The trek up the stairs was uneventful, the only real issue was that the monsters above were obviously looking for us and the pile of dead bodies on the stairs made me worried. But they showed no signs of getting up again, so I just helped Leslie step across from them.
The stair case did in fact lead to what was behind the wooden barricade - A small village that you would see in movies. It looked nice, if it wasn't for that fact that it looked like it was out of a horror movie.
"I wonder if the others are here..." I mumbled, looking for any signs of life that wasn't planing to kill us.
"Been here," Leslie mumbled, his grip on his hand tightening.
"You think they've already been here?" I asked.
Leslie shook his head and his grip tightened more. "Been here..."
I was confused, trying to figure out what he meant before it finally dawned on me. "You've been here before?"
Leslie nodded, looking down at the dirt ground.
"That's great!" I exclaimed. "We're some where at least one of us know. That's better than being lost."
Leslie kept quiet before the grip of his hand disappeared, only to reappear on my forearm. In an instant, Leslie was running, dragging me behind him.
Shock took over me, before I said, "Woah, Leslie, slow down! What's-"
"Leslie, wait!"
"Eva!"
"Wait, Leslie, I think I hear-" I started.
"No!" Leslie interupted, his voice sounding pained. His grip on my arm got tighter and his paste picked up. We ran past multiply creatures, none of which reacted to us.
'When did Leslie get this fast?' I questioned before wincing at the pain of his grip. 'And when was he this strong? His grip on my hand didn't hurt this much.'
Leslie dragged me across the village before pass another barricade, only this one was open. As we passed, a creature spotted us, this one an old lady. She screeched before jumping at us. Right as she was about to grab me, the wooden barricade fell, shutting her out.
Leslie finally stopped when the barricade fell, but his grip on my arm stayed and he started to shake and mutter to himself.
"No hope, no hope, no hope..." He mumbled, shaking in place.
"Leslie, everything's going to be okay," I told him.
The grip on my arm tightened more. "Won't get out. Never leave."
"Leslie, please, you're-"
"Not safe, not-"
"Leslie, you're hurting me," I interrupted, unable to stand the pain in my arm.
He stopped shaking, his mumbling stopping abruptly. His finally loosened after a few seconds and his hand fell off my arm. He stepped back and started to mumble again, only this time, repeating apologies.
"Leslie," I sighed, taking a light hold of his arm. "It's okay. I understand if you're scared or afraid. It's normal. For all you and I know, the world has ended."
At me saying that, Leslie began to shake and his mumbles become whimpers of fear. I silently curse before taking hold of his other arm. "But it's alright. We'll get out of this together."
He slowly stopped whimpering before looking up at me. "Together...?"
I smiled and nodded.
He looked up at me with his bright, blue eyes before I noticed the small smile on his face. My own smile grew bigger. 'He's really cute when he smiles.'
I stood up and stretched out my hand for Leslie to take. Once he was up, I looked around, seeing two houses.
"Which way should we go, Leslie?" I ask, remembering that Leslie had been here before. He mumbled before pointing to one house that would actually look inviting, if it hadn't looked so run down and abandoned.
"Alright, let's go."
I pushed Leslie out the back door of the house, trying so hard not to vomit at the sight I saw. I was so happy I decided to check the rooms before letting Leslie go through, so he didn't have to see the 'doctor' working on a dead body and not looking too good himself.
Leslie mumbled, not really understanding why I was pushing him out, but thankfully not going against my wishes to move him away from the unknown danger.
I looked over, seeing a large bon fire, with more of those things. I grumble and take Leslie's hand and put a finger to my lip.
Leslie gripped my hand and nodded before we quickly scurried past the zombie like beings. Luckily, they didn't notice us.
What did notice us, though, was a white, transparent lady. I gulped, cursing whatever God aloud for this horror to take over the world, before the ghost pointed to a house right up the road, surrounded by scarecrows.
I pointed to it and the lady nodded before disappearing before my eyes. I sigh before motioning Leslie to follow.
The house, thankfully, had no monsters, ghosts, or crazy doctors. As soon as Leslie got in, I closed the door and did the latch before backing away.
"I think we'll be safe here for a little bit," I said before turning to Leslie. "You alright? Are you hurt?"
Leslie shook his head, but pointed to the next.
"What's up? Is there something in there?" I asked, peering in. I only saw a worn bed pressed against a door and a staircase going to a basement.
"Down."
I look at Leslie. "Sorry?"
"Go down. Safe," Leslie said, looking at me. For a split second, he seemed different. He wasn't a scared, anxious child in this horrible world, but a somewhat stable mind that knew what to do. But as quickly as it was there, it was gone, and Leslie quickly shuffled down the stairs.
"Hey! Wait up!" I practically jump down the stairs to catch up to Leslie, who barges into a room down a narrow hallway.
The room was like a red room, for developing pictures, but the pictures were some what grotesque and strange. Some were of mouths and scratched out eyes, some of people with their face whorpped. I caught a picture of obviously myself, running in the rain.
"The hell?" I mumbled, before I felt Leslie yank at my arm.
"Hide," he simply said before me into what was pretty much a doorless closet. I went quiet, but held on to Leslie to comfort him, as well protect from any attack.
We quietly waited for whatever it was that Leslie sensed before I heard voices from outside the room. The door was quickly kicked down and three pairs of footsteps walked in.
"The hell?" I heard a man mumbled and the next thing I knew, an armed man stepped into the room Leslie and I were in, followed by Leslie's doctor and my own.
"Eva! You're all right! Thank the heavens!" Mrs. Walker ran up to me and grabbed my arms, seeming to make sure I was real.
"Leslie! Finally, I catch up with you!"
Leslie's eyes widened and he tried to lunge towards me, but his doctor quickly grabbed me.
"Leslie, calm down. I'm here now."
"Let him go," I push passed Mrs. Walker, reaching towards Leslie.
"Everyone, quiet!" The armed man said and we all shut up just in time to hear a gargle from a monster and the door slamming open once again. Only this time, I couldn't see any monster.
"Danger," Leslie mumbled. I look back at him before spying a bag of black powder on a forgot picture development desk.
"Where is he?" The armed man mumbled, before the light bulb sprung up in my head.
"Move!" I said, quickly grabbing the bag. The armed man stepped back and I through the black powder out into the open room, only to connect to the floor and the invisible creature just a foot away from me.
The plan worked great, but the monster wasn't happy about that. The monster lunged at me, its face nothing but tentacles. I step back and I spot the pistol armed right over my shoulder before the shot rang out.
Sudden, I wasn't in the red room anymore. My vision was blurred, but the flashing blue and red lights were prominent. I could feel the tears streaking down my face and the rotting smell of death in the air. As soon as I was gone, I was back in the red room, on the ground.
Mrs. Walker was leaning over me, trying to talk to me, but the ringing in my ears deafened her.
I sit up and instant there was someone on the other side of me. Leslie was holding on to me, and slowly, my hearing came back. Leslie was gripping my arm, mumbling to himself 'no' repeatedly, and in tears.
"Leslie, I'm okay," I whispered, taking his hand. "Everything is alright."
"Sorry about that kid. Didn't think the shot would hurt you. I forget that not everyone is use to close range shooting."
I look up at the man. "It's fine. Who are you again?"
"I'm detective Sebastian Castellanos. I was investigating the attack on Beacon this whole thing started," the man said.
I nodded and got up, Leslie following suit.
"Alright, Leslie. I think it's time you get off the girl. I'm sure-" Leslie's doctor reached for him, but I pulled Leslie away.
"Don't touch him," I glared at the man. "I don't know what in the hell you did to him, but obviously Leslie is afraid of you."
The doctor stammered, trying to come up with some reason that proved my statement wasn't true, but Sebastian cut him off. "We can talk about this later. Fitrst, let's get out of here."
"Yes. Escaping this place should be our first priority," Mrs. Walker agreed.
Leslie's doctor mumbled before turning to exit the room. Leslie, who was silent for the whole argument, tightened his grip before leaning in to me.
"Thank you," I heard Leslie mumbled and I smiled at him before following the detective and my doctor.
But as we stepped out of the room, a new problem stood in front of us. Literally.
The stairs that Leslie and myself took were now gone, replaced with a solid wall.
"The hell?" I mumbled, walking up to where Leslie's doctor was banging on the wall.
"The stairs, they were here," the doctor said. "... We must be losing our minds."
Leslie's grip suddenly became painfully tight before the boy began to spout out "Losing out mind!" The times before seeming to calm himself.
The doctor looked back and gasped and I followed to where he was looking. Behind us was a man with a white, hooded coat, with burn marks covering him. I moved Leslie behind me as the man looked at us, his gaze lingering on Leslie and myself. He then turned and began to walk away.
"Hey, wait!" Detective Castellanos ran towards him, gun drawn.
"Don't-" the doctor began, but it was too late. The detective disappeared right in front of our eyes with the hooded man.
"What in the.." I mumbled before a sudden pain practically shattered itself in the back of my skull, and everything went black.