“You guys, look at this!” Lyra grinned as she knelt down by the body and picked at something. Lyra then showed off a newish-looking first-aid kit. “It’s got everything we could possibly need in it too! Suture kit, band-aids, rubbing alcohol…” She was enamored with it, thoroughly inspecting its contents and nodding to each one. “Who says Popsicle sticks and glue can’t fix any problem?”
Alex gently nudged Keaton, smirking at the sight. “We’re lucky to have a nurse on our team.”
But Keaton stared blankly, then spoke with a slight monotone, “We’ve come close to death way too many times tonight.”
It was impressive; Alex had been here for a few hours and only received minor cuts and bruises. Although his body did ache from the stress, he was more than capable of continuing. Things could’ve gone so much worse, but luck had been on his side since he arrived in this isolated town. Two more people watching his back definitely raised his chance of survivability.
Lyra stood up slowly, putting her kit behind her back and latched it around her waist. She then shared a glance with both men before nodding. “Let’s find a way out.”
A light groan came from down the hall. Everyone halted their movement, waiting. It came again, sounding like a person; they were likely male as it sounded lower pitched and hoarser this time.
“Someone’s still alive,” Alex finally spoke. His heart rate spiked at the thought. Another person was there.
However, Lyra and Keaton seemed wary. They didn’t even move as he stepped forward. He then shook his head, ignoring their pleas, and quickly jogged over to a door on the left side of the hall. It was left half open. Alex cautiously pushed it, his heartbeat thumping loudly in his chest. The hinges stretched out their wailing creaks, signaling to anything they were there. He swallowed a thick lump as he peered inside. Aside from the outside light that had crawled across the dark blue carpet, it was dark. And an ominous cold brushed up against his face. Alex hesitantly shifted his left leg, hovering in the door frame. He knew this was a bad idea; all the red flags went off in his head. But what if…? What if someone did need their help?
Alex had to be sure. He made up his mind. He confidently moved past the door frame and stepped into the dark room. A raspy groan that sounded a few feet away suddenly entailed concern. There, he could see it, at the light’s edge, a seemingly giant blob of darkness. Alex then inched closer, his gun pointed, though his finger wasn’t on the trigger.
His eyes slowly adjusted to the room, allowing clear sight of everything. It was a more extended room with multiple cubicles lined in rows. He couldn’t see the back of the room but assumed it didn’t go far. What he could see, thankfully, was that the blob was a person: a man with dark hair and a white collared shirt. He was likely an employee, but Alex wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter anyway as he crouched down to help. Another groan whispered out from the injured man.
I think he needs medical help.
But before he could even call out, a firm hand grabbed him by the shoulder. Alex winced as he was pulled away. His back slammed against a robust, thick leg. Keaton stood above him, scowling as he looked forward into the darkness. Not saying a word, he slowly raised his handgun.
“What the—?” Alex gasped, rising to his feet.
“Look,” Keaton’s deep voice commanded as he jerked his chin toward the darkness.
Shadows were swaying in the darkness. Alex spotted several figures ranging from tall and short to thick and thin. They shuffled about randomly before some slowly ventured closer to the light. The person he thought needed help crawled to his feet and shuffled forward. But Keaton was ready; with his left arm, he pushed Alex back, swiftly aimed his weapon, and fired point-blank. Blood sprayed across the floor as the zombie fell on its back.
“Alex!” shouted Lyra from the doorway. “This way!”
Alex rushed back, nearly toppling her over as he clutched onto her petite frame. Behind him, more gunshots rang out as Keaton slowly backed into the corridor. He then shut the door and raised his pistol, its muzzle facing upward. They waited a few seconds, not moving, as the muffled groaning died down. It seemed as though they had a short attention span when their prey was no longer visible; they didn’t even bother to brush against the door or even try to figure out how to open it.
It was a good thing to keep the zombies in a single room. If the group had to backtrack, getting caught with those things at the rear would be unpleasant. Finally, Alex let go of his friend then held his elbows.
“I thought he was alive,” he said, breaking the silence. He then loosened his shoulders and slumped forward in defeat. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re fine,” whispered Keaton. “We all did.”
“Yeah,” said Lyra. She glanced at Alex’s way with a sympathetic smile.
“I just don’t understand why this place got overrun… I mean, the gate was closed!” Alex clenched his fingers tight until the knuckles turned white.
Lyra shuffled her feet toward one of the windows. She groaned quietly, then shook her head. “The windows are barred, too. Unless one of those things got in, maybe through the front entrance?”
“It’s possible,” stated Keaton. “But those guys didn’t look like they had many bites on them. In fact, this whole area is oddly clean.”
It was true. If there weren’t infectious monsters looming about in this place, Alex would’ve easily thought it ordinary. But even so, this place unnerved him. The stillness of the area, the fact that nothing was trying to get at them, caused a slight chill to run up his spine. He was almost grateful that the zombies in that small office room were there; at least, it was something. But what he’d really want to see were more survivors. He still didn’t know why there weren’t any at all.
Could this infection really be that strong, wiping out all citizens with ease? Alex blushed, realizing he’d nearly been zombie food to such tomfoolery. Okay, okay, maybe it was possible.
Then, a small thought came into his head. “Lyra, you’re a nurse, right? Do you have any idea why we haven’t come across a single person?”
Lyra gave him an odd look as if he was crazy for even thinking there should be survivors. She finally spoke. “Sorta…?”
“Well?” Alex’s dark green eyes bulged out slightly as he raised his brows.
Even Keaton raised his head as he leaned against the closest wall behind them. “Yeah, let’s hear it.”
Lyra took a deep breath and blinked slowly. Opening her eyes, she lifted her head and began to speak calmly and clearly. “Well, I don’t believe we’re dealing with a patient-zero type of infection. The zombies are way too slow to overcome a whole population… No, it’s something else—entirely. The infection rate was way too fast.”
“Like what? A virus or…?” asked Alex.
“I was thinking more of a bacterial infection, likely spread through water. It has to be something alive, and a virus just doesn’t cut it—these things are dead, and they have to die in order to resurrect.”
“Wow, look at you. A nurse and a detective.” Keaton grinned.
“I’m not finished. Bacteria don’t operate like this either. In fact, nothing we have reanimates the dead and spreads through bites…” She continued. “To be honest. I really don’t care. It’s not airborne as we haven’t turned ourselves, and due to the mass spread over the city, I think the water treatment plant is to blame.
“That makes sense,” said Alex. “If the infection spread through the water, then it makes sense why we haven’t encountered any survivors; everyone likely was infected the moment they drank the tap.”
“Bingo.” Lyra gave a thumbs-up gesture.
“Fuck.” Keaton groaned, wiping his face. “There’s only one water treatment plant in the city. If there was an accidental leakage, then—yeah, that explains a lot.”
“That was the easy way out, though,” stated Lyra. She shifted her blonde bangs slightly. “Everyone else who didn’t turn likely got bit to death. Or worse, torn apart by those stalkers.
“Great.” Keaton pushed off the wall in annoyance. “My town has been overrun by zombies and monsters ’cause of a fucking water contamination.”
“Polluted water happens more often than you think.”
“Well at least we can avoid the water, and maybe let the authorities know to check that out first.” Alex tried to reassure Keaton, but he didn’t look interested anymore.
Instead, Keaton pulled out his USP pistol, checked to ensure it was loaded, and spoke. “We’re done here.”
They took the hall down and rounded left to where another set of doors awaited them at the far end. Alex stepped into something dark and sticky as they passed by an offshoot hall on the right. It trailed to an ajar elevator adjacent to the open hall. It stuck fast and likely had been for some time as when gazing up to the top, a thick, gray-colored arm stuck out of the slit; blood dropped down from its fingertips. Alex shuddered in place. Getting stuck inside an elevator was one thing, but to be jammed in the shaft itself. He stumbled back a bit, nearly pressing himself against the wall behind. Alex never liked elevators anyway, but now was a perfect reason never to use them. With one final glance, a memory that would forever traumatize him, Alex took off toward his friends down the corridor.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Lyra and Keaton braced either side of the oak wood double doors. They then slowly twisted the knobs and pushed it open. The doors stretched their creaking noise as the hinges turned. So much for stealth. Alex gulped as his companions stepped inside, seemingly unaware of what could be lurking within.
It was his turn next. Alex finally stepped into a long office room. However, this place had been thoroughly trashed, unlike the hall. The lights flickered, showing a few panels hanging from their hinges. There were a bunch of chairs and tables stacked against one another, blocking them off and forcing them to move through the outer edge of the room. Alex glanced to the right, where several thick metal cabinets had also blocked them off. He sighed. This room was practically worthless. At least, though, he spotted another door on the far-right end of the room.
Lyra, however, seemed interested in the place. She cast a sheepish smirk and rounded the cubicles. Alex tried to reach out, but she had no intention of slowing down. When she finally did, she went to the far back, where a still active computer was. Alex cocked a brow. What could she be up to?
He followed behind Keaton as they made their way to her. The makeshift barrier was thankfully U-shaped, giving them more or less a clear space to move through. However, the cubicles were a tad annoying. There were, unfortunately, dead employees resting in a few of them. Alex made note of the one closest to their exit. If it were a zombie, that one would be the most dangerous.
He spotted another couple of corpses huddled up together when he was just within reach. Directly across from the cubicle where Lyra was, Alex dragged his feet along the dark carpet and made his way over there instead. Upon closer inspection, they both shared similar-looking bite marks on their exposed arms. However, Alex’s stomach dropped when he spotted two matching bullet holes in their skulls.
In the male’s hand was a crumbled piece of paper, and though Alex didn’t want to disturb them, an irking feeling in his head told him to grab it anyway. I won’t touch anything else, he thought. Out of respect. Alex then pulled the note from the bloody hands and quietly read it.
October 31st,
Joey’s going down to the sewers. He said there’s a way to reach the outskirts by following the canals. I wanted to join him and his group, but I just couldn’t. Alyssa promised she’d meet me here before dawn. I have to wait patiently, then we’ll both get out of here… together.
Alex sat the paper down, frowning. At least they didn’t die alone. He then lowered his tired eyes. Eric’s face suddenly flashed in his mind; the man’s squared glasses matched well with his happy smile. His strong jawline and facial structure could make a man shake if he were to scowl. He fit the role of a cop, at least. But then, Alex wondered what he would do in this situation. Could he handle all of this? Or would his poker face break as soon as one of those things got back up?
Thank God he didn’t come with me. I don’t think I have it in me to shoot him… Alex shook those feelings away, then stood up and walked over to Lyra.
She’d been messing around with one of the computers, typing away, looking at a couple of recent files. Keaton hovered on the other cubicle next to hers.
“What’re you doing?” Alex asked.
Lyra breathed deeply, not averting her eyes from the screen. Her soft voice remained neutral in tone, too. “I was hoping we could find something about this place. But all of the files are locked behind a password.”
“Can you crack them?”
Lyra glanced back and chuckled. She then turned and shook her head. “No. This isn’t some video game or movie. Anyway, none of these files look interesting enough. I doubt we’ll find anything that’ll clue us in on what happened here.”
Keaton scratched his stubble loud enough to hear. He then said, “What about using it to, like, check the security cameras?”
That was a good idea, though Alex couldn’t recall seeing cameras in the halls. Lyra clicked away at the keys before smirking. She then pushed off the desk with a smug look. “Check this out,” she leaned back in her chair, “I found a layout of the shelter in one of these folders.”
Both men moved closer to the computer, looking intently. The old, dusty screen displayed a simple gray and blue map; their room glowed in green. From what Alex could gather, if they backtracked through that other hall, there should be a second lobby that could take them back outside. Alex hummed as he looked at his companions.
Lyra strutted in the back, her blonde ponytail swaying behind her as she casually did some victory dance in place.
“If we take this pathway…” Keaton trailed off in thought. He pointed at the screen with his middle finger, tracing the path through the winding hallways.
“We can finally exit this shit show!” Lyra said confidently.
Keaton cracked his thick knuckles. “But where should we go after this? You wanna follow the helicopter’s advice and head to the police station?”
“Hell no!” Lyra abruptly yelled. She cleared her throat. “Keaton, Alex, I have an idea—better than anything we’ve got.”
Both men shared a glance before looking back at the now confident woman.
Alex spoke next. “Let’s hear it.”
“Ever since you showed us that map, I’ve been thinking about places people would evacuate to. Obviously, we can’t go through main routes out of the city—they’re all blocked, right?”
Alex and Keaton nodded.
“—And so, if we were to take a lesser-known route, it’d have to be across the river where the population is thinner. I believe there’s an old train station across the Santana River. We can use that and head north toward Coltund. From what I recall, the station’s abandoned, so no one uses it, but the trains still run through. Even if that doesn’t work, we can also just follow the tracks.”
“Colton’s train yard…” Keaton trailed off.
“It just might be our only chance to escape Riverlands,” pleaded Lyra. She quivered her lip and bulged her large hazel eyes.
Alex quickly added. “My roommate is a cop—he’s got friends in Coltund; they could easily help us too.”
Lyra nodded to that. “Keaton?”
The man turned around and took a few steps forward. Seconds felt like hours as they waited patiently for him to say something, anything. But finally, he turned his head with a smile. “Alright then. Your plan it is, Lyra.”
“Yes!” She nearly fell back in her chair from leaning too far.
It was a good plan—a solid escape. But first, they needed to get out of this place. Keaton and Alex both rounded back to the entrance. However, when Alex turned around, he noticed that there should be a blonde-haired woman following them. Instead, Lyra was still on the computer.
Now, what is she doing? Alex waited patiently. He folded his hands on one of the cubicle’s corners and pressed his body against the edge. It seemed as though she was engrossed with whatever was on the screen, and he silently cursed himself for not looking prior.
“Lyra, hurry it up,” Keaton ordered, stressing his deep voice.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” she hollered back.
As soon as she took off toward the opened area of the cubicles, a cacophony of sharp snarls suddenly entered the room. Alex gasped! The double doors burst open, and a cluster of hungry mouths and reaching hands lunged at Lyra. His heart skipped a beat when one of them nearly grabbed her. But she was fast on her feet, back-stepping on a dime. The young woman whipped her ponytail, glancing in either direction. The zombies shambled into the smaller space, cutting her off from reaching him.
“Lyra, watch out!” Alex shouted. If she didn’t, she’d get caught. His trigger finger twitched. How was he going to get her out? There had to be at least ten of those things crowding the space. Shooting won’t take them down in time. Alex clenched his jaw. He knew he had to do something.
“Outta the way! Move!” shouted Lyra, looking back at Alex. She ducked as a zombie lunged for her, then took off in a sprint. She then leaped up onto one of the cubicle desks and dove over. A quick roll and she was back on her feet, her gun locked on the zombies crawling over after her. Alex blinked, shocked that she was surprisingly fit.
“Heh, I was almost a sandwich, huh?” she chuckled.
“No time for jokes!” responded Alex. He fired two shots at the crowd before quickly shutting the doors. Hopefully, those things won’t burst through again. He groaned. Who was he kidding; they never stopped attacking. No wonder everyone died; these things never give anyone a chance to breathe. Suddenly, a freakish shriek bounced off the walls of the long hall, prompting Alex to turn around.
You can’t be serious.
“No rest for the wicked, huh?” Alex chuckled.
“Now look who’s joking.” Lyra smiled in response.
They didn’t waste any more time. The trio sprinted for the side hallway and subjacent door at the end. Alex didn’t want to fight any more of those stalkers, especially when he could still feel its cold claw pressed against his throat.
They didn’t bother with caution as all three of them burst into the next room; Alex, though, did ensure the door was closed behind them. Another large lobby was found, empty like the others before. There were two more doors, one across the lobby and the other adjacent on the right. A row of long windows filled the wall after it. It wasn’t particularly dark, but the low lighting didn’t help; Alex blinked a few times, not realizing he’d been squinting to see as he moved to the other side of the lobby. He quickly checked the door, but it was stuck fast. Alex shook his head at the others.
“I think someone put wire on the other side of this one,” Keaton said, letting go of the handles.
“What do we do now?” Alex asked.
Lyra sauntered over to the opposite side of the lobby, where an air duct rested near the ceiling. Its vent hung loosely from a rusted bolt. But it looked large enough for someone to fit through. Lyra must’ve come to the same conclusion as Alex as she instantly turned toward the tallest in the group.
“Wanna give me a boost up? If it leads somewhere, I might be able to unlock those doors over there.” Lyra jerked her head toward where Alex was.
Keaton holstered his USP. “You sure you can handle it?”
“I’m not a scared little girl.”
Keaton shrugged as he walked over and pushed his back against the wall. He then let Lyra use him as a ladder; he lifted her up with ease, getting her head to peek into the duct. Keaton held his breath, his arms fully flexed. Small veins slowly popped out from his neck.
“See anything?” Keaton voiced through his clenched teeth.
“Not really. Oh, wait! I think this will take me to the other side of the wall.” Lyra adjusted her stance and lifted herself up and into the duct.
“Wait, Lyra!” Alex shouted, raising his hand. “Are you sure you wanna go by your—?”
But she was gone; she slipped through to the other side. Alex chewed his lip and tapped his foot. He couldn’t even tell how far she went. It didn’t help that she was as silent as a mouse.
“Lyra?” Alex whispered.
She didn’t respond.
Alex tapped his foot, glancing at Keaton. His heart rate started to spike as the silence grew. Who knew how long those air ducts were or what was on the other side?
Or what if she got stuck? Alex shook his head. She’d call out to them if she did. But why was she taking so long? They waited for about five minutes; Alex couldn’t take anymore.
“Alex!? Keaton!?” Lyra’s voice finally echoed through the duct. Alex sighed, relieved to know she sounded okay.
“Where are you!?” Alex shouted.
“I don’t really know. I went into the hall, and there was nothing. But I did find this!”
A few seconds later, a ringlet with several keys clattered through the duct before smacking the ground next to Alex’s shoes. He slowly reached down and snatched it.
“Hey, I can’t reach the duct on my own. I’ll go ahead and see if I can find anything else. Remember Alex, radio, okay?”
“Wait, Lyra!” Keaton said, “Lyra!?” He glanced at Alex with a face unreadable.
“Guess we’ll meet her later then.” Alex shrugged and walked toward the locked doors.