The hallway was eerily quiet. Not even the wooden boards beneath their feet creaked as they hurried along. The rain outside had lessened; Alex couldn’t hear it pinging against the windows anymore. Thankfully, Jesse’s pitter-patter was enough to keep him sane. He needed to find a way back down somehow; on top of that, keep this precious kid safe from harm’s way.


    Piece of cake. Alex rolled his eyes at his own thoughts. With the seemingly endless monsters that lurked inside this place, Alex knew they’d find trouble eventually. He had bullets and could take one of them down, but without Lyra and Keaton, he’d have to be extra cautious. Jesse seemed content. He held onto Alex’s jeans as they walked, though he had to move a bit faster from time to time.


    They came across two doors, one down the hall and another to his right; Alex took the closest first. He slowly opened his as his heart thumped in his ears. But, before he went inside, he waited and listened. He grazed up against the ajar door and closed his eyes to focus. Aside from his breathing, he heard nothing. Not even Jesse, who also kept quiet.


    It must be safe. Alex opened the door fully and found what looked to be a board meeting room. As the two crept in, Alex flicked his gun from side to side to ensure nothing was there. Thankfully, there was only a corpse in one of the corners, and it looked like it wouldn’t get back up soon. Looking around, he’d found a few tan metal chairs and a large whiteboard plastered on the wall covering a good portion. What was on it wasn’t that useful to his eyes.


    Annual produce growth? Alex narrowed his gaze at one of the sentences. It is thickly bold, likely marked over three times. But other than the written messages, only the toppled chairs and an out-of-place blue tarp told Alex that someone was once here. Everything, though, was left abandoned.


    It was sad yet relieving at the same time. Alex’s shoulders loosened a bit, no longer stressed out. The faded orange light gleaming from the ceiling also put him at ease. He felt safe in this room like nothing could burst in and hurt them. But an unsettling chill ran down his spine. Goosebumps formed on his legs in a light layer. He knew that they couldn’t stay. They had to venture out and find the others. Alex turned and then stopped when Jesse suddenly wasn’t there.


    “Jesse?” he whispered.


    The small child stared at something out of view in the far corner of the room. Alex rushed over, ready to shoot, when—


    “Mister Alex… that’s my daddy.”


    Alex’s face dropped; his heart sank, watching the boy lean down over his father. As he tried to speak, a thick knot formed in his throat. “Jesse, I’m…” But he didn’t know what to say next.


    The boy tugged at his father’s red and black checkered flannel. But his father didn’t budge. Finally, Jesse gave up and placed his hand over his father’s. “Daddy’s not gonna wake up, is he?”


    Jesse glanced back, his face reddened. Teardrops formed in the corners of his eyes, and some had already rolled down his cheeks. Alex clenched his jaw, holding back his own fountain. He silently nodded, confirming what Jesse already knew.


    The kid sniffled before planting a kiss on his father’s cheek. “Goodbye, Daddy. I love you.”


    Alex’s heart hurt. He didn’t know the man, but he knew of sacrifice. He wiped away his tears and headed for the tarp. In the blink of an eye, Alex covered Jesse’s father with it. He then whispered, “I’ll look after him. I promise.”


    As he stood up, the boy rushed over, grabbed his leg, and cried. Alex didn’t move as Jesse continued to bawl his eyes out. It’s one thing to say your parents are dead and another actually to witness it. Alex ran his fingers through Jesse’s hair. “Grieve as long as you want. We’ll go when you’re ready. But I want you to know your dad will always love you. He fought to keep you safe. And I’ll do the same.”


    If he did hear it, he didn’t respond; his cries turned into a mixture of uneven breaths and coughs. In that moment, time didn’t seem to matter. Alex crouched down and hugged Jesse tight, letting him grieve in peace.


    <hr>


    It was likely an hour at most that had passed. Jesse seemed to have run out of tears. There was no longer reason to stay there as the only other door was outside. Alex finally stood up and turned around. “Ready to go, Jesse?” he asked, looking down at the young boy with big brown eyes.


    Jesse nodded, sniffling and wiping his face, and they went back out into the hall, taking the next door. A sense of dread loomed as he checked this room, too. Aside from a few shelves that housed open boxes, it was also empty. The contents were of various things, nothing truly noteworthy to Alex. But for some reason, he felt weird, unnerved about this. At first, he was uncomfortable with everyone leaving this shelter. But now, not even zombies roamed in this part.


    “Alex,” Jesse whispered. He’d already made it to the other side of the door and waited patiently for him. “This door won’t open.” Both his little arms reached up for the knob, and even though he tugged, it was stuck fast.


    Alex gave it a shot next. He twisted the copper door handle slightly but to no avail. Strangely enough, there wasn’t a lock to be seen. Alex then trailed his eye upward and found the problem. There was a shiny gold bolt that secured the door. No wonder why there wasn’t any sign of people in this part of the shelter if this was the only way to get here. Alex coughed slightly, trying not to burst into a laughing fit.


    What door isn’t locked in this hellhole? A sly grin cast on his face. Finally, he twisted the knob and pulled back. Alex stepped through into another long hall, ending in a T-intersection. However, this hall had a grille gate preventing entry to what looked like a break room.


    As he inched his way forward, he heard a disgusting chewing noise from beyond the gate. Alex flexed the muscles in his head, pulling back his ears and cringing. The loud sound of flesh ripping caused Alex’s stomach to roll. He was going to be sick. It was disgusting; each loud tearing caused some kind of liquid to splash on the floor. Not only that, but he could also hear sickly moans of delight with each bite. He knew it was one of them; however, in this instance, Alex wondered if it was more animal than human. Its feeding made him want to vomit. It was as if the thing was starving; it’d likely leave nothing but bone once it was done.


    Then, as he peered through the slits in the gate, he saw it. The zombie was on all fours, head down, viciously ripping flesh out of a dead girl’s upper torso. Her dull blue eyes told him that it was a struggle like she’d been fighting well past the creature tearing out her throat. Droplets of her blood had sprayed against her face and honey-blonde hair. She was nothing more than a memory now.


    His heart sank. How many survivors had succumbed to this? Crying and screaming in pain as those things took the time to rip out chunks of flesh. How many drowned in their blood as their throats got torn? His eyes glance to Jesse; the poor kid could’ve been one of those victims.


    “Mister Alex?” Jesse clung to Alex’s left thigh, gently tugging on his wet jeans.


    “We’re okay,” he whispered back. “Let’s just leave him to his… meal.”


    As they scampered down the open hall, Alex kept a steady hold on Jesse’s smaller hand. With a quick check of his eyes and a flick of his gun, Alex moved toward the left when a familiar ajar door appeared. It was the one he’d used to get down onto the street. He sighed, relieved to have made it back to this. Now, they could finally reunite with the others. Alex let go of Jesse’s hand and instead prompted him to hold onto the adjacent stair railing.


    As soon as he touched the ground floor, Alex instantly flicked his gun forward and then to his right. The zombie he’d previously killed was no longer there. However, directly ahead were two new corpses. Their grayish skin and ripped-out hair made it hard to make out their gender; their clothes weren’t enough to decipher either, as they’d been torn to shreds. But Alex didn’t really care. They were all the same in his book. But he was curious as to where they came from and who killed them.


    Alex waited until his little friend in the little yellow rain boots finished scaling down the stairs. Together, they walked over to the now wide-open double doors. His heartbeat raced in his chest as he paced his speed a bit faster. Lyra promised to meet here, and it looked like she could be nearby.


    “Lyra?” Alex whispered gently. He turned his head from side to side, hoping nothing else heard him. But, unfortunately, there as no response in general. “Damn—hoped she’d be around here?”


    “Who, Alex?” Jesse pipped, looking up with widened eyes.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Alex smiled gleefully. “My friends.”


    “Oh…. I had a friend who always played hide-and-seek, and he was hard to find.”


    “Yeah?”


    “Not even the teachers could find him. One time, the police came to our school but couldn’t find him either,” he chimed.


    Alex raised a brow but kept his suspicions under wraps. “Cops, huh?”


    “Yeah!”


    “You know, I’m friends with a cop.”


    “Really?” Jesse questioned, his mouth left agape.


    Alex nodded.


    “Wow! That’s cool!”


    “I’ll let you meet him; he’s practically a kid himself.”


    Jesse agreed with an excited smile, and they began to move out until a hoarse moan whispered from down the hall and caused thin hairs to stiffen on Alex’s neck. He whipped around, glaring hard at the two awoken zombies shuffling toward them. They must’ve awoken to the noise.


    “Alex!” Jesse yelped. The boy cupped his hands to his chest, his legs shaking.


    But Alex gave a reassuring smile as the two zombies smacked their decayed skulls together, staggering themselves to the floor and wall. The one that fell to the floor flopped around as if it couldn’t figure out how to use its arm. Jesse chuckled.


    “They seem to be busy. Hopefully, they’ll forget about us too.”


    They finally left through the open doors. A large sign with signaling arrows pointing left and right had dried dark blood covering nearly half of it. The word help had been written in the same blood adjacent to that.


    Go left for the commerce section and right for the warehouse. Alex trailed his eyes, taking in both options. There was a strong possibility that Lyra would’ve taken Keaton to get food. The man had to be starving. And although it seemed like a good idea, Alex would rather try for the warehouse instead. He wanted to leave this place as he’d already made an opening.


    And we still have to go to the hospital and find Jesse’s mom.


    He didn’t know how far away that place was or if she was still alive, but he wasn’t getting anywhere by prolonging the time spent here. If anything, his friends were better at taking down the infected monsters in their path; they shouldn’t have an issue catching up. Alex glanced down at Jesse, who’d been struggling to stand still, and then thought about his real priority. I need to keep you safe most of all.


    He took the right path. The most practical solution was to ensure an escape. That way, by the time Lyra and Keaton finally stumbled into that area, he’d be waiting with Jesse and ready to go. It was a solid plan, so long as nothing got in his way.


    So far, so good.


    They’d come across a set of double doors that swiveled on their hinges; a thin piece of dusty glass was embedded into either door. He tried to peer through it, but he couldn’t see much. Alex sighed, slowly pushing the knobless door with the butt of his hand.


    Finally, he cautiously entered a large three-story room. It had to be the warehouse, as it was lined with long and thick metal shelves that held various crates and plastic-wrapped boxes. The aisles were dense, and a few forklifts and other crate carriers were nuzzled together in a few of them. But at least the central aisle was clear of that, aside from a few fallen boxes.


    “Alex! The gate!” Jesse’s voice bounced off the cold walls as he sprinted down the central aisle. He really was fast; despite being nearly half the size of Alex, he reached the end of the room in less than a minute. As Alex nearly caught up, the kid slightly jerked the gate back and forth. He then looked up at Alex and frowned. “It won’t open.”


    Alex clicked his tongue and then glanced around the frame. It looked new, freshly installed, as the silvery frame was spotless. To the right was an odd-looking control lever. Instead of a single bar that stuck out, this one rested flat and was embedded into the wall. From the look of it, he’d pull it downward. And so he did, tugging slightly on the black rubber grip of the handle until it moved. But nothing happened afterward.


    “Hmm,” Alex mumbled.


    He ran his fingers through his brown hair, then trailed the edges of the gate again. Finally, he spotted something useful. A thin black cable ran along the border and down to the floor. He then patted Jesse before following the line to the left until he stumbled upon another set of double doors. The thin black cord pressed onward through the wall.


    He pushed it slightly and aimed his weapon through the slit. Everything was clear, but even as he entered, a thick stench of an acidic tangy smell lingered. It was awful, sour in the grossest way. But he’d smelled this before; it was like burning rubber on a hot day, a stench that would cling to skin and stay even after washing.


    Gunpowder, he thought. It didn’t bother him at first, but this time, it smelled like someone really let off some steam with their gun. The hall opened up to another large and extended room. But this one looked a little different. Alex halted in place, his face drained of color. Jesse slammed into his left leg, but Alex didn’t care.


    “Mister Alex?” Jesse whispered. Alex remained aghast, letting the boy see for himself.


    It was a blood bath. Several zombie corpses had been strung out in various places throughout the open room; there had to be at least twenty of them. And from the way they were spread out, it was challenging to find a pathway through. Alex chewed his lip. Not only that but there was also a giant red shipping container that blocked off the other side altogether. What to do? Alex wondered. They could go back and find a different route. Alex shook his head. There wasn’t another route. The food section will be the same, he thought to himself.


    “Alex, look,” Jesse whispered again. The boy pointed off to the right and then to the left.


    There were a few smaller metal crates stacked haphazardly. They could climb them to get over. Also, off to the left was a worn-down forklift. Alex turned toward Jesse and gave him a silent thumbs-up. It definitely helped to have another pair of eyes watching. But they needed to be careful about this situation. From what Alex could see, the crate option was a no-go. The zombie bodies that surrounded them looked too closely compacted. They realistically only had one way to go, and though Alex didn’t like that option, he didn’t see much of a choice. They had to head toward the forklift.


    One wrong move, and we’ll wake up the whole family, he thought.


    The dark red pools the zombie lay in told him they’d been shot down. Their skin all shared that sickly gray, though nearly half didn’t share the natural zombie bite. Maybe Lyra was right; the water could’ve initially spread the infection.


    This at least explains the smell. The others could be up ahead.


    “Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Alex whispered. He bent down closer to Jesse’s ear. “You follow me to a T. Whatever move I make—you make. If I stop, then you stop. And if they wake up—you run. Okay?”


    Jesse nodded.


    It was time to move. Alex led the way and carefully maneuvered around the dead zombies. He also made sure to walk by the ones whose mouths were not near their ankles. Surprisingly enough, Jesse stayed quiet. In fact, it was almost as if he wasn’t there. Alex glanced back, his breath stuck in his throat. But the boy was right behind him, hopping in every space Alex had previously touched. He sighed in relief and continued. The pathway he started would lead them to the forklift; from the look of the shipping container, Alex would only have enough height to send Jesse up.


    Another zombie corpse rested against the forklift’s rear. Its face fell forward, and its bangs covered the rest. Alex hesitated in moving close to it. These things did not play fair; he couldn’t tell if it was dead or pretending. And the fact that they don’t breathe, as far as Alex could see, also didn’t help. The last thing he wanted was to get close to the waiting one and have it jump out at him. If I shoot or scream, I’ll wake the others. He bit his lip, thinking about what to do.


    The only option that came to mind was to send Jesse up first. With the boy out of the way, Alex could rush the forklift and jump it before the zombie did anything. Simple enough, he hoped. Once Alex reached the large steel crates, he turned and pressed his back to them and waited for Jesse. It didn’t take long for the boy to reach his side. Jesse breathed quietly through his small mouth; his face was adorably flushed pink.


    “Alright. I’m gonna lift you up there.” Alex flicked his head. “And you can wait until I get up there with you.


    “Okay,” said Jesse. He shuffled in front of the shipping container and looked up.


    “Ready?” asked Alex as he placed his hands around the kid’s thin torso.


    “Yeah!” Jesse squealed as he jumped up.


    Alex flinched back but raised the kid as high as he could. “Up you go.”


    The boy easily reached the edge of the container and, with a little help, lifted himself. With him out of harm’s way, Alex knew what would come next; he needed to use the forklift for a boost. Alex took a deep breath. He had to move fast—that thing could wake up anytime. He quickly holstered his gun and then rubbed his dirty hands together. He then took minimal breaths, slowing his heart rate down. Alex loosened his muscles and joints, limber enough to escape any grasp.


    Once he was ready, Alex slowly crept up to the forklift without making a sound. So far, so good, he thought as he raised his left foot. There was next to no wiggle room; the dead zombie took up most of the space. He’d have to lift his leg over it to get a foothold. Then he could jump up to Jesse. Alex took a deep breath. Alright, here we go.


    He pressed his foot against the forklift, and in a swift motion, Alex jumped up and grabbed onto the crate’s edge. He gritted his teeth. Climbing up was harder than he thought; his thin arms would definitely be sore in the morning. But Alex needed to do this now. If he fell back down to try again, he’d only be more tired on the next attempt. Alex scrunched his face and crinkled his eyes. His hands burned, turning pale white while trying to hold him up. Alex then adjusted his footing, pushing off the rough metal, and finally hauled himself up. Alex panted, exhausted and out of shape. His arms tightened, pulsating slightly, but he did it. Great, now they could—


    THUMP!


    Alex’s eyes widened as he glanced down; the rest of his body remained still. The zombie from before had fallen over. Though it didn’t move anymore, that alone was enough to unnerve him. He stayed perfectly still, holding his breath, and waited for anything else to happen. But nothing did. Even as Jesse jogged up to him, Alex refused to budge. He waited at least a few minutes, making sure everything was clear.


    Finally, Alex sighed as he stood. That could’ve ended badly. If they all woke up...


    “What’s wrong?” Jesse asked. His big brown eyes stared blankly at Alex’s deep forest green.


    “Nothing,” Alex said. “I’m just glad none of those things got up.”


    “But aren’t we safe up here?”


    “Yeah, but there’s a lot of those things down there—they could pile up and get to us. It wouldn’t be pretty.”


    Jesse glanced down at them, then stepped away from the edge.


    “Besides,” Alex added, “we need to come back through here. If they wake up, let’s hope it’s after we leave. Right?”


    “Right.”


    The other side had another shipping container, though this one was smaller. They’d have to climb back up again, but Alex wasn’t worried about that side. He held Jesse’s hand as they carefully made their way back down. Thankfully, this area didn’t have any zombies.


    “Let’s go,” Alex whispered.


    “Okay.”