Page 28 of Apricity
“Guys… shut the fuck up,”I barely hear him as Hawk whispers his warning. His voice came from behind me, which means he must have rolled off of us and further into the room when we fell. Aly doesn’t hear him, however, and continues calling for us.
“Guys! Answer me! Please!” Her cries spur me on to answer, even though I know I probably shouldn’t. If Hawk is calling out for everyone to be quiet, there’s a damn good reason for it. But Aly didn’t hear him, which means I need to get her to stop.
“Aly, baby, we’re alright. Gotta be quiet though, ok? Gotta get—”
“Grrrrrrraaeeaaegggggggguuuua”
“Fuck...”
"Grrraaaarrrrggg"
"GRRRAAAARGGH"
"RAARRGGGGHH"
The loud groaning echoes from all around us, emphasizing the fact that not only are we not alone, but we're surrounded.
“Oh my gah—!”
“RUN!”
“Where asshole? We’re in the fucking basement and it’s fucking locked!”
I guess we know why it was locked now, don’t we?
“Aly! Aly! Where are you baby?! Call out to me!”
Silence.
“Aly!” Cole calls out.
Nothing.
“Sweetheart, answer us!” Hawk pleads, about to lose his shit if she doesn’t start responding. But why isn’t she, though? She just answered a second ago. What the hell happen—
No. We’re not doing this again. I’m not about to lose her. Not happening. Not like this.
It’s pitch black down here. No windows. No doors. Nothing apart from the light casting down from the upstairs bedroom windows, which isn’t much ‘cause it’s been cloudy as hell for weeks and today isn’t an exception. Fed up with not being able to see my own hand in front of my face, I lift my wrist and flick the switch on my watch, lighting up the room.
“Oh shit,” Cole says next to me, poised and ready with his gun. I follow his line of sight and freeze as I see Hawk, in front of all of us, face to face with five of the infected. We pull up our balaclavas and take a collective step back.
Deep shit… that’s where we are. We have no idea where Aly is. If we did, these bastards would already be dust but we can’t take the risk. You don’t shoot when you’re not sure what’s behind your target, but if we don’t, none of us are getting out of here alive.
“Aly…,”I whisper, trying to get her to call out to us again but there’s nothing. Just silence. Fuck, why isn’t she answering any of us?
Two of the infected turn and step in our direction, their steps quick in the tiny room, leaving us with no choice. We’re just gonna have to risk it.
Looking to Cole and Hawk, I lift my own weapon and make a decision. “Take ‘em out. Let’s go!”
I shine my light in the zombies’ direction just in time to see Hawk and Cole’s bullets tear through their skulls. Blood, bone and brain matter splatter the walls and floor as, one by one, they come tumbling down. When the fifth falls, I keep my weapon raised and start walking around the room looking for Aly and any others that might be hiding. Castingmy watch light in front of me, I find three more huddled in a corner and take them out before--
“AAAAAAAAH!” she screams. It’s the worst blood curdling sound ever, forcing Hawk, Cole and myself to turn towards its direction. I find her a second later, my light illuminating where she’s trapped under the fallen totes, one of the infected crawling on top of her, drooling and growling over her quivering frame.
Without second guessing or waiting for direction, Hawk calls for cover before running over to Aly. He grasps the walking corpse around its neck and pulls it off of her, throwing it in front of the firing squad. When it’s far enough away from our girl, all three of us unload on the bastard, watching as the bullets carve its body apart into bits, pieces and various flying fleshy limbs.
It's gross to say the least, but fucking gratifying, nonetheless.
Once the area is clear and I’m positive there are no more of them hidden anywhere else in the basement, I join Hawk and Cole on the floor where they’re looking over her.
