Finally getting to Old Town in this chapter. A lot of things from earlier chapters come back from this chapter on. Enjoy!
I don't, and never will, own Dying Light.
My fingers grew numb, and my vision blurred even more. I felt my heart slow, and I knew I was going to die.
Molten fire shot through my veins, snapping me back. My eyes flew open, and I flexed my fingers experimentally. I was sat in front of a burning fire, Hale was crouched before me, an automatic syringe in his hand. I smiled weakly at him and he let out a breath.
"You scared the shit out of me." He handed me a flask of water, which I drank from greedily. "That is one hell of a bite. I don't think I've ever seen someone survive an attack like that." I handed him the flask back, and looked down at my shoulder. The wound was still tinted black, a jagged set of teeth marks ran across my collar bone like a morbid tattoo. There was no doubt about it. I was infected. I sighed and dropped my head into my hands.
"How am I gonna tell Ari?" I whispered to myself. We'd already lost Ilyana to the disease, we didn't need another one. Me or her. I forced myself to stand, swaying for a second as I regained my sense of balance. "How long was I out?" I asked aloud.
"About 20 seconds. Any longer, and you would be dead. Or one of them." Hale shrugged, as if the past was the past.
"We should get moving then, we still have to get to Sector 0 by nightfall. We've got..." I trailed off as I looked at my broken watch, the screen shattered. "Shit, I don't know. But we don't have long." He nodded in agreement before turning to Sammy.
"And we've gotta get this guy somewhere safe, he cant stay with us, too dangerous. You're proof of that."
"Where do you suggest? We can't very well leave him at a safe house. Most of those things are abandoned anyway." He seemed to debate that for a while before he spoke again.
"The University. Plenty of guards, other kids. We leave him there, tell someone from the Tower where he is, and they can come and get him." With the plan made up, we extinguished the fire, and moved out. The tunnels had opened into more modern passages. The red moss was nowhere to be seen. In fact, in the tunnels here, it was easy to forget that there was even a quarantine above. Everything seemed so mundane, so normal. It was nice to pretend for a while.
The illusion was shattered when we entered into an open courtyard.
Bodies littered the ground. Windows smashed, balcony fences torn down. It was a blood bath. I flipped one of the bodies over, his shirt was yellow with three black stripes.
Rais.
I stood and scanned the courtyard, more cautious than I was before. I heard Hale tell Sammy to hide, before he walked up beside me, rifle ready. Something behind us crunched, and Hale snapped his rifle immediately to the source. My pistol was aimed a second later. Gerald and Sasha stood there, Geralds heavy boot on a piece of glass. I let out a breath, and heard Hale do the same.
"Don't do that guys." Hale walked over and pulled both of them into a hug. "I almost fucking shot you." Hale and Gerald walked off to search the courtyard, and pull sammy from hiding. Sasha turned to say something to me, but whatever it was died on her lips as she saw the bite wound.
"Jesus Christ, what the hell did that?" Her eyes widened comically as I told her what it was. "Damn, that must-"
"Get down! Grenade!" Hales voice rang out. I dived on top of Sasha, pushing her to the ground. I covered my head as the explosive detonated in the middle of the courtyard. I felt chunks of something land on my back. Knowing what the court looked like before, it was probably human. "Door trap! Sorry! Should be clear up here now though!" Picking ourselves off the ground, we made our way up to the second floor. Hale and Gerald stood in front of an ornate door, Sammy was holding onto Hales back. "Ready?"At our confirming nods, we entered the building.
We stepped onto the rooftop, sunlight streaming through the wide awnings overhead. Fires burned in the distance, and a huge, unfinished clock tower rose in the middle of the city. Off to the left, an ornate building rose above others in the area, a large blue flag flew from the flag post. A jet screamed overhead, surprising me. I'd expected the military to be done with this zone. It was one of the first points of outbreak, hence the name Sector 0. But it was also the smallest quarantine, a quarter the size the slums were.
Gerald and Sasha agreed to take Sammy to the University, and stay with him until someone came to take him back. Hale and I would head to the clock tower. I'd heard about a group of survivors there, and I hoped they could help us find Rais.
It took us almost two hours to walk to the tower. This part of the city was more overrun with infected than even the slums were. We tried to stick to the roof tops, but even they were almost overrun. We had to keep ducking through buildings, dropping down levels, hiding behind cars and trashcans. When we reached the bottom of the tower, we were exhausted and breathing heavily. Hale had reached the top by the time I was half way up the scaffolding around the tower. Every time I reached up to grab the nest support, my shoulder twitched painfully. Several times, I had to hook my good arm around a pole and rest. By the time we reached the top, my arms felt like they were going to fall off, and my shoulder had started bleeding again. When Hale saw, he put a hand on my good shoulder.
"You need to rest, I've already spoken with the leader, and I'll tell you what she said, after you sleep." I nodded and leaned heavily into his side. He lead me down a ramp on the side of the tower, and into a room with several sleeping bags lined along the walls. He sat me down on one, and took my boots off for me. He pointed to one on the other side of the room. "I'll be right here." I nodded wearily, and laid my head down. But no matter how hard I tried to sleep, every time I closed my eyes, I saw flashes of the creature, and of Dawud turning. After an hour of trying to force myself asleep, my body finally complied.
I woke in a cold sweat, dull blue light shone through the slightly open windows. My hands shook uncontrollably and my shoulder burned. I sat up and reached for my pack. Rifling through, I searched for the Antizin I kept for emergencies. Pulling it out, I pressed the injector against my neck and pulled the trigger. My hands stopped shaking almost immediately, and the fire shot through my veins again.
If this is what the rest of my life was going to be like, I wasn't sure if I wanted it.
1 Week Earlier
Ardelis
My head spun as I sat up groggily. It felt like I'd been run over by a train. I gripped the side of my head as it throbbed painfully.
Sounds started coming to me. A crowd cheering, something banging on metal. I forced my eyes open. I was in the middle of a pit, unfinished supports and storage crates littered the arena. I looked up to the pitch black sky, not even a single star in sight. A voice boomed over the others.
"Welcome, welcome." It was Rais, standing high on a cleaning lift. "You've been a real thorn in my side lately. Stealing supplies, ruining trades, killing my men! Well, it seems the invincible 'Masked One,' isn't so invincible after all. If you can make it out alive, I'll be impressed." He sneered coldly. "And then I'll just kill you myself. Begin!" He slammed a button km the panel in front of him, and the doors of one of the crates sprung open.
The air was immediately filled with the roars of the infected. Scrambling to my feet, I searched frantically for a weapon. My eyes landed on a length of pipe. I dove for it, grabbing it by the end, and swung it around behind me, caving in the skull of a biter. I jerked the weapon free as I ducked under the flailing arms of a Viral. I kicked out at its knee, sending it sprawling to the ground. I slammed the pipe down, caving in another skull. The pipe snapped, the stress too much for the rusted metal. I jabbed it through the eye of the nearest infected, letting go as it went down with the zombie. Another viral lunged at me, I spun around behind its back, grabbing its head and twisting it sideways.
The Viral collapsed in a heap. Another one lunged at me, but I was too slow to avoid it. It knocked me down onto the ground, and I covered my face with my arms. It clawed madly at me, leaving what I could only assume were deep gouges. I brought my foot up and kicked at its chest. I heard something in it crack, and it stumbled off me. Whatever I had broken obviously wasn't enough, as once it shook off the kick, it charged at me again. I rolled out of the way, and my hands landed on the broken pipe, still stuck inside the zombie. Finding no better weapon, I pulled it free and brandished it like a blade. It would have to do.
The Viral pounced again, and repeating my move from floor 13, I held it out in front of me, letting the Viral spear itself. The pipe was completely useless now, wedged into the bone. I whirled around, ready for the next attack, but everything was dead. The whole fight had taken place in the centre of the arena, and in less than a minute. I heard clapping from above me, and shifted my gaze to the lift Rais stood on. It was descending slowly, until it stopped about 7 metres off the ground, too high for me to reach.
"Congratulations! I honestly thought you were all bark, but I see I have been proven wrong. I think you have deserved this, of all things," he dropped a very makeshift machete from his hand. "Show us more 'Masked One,' and I may change my mind about killing you." He rolled his right hand and the lift started to rise, as he pushed a button with his other one.
The whir of machinery drew my attention to a crane carrying a new crate. The crate rocked wildly, almost snapping free. It stopped several feet above the ground, before the cables released, dropping the crate to the ground. The door released with a hiss of gas, before whatever was inside broke them off their hinges, and leapt into the arena.
It was a Volatile, bigger than I'd ever seen before. I looked passed it into the crate. The walls were lined with deep gouges and there were several holes punched through the metal. The Volatiles gaze wandered around the crowd gathered on the scaffolding, before coming to rest on me. It's eyes narrowed, and it's jaws parted. It let out a screech and charged.
I jumped to the side, narrowly missing the full force of the charge. I spun and raised the machete. It swiped at me and I deflected the strike with the blade, scoring a hit along its arm. The force of the blow knocked me back, my feet skidding across the loose gravel floor. It jumped again and I stabbed out with the end of the blade. It landed on top of me, pushing me to the ground. The machete stuck from its chest, just to the left of its heart. It roared from its position on top of me, spraying blood and saliva. I pulled my arm back and punched, hitting it on the side of its face. It jerked back slightly, but it was all I needed. I rolled back so I could plant my foot on its chest, right next to the protruding blade. I pulled on the blade, using my foot as a lever. It drew put with a squelch, and I thrust it into the Volatiles head as soon as it was free.
The infected slumped on top of me, dead. I rolled it off me and removed the machete. My clothes were ruined, gaping holes lined the front of my trousers, and my sleeves were in tatters. My arms were marred with huge gouges and scratches from the Viral, and I felt blood trickling down the side of my face. It was now I noticed that the crowd was silent, looking down at me in awe. Even Rais was silent, though his face still held a scowl. After what seemed like hours of standing there, covered in blood, Rais nodded once, and the lift started descending, all the way to the ground. The gate swung open and he stepped off, followed by two of his guards, both of them holding heavy rifles. He clapped patronisingly, and his guards pointed their rifles at me and flicked them to the ground. I let the machete fall from my hand.
"Well done. I honestly didn't expect you to make it through that. If you hadn't killed so many of my men, I'd offer you a place at my side. As it stands, I think you'll be better off dead." He waved his hand casually and turned around. Both of the guards pointed their rifles at me, and I sprung into action.
I kicked the rifle from the closest guard, sending it flying into the air. I ducked forward and puched the other guard in the stomach, doubling him over. I jumped back and caught the gun as it fell. Firing a shot into both of their heads before aiming it at Rais. He turned slowly and sneered at me.
"Go ahead, shoot me. Kill me just like all the others you've killed, your friends and family. All dead because of you. You're nothing more then a failure, and i know exactly who you are. How could I forget a scar like that." I shook my head, tears welling in my eye.
"No," I lowered the rifle slightly. "I won't kill you. But I'm going to make you fucking suffer." I pulled the trigger, and the round tore through his leg, punching a hole the size of a coin. His leg gave way instantly, and he fell with a yell of pain. A gate slammed behind me, and I turned to see more bandits rushing into the arena. I ran for the lift, bullets kicking up clouds of dust. I jumped and grabbed onto the metal railing, and slammed the button.
It started to grind slowly upwards. A bullet punched through the control panel, narrowly missing my head. Behind me was a gate, I ran and jumped, vaulting over the edge. I landed hard on the other side, twisting my ankle. I limped to a drain pipe, and dropped down, sliding along the concrete walls until I landed in a pool of water at the bottom. Kicking to the surface, I gulped down air, and swam for the ladder on the other side of the reservoir.
I collapsed at the top, my clothes dripping water, blonde hair sticking to my mask and covering my eye. I rested a hand on my rapidly beating heart. I waited until I'd clamed down before I stood, and started making my way back to the Tower.