I was clad in black clothing, which Bella's father had given to me. He wasn't exactly as big as me, but the clothing still fit. I geared up with my battle QUAX arm as well.I held onto a spear in my left hand and the others without a battle. QUAX arm equipped little flashlights in their free hand. After putting on the bags we were going to pack the supplies in, we took confident strides toward the gate.I immediately got a sense of the deja vu of the others watching us through the CCTV monitors.Once again, I wished another set of people would be safe before we got back.As we stepped out of the house, a chill ran down my spine.It was almost pitch black out, and I could hardly make out the shape of my friend and myself standing next to each other. BJ and Bella's fathers were also right there with us, but I could barely make out their figures as well.We all surveyed our surroundings, but all I could see were the shadows of the night. Above us, I heard the low humming noise of the dro
For the first time in my life, I heard my girlfriend stutter."I-I-I d-d-don't know, Dustin. I... s-some of them are jumping and there are -some attacking the family that owns the house they just broke into and, they -have kids...""Okay, Bella, just calm down, okay? This is the same thing we saw—""It's not the same, Dustin!" Samson said with a pitched tone that showed he was just as frightened. "They look like buff monkeys, and they just ripped a man's head off—"In the background, I heard someone take deep breaths. I realized that it must have been so bad to make even Bella react that way.If she could stutter because of the footage feedback, how were we supposed to escape whatever this was?"Wait, monkeys?" BJ asked. "How did monkeys get here? Where did they even come from?""We just saw them jumping and—"Suddenly, my attention was drawn to the side as my eyes came into contact with someone... or perhaps it was better to say something...It crouched on the fence of a house ahead
Unfortunately, their skins were too durable for any real damage to be caused to the monkey unless he attacked like I did earlier, piercing through their mouth. Fortunately, BJ also had a battle QUAX arm.The low sounds of the ammunition rang out as BJ took shots at it before it could slice him.It screeched as it fell.Eventually, we began running forward but our situation was far from being over.All around us, we could hear monkeys screeching as they caused a ruckus.Screams of terror echoed through the night, as people frantically tried to flee from them. The street was in chaos and this time, it wasn't as a result of the human infected."Dustin!" Bella yelled through the comms. "You need to get out of there! The street is overrun by the monkeys!""Give us a clear path!""You are on the second street. Keep on moving until you see a gate which—No no! Fuck no! Samson!"There were screaming and howling noises in the background and I turned around to see a fearful expression on BJ's fa
I didn't stop smashing my fist onto the head of the infected until it finally went down. At this point, the QUAX silvery arm was smeared in black sizzling blood, but I couldn't be bothered about that at the moment."Come on, Dustin!" BJ shouted. He was cradling the still-crying child, which he gave to the mother."Thank you so much!" the woman shouted."Run along with the others and leave this area!" I yelled out to her before speeding off with BJ."Bella! Are you still there?"There was only silence... I heard nothing.As we further travelled, the screams multiplied, and we had to do our best to evade the incoming human infected and people who were running in the opposite direction."Get the fuck out of my way!" a screaming man carrying a little boy yelled. Behind him was a woman holding the hands of a girl."No!" Another shouted as he and a man fought over a bag. As they did, it ripped and I was shocked to see that it contained food items. People didn't want to lose their precious f
BJ tried to move a step, but I held him back with a hand. "What do you want to kill it with? Your knife? Or energy charge and blast my mom to smithereens too?"He finally realized that he was without any long-range weapon and his blades were all he could get.They weren't going to be enough. Fortunately, they hadn't seen us and I still had little ammunition remaining.Steadying my breath, I raised my QUAX's arm to aim at my target, making sure the large monkey was in focus.Taking aim, I held my breath as I fired a single shot.Bang! Thrrrihhh~The monkey screeched in pain as the shot went through its neck. It collapsed to the floor with blood trickling out.A baby's fist-size hole could be seen on its neck."Dustin!" Bright shouted as soon as we drew closer. I saw that the two of them were carrying spears and was glad that we got there faster."Where are the others?" I asked as I glanced around the living room.A scream cut off my mother's reply. It came from upstairs and after a sha
I was about to run towards her when her father stopped me."Don't. Just let her do this."There was no way I could ignore that plea. I watched as Bella kept smashing the infected's head until it was nothing more than a bloody mess.When it was all over, she dropped the shovel and stepped back. Turning to us, I saw tears rolling down her cheeks, but what stood out was the determination in her eyes.I had never seen my girlfriend shed tears before. I thought it was impossible, but I was glad this episode hadn't broken her spirit.Suddenly, I heard the sound of more moaning and screeching coming closer. Our illusion of privacy was shattered."We need to leave!" I shouted as I reached for Bella's hand.Our party was one person less, but we had to focus on survival.As we ran inside, Bella's dad locked the door behind him. The rest were gathered in the living room with a weapon in their hands."What do we do now?" my mother hastily asked."Let's use the vehicles," David suggested. "That wa
Bang! Bang! Bang!I felt my breath quicken. I BJ and I stood there for a couple of seconds.BJ's eyes remained shut as he waited for my signal.Bang! Bang! Bang!"Now!" I yelled.Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked directly at the door as he clenched his battle QUAX arm...My grip on his back intensified as I planted my feet on the floor even more strongly.Ooooiiinnn~A blue beam began gathering at the tip of BJ's battle QUAX fist area.The entire living room dazzled from the glow, and from the outskirts of the household, blinding rays of light could be spotted escaping the windows.Screams rang out from behind as the blue beam shot forward.It blasted through the door as it increased in size and pulled everything in the vicinity into its centre of gravity.Boom!It exploded with intensity after reaching a particular distance. Meanwhile, I and BJ slid across the living room due to the powerful recoil pushing us back."Hnnggh!" I groaned while closing my eyes as I struggled to sto
The best possible remedy at the moment would have been finding shelter. However, no building in this vicinity seemed to be safe. Everyone was running away from their homes since the infected monkeys easily broke in.We just wanted to get as far away from this area as possible."Let's go to this w—""They are coming!"Someone cried out from behind us. Turning around, I froze in shock. About thirty paces away was a mass of infected humans and monkeys coming right at us.The monkeys glowing red eyes piercing the dimly lit streets, sent chills to my bones."Let's go!" I shouted while pointing towards my right.We ran in terror, as our only thought was to survive.Other people were also trying to escape the same fate. As the infected horde started to close in on us, I thought of using one of my charges, but there were still normal uninfected people behind us.I didn't want them to get blasted away as well, but we were all going to die if things turned awry."BJ!" I heard BJ's mother scream
"Well... you see… you have to promise to take us all out of here if we agree to let you come in and look for that person," The man answered once more.Emma shook his head in disappointment upon hearing that.If we agreed to the man's demands and Hannah wasn't there, we were going to have burdens to carry."Tim," Emma whispered as he walked to him. "Think well o. What if she isn't there?""But what if she's there?" I retorted."We didn't come all this way to turn back now. Let's just check,"He gave me a look. "See, just hold on. Let me take care of this,"He moved closer to the entrance and questioned, "Just tell us if there is someone named Hannah,"There was no answer.Emma was tempted to yell out her name, but then there was the risk of attracting the infected, so he held it in.He asked once more and was met with the same answer as before."You can only be let in if you agree to help all of us,"I honestly wasn't sure Hannah was there. I knew my girlfriend. If she was, she would ha
"Well... you see… you have to promise to take us all out of here if we agree to let you come in and look for that person," The man answered once more.Emma shook his head in disappointment upon hearing that.If we agreed to the man's demands and Hannah wasn't there, we were going to have burdens to carry."Tim," Emma whispered as he walked to him. "Think well o. What if she isn't there?""But what if she's there?" I retorted."We didn't come all this way to turn back now. Let's just check,"He gave me a look. "See, just hold on. Let me take care of this,"He moved closer to the entrance and questioned, "Just tell us if there is someone named Hannah,"There was no answer.Emma was tempted to yell out her name, but then there was the risk of attracting the infected, so he held it in.He asked once more and was met with the same answer as before."You can only be let in if you agree to help all of us,"I honestly wasn't sure Hannah was there. I knew my girlfriend. If she was, she would h
[Unedited Chapter]As much as the smell of death was everywhere, I didn't want to leave until I looked around. I could still remember the clothes Hannah wore on that day, and that was the reference I used in searching while hoping she wasn't amongst the corpses.A few of the dead still had clothes on, but most were reduced to nothing but bones and scraps of fabric.Cautiously, I looked at them for any signs of life. As I turned to look inside the tilted truck for something or someone that could give me a sign.I suddenly felt something tugging at my right leg. I swiftly reacted by swerving sideways with my gun pointed out."Timmy! Get away!" Emma shouted as he pointed his gun in that direction.I was faster than him as I instantly pulled the trigger, blowing a hole in the infected head.Bang!It had been crawling out the broken windshield of the truck and happened to have broken limbs, which made it easier to kill."Come on man, we've seen enough," Emma said as he came closer."Let's
[Unedited Chapter]"Yeah," I admitted softly. "But I'm also worried my decision will gravely affect others, and I might not be able to fix it."He smiled. "No need to worry about that, let's worry about where we are going.""True... now that I think of it, look at the map," I called Emma's attention to the map."Hmm," He stared at his watch in response."I'm guessing the routes that appear red signify that a high number of infected are cooped up there... the ones that appear yellow must have a lower number in comparison to the red, and the normal-looking routes should barely have any," I pointed out."That makes sense. I'd been wondering since, but the officers never explained that. However, this must have been documented by the military, right?" Emma inquired."Definitely, or they're monitoring it with satellites," I responded."The former is most likely true, and since that's the case, we can only count on the information in the meantime, not in a long run," Emma stated."Hmm, are y
[Unedited Chapter]The party responsible for this might also have been searching for supplies and had run into some trouble.The next section was filled with fortunately filled with drugs and they began to load them up.Just like the former section, most had been taken but there were a few that looked helpful. As they continued with that, we moved around, alert to any odd noise…which I heard in the next second.At this point, I was about to give Emma signals to tell him that, it might be time for us to move.The others in the perimeters were focused on patrolling around and we would get a window of opportunity soon."What is that?" Someone muttered through the comms. It obviously came from within."What?" One of the volunteers questioned."I can hear a low droning," The initial voice replied. "Can you hear it?"For a few seconds, the comms was a little silent except for the men packing the supplies."I can hear it too!" One of them finally stated.The problem was finding where it was
[Unedited Chapter]"What about the QUAXs?" someone interrupted beside me.His smile and excited tone told made me feel like he had joined for a different reason, "Aren't we going out there with them?"The soldier glared. "Do not ever dare interrupt me! Never try it again!"After a few seconds of silence, he answered. "The battle QUAXs can only be used by professionals who intend to go all the way to battle the infected, which is not our job. It is also in limited numbers, so it can not just be randomly given out.You are a rescue and supply team, and your business doesn't lie with that. Also, the weapons here will be enough. In the right hands, anything can be used to kill!"The battle QUAXs was a good idea, but we were on a simpler task, and we were only going to get more attention to ourselves.I felt, a group with the purpose of gathering supplies and going on emergency rescue missions should be more solo.Although I and Emma would have loved to take our battle QUAX arm with us, it
[Unedited Chapter]I felt this had been easy for him to say since he was a military personnel. I already viewed people who killed others as heartless...The thing is... I am not you, Darius.To make him get off my back, I nodded and moved away.Now, I was trying to convince Emma about it, but my friend was stubborn."Tim, I understand you," He began."It's just the same with my family. Two nights ago, my mother woke up wishing to hold David in her hands. She wanted my father to return to get him, and if I could at that moment, I would have. Maybe Darius is right—""Emma, Hannah is still alive," I countered. "You can't write her off like she's already confirmed dead—"He shook his head. "I didn't mean that. I'm just saying that..." He looked lost for words and then continued after a few seconds..."She might still be alive, safe in a stronghold. I know the horror we faced on our way is still haunting you, but we are safe now and shouldn't do anything to change that. I'm sure she feels
[Unedited Chapter]It was like we were in another world. Still, I wondered if it was why we had been separated.Did they think we couldn't control ourselves?"We can't go... We haven't seen Hannah yet."Sofia immediately reminded me. "Maybe she is in another stronghold? Remember, the soldier said that they were others."I knew that. While we had been waiting for identification, I asked a soldier about the other trucks, and he mentioned that only a few had come in before us.Some people had also made their way here themselves.When I asked about the rest, he only shrugged and said there were other strongholds so the trucks could have gone there.Still, I was holding onto the words of Darius, who said that we were all passing the same route, which led to the big question.How did the trucks not all reach the camp, and if they didn't, what was causing their delay?I had counted six trucks then, which meant that two were in the stronghold, one was gone, and the remaining three were missin
[Unedited Chapter]*****Five days...Five days of having the same nightmare replayed each night. I thought it was all over since we were now safe in the stronghold but it only seemed to get worse.Each night, I woke up with perspiration on my body as though I'd been running a marathon.But it was only a nightmare. One that always began with the mutated infected human appearing and crushing the truck that was behind us.Then the infected would get blasted to pieces after the missile hit...This would have been a befitting end for the dream but then I'd find myself standing in the middle of the road where the other truck had been flattened...calling out a single name..."Hannah!"At this moment I would jolt awake with my whole body drenched in sweat as I breathed in and out profusely.The crushed truck disturbed my mental state to the point where I was having nightmares about it every night.I badly wanted to know who the occupants were.What made it worse was that the soldiers were a