《Violet Strain》


 Prologue

    ¡°Cold. It¡¯s so Cold.¡±


    The Pale captive pleaded inside her glass dome.


    Outside, warm bodies in lab coats walked past dutifully completing their task. Some would peer through the glass, mark some things on their tablets, then continue on.


    ¡°Why am I here? I want to leave. Please, I want to leave.¡± She pleads again. Louder this time, but her cries do not penetrate the glass.


    She extends a pale hand that ends in blackened claws and presses that hand against the cold glass. Veins coiling underneath her skin glow a pale almost ethereal violet.


    This was not her body, but one that she was given. One that she stole.


    She has been living in this body for a while, feasting on its memories until the body¡¯s mind becomes her own. That was how she learned about herself, why she was born, and why she hates humans.


    A faded placard marked the glass cage. Patient 0. She hates that name. She hates being deemed a failure before she even had the chance to be told what she can do to improve. Most of all, she hates being pushed aside.


    Patient 0 can feel the others. Others like her that share her DNA. She can see them as brilliant sparks of violet that lay dormant in the other subjects housed in adjacent glass cells.


    They call to her, ¡°Mother. I want to go home. I don¡¯t like it here.¡±


    ¡°I know. I don¡¯t either. I will find us a way, and I will find answers.¡± Patient 0 calls to them, but not with her words.


    Since she awoke and gained consciousness, she had since been able to speak to the others, her children, without having to alert the suspicion of her captives.


    The glass door opens and two researchers followed by armed guards step into the cage. A command is spoken through earpieces in the displeased voice of the man that is suspected to be their leader, ¡°Dispose of it then do the same with the others. I have no use for bad products.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The armed man replied.


    One of the researchers hesitates. He stumbles then cautions to them all, ¡°Should we really do this? All that work. All that we did, is this what it amounts to?¡±


    ¡°You heard Dr. Vocanov. This batch of The Culmen Antecessoris DNA is bad product. Now move, before¡­.¡±


    The man¡¯s words were cut short, as a clawed hand had pierced through his chest from behind. The claws held in its grasp his heart, still beating and gushing blood in all directions in its final attempts to send the viscous life fluid to what vital organs still needed it but to no avail. The hands retract through the hole in the chest and the body slumps to the ground.


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    ¡°You will do no such thing. I will protect us.¡± A raspy voice croaks.


    Patient 0 stands among a puddle of blood and black liquid that has begun leaking from her body in copious amounts. Too stunned to act, the armed guards and researchers watched as it ingested the fresh heart piece by piece till the entire heart was devoured. She doubled over, twitching as her body began to convulse. Cracks snake along her skin and tear open her scapula from behind. Rather than decomposing, the frail weaknesses of this stolen body shape and mend to correct what had been brittle. Long wings, gnarled, unfurled, and incomplete, draped in an almost transparent veil of muscle and bone erect from her back and spread the length of the dome until the entire room was cast in a blood red shade under the fluorescent lights. In a mere agonizing minute, her body changed from the form of a sickly and frail woman to a morbid symbol of beauty and cruelty.


    The force of the wings emerging sent black fluid all over the glass dome and all over the group in front of her. In seconds, glowing, tumor-like violet growths grew from wherever the fluid touched. Starting off as small bulbs, they swelled in size and cast a sinister glow within the darkening box. Those that were covered, watched in horror as those same growths spawned on them too.


    The bulbs ate through the fabric of their clothes and even their armor until they burrowed deep into the skin, then the muscles, all the way down to the bones. Their screams rang louder than even the alarms that rose in response to the sudden attack.


    The men screamed and howled in pain until their bodies cracked, broke, and changed. New appendages broke skin and flailed, the violet growths burrowed deeper into the body until their victims fell lifeless in pools of blood. Then they too rose again, but not as living men anymore. The bodies, stolen by the new DNA filled tumor, formed up with Patient 0 who strode across the dome to the now open door with her new children in tow.


    Researchers that had witnessed what happened screamed and ran only to be chased by the men whose bodies had been stolen. The massacre that ensued left dead and mutilated bodies scattered all the way to the doors leading to the upper floors of the lab. Blood splattered in all directions with the limbs that they gushed from as things were sliced off of people and cruel blades made of bone skewered the living. The creatures themselves roared and screeched, feasting on the living and the dead they murdered while Patient 0 walked quietly from cell to cell. One by one, she cut the captives with her claws and watched as the spores swelled until their bodies too broke and the violet sparks erupted into a vibrant soul that only she could see. She did this until not a single human was left alive.


    All but one.


    A gravely injured researcher crawls along the top of the dead bodies in her attempt to reach the stairs. Something had cleaved her leg from thigh to calf, leaving nothing but torn skin falling off the bone in useless, immovable slabs of skin and muscle that was slowly being burrowed into by violet spores.


    Patient 0 waltzed near soundlessly across the pathway of corpses until stopping at the woman¡¯s side carrying the smell of fresh blood with her. She pressed a foot down heel first into the back of her neck and listened to the dying woman choking back blood filling her throat and the scream that was trying to follow.


    ¡°Why?¡± The woman wheezes, ¡°Why couldn¡¯t you just die? All of you.¡±


    Patient 0 cocks her head curiously then leans in and questions, ¡°Is it wrong, for a mother to want to see her children thrive?¡±


    ¡°We birthed the devil, and let it loose. Desdemalta is doomed.¡± The woman cries. Patient 0 increases the pressure of her foot against the researcher¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Desdemalta.¡± Patient 0 states, rolling the name across her tongue before continuing, ¡°I see, if other humans will speak to me and my children the way you all have here, then I have my answer. I will create a home for us where there isn¡¯t one, even if I have to build it on top of what is left of this Desdemalta we live in. It is a shame, however, you will not live to see it.¡±


    She wraps her wings around herself like a shroud until all that can be seen is her mouth dripping with saliva and blackened blood dripping from her fangs and lips and strands of long white hair that streams her face like a veil. She drops low with her mouthful of sharp teeth bared in a sadistic and famished smile.


    The researcher watches the bloodied face approach slowly with eyes blanked by her encroaching demise, then the sickening pain of flesh and meat tearing from her body ring like alarm bells through every part of her body that was alive enough to still feel. Blood spurts in all directions from the new open bite wounds gouged through vital arteries left by Patient 0 making a feast of her while she is still alive. Eventually, the bleeding and shock becomes too much and she dies before Patient 0 has had her fill of her tender flesh and organs.


    She stands to her full height again. A petite burp leaves her mouth as she wipes flesh bits and bone crumbs from her lips. Her children chitter and snap behind her, eager to see the sun to what will soon be their new playground.


    Patient 0 speaks to them through her mind, ¡°You may refer to me as Mother, my sweet children. Today, I will carve a beautiful home for us.¡± She leads them across the bridge of fresh carrion to the doors leading out of the basement lab and into the world above unknowingly waiting to be met with a hungering wrath colored violet.

 Chapter 1: Karina

    The heat of a warm summer¡¯s day bore down on the city of Molina. The bustle of the city combined with the screeching of cars fighting through busy traffic is enough noise to cut through the heavy air that has clouded over the city. The only refuge from the sun the city had to offer other than the shaded storefronts and trees were the tall buildings that stood tall above like towering trees of steel and concrete.


    Numerous circular silver automata hummed through the air on battery powered propellers and around anything that had crossed in their path. Some of them maneuvered from park to park, feeding the flower beds scattered across the city, while others were delivering mail and small packages to businesses or the residential areas of Molina. Being the more technologically savvy of the major cities in Desdemalta, the little Silver helpers were just as much as citizens as any warm blooded person walking the streets.


    Among the people of the city square, soldiers marched on patrol alongside larger Steel Automata. Their glistening silver shells shone in the light as their heavy footsteps shook the ground below them. The loaded automatic machine guns attached to each arm let off a slight clinking sound with each stomp. The heavy footfalls caused the metal rounds to bounce off their metallic chassis but at this moment they were just for show and not for combat. This is because Desdemalta was at a time of peace, so their guns showed no signs of use. That was how the soldiers wanted it kept that way.  Desdemalta had just recently been through a long and bloody war that they had no intention of even fighting in to begin with. Due to the allegiances they had, the Desdemaltan government had no choice but to offer aid and troops to quell the crisis that their neighbors faced. For the worn out and exhausted soldiers, this peace and quiet was a blessing once thought a foreign dream.


    Of the citizens walking Molina¡¯s streets, one of them was moving with purpose down a busy sidewalk to her destination. Her black High heeled boots made light taps on the ground as her slender, petite frame maneuvered around the many bodies that covered the sidewalk. Her Auburn brown hair was tied into one long braid that flowed down her back and ended at her lower back. Her pale skin and dark green eyes would make you think she was a ghost but her pink lips and reddening of her shoulder and chest, visible by the low cut white blouse she wore, gave her skin the essence of life that showed she was indeed alive. She carried a large folder that she clung to in her right hand that stayed locked to the side of her black leather business pants. The gold buttons caught slivers of light and shone as she walked by any mirrors or windows. Her black corset hugged her frame nicely and matched the type of leather of her pants. A name badge hung from her neck and bounced off her chest when she walked, the name on it read Karina Sizmarik, Chief Virologist at Zamuni University. Normally Karina would stop and smell the fresh coffee or sample sweets from the nearby bakery, but today she had a mission to accomplish.


    By day she worked as a Chief Virologist in a city named Zamuni on the other side of Desdemalta. Until one day her mother went missing, and she had begun hearing rumors of a certain scientific community known as The Vocanov Collective ¡°recruiting¡± for an unspecified scientific study. Upon further digging, and many whispered interviews behind closed doors, she began to understand why her informants were so terrified to give her information. Of the unethical experiments they run, none who they recruit are ever seen again. Fearing her mother may have been one that was abducted, she took a short leave from her own research and began to follow the collective wherever they had been spotted. The trail grows cold here in Molina, and Karina was able to make contact with another who may be able to shine a light on this mystery.


    The agreed meeting spot was a small family owned coffee shop on the other side of town. Karina had to walk from the hotel she was staying at to the train station and take a very long ride all the way to the end of the line where the train stopped service in the industrial complex of Molina. The pretty, bright colors of commercial buildings bled into the stiff grays and the heavy smell of smoke, a sign that she was in the right area. Even in this less populated area, the sidewalks were still packed with workers going to and from their jobs. She walked a few minutes down and around until she reached a four way intersection that led back to central Molina. On the right corner of this intersection sat the coffee shop, a small four corner building with a red roof and a neon sign that read ¡°Obi¡¯s coffee¡± on the front of the building.


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    Entering the shop, Karina looked around for the informant. ¡°She must not be here yet. Then I guess I should get comfortable.¡± She mumbled to herself.


    For the most part the cafe was empty save for the service automata working the front desk and few men who had finished their shift and were now unwinding with coffee and conversation. A television set overhead played the local news station as they discussed the post war relief efforts for refugees and peace treaty terms. The volume was turned down to a low roar meant simply to drown out the silence. She sat at a booth near one of the big windows and ordered a large cup of the strongest coffee they had.


    After a few minutes a lanky woman in a long brown pencil skirt, gray button up shirt, and a straw hat came to Karina¡¯s table and took a seat. She looked around in every direction as if making sure she¡¯s not being watched before she interrogated in a hushed almost whisper, ¡°Are you Karina?¡±


    Karina answered, ¡°I am. And you are Ms. Kyrie I assume?¡±


    Kyrie did another frantic scan of her surroundings then answered Karina¡¯s question, ¡°I am. And I brought the information that we talked about over the phone. It was hard to sneak the notes away from my husband so I can¡¯t let you keep them. But by all means you can copy whatever you need.¡±


    Karina smiled, ¡°Thank you. If the things I hear about The Vocanov Collective are true then you are very brave to bring this to me.¡±


    Kyrie¡¯s eyes drop. She picks at the skin of her fingers and whispers, ¡°The things I hear that they do there, it haunts my dreams sometimes. They need to be stopped.¡±


    Kyrie slides the file in her hands across the table towards Karina who opens it and begins studying the frantically scribbled notes and dated photographs. What she notices about them is that the dates do not match up with her other findings. Some have dates on them and events that she had never heard of being done by The Vocanov Collective. Anybody that¡¯s looked into them as much as Karina has, and with as much intuition as she has, can tell that these are fakes.


    Karina Interrogates, ¡°Kyrie, where did you get these?¡± her usually bright and open doe eyes narrow like a snake when they zero in on their prey.


    Kyrie stutters, ¡°From my husband.¡±


    Karina taps a finger on the manilla folder and states, ¡°These are fabricated. The dates are all wrong and many of these events are made up. The photos don¡¯t even match the descriptions of what I''m supposed to be seeing. Do you take me for a fool?¡±


    As she presses her interrogation further, Karina hears an audible click under the table. The sound of a handgun¡¯s safety being turned off.


    Across the table, Kyrie trembles and begins to sweat as she speaks, ¡°You dug too deep. The Vocanov Collective is aware that you¡¯re looking for them. Now I have to shoot you or get killed myself. That''s my punishment for helping you.¡±


    Karina sits back in her chair, calm on the outside but painfully angry on the inside. However, strong emotional outbursts will not see her out of this situation alive. She had expected an outcome like this and now it was time to find a way out.


    She started to reason with Kyrie in a soothing tone to counter her already frantic state of mind, ¡°I still stand by what I said about you being brave. I understand this is what you have to do. So, if you plan to take me somewhere to get this done then best to make it quick.¡±


    Kyrie collects her folder and takes Karina¡¯s containing a compilation of evidence she¡¯s already collected. Then she hides her handgun behind her purse to obscure it from any bystander¡¯s vision and waves it at Karina motioning for her to start walking to the door. Karina takes the chance to leave money on the table for her coffee and the two of them leave the shop back out into the summer heat.


    Kyrie orders, ¡°We ride the train to the docks, I kill you, and get my freedom. That''s the deal.¡±


    Karina remains silent. She¡¯s clearly made up her mind on how this interaction will go. But just like how Kyrie needs to do what¡¯s best for her, so will Karina. So she waits and goes along with this attempt at her life, waiting for her chance to strike.

 Chapter 2: Caelin

    The Seraph¡¯s Grace Hospital was usually always busy. Not because people were dropping like flies in Molina but because it doubled as a healthcare facility and as a place of learning. As one of the leading hospitals in Desdemalta on cancer research and pathology, they hold a high reputation as a standard for how a hospital should carry themselves. Their revolving doors and brightly lit lobby see patients, scholars, and students alike all coming and going. The luxurious hospital hosts a wide variety of specialists more than capable of delivering whatever care patients need. Some even travel all the way across the country just to come here and be seen for their problems. One of these specialists has found a home within the hospital¡¯s Surgical clinic. There he removes himself from the grandeurs of reputation and found peace in the simplicity of just being able to focus on patient care.


    In a room down the hall, a door opens and a tall man of dark complexion comes walking out removing his bloody gloves and depositing them in a nearby biohazard trash can. He sports a stocky frame and a bright smile on his face after having just removed a tumor from a child¡¯s stomach. The man adjusted his circular framed glasses and realigned the maroon and gold headscarf around his head. His black locs that usually would be hanging at his shoulders are being held out of his face, the thick black spaghetti strands now sit comfortably wrapped up in soft cloth. As he then removes his bloody gown a Nurse¡¯s voice calls to him from down the hallway, ¡°Dr. Frost!¡±


    The surgeon, Dr. Caelin Frost, looks up and answers, ¡°Ah, Betty. What can I help you with?¡±


    The nurse, Betty, catches up with Caelin, ¡°How did the surgery go?¡± She inquires, a curious shine in her eyes.


    Caelin responds, ¡°Great actually. I was just going to tell mom and dad to treat their daughter to ice cream when she wakes up, doctor¡¯s orders.¡± He chuckles at his own joke. ¡°But I get the feeling there¡¯s something else you need.¡±


    Betty nods, ¡°It¡¯s the director. He wants to speak with you.¡±


    Caelin pouts and grumbles, ¡°I don¡¯t think I did anything wrong. Well, I did eat a candy bar and didn¡¯t share. Maybe he¡¯s mad about that.¡±


    Betty sighs, ¡°I doubt that, but you shouldn¡¯t keep him waiting.¡±


    Caelin adjust his shirt, heads to the main section of the hospital, and up a few flights of stairs until he reaches the big red doors in the middle of the hall that leads to his bosses office. When Caelin steps in he¡¯s met with a number of trophies and degrees plastered on the walls in glass cases. A slender wood table sitting on top of red carpeting makes its home in the middle of the room where the director is sitting at the end closest to the large window that floods the room with sunlight. His gray hairs catching the light of the sun and framing his already stressed out face.


    He looks up from the tablet he was reading and exclaims, ¡°Caelin, good to see you. Close the door for me.¡±


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    Caelin does so and asks, ¡°What can I do for you, Director Devonde?¡±


    The Director motioned for Caelin to take a seat before he responded, ¡°Have you thought of my offer?¡±


    Caelin leans forward then says with a kind of apologetic smile, ¡°I have and again I have to decline. I understand you want to see me take higher responsibilities in this hospital but I like where I¡¯m at. I have my team and I love my patients. Besides, if I leave I think Betty would have a meltdown.¡±


    Director Devonde lets out a deep and exhausted sigh. He¡¯d been trying to get Caelin to advance to the higher ranks where he belongs but can¡¯t understand for the life of him why he would rather stay working with the poor and less fortunate. Such beginner level work was beneath a man with his skill set. So he¡¯s been trying to convince Caelin to leave it all behind. Caelin, being as stubborn as he is, has refused to budge no matter what Devonde tries to offer. Helping those that truly needed it instead of doing good just for the sake of looking good for the cameras and news articles was not his style. It was one of the many things about Seraph¡¯s Grace that he loathed deeply.


    Then Caelin asked, ¡°Director. Be honest. If the cameras and public reputation went away, would you still trust the doctors here to give their best level of care?¡±


    The Director was silent.


    Caelin continued, ¡°That''s why I stay where I''m at. It''s where I''m needed, not where i¡¯m wanted to be seen. It keeps me humble. Now if there¡¯s nothing else, I have an old lady with rashes to treat, and she brought cookies. I can ask Betty to bring you some when she has the chance.¡±


    Caelin left the office and returned to his home base in General Surgery and Family practice. As annoyed as he was about Director Devonde¡¯s constant badgering, he knew that the near endless pushes were coming from a genuine place of concern that he had for him. Nonetheless, it didn¡¯t make the whole thing any less annoying. As he walked in, the floor was in an uproar. Nurses, student volunteers, and fellow doctors scrambled gathering supplies. They seemed to be more in a panic than usual. Caelin weaved through the flustered masses until he was able to find one of the nurses assigned to his team for the day.


    Caelin asked her, ¡°What happened?¡±


    The nurse replied, ¡°A patient in a lab coat came falling in here covered in strange violet bubbles all over his skin and yelling about how hell is coming to Molina. Nobody has any clue what these growths are but it¡¯s spreading all over the hospital now. Departments are running out of beds for the sick. One of the doctors cut into one of the bubbles and it leaked this weird black liquid then glowing spores floated out. Soon after, people started collapsing and growing the same violet pustules.¡± She then rummaged through a box near her and pulled out a gas mask and told him, ¡°Here, wear these. The other doctors think that whatever¡¯s going on is airborne. But also be careful touching anything on them.¡±


    Then Caelin asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Betty?¡±


    The nurse looked down to the ground with a grave look and replied, ¡°Betty caught this weird disease too. She¡¯s in bed 4.¡±


    Fast as lightning, Caelin had donned surgical gloves and a gown and was on his way to bed 4. Betty laid in her bed groaning in pain. Violet pus bubbles grew out of her skin as if they exploded out suddenly, breaking the skin and damaging any nearby muscle and bone in their emergence. Fragments of warped, sharp bone jutted out from the skin next to the Violet masses and looked like they were writhing. The black liquid that was mentioned earlier was all Over the table and the floor. It coated the surfaces in jet black liquid and wafted the smell of ammonia in the air.


    Caelin approached slowly, the nurse was right. No one has ever seen something like this.


    The nurse he was speaking to joined him at his side and informed, ¡°This isn¡¯t some kind of sickness. The bodies of the sick are mutating, changing rapidly. Like their entire anatomy is being forcibly changed. Some call it a curse but most of us are calling them Malignant Violitomas, for the violet coloring and the way they grow out of the skin.


    Caelin snapped out of his shock and focused himself on what¡¯s in front of him. Cutting the tumors off would only spread the infection or kill the host and Antihistamines were out of the question at this point. At this point in time, Caelin was at a loss. This was beyond his skills as a healer. This was more of a job for a Virologist to tell him what he¡¯s supposed to do about this.


    But Betty would have to wait.


    Screams suddenly began reverberating through the department as histeria broke the already tense air. The screams grew from panicking to blood curdling as another screech added to the chaos, a scream that Caelin was sure was more creature than human.

 Chapter 3: Alexandre

    Heavy fist collided in a dimly lit alleyway of Molina¡¯s most notorious slum, the Iron Trenches. The almost hidden society carved into the darkest corners of Molina was no less alive than the city above it. Obscured by its rough public reputation, the town stands more of as a lawless frontier with its own set of rules and regulations that allowed it to function without imploding in on itself.


    The heavy fist blows continued for a couple more swings before ending. The man on the receiving end was left gasping for air as blood trickled down his broken nose. His left eye was swollen shut and his right fared no better.


    He pleaded through bloodied teeth and a swollen jaw, ¡°C¡¯mon Alexandre, just tell Centipede to give me one more month!¡±


    The burly man giving the beatdown stood up to his full height. His knuckles were bruised and dripped with blood that was not his own. He moved the long ginger braid out of his face and wiped the stray blood droplets from his equally colored beard. His sky blue eyes glared down at his victim as he caught his breath.


    The man, Alexandre¡¯s, chest heaved as he informed, ¡°Not my call mate. Centipede gave you three months to deliver and instead you tried to leave town with his money. That was a bad move. Now I have to be here beating the hell outta you instead of being home with my wife. So imagine how pissed off I am.¡±


    The man scooted back on his behind, using his hands to pull him backwards so that he could create some distance from his tormentor. Still he begged, ¡°I get it man, Okay? Look, I¡¯d rather be anywhere but here too.¡± He frantically dug in his pockets and pulled out a small stack of bills rubber banded together and held it out to Alexandre who took the cash and began counting it. Then The man stammered, ¡°It¡¯s all there. I¡ª-I was being greedy and it got me caught, just please let me go.¡±


    Alexandre finished counting the stack and put it in his pocket under the leather scabbard that held one of his most prized possessions, a silver bladed cutlass that has been passed down the DeMar family for generations. Then he said to the man, ¡°Again, not my call. But I can try to put in a good word if you come with me alive.¡±


    The man¡¯s face turned pale and he broke out in a cold sweat, ¡°Alive? The Centipede will skin me alive!¡±


    Alexandre shrugged, ¡°Your choice.¡± As he turned his back and began to walk away.


    Whether it had been out of rage or desperation, the defeated man grabbed a nearby broken piece of glass and charged with a yell at Alexandre from his blind spot. His life was over, and he knew that. But neither The Centipede or Alexandre would have his life so easily.


    Alexandre heard the man coming and dodged the incoming stab, then launched his elbow straight into the man¡¯s already broken nose. The man recoils from the hit. His eyes roll up into his head and his body goes limp. He falls to the ground with the same momentum he was using to stab Alexandre in the back.


    Alexandre turned around and shook his head disappointedly then complained, ¡°Amateur. Now I have to carry him to the club.¡±


    He heaved the unconscious man over one shoulder and set out on his way through the streets of The Iron Trenches to The Pig Pen where his boss, The Infamous Centipede, was waiting for Alexandre to return with his prey in hand.


    Alexandre carried the admittingly heavy man down the road. Carrying your drunk friend home was a normal occurrence in The Trenches so nobody batted an eye or even questioned what Alexandre was up to. Besides, he had a reputation that many in town knew about. Getting in his personal business would be ill advised so it made doin his job much easier when Alexandre knew he wouldn¡¯t be bothered.


    As he walked while whistling a tune to himself, a young kid no older than 12 was running by. His arms and tattered shirt were filled with fresh fruit and any loose snacks that could be easily grabbed with fast enough hands. The kid was clearly homeless. Alexandre could tell by his tattered clothes and outwardly not so clean appearance. It reminded him of himself when he was young, living off the streets for scraps and just trying to make it to the next day.


    His empathy would be put to the test when the kid ran by and a large round man came running around the corner yelling, ¡°Stop thief!¡± His one metal prosthetic leg furiously tapped the ground and the silver backpack-like device shook and groaned. Sparks flew from some of the jointed arms at the base that connected them to the battery. Each Spindly robotic arm that was attached to it shook as the man hobbled as fast as he could after the boy that had ransacked his produce when he wasn¡¯t looking. He stopped out of breath in front of Alexandre then looked up at the tall, burly man carrying a body with his reddened face drenched in sweat. Alexandre was already annoyed and his face showed it, but it didn¡¯t stop the shop owner from asking, ¡°You there! Have you seen a young boy run through here with fruit in his hands? This is the third time that little shit has hit my stand!¡±


    Alexandre snorted, ¡°Sounds like you need a new security system, or you need to keep a better eye on your property mate.¡±


    Angrily the shop owner snapped, ¡°If I wanted your advice I''d have asked for it. Now did you see the kid or not?¡±


    Alexandre shrugged, he never planned on snitching the kid out in the first place but now that the man was being rude that made him even less inclined to help him.


    He said, ¡°I think he went that way.¡± and pointed in the opposite direction the boy ran.


    The shopkeeper took his word and off he ran again.


    Alexandre looked back to the alley to see the boy watching him. Alexandre gave the boy a thumbs up then went about his business while the young child disappeared once again into the darkness with his meal in tow.


    Back in the alley, the poor child with his fruit in tow returned home to the makeshift shack he and his parents lived in. He placed the fruit on the table and was met with the sad eyes of his mother, his father was there next to her helping clean. She spoke calmly but stern, ¡°Matty, Thank you. I¡¯m so sorry you had to do this. Stealing is wrong, but survival is necessary.¡± The mother began to shed a tear but the boy wiped it away and said, ¡°Its okay mom, we have to eat. Plus a mean looking man helped me get away.¡± As Matty finished talking he turned to walk away and headed back outside with a book in his hand.


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    While the boy sat in his little chair in the shade, something out the corner of his eye caught his attention.


    A Pale figure clung to the wall above him. Its sharp teeth bared as a pungent black liquid leaked from the corner of its mouth. Its body was covered in Violet tumors that illuminated the dark corners of the alley. It smiled wickedly before crawling down like a spider and curved its back until it was face to face with the boy. Matty slowly tried to inch away but before he could sprint, the pale figure dragged him to the darkness with a scream. It tore into his skin with glee, leaving festering gashes on his back tinged with violet before releasing Matty to run back into his home while it disappeared back into the darkness.


    His mother and father met him at the door to see their son bloodied and scarred.


    His mother yelled, ¡°Matty! What animal did this to to you?¡±


    Matty answered, ¡°I don¡¯t kn¡ª¡°.


    He didn¡¯t have the chance to finish before he began to cough violently until blood began to clog his throat and spill out all over the floor and his new book. Black lines pulsed against his skin as the affliction began to take hold and invade his body. Blood gushed from his eyes until they drowned in blood and rolled into the back of his head and his skin cracked like an egg until it tore. Blood at first then black liquid drenched the floor and walls and from those tears exposed muscles ripped and warped. Long tendrils spilled out from fresh wounds over the floor and developed barbed edges dripping a violet poison. With one last wail Matty faded away, and what was left was a monster, and IT was starving.


    His mother and father were frozen with fear at the sight of what their boy had become. They heard the noises and came rushing to their son¡¯s aid but were not ready for what they now faced as a new creature stood in front of them.


    The mother tried to backpedal and run away while still facing her son. She screamed as razor sharp tendril whizzed through the air and stabbed through her eye.


    Terrified, the father also tried to run. Another tendril aimed at his achilles tendon slashed his ankles until the bones showed. The Afflicted that was once his son now stood over him. It¡¯s Tendrils flailing in the air. It threw the corpse of the mother to the hround as its throat let guttural words spill from its throat, ¡°M¡­Mo¡­Mommy?¡± The father let out one final scream as the sound of a passing train drowned out the sounds of the creature feasting on its very first meal, Matty¡¯s loving and unfortunate parents.


    Back out in the streets, Alexandre arrived at his destination. He walked down the street before reaching an intersection that splits off in three ways. Right in the middle of the three roads sat a rusty old building that has withstood the test of time and a few arson attempts from some less than happy customers in the past. On top of the building were makeshift, and probably illegally acquired, military grade batteries that normally were used to power war machines and Automata. Unlike the shiny ones up top, these were locally modded using spare parts and many rolls of duct tape. Sturdy metal poles held a heavy cloth over the building giving it shade while the dim lights of lightbulbs illuminated the inside. In large letters that look like they were crafted with scrap metal read, ¡°The PigPen¡± and were welded onto the front of the building. On the outside of the building patrons hung out while a team of rusted silver automatons roamed around cleaning and doing maintenance work.


    Alexandre walked in and was Instantly hit with a wave of the smell of Alcohol and sweat. Live performers played smooth jazz on brass instruments and acoustic guitars on the stage in front of the bar for the few drunkards that had been already drinking since the early morning, or out collecting loans like Alexandre. Behind the bar was a platinum blonde woman with heavy black eyeliner and black lipstick. She was covered from the neck down in tattoos scattered all over her body, but the one that dominated the most free real estate was an ornate tattoo of a Centipede that started on her lower back, wrapped around to her abdomen, and traveled upward to her chest, only stopping at the base of her neck as if it was driving its mandibles into her neck. Her eyes, One a navy blue and the other a clear synthetic green, followed Alexandre as he came walking up to the bar counter.


    She approached Alexandre and asked, ¡°Centipede?¡±


    Alexandre replies by dropping the body on the bar table, ¡°I have a delivery for him.¡±


    The woman sucks her teeth then makes her way past a curtain that leads to the back room behind the bar. Two voices are heard, hers and a man¡¯s voice. The man¡¯s voice has a gurgle and a wheeze to it, similar to those that are heavy smokers and developed some kind of lung cancer. The voices stop and the woman comes back and says, ¡°He said come to the back, and he wanted me to tell you this word for word.¡± She gently coughed to clear her voice then began imitating his guttural voice, ¡°Stop saying my name so fucking loud, I could hear you above the moans of my hookers.¡±


    Alexandre laughs and says, ¡°Yeah that''s him alright. Thanks Maeve.¡± He makes his way to the back of the house to complete his delivery.


    Behind the curtain, sheets of lavender cover the room. Lavender cloth rope their way across the ceiling and around wires like a velvet spider¡¯s web, some hang low from the ceiling and land lazily on the ground. The entire room smells of flowers and cigar smoke. On the Wide oval shaped bed the blankets and bed sheets are also colored lavender, the nude hourglass figures of multiple women make imprints under the blankets. Some sleep and the two closest to the man in the center of the bed caress his hair and chest, giggling and speaking sweet nothings into his ear to keep his money and free booze flowing into their pockets. They continue their traveling hands even as Alexandre walks in.


    From the middle of the blanket to women on the bed, a husky but somewhat muscular man ordered his bed mates to move away. He was a short haired man with an eye patch over his left eye. His right eye drooped and was rounded with a light brown color. He had the same centipede tattoo as the bartender outside snaking its way around his large body. An annoyed twitch in his eyebrow began and gradually got more evident as Alexandre and his shit eating grin walked closer to the bed.


    The Centipede spoke loudly with the same foreign accent that Alexandre speaks with, ¡°Alexandre! I hear you brought me a gift.¡± He takes a big puff of his cigar.


    Alexandre drops the body of the debtor on the ground who groans in pain and sets the stack of money he retrieved that was owed by the same man on the edge of the bed, ¡°More like a pain in the ass. Poor bastard was trying to skip town.¡±


    The Centipede stares for a minute before taking another puff then snaps his fingers as two men enter the room and drag the man off behind the lavender curtains, a third grabs the money on the bed and begins depositing it in a hidden safe in a separate room. Then he looks back at Alexandre and says, ¡°Well done, we¡¯ve been trying to get that bastard for weeks. I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re paid a little extra for your troubles.¡±


    Alexandre smiles, ¡°Wonderful, with the extra I think I¡¯ll take your sister out for a nice date.¡±


    The Centipede lowered his cigar and laughed, ¡°I still don¡¯t know what she sees in you. But I¡¯ve never been one to judge my sister¡¯s choices. Anyone else I wouldn¡¯t trust but we¡¯ve known each other for how long?¡±


    Alexandre groans, ¡°Too long. Don¡¯t you leave that bed? I can only imagine what the sheets smell like.¡±


    The Centipede chokes on cigar smoke, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about my sheets.¡±


    As they bicker like children, a short blonde haired woman comes walking through the same entrance that Alexandre entered through. Her slim frame stands out from the rest of the room as her blue eyes light up when she sees Alexandre. She quickly walks to him and stands to stare up at him saying, ¡°There you are. You didn¡¯t give me a kiss before leaving the house this morning.¡±


    Alexandre smiles weakly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry love I was in a rush. These men don¡¯t turn themselves in, unfortunately, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be able to pay the mortgage.


    The woman pouts then kisses Alexandre on the cheek, ¡°You made your wife leave the house to hunt you down you know.¡±


    The Centipede groans, ¡°Leilani, what did I tell you about coming here?¡±


    Leilani waves a hand dismissively at the man in the bed, ¡°Stick to your whores, little brother.¡± Then she hands Alexandre a bulging envelope. ¡°The lovely bartender had me bring you your payment. I do hope one day you¡¯ll leave this work behind. You know I worry.¡±


    Alexandre sighs, ¡°I would if a certain loan shark would stop sending me all over the city.¡±


    The Centipede takes a big drag of his cigar, ¡°Tell you what, one more job and I cut you loose. A man of your talents is hard to come by, Alexandre. It¡¯d be a shame to lose my best collector.¡±


    Alexandre replies, ¡°You mean Thug.¡±


    The Centipede snorts, ¡°There¡¯s a difference?¡±


    Suddenly, from in front of the bar, an uproar has begun filling the air. The usually calming jazz music had abruptly stopped and the sounds of people clamoring to the front of the building were becoming louder by the minute. Alexandre and The Centipede looked at one another as screams pierced the air. Even the women in the bed who were lazily enjoying their time sat up in unison on edge. Leilani clutched to Alexandre who tensed up at hearing the commotion. Dread filled the air as every sense in his body were raising alarms that something apocalyptic was happening, and he would end up in the middle of it the first thing he steps out of these lavender curtains.

 Chapter 4: Shara

    Straighten up. Dress like a lady. Sit like you¡¯re from a noble family. That is not lady like. These things and more are what Shara has heard since as far as she can remember. Even now as she sits in the backseat of her father¡¯s expensive limousine, she could feel the judgmental eyes of her mother stabbing knives in her chest from the front seat.


    Her father, Kyber Fend, was the owner of Fend Pharmaceuticals. A successful business that only got richer after poaching and consuming any company smaller than it. Then to make the infamy list longer, her father dabbled in the chemical arms trade during the war. Supplying to both sides was a risk he was willing to put his entire family at risk for if it meant lining his pockets with a few extra dollars. Now that the war is over it¡¯s back to nefarious business as usual. He has meetings on top of meetings and has forced Shara to go to each and every one. This specific meeting they¡¯re going to is a check in on an investment Kyber made to a scientific community known as The Vocanov Collective. He found an interest in their latest project and has been funding them with whatever they need. Their leader, Paetyr Vocanov, recently contacted Kyber with news of a breakthrough in their research and invited him to their laboratory so that he could bear witness to his latest work.


    Her mother, Yasmina, was the company¡¯s treasurer and accountant. So Shara can only imagine she¡¯s just as money hungry as her husband. On top of keeping the family money in order, Yasmina is also charged with turning Shara into someone suitable to take the Pharmaceutical throne. A role she never wanted in the first place. Everything she did that wasn¡¯t in line with acting like a snob was met with a lecture and harsh criticism meant to tear her down bit by bit.


    Her father demanded her from the front seat, ¡°Sit up Shara, and fix your face.¡±


    Shara rolled her eyes like any defiant rebel in their early 20s would, moving strands of her wavy black hair out of her face and tossing the rest to the side of her head that wasn¡¯t currently resting against the car window. The warm sun felt good on her naturally coffee brown skin. She wished she could be out in it taking a computer apart instead of in this car wallowing in misery.


    Yasmina chimed in, ¡°Now if only we could have gotten you to dress like a lady for once. This meeting is important to this company.¡±


    Shara preferred her own style rather than pretending to dress like someone she wasn¡¯t. She wore a worn, heavy dark green jacket with a blood red lining on the inside. The Dark green portion was made of a Parka material while the red portion was made of soft fleece. The hood was the same color as the lining and the dark green parts were covered in different patches, the biggest one being the patch on her left shoulder, it was the symbol of her brother''s unit. That symbol being of a three headed Crow. It was a gift from Irvin that he sent her while he was overseas and it became one of her most prized possessions. It was worn over a simple black tank top that fit her curved, slender form. For her pants she wore form fitting dark jean shorts over sheer tights and lightweight flat shoes.


    She whispered under her breath, ¡°I see why Irvin went to war instead of staying in this family.¡±


    Irvin Fend, her older brother, chose the path of a soldier rather than the path of a businessman. It infuriated her father so much that he practically disowned him, leaving Shara to have to take the full force of her parent¡¯s pressure in grooming the next CEO of Fend Pharma.


    The limousine drove in awkward silence for another 10 minutes before it suddenly stopped. Traffic had jammed up the street and people were running from the other direction like something terrifying was driving them away in droves. With nowhere left to go, the driver and the two armed guards stepped out of the car to investigate the cause of the stall. Kyber and Yasmina stepped out with them, their faces already very telling of their growing impatience. Shara was the last to exit. There was an uneasy feeling in her chest that made her keep her distance, it didn¡¯t take long before soon she learned why that weight sat on her chest.


    Two of the armed security men shoved past screaming and frightened civilians, their attention was turned for only a moment before the next they looked they were confronted by a scene of horror. In the middle of a busy intersection, blood and a thick black liquid splattered all over the abandoned cars, windows, and in the middle of the street. Bodies of the dead were strewn and thrown so haphazardly that you¡¯d have thought a bomb went off and sent their blood chunks scattered everywhere. Body parts that looked as if they had been ripped off, or chewed off, lay mutilated amongst the fresh cadavers. One of the guards nearly slipped in a large puddle of blood that was currently leaking from a small mound of dead that were still twitching their last as their souls left their bodies. For another guard, the chewed remains of a large intestine ended up wrapped around his foot, making him gag. Strange violet bubble-like clumps could be seen growing within the Black liquid and steadily rising in size as they anchor themselves on any open space they could find


    one of them whimpered, ¡°Oh dear God.¡±


    They could tell it was no bomb that caused so much death, for in the middle of the street and among all this gore, there were humanoid like creatures chewing on the remains. Some of them had pinned a woman to a corner and were delighting themselves in her screams as they stabbed at her with razor sharp appendages of bone jutting from their mutilated skin. They carved her piece by piece before devouring whatever their pointed fangs could sink their teeth into.


    The creatures themselves looked like they were once human. But their bodies were all but destroyed. Some of them had lost most of their skin as extra muscle, tendon, and bone overgrown broke through their bodies. The same violet tumors that were now invading the nearby surfaces also grew all over their bodies too, pulsing and writhing as they fed on their host. The extra limbs were twisted and gnarled as some of their arms had grown extra appendages or ruined their bodies so badly that their exposed innards were twisted out of place to make way for layers of cartilage that formed something like natural armor. These bone plates grew from the inside of their bodies, mainly the chest and spinal areas, and wrapped around. Their still beating hearts laid exposed for all the world to see as this sickness forcibly hijacked their anatomy. While some walked on two legs like the humans they used to be, clicking their sharpened teeth as they chewed on the flesh of the dead, others of them walked on all fours. Their spines had been broken by their changes and long spindly tendrils grew from between new, mutilated muscles going down their backs. Each bone and sinew made ended with razor sharp points that rattled and leaked a thick black liquid.


    It wasn¡¯t until they finally noticed the three guards and the Fend family behind them that they began moving again, letting off ear splitting screams and charging head first at their new prey.


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    One of the guards yelled, ¡°Shit! Shoot them!¡± as they all began unloading rounds of their handguns at the monsters. The bullets bounced off their bony armor or pierced muscle but could not dig deep enough to stop their advances.


    One of the Infected closed the distance on a guard and with a swing of its heavy, bladed bone appendage, sliced the man clean in two. Blood sprayed into the air like a fountain as the man¡¯s halves of his body drifted apart and crumpled to the ground with a sickening and heavy squelch. The other two guards fired until they ran out of ammo but by then it was too late. They were mobbed by the rest of the infected who carved away at them with their razor sharp hunting limbs, adding their fresh blood and screams to the street of the dead.


    Kyber looked at Yasmina one final time, before pushing her into the oncoming pack and pulling out a handgun of his own. Yasmina screamed to the sky as the pack covered her vision in blood and darkness. One of them drove its claws into her eyes while the rest stabbed her repeatedly to flay her insides open for all to see.


    Shara gasped and shivered as she watched her mother die right in front of her. Her father stared blankly as Yasmina¡¯s screams grew faint. Then his eyes set on Shara who broke out in a sprint away, but Kyber moved faster and caught her arm before she could get a safe distance away from him.


    In his madness he declared, ¡°One of us has to survive to continue our legacy and with God as my witness it will be me.¡± It wasn¡¯t long until after his short monologue, a creature materialized from behind him as if it was born from shadows and stabbed through his chest. The claws pierced clean through Kyber and allowed Shara a chance to escape his dying grip. As she ran, she felt a sharp pain hit her leg that made her fall face first into the ground. She reached back and could feel a large and very sharp projectile stabbed into the back of her thigh, one of those creatures must have thrown it when she was running.


    She yelped in pain, ¡°Fuck. This hurts, but I can¡¯t stay here. I need to keep running.¡± She could hear the infected closing the distance as they attacked others who were too slow to escape and she knew that lying there in the middle of the street would not help her chances of survival. She rolled over on her side and reached back to feel for the bone-made knife that had pierced her. She found it and with one strong pull ripped it out, sending blood and blackened liquid oozing from the wound. It throbbed painfully but that was something she would have to address when she found safety.


    She said to herself, ¡°C¡¯mon Shara. Pretend you¡¯re running from one of mom¡¯s lectures again.¡± and forced herself up using a nearby blood drenched car to steady herself. The pain in her leg was becoming unbearable as it traveled up her leg to her burning chest. She limped her way to a dark alleyway and crumpled there behind a trash can.


    Through gritted teeth she muttered, ¡°Damnit, Damnit, Damnit! What did Irvin tell me about wound wrapping again?¡± She took her jacket off and checked her pockets for anything she could use and found a roll of bandages Irvin had told her to hang on to and practice with. The roll was enough to wrap around her thigh but by now the pain was so bad that she was starting to see spots in her vision. By the time she finished wrapping herself up, the pain had peaked and she fell over. Black cracks traveled along her body and the wild pain of skin ripping on her back left her floored. Her tank top became soaked in blood as exposed muscle grew from spots behind her shoulders, on top of her wing muscles, and down her lower back.


    She did all she could to keep from screaming so that she didn¡¯t alert the monsters that were still lurking in the area. Shara grabbed a piece of metal nearby and bit hard into it until her guns bled. Her entire body clenched from the burning of every muscle contracting. She curled up in a ball from the pain and burning sensations that left her paralyzed for what felt like a century until her vision darkened and she allowed what felt like death to take her with a bitter sob.


    When she came to, she was laying in a dried puddle of what she could assume was her own blood. She felt weak, fatigued, and hungry. Instinct took over for her as she dragged her finger through a pool of blood near her left by a mutilated corpse and began licking the blood off her fingers. The blood on her tongue tasted sweet like honey, and it sickened her to her core. But her hunger spoke louder than her morals as she repeated this a couple more times until her hunger began to subside. Weakly she sat up and felt along her back under her top. Her fingers were met with surfaces that did not feel like skin. They were smooth, striated, and squishy but also solid. They felt like a very solid balloon filled with sand. But it didn¡¯t hurt to the touch like she thought they would. She removed her bloodied tanktop and angled herself in front of a cracked mirror. What startled her too was the tinge of violet glowing faintly within her olive green pupils.


    She fell back, retreating from her reflection in the mirror and screamed, ¡°What the hell happened to me!?¡±


    Then she thought of her parents and their faces as they were killed by those¡­things. No matter how hard she tried to cry for them, not a single tear fell.


    She said to herself, ¡°Maybe I am a monster. Most normal people cry for their dead parents, but why am I¡­.relieved?¡±


    She looked down at her bloodied hands then back up as the hairs on her neck stood up, she didn¡¯t quite understand but she could feel a message in her brain telling her one of those things was close by and heading her way. She looked up, following the new sense that was screaming at her, and found the source of her new sense standing down the alley. Its bloodied, distorted, violet tinged eyes darted and its split bloodied face twitched then let out a menacing screech. Its bones snapped and creaked as it walked forward on all fours, dragging a heavy blade grown of its own Bones behind it.


    Shara picked up the metal pole she had bit into earlier and prepared for a fight. In her fear, Shara yelled ¡°STOP!¡± with her eyes locked into the creature¡¯s own. When it got close it suddenly froze when their eyes met. Its body shook as it fought to take control of its body back. Shara could feel another tingly feeling in her brain while it sat frozen in front of her.


    She put on her jacket then asked herself, ¡°Did I do this?¡±


    She moved closer to the creature. Her vision held a violet glow along the outside of her vision and rippled the longer she stared at the creature. Just as she stepped out its way, the violet glow disappeared and the creature finished its lunge straight into the wall. It shook and twisted its upper body a full 180 degrees to stare at her before going to attack again.


    Shara said to herself, ¡°Here goes nothing.¡±


    They locked eyes again as it went to swing at her with its hunting appendage but was once again stopped in its tracks. The violet glow returned to her pupils and her outer vision, thus confirming her suspicions. She inched forward as her nose began to bleed. She had no time to waste. She clutched the metal pole tight and ran for her life back out into the streets.


    Unfrozen, the infected chased behind her. Shara broke free into the street just as the creature was stalking towards her. It jumped on top of her but she used the pole to stop its fangs from biting her. Its split face opened down the middle exposing a skinned face and a mouth housing rows of pin needle like teeth that all bared themselves at her in its frustration. She kicked at its body until a knee connected to its stomach and hit it right in its exposed liver. It fell back in pain as Shara began to crawl backwards. The Infected rallied for another attack but was pelted with bullets before it could ready itself for another attack. The bullet storm pierced its exposed body and left it gasping for air in a puddle of blood in the middle of the street. Whatever muscle wasn¡¯t strong or developed enough to stay attached to its body was blown off by the bullets and sent sliding across the asphalt.


    Shara staggered to stand up as two of the soldiers walked over to the dying creature, flipped it over, and one of the men used their knife to pry open its chest to stab its heart. Blood and black liquid pooled under their boots as they grabbed their weapons again and waited for further orders from their captain.


    A lean, slightly tan skinned man with messy disheveled brown hair approached her. His sullen tan eyes pierced her soul like a hawk yet carried a sort of gentleness behind them. A slight stubble grew on his chin and his military uniform was covered in blood. He came walking down with an assault rifle in hand, the barrel still breathing smoke after fighting his way up the street. The closer he got the more visible the slight bags under his eyes were, his scowl made them no better. following him was a shorter, chestnut brown haired woman with a rounded face who was checking for survivors. Her face got more distressed the more dead bodies she flipped over.


    The hawk eyed soldier walked over to Shara and extended a hand to her then asked, ¡°Are you hurt?¡±


    Shara whimpered, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m scared.¡± Her body and senses were overwhelmed after everything that¡¯s been going on. Fear and exhaustion gripped her throat and those few words were all she could get out.


    The man replied as his face softened to a reassuring smile, a big change from the menacing glare he sported when he first walked up. He said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. Me too. Then let¡¯s make sense of this madness together. My name is Rowan Servis.¡±

 Chapter 5: Rowan

    The sound of glass cups clinking together and men laughing filled a local bar that was always filled with off duty, and sometimes on duty, soldiers looking to unwind or burn some energy. With Molina being a usually quiet city and the war now over, men and women of the armed forces were celebrating the new found peace and their survival.


    Desdemalta entered the war at a severe disadvantage. Outnumbered and outgunned, they weren¡¯t as equipped for long-term combat like their neighboring countries who were also battling invaders on all fronts. But despite the many struggles and casualties, Desdemalta won most of the battles they had engaged in. The many battles weighed heavy on everyone, so it was only fair that they be allowed to let off some steam after four years straight of constant warfare.


    While others partied and were getting drunk, one soldier was sitting alone at a table near the window. His gaze was fixed on the military base in the distance where he and his team called home and the glass of whiskey in his hand remained for the most part untouched. Instead he lit a cigarette and spent his time swirling the smoke around his fingers as they danced to every motion he made. Then a hand slammed down in front of him, breaking his long gaze.


    ¡°Rowan! You¡¯ll never make friends hiding in a corner like this.¡± The voice shrieked.


    The man, Rowan, coughed in surprise. The sudden slam made him almost swallow the cigarette he was puffing on. He fought to regain his breath before looking back up with an angry frown and questioned, ¡°The hell was that for Millie?¡±


    Millie stood up and crossed her arms, grinning ear to ear, ¡°To get you to smile a bit. For a man that¡¯s happy to be alive, you sure don¡¯t look like it.¡± She grabbed a chair and sat across from Rowan. ¡°Brick and Reuben are already drunk, we might have to carry them out again.¡±


    Rowan groaned and he chugged his whiskey. She was right. This was a celebration and he was killing the mood. Normally he¡¯d be all about completing his missions, but in these circumstances there was nothing wrong with taking it easy for once. Especially after everything he and his team had been through. Their specialty was zone control. That meant diving into enemy territory and taking it from them by force. Millie was their medic, the rest of them were breach specialists. Machines in uniform that killed men without mercy. Just thinking about those that he killed made his replacement mechanical right leg shake and the parts where metal met skin ache. It was always Millie that reminded them that they¡¯re human and they are allowed to feel. Now that the war¡¯s over, it was about time for Rowan to be a human again.


    He finally stood himself up to join his teammates in their celebration, until he felt someone throw themselves on his back and throw an arm over his shoulder. Rowan smelled a subtle hint of Hibiscus and knew who it was.


    The person, a woman, rested her head on his left shoulder with her arm draped over his right. Her long, curly black hair hung down her back and shoulders in a thick ponytail that not even her hair ties could contain. Her almond colored eyes fluttered to move her long eyelashes and then drifted over to Rowan as she gave him a soft and warm smile. A small amount of sweat was traveling down her Golden brown skin and her eyes that usually always carry a seductive look were now set on his scowl. Her plump lips puckered as she poked his cheek and began mocking Rowan, ¡°Why the long face? You¡¯re the only person I know that can be angry at a party.¡±


    Rowan scowled, ¡°Haunani, good to see you survived too.¡±


    Haunani laughed and gave a mock salute like she¡¯s imitating a general, ¡°That¡¯s Captain Haunani Rosario to you. I¡¯m just kidding, Titles mean nothing today. I¡¯m happy to see you and your team made it out alive too. Did you keep that good luck charm I gave you?¡±


    Rowan fished in his pocket and pulled out a little wooden charm carved in the shape of a small wolf that she made for him before they were deployed then said, ¡°I never leave home without it.¡±


    Haunani smiled back then became lost in a conversation with Millie. Haunani and her team were members of a company of snipers within the army¡¯s Black Ops units. They specialized in convoy protection and scouting from afar, so many times on missions she was there watching his back. Even if she wasn¡¯t on the front lines, there was no mistaking she was there by how deadly accurate her sniping was.


    Rowan was honestly happy to see her, to see they all survived how terrible that war was. Then radios all over the bar began to buzz to life. Every captain or anyone that had their personal radios tuned to the channel specific to Molina¡¯s military base looked to each other in unison as the static began and voices came through the speakers. Screams and the sounds of gunshots firing in the background was all that they heard, followed by inhuman screeching. After a couple minutes, a man spoke into the radio. His voice was out of breath and he grunted in between breaths as if something had injured him. ¡°Attention, any soldiers still alive in Molina. This is Commander Durst. Something¡­.not human¡­..is attacking and killing people all across the city. They¡¯ve made it to the base, even the automatons are acting up. They¡¯re all covered in these violet pus bubbles, and¡­.¡± His voice trails off as the screeches are drowned out by metallic whirring and sickening squelching. An audible loud screech of metal being warped can be heard in the background. All that Durst could get out was, ¡°Oh my God.¡± before machine gun fire rang out and the radios went silent.


    The bar slips into a dead silence. Before, they were partying so loud that they drowned out the outside world. But now that they¡¯ve been made aware of the world again, off in the distance toward the direction of the center of Molina, they could hear the screams of people losing their lives and the ungodly screeches of creatures that may have once been human but not anymore. That''s when the world fell apart, and they all felt it. Many were unsure if what was happening was real. ¡°This has to be a joke.¡± and ¡°This has to be some kind of nightmare. We must have been drinking too much.¡± were thoughts that parroted off one pair of lips to another. Others, the ones who had refrained from drinking themselves silly, knew very well that this was no dream. This was real life, trapped in a living nightmare.


    Men and women began to scream and panic. They questioned what protocols are in place to tell them how to handle this situation. Not even the higher ranking officers in the bar could muster a good enough response to give people some direction.


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    Haunani and Millie were frozen in place, processing what they just heard. They both looked to Rowan hoping that he would have some kind of wisdom that¡¯ll make sense of what they just heard.


    Millie¡¯s entire body shuddered violently while she tried to make sense of what just happened and the panic erupting around her, ¡°We just heard people die. I thought i¡¯d be used to this but¡­..this feels different. Like something none of us are ready for.¡±


    Haunani just shook her head then whipped around to Rowan and asked, ¡°What the hell was that, Rowan?¡±


    Rowan was still trying to figure it out himself. Regardless of the situation, the real problem was the small army in front of him that was scared out of their minds and disorganized. Molina would surely succumb to whatever is happening without its protectors level headed enough to do their jobs.


    Rowan walked past Haunani and Millie and called out, ¡°Hey! Everyone please listen to me!¡± The call fell on deaf ears for the panicked masses. Rowan knew he would need to go to more drastic measures. He grabbed his rifle from the wall and climbed up on the bar, then shot two rounds through the ceiling. The crowd went quiet as they all were now looking up to Rowan. The light of the setting sun draping over him like a cloak through the fresh new holes he shot through the roof. Now he had their attention.


    With the room silent, Rowan let his rifle hang at his side in one hand and addressed the soldiers in front of him, ¡°Now that I have your attention. Most of you know who I am, for those that don¡¯t, my name is Rowan Servis. Many of you I¡¯ve served with since boot camp, many more have seen me on the battlefield. I understand we just barely came home from war with our lives. I heard the same radio transmission you all did, and now we hear it in the streets. There are people that need us out there and they can¡¯t save themselves. I don¡¯t know about you all, but come hell or high water i¡¯m going out there. Are you?¡±


    Rowan jumps down from the bar and walks amongst the crowd. Their faces begin to turn from fear to determination as they clutch their weapons with white knuckles. He continues, ¡°I will not set aside your feelings. You¡¯re tired, You¡¯re scared. So am I. So, pack your fear in bullets and load them into your rifles. I¡¯m heading out there to save as many as I can. Those that want to join me, feel free.¡±


    The soldiers have now erupted from panic to pure determination as they all begin spilling out into the streets behind Rowan who starts giving orders, ¡°Two teams head west and set up a safe zone, Three teams cover ground in the North part of Molina and do the same, I¡¯ll take my team West, the rest go south. Haunani, your team head East and scout that section of the city. We need to know what''s happening here. Everyone keep your radios on and send reports every few minutes of what you see. Keep each other informed about everything that you¡¯re seeing out there.¡±


    Haunani and the three soldiers behind her all grab their rifles and begin heading off to the Eastern portion of Molina. She looks back and grabs Rowan''s shoulder then says, ¡°Not the leader type my ass.¡±


    Rowan responds, ¡°Don¡¯t die out there. Radio me if anything happens, I mean it.¡±


    Haunani gives him a wide grin and waves as she runs off while giving orders to her people for them to keep their eyes open for any routes to higher ground and to keep their radios on.


    Rowan looks over to Millie, Brick, and Reuben who are awaiting their orders. He walks over to them and exclaims, ¡°We go west. Scope out the scene, search for survivors, and set up a safezone. Then we go from there. Move out.¡±


    ***


    By the time Rowan and his team made it near the Western portion of the city, it was already a blood bath. Bodies of the dead were piled up one after the other and fresh blood stained any open road or surface. Sharp pieces of bone like projectiles protruded from walls, surfaces, and people they were impaled to. The stench of decomposition and death under the summer sun was almost unbearable. They moved cautiously, walking over pools of blood and black liquid that had a strange hint of a violet glow. Across the street, a blood drenched baby carriage rolled in their direction. None of them dared to open it. With the amount of blood it was covered in, it was safe to assume no signs of life would be found there. Rowan couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. Millie had to forcibly shake her fear aside and immediately began checking for survivors. Rowan, Brick, and Reuben made a protective circle around her wherever she decided to stop. So far, there were no living bodies among the mounds of the dead that littered the streets.


    Brick looked around then said, ¡°May God have mercy on our souls.¡±


    Rowan called back, ¡°Good to see you boys sobered up. We¡¯re gonna need you in your right minds for this one.¡±


    As Millie went to check another body. One of the dead bodies began to writhe and spew a black liquid out of its mouth. Its skin tore and peeled and violet spores broke through from underneath. The skin fell away and ripped like a child opening their christmas present. Bones cracked, the body flipped over backwards and new plates of bones grew from its skin. Its chest cavity tore open as all its innards were laid bare and a gnarled bony like cage grew over its now exposed organs. Its neck turned a whole 180 degrees and it walked backwards on hands and feet with its chest and stomach arched high in the air. It screeches a feral scream, signaling more like it to rise from among the dead and attack the team of soldiers.


    One of them went straight for Millie but Rowan used the butt of his gun to knock it away and put his body between Millie and this creature before him. Brick and Reuben were spraying shots at the others but the monsters shrugged their bullets off. Most of the bullets hit the bony growths that were protecting their most valuable parts and fell to the street. The creature that attacked Millie opened its mouth and its tongue coiled out like a snake before launching at Rowan. He narrowly dodged the attack as the tongue, which he now noticed had a sharp end to it, whizzed past and struck the light pole next to him. Rowan used that split second chance to fire rounds at the squishier parts he could see. The bullets tore into its mouth and any smooth muscle not protected by cartilage armor. One of its arms flew off in a fountain of blood as it screeched and fell over. Brick and Rueben did the same, aiming for the more vital parts or chipping away at the bony cage until the internal organs were showing. One of the creatures tried to back attack Brick but Rueben shoulder charged it to the ground and delivered a tactical knife straight into its heart. The heart beat its last as the thing bled out in a blackened puddle and died.


    Reuben yelled out, ¡°Captain! Their hearts! Break their bones and aim at their hearts.¡±


    Rowan did exactly that. He walked over to the one he shot earlier and stepped on its head to keep it still. Then he fired three rounds into its chest, two to break its cage and one to pierce the heart. With the creatures dead they all reconvened to discuss.


    Brick yelled, ¡°What the fuck was that?¡±


    Rowan replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know. But we have to keep moving. If they heard the shots then more will be coming soon.¡±


    They continued down the road a bit until they heard the sound of a struggle. Trash cans falling down and someone grunting as if they were in a fight. The team quickened their pace until they saw someone fall from the nearby alleyway with one of those monsters on top of her. The girl kicked it away and was ready for another attack. Before it even had the chance, Rowan signaled Brick and Reuben who charged the creature. Brick shot it down from a distance, blowing its soft parts off and sending them splattered in the streets while Brick pinned it down, pried its chest open, and stabbed its heart.


    Rowan and Millie caught up. Millie was still checking for survivors while Rowan approached the terrified and blood covered girl. She didn¡¯t look any older than 23 and her big Olive green eyes were beginning to well up with tears. The tinge of violet coloring in her pupils held a faint glow as she stared into his eyes. He dropped down to one knee and asked, ¡°Are you hurt?¡±


    She answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m scared.¡±


    Rowan looked at her and smiled. Given what¡¯s going on, she had every right to be. Hell, they all did. He wanted to reassure her, show her that he¡¯s here to get her through this. He responded, ¡°It¡¯s okay. Me too. Then let¡¯s make sense of this madness together. My name is Rowan Servis.¡±


    She wiped her tears then straightened her back and gave a weak smile back, ¡°Hi Rowan, my name is Shara Fend. You don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on right now either, do you?¡±


    Rowan helped her up then said, ¡°I wish. For now, let¡¯s make a safe spot for folks to take a break. Stay close to us, okay?¡±


    Shara nodded then lifted her pole up in defense and replied, ¡°Where you go, I follow.¡±


    The five of them continued on down the hellish street, checking for survivors among the dead and inviting anyone still living to come along. Rowan was unsure where somewhere ¡°safe¡± could be in a situation like this, but for the growing number of people that were looking to him for guidance, he had no choice but to find something, and fast.

 Chapter 6: Haunani

    What started off as a quiet summer day became hell on earth for the people of Molina in the span of a few hours. The setting sun took its light with it, allowing darkness to descend on the land. Haunani was still having a hard time understanding what it was that she was seeing as she and her team were approaching the slums of Molina on the East side of the city. Soldiers scattered all over Molina were busy rescuing civilians and setting up safe zones for those that are still alive. Whatever this thing was, it was spreading rapidly. Some parts of the city hadn¡¯t been hit just yet but it was only a matter of time before they too would be faced with these terrifying creatures.


    Haunani stopped momentarily as they approached the trashed entrance of the Iron Trenches, Molina¡¯s slums. She looked to one of her team members, Oscar, and said, ¡°It¡¯s quiet. The slums are never quiet. Stay alert.¡±


    Oscar replied, ¡°All my years growing up here I¡¯ve never known this place to be dead silent. Whatever is happening must have reached this place too.¡±


    The team walked forward slowly into the town with weapons drawn. They passed by smashed store fronts, residential buildings that had been broken into and ransacked, and bloodied streets until they reached a peculiar intersection that looked like it had gotten the worst of the attacks. The walls of a bar called ¡°The Pig Pen¡± were bloodied and scratched as if something had tried to break in. Bodies of the dead lined the walls and the ground around them and the obvious signs of death covered them from head to toe. Deep claw-like marks ran across their bodies. Some of them were so deep that their innards were hanging out of the wound. It was likely bled out from severe hemorrhaging before whatever attacked them moved on to find more victims. Others were torn open and even had some things torn out of their bodies like something had been eating them then ran off. Leina, the team¡¯s medic, checked the wounds and reported her findings, ¡° They¡¯re¡­Bite marks. Serrated teeth marks are all over the flesh where the wounds are. But what kind of animal could have done this?¡±


    More screams filled the air as inhuman chittering and screeching followed suit. Breaking the already fragile silence, a crowd of terrified people came running up the street to them followed by the broken frames of the infected chasing behind them with no signs of slowing down. Their hunting appendages dripped with the fresh blood of their victims as they moved without signs of fatigue towards their prey.


    A small child tripped over herself as the adults around her charged past her with little concern for her safety. She barely avoided being trampled by the mob before two infected pounced to descend on her. Their attack was halted as Tori, Haunani¡¯s team demolitionist, charged forward and blocked them with a wooden slab he ripped off of a nearby fruit stand. Their hunting appendages easily pierced the brittle wood but it was enough to stop their momentum and force them to a standstill long enough for Haunani and the rest to catch up.


    Leina helped the girl up and asked, ¡°Can you stand?¡±


    The little girl nodded.


    Leina then patted her on the head and told her, ¡°Then run fast as you can as far away from here. Find somewhere safe.¡±


    The girl ran as Tori threw the leftover pieces of the wooden shield away to face the abominations that stood before him. One of the infected let off an ear splitting screech as it dashed straight forward for an attack. A bullet fired from behind Tori and struck the creature right in a clump of violet spores that wrapped around its leg. The spores exploded, sending the leg flying off into the street. It fell to the ground thrashing. Its bones creaked as the creature struggled to steady itself. Finally giving up, It turned the top half of its body a full 180 degrees and it began to crawl towards them as fast as it could.


    Haunani steps forward with her barrel still hot and a horrified look on her face as she looks on at the thing crawling to them. The others were now rallied and getting ready to go on the offensive again.


    She fires two more shots into the one that was crawling but it¡¯s still moving despite taking three sniper rifle rounds and bleeding heavily. Tori steps forward and fires rounds of his rifle straight into its chest until the bullets break through the layer of bone that protected it and pierces through its organs. Finally, It¡¯s crawling stops. Blood pools under its body and brightly lit violet spores rise to the air from the clumps that look deflated and depleted. The rest of the infected scream out as they too begin their attack.


    Haunani commands, ¡°Move to the bar! We can¡¯t take a swarm of these things!¡±


    The team ran at breakneck speed to the metal, lavender colored doors, knocking over any loose carts or trash cans in their way in hopes of stalling the infected that were now chasing them with hungering intent. They reached the door and entered a defensive position firing in all directions while Haunani banged on the door,


    She called out, ¡°Is anyone in there?! Open the door! Please, we can¡¯t hold these things off forever!¡±


    There was silence. Either no one was there or the ones that were inside were remaining quiet in hopes that they¡¯ll go away and take the swarm with them. Haunani knocked louder then cursed and kicked the door before turning around and reloading her rifle. ¡°Bars locked shut. We shoot and move and take as many of these things out as we go.¡±


    Oscar called out through heavy gunfire, ¡°I¡¯m running out of ammo, captain.¡±


    Tori did not move his finger off the trigger until the disheartening click of an empty magazine made him holster his weapon to the side and pull his knife out from its holder on his thigh. He said, ¡°If we don¡¯t make it out of this, It was an honor, ladies and gentlemen.¡±


    Leina laughed, ¡°At least we won¡¯t have to suffer Oscar¡¯s cooking anymore.¡± her handgun ran out of ammo as well.


    Haunani raised her weapon to join the fight until the door behind them creaked open and a short, blonde haired woman stepped through calling out to them, ¡°Come inside, hurry!¡±


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    Haunani yelled, ¡°Inside, Go! I¡¯ll cover us!¡± Her team members all ran inside. Haunani was the last still not through the door as an infected dove on top of her. She jerked her head to the left to avoid receiving a free lobotomy from the bone grafted blade that fell next to her head. With a swift elbow to its jaw and a kick, the infected was launched into another and gave Haunani enough time to throw her body through the open door.


    The blonde woman and a burly, ginger haired man pushed the door closed behind them and stood side by side, holding the door closed so nothing else could get in. The sounds of creatures clawing at the door and screaming filled the room until they slowly died down. Cracking bones and stomping feet slowly lead away from the building towards another batch of screaming civilians off in the distance.


    Haunani checked in with her team, ¡°Everyone alive?¡±


    Oscar reported, ¡°We¡¯re here. But we¡¯re low on ammo. Not enough to face a mob of those things again.¡±


    Haunani then turned to the two standing by the door and walked up to the Blonde woman who was standing there smiling at them, ¡°Thank you, truly. We¡¯d be monster food had it not been for you.¡±


    The blonde woman replied, ¡°You¡¯re welcome. In times like these we all need to stick together and help each other. That''s what I keep telling my hard headed husband and my brother. My name is Leilani.¡± Then she reached up and pats the shoulder of the solid built ginger haired man standing with his arms crossed and a disapproving frown. ¡°And this is my husband, Alexandre.¡±


    Alexandre uncrossed his arms and stepped forward, ¡°You lot better have a good reason for bringing those things to our doorstep. I personally was okay with leaving you out there, but then my wife got mad. So consider yourselves lucky.¡±


    Haunani replied, ¡°I don¡¯t blame you. Looters are one thing but those things out there are another. They¡¯re slaughtering people. I¡¯ve never seen anything like this. We were sent here to search for survivors and establish a safe zone but it looks like the slums have already been lost.¡±


    With sorrow in his gaze, Alexandre nodded, ¡°Aye. We¡¯ve been trapped here, listening to the dead and dying lose their lives outside. To save our own skins, we stayed quiet so we don¡¯t attract any attention. But now that¡¯s out the window.¡±


    Leilani stepped forward, ¡°Will the military be able to do something about this?¡±


    Haunani just stared blankly, unable to answer. Finally she answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know. They¡¯ve sent everyone they can out in the streets but that might not be enough. For now, all we can do is lead you all to safety. Staying here won¡¯t do us any good.¡±


    A large man draped in heavy lavender robes and surrounded by guards came stomping his way out of a back room behind the bar while the bartenders and others with centipede tattoos were still serving drinks and rations to the terrified patrons. He looked at the newcomers with a deep scowl on his face and bellowed, ¡°Alexandre! We have enough mouths to feed, unless they¡¯re willing to pay then why bring them in here?! They¡¯ll call those things outside to rip the bloody roof off and kill us all.¡±


    Alexandre chuckled, ¡°Good to see all it took was a crisis to get your sorry ass out of those sheets. It¡¯s a miracle you can even walk, Centipede.¡±


    The Centipede flicked him off, dismissing his shallow blow before looking at the four soldiers in their blood covered fatigues up and down, ¡°So they finally send the cavalry down to the slums, eh? Normally, I¡¯m happy not to see any army or cop colors down here, but these are¡­strange times.¡±


    Haunani nodded, ¡°I agree. I didn¡¯t expect my day to go like this when I woke up this morning either. We¡¯re here to escort survivors to a safe zone.¡±


    The Centipede jeered, ¡°Safe? In all this? I¡¯d rather take my chances staying in bed with my whores and my wine than go out there.¡±


    Leilani marches to The Centipede and grips his ear tight then twists it. The large man¡¯s face gets red and sour as he begins to plead, ¡°Lani wait, wait! That hurts! Dammit let me go!¡±


    Leilani¡¯s mood had changed from sweet to sour in a matter of seconds as she scolds a man who was two times her size, now at his mercy in her delicate hands. She began to fuss, ¡°When mom died she told me to keep your ass alive. I let you do your criminal shit because I knew you¡¯d be too lazy to be in the streets yourself. Today, you¡¯re going to go with these nice people to safety. If whatever is happening ends and Molina is safe again, you can always come back. Do you understand me?¡±


    The Centipede groans, ¡°But my stuff!¡± Leilani¡¯s grip on his ear gets tighter and his face gets redder, ¡°Okay! Okay! Fine!¡±


    She releases his ear and her face goes back to her sunshine glow that it was before. She turns to Haunani with a smile and says, ¡°I¡¯ll gather the others. The sun is setting, so maybe once it gets dark we should leave? I¡¯m praying these monsters have bad eyesight in the dark.¡±


    Oscar walks up with a radio in his hand and says, ¡°Its Rowan. He¡¯s asking how we¡¯re doing.¡±


    Haunani takes the radio and speaks into the speaker, ¡°Rowan, talk to me.¡±


    Rowan¡¯s voice comes out clear as day, ¡°Good, you¡¯re still alive. One of the few unfortunately. I¡¯ve been trying to reach the other teams but no luck. I¡¯ve gathered a large number of survivors and we¡¯re going to establish a base in central Molina at the city¡¯s commerce building. It and the surrounding structures should be a large enough area for us to fortify. I have another team setting up camp in the west along the docks. But they¡¯ve given me an unsettling report. ¡°Don¡¯t trust the automatas covered in violet tumors. They will shoot you on sight.¡± That was all they told me before they had to go radio silent. I have another team setting up in the North so that should help. How are things on your end?¡±


    Haunani pressed the push to speak button on the side of her radio, ¡°Not good. The slums are lost to these things. But we found a big group of survivors.¡±


    Rowan responded, ¡°Bring them to me. You¡¯re close by and with both our teams we can set up defenses. Just¡­.be careful getting here. These things can grow from the bodies of the dead.¡± Over the radio, Haunani can hear the sounds of screams and gunfire in the background of wherever Rowan is at. ¡°Gotta go, radio me when you¡¯re close.¡± The radio went silent after that and she clipped it to one of the belt loops on her fatigues.


    A platinum blonde woman with black lipstick and the centipede tattoo running down her body approached Haunani and said, ¡°Hi, names Maeve. I know where that buildings¡¯ at. It¡¯ll take a couple hours if we move slowly, especially with the group we have. But I think I speak for everyone here when I say anywhere¡¯s better than being trapped here. So sooner rather than later would be great, cool? Otherwise my boss starts bitching, and we honestly have enough problems as is.¡± Then she returns to the bar and begins polishing a silver plated revolver that was hanging from her waist in anticipation for whatever is lurking behind those doors.


    Haunani returns to her team and tells them, ¡°You heard the lady. Let¡¯s get these people ready to move. Once those doors open again we hit the ground running.¡±


    The small team of soldiers stuck around and checked each other''s gear until all of the bar''s patrons had settled their nerves enough to follow them back outside. Alexandre was already standing by the door, leaning against the wall with an ornate silver blade in his hand ready for a fight. Leilani was beside him waiting as well until everyone began crowding by the door. The Centipede, his two guards, and Maeve were the last to emerge from the back room, his face sour as he took one last look around before saying, ¡°I¡¯m gonna miss this place. It better still be standing when we survive the bloody apocalypse.¡±


    Alexandre replied, ¡°If it is, drinks on the house?¡±


    The Centipede scoffed, ¡°Never in your life.¡±


    Maeve stepped forward to the front of the group, ¡°I¡¯m not a fan of being in back. I know a shortcut to lead us to where your friend is.¡±


    Haunani nodded, ¡°Deal. Bullets are limited so we move low and slow.¡±


    Alexandre pressed his hand against the door then asked her, ¡°Ready?¡±


    Haunani pressed her hand against the door as well, ¡°Ready as I¡¯ll ever be.¡±


    With a series creaks and moans the metal door slowly opened. The damage it took from the infected trying to tear it down was evident from the claw marks and deep, bloody gashes left all over the walls. It was silent. Not even the wind stirred. No screech or scream could be heard from the living, or the dead. Haunani raised her rifle and Alexandre gripped his sword tight.


    Maeve pointed down a dimly lit side street and instructed, ¡°Down that way to the train station and around the industrial area will lead us back to central Molina. It¡¯s the route I used to take when I worked for the bank.¡±


    The small group began their slow move to what they hoped would be safety. Though no pained wails of infected could be heard nearby, their cries carried through the summer night air from the main city where the oranges and yellows of fires lit the blackness of the night sky and dying screams filled the silence. All they could do was pray that they don¡¯t suffer a similar fate as the many destroyed and half eaten bodies of the dead that they had to maneuver around and the near endless puddles of fresh blood that now stained their shoes in crimson. The Moon only lit so much but the blood stained streetlights painted the streets in a dark red glow and illuminated the path of the damned they must walk down to survive.