatures that managed to get up to that floor. Even if the sullen group had gone up to her, there would have been no way to help. She disappeared from view and her screams subsided in a matter of seconds.
The doors of the shed were barricaded. A small lantern was scavenged and turned on. The tired minds of the teenagers could do little more than rest. Within minutes, they were off to a land that, when it usually brightened them with odd and sometimes happy dreams, was ravaged by chaos and decay.
Outside, something akin to an apocalypse ensued.
...Ba-dump...Ba-dump...Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...
Author's notes: Well...that's finally done and over with. Not much dialogue, but it's better than nothing. - And It's VERY long...My fingers hurt...
Compared to the first chappie of my first version, what'cha think?
Chapter 3 due to be done around...three weeks. It'll be another long chapter, believe me.
JoJo10: No, Rowan's not 15. She's 13. - Mark's been held back in his grades more than enough times to be bullied on himself, but, ahh... Thank you ALL!!