Her hands shook as Lucy tried to slow her breathing and seemingly stop her heart… So that not a single sound could be heard from her.
How did she end up in this situation? Her eyes were staring at something she couldn't understand; her brain was unable to process the picture of what was happening. Her hands were shaking, and icy drops were dripping down her face and back. Everything seemed to freeze inside, and she was standing in the middle of a blizzard—a snowstorm.
Only the glass door separated them. A thin line that could be shattered at any moment. How likely was she to react in time to any of this creature's attacks? What should she do in a situation like this?
The creature, on the other hand, stood there, staring back at her. Its eyes were cloudy, with a red rim around the once-bright brown orbs. There was no awareness or fear in those frightening eyes; they were fading, losing their clarity and the light of life.
Lucy bit her tongue to keep from throwing up at the details. The bite was much deeper than she'd realized, revealing teeth and gum , skin that now weighed ragged. Everything was drenched in blood. The once-white shirt, the lower part of his face, his forehead... Like a zombie movie, but this was the real world! She wasn't the fucking heroine of some Zombie Apocalypse movie!
But reality kept pounding into her head, showing her details and letting her hear everything that was going on outside the office. And she knew how to accept it, no matter how hard and cruel reality was.
She swallowed her scream of fear, her hands moving to her mouth, clamping tightly around her lips as the creature lunged at the glass. Its head thudded against the barrier, and it did what it had done before, without showing any sign of pain or discomfort, banging its head against the glass door. It was a horribly gruesome sight! As a bloody trail began to form on the transparent barrier. Large brightly colored drops flowed downward, sliding smoothly across the smooth surface.
Swallowing hysterical sobbing, sloshes continuously flowed from his eyes, his legs trembled. And all I could think of was.
"I'm scared! I'm scared! What's going on?!"
There were no useful or useful thoughts in her head, only whether she could use something to defend herself from this room! Frantically scouring the room for anything useful. How many times did she freeze, and her heart dropped to her feet? Because the sound of shattering glass was deafening, making her head go completely blank.
The crack spread across the glass like a spider's web, and she was a small bug on the web of a dangerous spider.
The thought flashed through her head that she didn't want to die!
His head swung back to make one last blow, and smash that door, that last edge. To make it spill thousands of shards onto the floor, giving his full access to it. But there was movement in the corridor and shouts of other people. They were shouting loudly, male and female voices mingling. "We need to get to the roof!" "There's a helicopter coming to pick us up." "Let's keep it down! Whimper!" "Get her! That asshole bit her."
The inadequate, and she couldn't call him anything else, rushed towards the group of people, moving more vigorously than before. Making growling and generally frightening noises that didn't sound human. Whether he preferred to rely more on sound than sight, or because he could distinguish voices and count the approximate number of people. Conclusion: There's more "prey" than her one body. Lucy let out a shuddering sigh as she stood alone, her shoulders slouching and her legs numb. It seemed like she'd been standing like that forever….
Screams, stomping feet, and stamping could be heard in the hallway. When it seemed, the beast had found its prey. And like the last selfish woman, she took that chance, silently apologizing to these people for the fact that she wasn't going to help them. She picked up a bag from the floor that seemed to weigh a ton, slinging the long strap over her head. Was running through a plan of action in her head. She stayed where she was, letting her thoughts pile up, and her heart settle.
Stretching her stiff legs, she was sure that running today would be included in her day. If she survived…
She shook her head wildly to get rid of unnecessary thoughts, but it was a stupid idea as dizziness swept over her. Lucy took a couple of breaths in and out, trying to prevent nausea and calm down.
Her loose hair was tied back in a tight braid. She was going to remove any hindrance to her escape. The heels… were noisy and uncomfortable shoes. The cold of the tiled floor traveled over her bare feet, giving some relaxation to her tired legs. It would be dangerous to run barefoot due to the fact that one could easily injure her skin, but she didn't want to slip and get caught in the clinging paws. Bare feet gave a good grip on the tile.
There was a crackle of fabric as Lucy tore her long pencil skirt down the side, exposing her thigh. Such seemingly small things could be the main reason and foolishness for being trapped.
"Should I go to the roof and expect to be rescued from the sky, too? No, there was a greater chance of encountering more danger at the top, and even if I got there, one way out would be to wait and trust or throw myself down."
"No, no! Get those gloomy thoughts out of your head!"
So the only option is to try to go downstairs and get out of the building.
And then… What should she do next?
Back to the hotel. Back to her room. Somehow, she thought she'd be safer there.
The atmosphere and everything around her were like a horror movie. As she made her way through the empty corridors, peering out of every corner and moving at a jog . She successfully made it two floors down. So far, have not encountered a single living soul or non-living .
Although, she did say goodbye to her breakfast when she saw the picture of some poor guy getting his belly ripped open. Just ripped open, revealing to the world the contents of a human body, some moment ago a soul had shone there. Blood-stained floors, objects lying everywhere, and overturned furniture. Bloody palm prints stretched along the wall. The heavy atmosphere, it just pressed in on her. Lucy squatted and listened for any noise, twitching at any rustle, her whole body shuddering.
Reacting and thinking about the screams outside the bloodstained windows, the sound of explosions, and the sound of car alarms. That was what distracted her, making her realize that it was much worse outside.
Lucy pushed the unnecessary thoughts away for the moment. Before she tried to survive out there, she needed to do it here. Piece by piece, even if she was going to move like a turtle.
She peered around the corner, surveying the area in front of the elevator and the nearby stairs to the lower floor. The elevator was immediately eliminated as a method of transportation. There would be a branch to the fire escape stairway to the street and a continuation of the stairway through the building. Her goal was the stairs to the street. It was too dangerous and time-consuming to move around the were over a hundred people working in the company, where everyone went and why it was so empty, she didn't care much. She was obviously being selfish right now, but she would think about that later.
As if by magic, a cleaning cart appeared in sight, with brooms, mops, and the like sticking out of it. She stood up slowly and quietly and approached. Everything was scattered; water had puddled on the floor, and there was a streak of red streaks from that spot toward the closed doors. She pressed her lips together... maybe someone out there needed help, and she could try to do it.
A noise and wheezing outside the door gave her an answer and refreshed her head. Not today, not today, she would think of others.
She chose a long mop with a bottom that could be unscrewed by hand. Lucy wasn't going to be a hero and break her leg to get a sharp angle like they do in the movies. She'd rather just traumatize her bare feet.
"Thank you! Thank you! Yes, yes, yes, yes!" A cheerful voice shouted in her head. Probably from all the stress she was under, her mind was starting to go. Luck was clearly on my side today. At least she found something besides her self-defense stilettos. Lucy wasn't exactly wielding this heroic, martial arts-style weapon. But with a long stick, danger could be kept at bay. And who hasn't played with sticks as a child, imagining they were some kind of hero?
Thinking over the plan of further actions, but with a plus in her pocket, she did not pay due attention to the click of the opening door behind her back, generally forgetting to look at your surroundings. How stupid of her.
An icy chill ran down my back.
Everything happened in slow motion, stretching the moment; she didn't even have time to turn around when she squatted sharply, her knees crunching treacherously from her actions. What Lucy did not expect was that the creature would be so fast and quickly overcome the distance separating them. The fidgety lady jumped with such force, wanting to claw at Lucy's soft flesh, that she flew over her without catching her. The girl in the office attire stretched out on the floor, frozen.
"Damn it!" If she hadn't ducked, it would have definitely slammed into her back and knocked her to the ground.
And the odds of her getting out of that position were.
She'd be trapped, and any skin would be exposed. For some reason, it seemed to Lucy that the term from the zombie stories about the bite was real now, and she didn't want to test it on her own skin!
An inner compassion awoke in Lucy, out of place. And she wondered if she should go over and see if this girl was okay.
Suddenly, the other girl was normal but scared; adrenaline pumped, and she decided to act first. She didn't really see anything because of the speed of the moment…
"Are you o-okay?"- A shuddering squeak came from her lips. There was no answer, but the creature turned its face sharply, and clearly was not in pain. She was not showing any sign of pain, but a blazing, eager gaze burned through her frozen body. Said a lot of things.
And Lucy darted toward the stairs. She certainly wasn't going to try to fight that thing! Adrenaline pumped her blood as she stubbornly tried to increase the distance between them. Jumping over the steps, while the thought "I wish I hadn't fallen, I wish I hadn't fallen" kept going through her head. Behind her, she could hear the clack of heels, angry snarls, and wheezes. Not a single intelligible word. There was not a single thought that she might fall and break her legs; there they were, desires without barriers and worries. She was clearly being chased by a wild animal, not a man.
Clik...Clack...Click...Clack.
It echoed in her ears. It pressed down on her, as did her panicked heart. The salvation door came into view. The white door was covered in blood stains, matching the emergency exit sign. A second's confusion as she grabbed the door handle, pressing to open outward. Allowed a tenacious manicured hand to grab her shoulder and with a strength she hadn't expected to see from a girl shorter than her height turn them face to face. Damn, it was scary to look into those faces! Filled with venom, rage, but so empty.
Pain spilled down her back and head like flowers in their garden as Lucy fell on the metal stairs. Crushed by the force of another body. She managed to get the mop stick out in time as a barrier. Resisting and pushing, she made distance between her face and the stranger's teeth. The creature struggled, pushing and trying to reach for her, but Lucy held it at arm's length. She tried to push the danger away from her, but damn, it was so hard.
Panic was tap-tap-tap-tapping at every nerve.
She didn't remember or understand how the shoe had gotten into her hand, or how she hadn't lost it yet. With a scream and force, Lucy slammed the stiletto into the girl's face. It, it, hit her in the eye. Punching through the soft barrier, pressing down to be sure. The blood and fluids of the eye ran down the face of the momentarily halted attacker, dripping onto Lucy's chest.
And it seemed to be over. But the pressure seemed to return with even more force.
Pressing down on her, crushed her with his inhuman strength. Not reacting at all to such a serious injury, and the fact that the shoe was still sticking out of her eye socket. Panting came from the panicked blonde's lips.
Those weren't high stilettos. And it looked like it was missing some points of her skull. She sure as hell shouldn't know how to kill someone with heels!
This should never have happened in her life in the first place!
Extending her arms, putting them wider than her shoulders. Pressing into the shoulders of the attacking mop stick, and with her feet resting and pressing against the woman's soft belly, Lucy made a forward momentum, lifting her legs and throwing the creature forward over herself.
Her ears were ringing, her blood was pounding and hissing, and every sense was trying to take over her attention, but the sound of the body hitting the floor from the sixth floor was deafening.
She'd just thrown a man down…
Her lips pressed together in a thin line as she clenched her teeth to the point of pain. Her eyes burned with tears, pain, and frustration. So many emotions were swirling inside her right now that she could never describe them.
She was trying to regain her breath. Her back stung, but she didn't care now. She raised herself on her trembling arms, opening reddened eyes. Her gaze immediately darted beyond the metal staircase, looking at the body at the bottom…
The creature seemed not to move. A scarlet puddle was spreading nearby….
Should she continue to wonder? But there was no end to the shock… when the creature awkwardly but stubbornly rose on trembling legs and broken heels, but still rushed towards the passing and screaming teenager. The boy saw the attacker shrieked in fear and run faster, and the zombie followed him, forgetting about her.
Lucy, on the other hand, continued to sit and arrive in a fog.
"What just happened now?" But the life still flowed inside her, so she won this round.
She stood up, finally looking at the city from the alley. The city was a mess, if you could call it a place, with disaster and death filling it. Scattered cars, blood-drenched roads, screaming people, snarling monsters, and smoke. It was all overwhelming. The smell of death, fear, tears, and the metallic tang of blood seemed to settle on her tongue…
She didn't pay attention to her steps, her foot slipping, or Lucy flying down the stairs to the lower level of the landing. Her hands covered her head in a protective gesture as her back and other parts of her body burned from the impact of the steps. She collapsed, stopping to roll on the landing connecting the stairs. She lay on her back, numb with pain, and looked up at the blue sky without a single cloud. The weather continued to be warm and sunny. Ignoring the hell of the mortal world.
And Lucy was left for a moment in her thoughts trying to piece things together
"Was this horror happening only here or all over Fior?
In the hour she'd been gone, the city had changed with a terrifying jerk. The green, blooming city, filled with warmth and the movement of life, had been ravaged. Blazing cars, smoke clogging the lungs, broken glass in stores, and once-packed cafés and restaurants. The creature was crawling through every crevice. And the air was so heavy, so pressurized, that it hurt to breathe, and her throat was sore and scratchy.
Or was she in pain from all the running?
Even after an hour, the stampede was still going on, people running to save themselves. The screams were deafening. And besides having to run away from quite a few zombies, she had to dodge people pushing her. Those who were in cars were trying to drive away, not paying attention to the people running.
The jeep just hit a couple of people and drove on, ignoring how it was breaking bones and any chance of saving those people.
She needed to get out of the crowd, or she would be killed by those still alive!
She decided to run across the road, not paying attention to all the cars zigzagging, overturned , where hungry people were clinging to the dying. Torturing their bodies. The cops tried to shoot them off, but it only stopped them a little bit. And then it just kept going in circles.
Was she lucky? Because she fell again just in time for the bullet to whiz over her head. Scraping her knees and palms, and she was glad she was clumsy at that moment.
Had she ever heard a bullet whistle so close?
The bullet hit between the eyes of the zombie that was about to attack her. She sat there in a complete state of stupor, watching it. What were the odds that someone killed lying on the ground like that wouldn't be her?
"Get up!" Someone tugged at her shoulder, but panic raged in every cell of her mind.
She was jerked to her feet and turned around to face the man's screaming face. Drawing attention.
"Wake up, come on! You need to get out of here. You hear me, girl? Come on, come on, go!"
He pushed her weak body toward the park, and she stumbled again, but managed to hold on. The pain from the impact with her bare toes sobbed her a little, bringing some awareness back to her eyes.
"What the fuck is this?! Why aren't they dying?"
The cop who helped her was screaming and shooting at the same zombie who got hit in the head, but he didn't care. He was falling, but he kept trying to get to his target.
Lucy froze at the sight of it all. How could it be?
Why don't they even die from a headshot?
"Why did you get up? Are you sick of living? Run, you fool!" The cop yelled as he reloaded his gun. And aiming at the still-approaching zombies.
The only thing that came out of her mouth was "Thank you," and she ran. Running, blurring her eyes with sloshes, trouble, and hearing gunshots and screams.
"I'll live, I'll live!"
How many more crackpot situations are going to happen to her on this fucking day?! Why can't she calmly, if all passing can be called that, get to the hotel?
Why is some asshole trying to prove something to her about her defense by squeezing her wrist.
"Come with me baby! I can protect you from those things. Come on don't fight me, I won't hurt you" he tried to smile reassuringly, but his disgusting eyes showed the truth. The way they greedily desired her body, looking at her bare thigh and the cleavage of her heaving breasts.
"I already said I don't need your help! My father will meet me. I don't have much time left. Let go!" She tried to wrench her hand away. She was disgusted. Her wrist burned from the force with which he was squeezing her arm, and her bones seemed to crack from the pressure.
"Stop resisting, bitch; I know you're lying! And if you're not, your daddy is already dead, a walking creature" he said it all with a nasty grin, and then he laughed nasally too.
"And you, with such a pretty face and body, shouldn't go to waste after all."
Her brow furrowed even more, and her lips curved in disgust. How could he think of such a thing when life was falling apart? How much longer would she waste her time with this scum?
She relaxed into submission.
"Oh... that's right babe," he smiled lewdly, pulling her closer to him, relaxing his grip on her arm. But he clearly hadn't expected her to wrench her hand from his, turning her back to him, pressing her back against his chest and making a tug, throwing him over her. This move worked for the second time that day.
He only managed to let out a surprised sigh.
"Ugh!"
With a heavy thud, his heavy body fell and hit the ground. Causing the thug to cry out in pain. He cursed at her, but she didn't care. He clearly hadn't expected self-defense skills from the little blonde.
"-Die in hell, asshole!" she spat those words at the squirming man. She ran just in time. Only now have the walking corpses popped out, and they lunged at the victim on the ground. The man had no time to get up when they threw him down again. They bit into him with blunt human teeth and scratched his clothes and flesh with their nails.
He screamed and cursed and begged her to stop and help him.
But she didn't even turn around. He deserved it. And she wouldn't regret her decision to leave him there to die.
The death screams continued to echo through the park, drowning out the sound of the wind. Until it became a gurgling wheeze, and then it stopped completely.
She seemed to be turning into a monster...
Thank you to everyone who reads my work, every new reader means a lot to me! I try to keep an eye out for mistakes and make it readable, but it's not my native language, but I will try.
Thank you to those who added ER, to Favorites (Daryl Elorza, JC43599453)
Thank you to those who have added ER to Followers (Chlo Grasset, Daryl Elorza, JC43599453).
Perhaps you have any questions of interest? Or maybe I should post a slice of the next chapter or a moment much farther down at the end?