by Lucas Coon
Their lighthearted conversation was cut short by the sound of something falling to the floor. They both turned in the direction that the sound came from. Darren raised his weapon to point at where he thought it came from.
"Mitchell, we may not be alone after all." His voice went from the laughing tone of a few moments ago, to a serious tone of nervousness. "Are we good to go?"
"Yeah. I got enough. Let's get out of here." They slowly stepped backwards without turning face from the darkest corner of the room. They both made their guess that, if it was in fact an infected, it would be housing itself in the shadows. They crept as silently as they could towards the door.
As Darren turned to open the door, the monster ran out from beside where Mitchell was standing. The person was a larger male, with red, curly hair. He tackled Mitchell to the ground where they fought to gain control of the situation.
"Darren!" Mitchel was attempting to push the infected man off of him, but was losing to the husk of the host. Darren turned towards the scene and froze. "Dammit, Darren! Help me!" Mitchell grew desperate as he wrestled with the monster. He knew that if Darren didn't shoot him, it was all over. He threw a right hook into the monster's face. This was effective, but ultimately made the situation worse. The monster stared at him directly in the eyes and let out an aggressive screeching noise. Darren lifted the gun in the direction of the struggle.
"Darren! Come on! Shoot him!" The creature opened its mouth directly over Mitchell's face. Mitchell looked eye to eye with the source of this person's violent behavior. He noticed that it started to lift its head and pull off its current host. Mitchell's eyes grew wide, it was preparing to assimilate him as its next host. "Dammit Darren! Now is not the time to choke! Shoot him! If you don't shoot him, then I'm dead!"
As Mitchell finished his exclamation he heard a loud bang and felt the warmth of blood spray across his face. The body that was attempting to hold him down only moments ago was now limp and lifeless. He shoved it off and looked over at Darren. Darren was holding the shotgun steady, with his eyes closed.
"Darren! What the hell?! You closed your eyes? You could've killed me!" Both men were visibly shaken.
"I…. I just….I shot him. I just killed that man." Darren was in complete disbelief of what he had just done. "I had to kill him…."
"Darren, that man was already-" Mitchell's thoughts were cut short by the screech-like roaring that began to pour from the back of the room. It was at this moment that they had both realized that they were in a real bout of danger. Based on the sound, there were several more infected heading in their direction. They both quickly turned and ran out of the room, with the door shutting hard behind them. When they got to the other side, Mitchell realized that he had left the bag of food on the other side of the steel door. He went to turn the handle. It was stuck.
"No! No! Dammit, NO!" He looked in the window and saw the bag of their provisions sitting on the floor near the lifeless body of the infected man that attacked him. He rammed his shoulder against the door to attempt to open it. It didn’t budge. He smacked his forehead against the glass and closed his eyes. He stood there breathing heavily for a few moments and opened his eyes back up. He was greeted with the sight of another infected person staring back at him through the glass. He jumped back in surprise. He kept his eye on the room and counted several more standing back behind the one with its mouth against the glass.
"Darren, we left the bag." Mitchell looked back at the man that was still in shock. "Darren! Snap out of it! You saved my damn life!" He shook him by the shoulder. It looked like he had come back to reality to some extent, but he certainly wasn't all there. "Listen, you seriously just saved my life. If you hadn't shot him, I would've been killed. I either would have become one of them, or just would've been their next meal. Are you there man?" He snapped his fingers in front of Darren's face. "Hey!"
"Oh, Mitchell. Where's the bag?" Darren's turned to him with a concerned look.
"Did you hear nothing I just said? It's in there Darren! With them!" He pointed at the glass and the monsters on the other side. They stood in silence for a few moments. The only sound that echoed was the sound of them exhaling the humid air into the space between each other. "When he tackled me it slipped off my shoulder." Mitchell tried to speak quietly to him, he seemed coherent again and he wanted to make sure he understood what happened.
"Dammit! What are we going to do?" Darren was looking to Mitchell for some sort of guidance. The problem here was that Darren was holding the gun, and thus had the authority in this situation.
"Well, I guess we need to go ahead and go back. You're too shaken to go down to the second floor for the water. We can hold out until later. We have what we got in our pockets, right? That should last through the night and possibly tomorrow. We need to move on though. I would like to go ahead and clean up if you don't mind." Darren glared over in Mitchell's direction.
"Your face is covered in blood." He still wasn't all there. This was probably the most obvious thing he could've mentioned, other than saying something to the effect of 'My name is Darren'.
"Yeah. Come on." Mitchell led him down the stairs and they slowly stepped towards the door on the third floor. Mitchell knocked on the door in three sets of two. After a moment, Kayla opened the door and saw them. She gasped and held back a scream when she saw Mitchell. Darren set his shotgun down on the table near the door, and sat down in the chair facing towards Kayla. She kept her hand over her mouth and her face followed Mitchell as he walked in and shut the door.
"Oh my god, what happened?!" Her eyes were wide enough to speak her inquiry themselves. "Are you guys OK?"
"We're fine. Well, I'm fine at least. Darren's a bit shaken. We were blindsided and he saved me, but not without having to take out one of them." He looked at her, then back at him. "He'll be alright, it's just shock. Give him an hour or two and we'll get back to making more plans."
"Was there any food?" She apparently didn't realize that there was a lack of a duffel bag.
"There was, but it's up there in the room with them. That, and the fact that the door locked behind us, kind of equates to us being out of luck with the fifth floor." Mitchell frowned. "I'm sorry we failed this time. Next time will go better. We got out with enough in our pockets to probably tack on a day or two if we stretch it. However, we don't have any liquid, and he's not capable of going down to get the water yet. Do you guys have anything to drink for now?"
"We'll live. I'm just glad you guys are alright. I heard the shot, but I was hoping that it wasn't you. There are some paper towels in the kitchen cabinet above the sink." She pointed towards the kitchen. Mitchell made his way towards the yellow painted room. He heard Kayla trying to talk Darren back down as he walked away.
He passed the door frame and grabbed the paper towels. He wiped up as much as he could from his face. He looked at the sink to get some water, but decided that this wouldn't be a good idea. He looked around for something else to wet the towels. He opened the freezer and put his hand into the ice tray. He grabbed one of the few ice cubs left in the tray and wrapped it in the paper towel. He squeezed it so it started to melt and wiped his face down. This was more satisfying than he expected. He realized that he hadn't showered for several days. This thought disgusted him, but he pushed it aside, since showering was much lower on his list of priorities. He guessed that it was right above brushing his teeth, and right below washing his hands. At that point, surviving was the number one item on his list of 'to-do'.
He walked out of the kitchen refreshed, and was approached by Darren.
"Hey Mitchell. I wanted to apologize. I could've gotten you killed if I'd choked any more than what I did." Darren couldn't bring himself to look Mitchell in the face.
"It's alright. You saved me. I'm unharmed, you're unharmed, and that’s all I care about. We have plenty of time to try again." Mitchell knew this was a lie, but he said it anyway.
"Yeah. I think we should make do with what we have right now, and tr
y again tomorrow. Are you OK with that?” Darren had a look of complete failure. Mitchell could tell that he was disappointed in himself, even though nothing that happened was really his fault.
"That's fine. If you guys are OK for now, then we can spend the day resting and move on after that. It's been an eventful afternoon already. I'm going to go back to the office and sort a few things out." Mitchell patted Darren on the shoulder to indicate that there were no hard feelings between them. He walked back towards the office and shut the door behind him. He turned and looked at the lock and questioned if he was going to lock it or leave it unlocked again. He decided that there was no longer a threat to his life based on the people out in the cubicle.
He sat in the leather chair and emptied the contents of his pocket onto the top of the desk. He opened the top drawer on the left half of the desk and placed the five candy bars in a line in the front. He moved a few things and noticed a small electronics plug. He examined the end of it and realized that it was the exact size for his phone. It was a fairly standard type of connector, so he wasn't surprised that there was one here. He pulled it out and plugged it into the outlet on the base of the lamp. He put the connector down and pulled up his back pack. He searched the front pocket for his cellphone. He looked at the side to verify that it would fit and inserted the plug. He was ecstatic as the red light turned on to indicate that the phone was charging. He pressed the power button and waited for the phone to boot up as he stared intently at it.
"Come on! Just give me something to hold on to, anything at all!" He waited as the colorful splash screen popped up, then it went to his main screen. He was met with a beautiful picture of his wife. It was a lovely picture. Her smile was wide and her skin was glowing gorgeously. He remembered taking it. After a few moments, nothing happened. A feeling of disappointment began to grow in the pits of his stomach. He set his phone down, and as soon as it was placed on the desk he heard a chime-like noise. He looked at the phone to see what the notification said.
'1 New Voice-mail from; Aria'
Chapter 5 – Kayla's Story
Mitchell stared at the screen nervously. He saw the words, and what they said, but he didn't know if he believed the message they were portraying. The message could've been left anytime in the past few days, but it was still some time after they had last spoken, and it could be an indication as to where she went. He unlocked the phone and opened his voice-mail. He eagerly pressed the phone to his ear and listened. The voice on the other end was angelic to him. The sound was sweeter than anything he had heard in his life. It was something he'd heard a million times before, but no time was as important as this one.
"Mitchell, I don't know why you're not answering but we're not evacuating yet. The military got here and there was a delay because some area nearby had to be quarantined. I'm not getting a lot of information out of the people here, but I think we're going to be leaving soon. I'll call you and tell you where we're going. If I don't call you, it means we're still here, OK? I'll see you soon. I love you!" He played the message back over several times. That was it. No indication of where they were going, just a simple message that stated to go to the hospital if she never called him back. He didn't know if she was still there, but he knew that he needed to get there and try.
He considered where he was in the city. When he first went out, he was headed in the direction of the hospital. He'd spent a lot of time walking, but more running than anything. There was a day of hiding out, then he was able to get to the office. He thought about it for a few moments and came to a final conclusion; he had no idea where he was. He didn't work this far into the city, and he had rarely gone this way, so he never bothered to learn the locations. He remembered going to visit Aria's mother twice before the outbreak, but she drove and he slept most of the way. He regretted that he never bothered to get out this way. Maybe he should have gone with her more than he had. It would've been the right thing to do and he would've been able to get a feel for the details on how to get there or at least the scenery around it.
He put the phone down and thought for a few moments.
'Regardless of what I do, I have to get out there and get supplies for myself, as well as the people that are helping me. I already put Darren in shock, so I owe him. He said they would help me, so maybe we could go together. I wouldn't want to pull them away from here. But if they wanted, I could easily tell the rescue teams that they are staying here. At the same time, it may be too late for that. I haven't seen a vehicle or helicopter for a while now.' He leaned back in the chair. 'I bet Kayla knows a thing or two about this area. I could at least get her assistance in finding where the hospital is.' He decided to keep the phone plugged in and on, just in case she called. He knew she wouldn't, but just in case. He looked back at the phone intently. His mind wandered through a million thoughts a second, or so it seemed. Was she still there? Had she left? Was she alive? Was the hospital hit? He began to feel his breathing intensify to the point of him hyperventilating. He closed his eyes and saw stars on the inside of his eyelids. For a moment everything was peaceful; his mind went blank and he blocked out all the chaos outside of his own head. Within his mind he saw her. He saw her beautiful green eyes. He saw her gorgeous brown hair, flowing in waves behind her neck and partially past her shoulders. He pictured her flawless skin, glowing with the light of the morning sun, and a smile that made him weak at the knees. He could even smell the perfume that she'd put on every morning. It was a subtle sweet fragrance, close to the scent of a fresh strawberry. She always put on a little too much, but he didn't mind. It was the scent that reminded him of her; it was one of the few things the he held on to tightly. For a moment, she was there with him. For the moment nothing that had occurred over the past few days had transpired. None of it was real, for this moment, she was all there was. He felt lighter than air looking at her in his mind. All of existence was black, with her standing in the middle of the only light there was. Maybe the light wasn't actually shining on her, but she was emanating the light. She was the light source inside his head. He felt a wonderful pressure being lifted from his chest as he stared at her. Like there was something holding him down on the ground, but it was suddenly gone. He had a sensation that, if he wanted, he could float towards her and grab her tightly. He could caress her soft skin, and smell her long, wavy hair. He began to float towards her. Every second felt like eternity as he approached her. He got within distance to reach her and extended his arms out in the direction of his 'sweet melody'.
"Hey, Mitchell." He remained with his eyes closed leaning back in the chair. "Mitchell!" He jutted forward and opened his eyes. Darren and Kayla were standing in the doorway. 'Did I doze off?'
"Hey guys, what's going on?" He felt dizzy for some reason, like he had been woken up. He must have dozed off. “Wow, that was weird.”
"You looked dead there for a moment. I don't think you were breathing man." Darren looked at him concerned. He squinted his eyes and shook his head to get a clearer view of them. When he opened his eyes he was able to see them clear as day, and the room stopped spinning.
"Oh man. I must've passed out. I think I'm just dehydrated. I'll be fine. What's going on?" He was feeling alright now. He felt like his feet were off the ground for a couple of moments, but gravity soon regained its hold on his body. He looked around and noticed that nothing had changed in his scenario. He decided that he was, in fact, awake. He shifted his glance back at the couple.
"Well, since I've had time to gather myself, I was thinking that we should head down to see if we can get the water. We need to see if we can get something out of this day, right?" Darren was definitely back down to Earth.
"How, uh, how long has it been?" Mitchell was wondering if he'd lost some time between then and now.
"It's been about an hour. Maybe a little longer. You got back around three, maybe three-thirty. It's about four-thirty now." Kayla chimed in. "Are you feeling OK Mitchell?" Now that she had mentioned it, his vision had returned but he felt like
his blood pressure was lower than it should have been.
"I'll be fine. Thank you Kayla. I agree, we should go get the water. Are you sure you're up for this Darren?" Mitchell tried to shift the focus of 'being OK' back on him.
"I'll be OK. It was just shock. I'll be honest though, if you want to carry the gun on this trip, I won't stop you." Mitchell agreed. Darren may have been claiming he was OK, but he really didn't want to repeat of last time.
"Alright, so this time around, we're just going to go straight down and get water. You said the mini-refrigerators were everywhere correct?" Mitchell looked back at Kayla.
"Yeah, there should be one right as you enter. Since it was a meeting area there aren't any cubicles. When you walk in it actually looks like a hallway. On the wall directly opposite the door, there's a fridge. I'd bet anything it's fully stocked. Rachel, the lady that manned the front desk, was adamant about making sure that they were all stocked, all the time." Kayla smiled. "She was super compulsive about everything. Anyway, it should be right there after you walk in."
"Do you have something to carry the water in?"
"Kayla said that there are a number of fairly sturdy re-usable shopping bags in the kitchen. These should work for what we're gathering." Darren seemed more confident this time around. Unfortunately Mitchell remembered his bout of confidence on their last run, and it almost got them both killed. Mitchell looked nervously at Darren. Was he really ready to go again?
