Speedster In The Apocalypse

Chapter 5 : Setting out

Philip analyzed the information and couldn't help but feel both a sense of luck and also incredibly lucky.

He'd been unconscious for a whole month due to whatever the infection did to him.

On one hand, he felt that he'd lost some good time to do something useful. But on the other hand, there was no guarantee that he'd have been able to survive the virus outbreak in the city.

He sighed inwardly. No use thinking about it now.

He glanced at his two new, albeit distrustful companions walking by his side.

From what they told him, Andrew was a former soldier which was why he had a shotgun, and his sister Dina was a substitute teacher. An interesting pair.

Anyway, due to his quick thinking, Andrew was able to survive with him and his sister when the outbreak happened, and according to them, they were heading towards a camp filled with survivors.

When Philip asked how they knew it was there, Andrew told him that the leader had sent out a broadcast when the outbreak happened.

Philip was a little turned off by this because they didn't know if the base was still there. Still, though, he didn't say anything. After all, at least they had a goal.

"We should find somewhere to rest." Andrew said and looked up, the sun was already showing signs of setting.

Philip looked around and spotted a small hole that seemed to head into the bottom of a collapsed building.

"How about there, I don't hear any infected." He suggested but Andrew shook his head.

"It seems to be the only exit and entrance. If an infected person stumbles inside, we won't be able to run." He pointed out.

Philip wanted to say that he could just kill it, but then he remembered that his baseball bat no longer existed, and while he knew his body had gotten stronger, he wasn't sure if punching one of those things at the speed at which he ran would be a very good idea.

Hence, they kept moving and looking.

"Hey, look there." Dina pointed at an apartment building that seemed mostly intact, though there was a wall on the side that had caved in.

"Doesn't seem too bad. There should be multiple exits so retreating shouldn't be an issue." They then looked at Philip who cocked his head and listened.

Wind blowing, the distant sound of infected shrieking, but nothing else.

"It's good." Seeing him give the go-ahead, they all started for the building.

They quickly got there and went in through the door. The hole on the side was on the second floor, so they decided to stay on the ground floor.

The timing was good as darkness began to blanket the city already.

Andrew took out a sleeping bag from his backpack and Dina did the same. Philip went to go and explore.

His sight had naturally gotten better, so the darkness just appeared a little dim to him.

He looked through apartments looking for supplies and was pretty happy when he found some more canned food. No water though.

He thought of the sleeping bags the siblings had and decided to just steal a bed from one of the apartments.

When he got back down, he saw Dina looking like she was about to sleep and Andrew looking around vigilantly.

"Are you serious?" He said when he saw Philip carrying a whole mattress.

"I didn't bring a sleeping bag and I'd prefer not to sleep on the bare floor." He shrugged and laid it down. It was dusty, but Philip hadn't had a shower in a month, so a little more dust wouldn't kill him.

"Are we sleeping in shifts? And if so, who's taking the first watch?" Philip asked.

"Yes, and I'll stay up for the first three hours. You'll do the next three. And Dina the remaining two." Andrew explained.

Philip didn't mind and got out another can of food before eating. When he finished, he laid on the mattress and closed his eyes.

He doubted he was going to sleep, but he might as well rest as much as possible before it was his shift.

With his eyes closed, his thoughts wandered.

What would be his next course of action if he managed to get to the base? Would they even let him in as he was? Did it still exist? What about the rest of the world? Had it entered a similar state as well? Or had their city simply been among the unfortunate ones?

So many questions and no answers. And before Philip knew it, he fell asleep.

***

Philip felt like he'd only closed his eyes for a few seconds, so he was surprised when Andrew suddenly woke him up and said it was his shift.

He wanted to grumble but stayed silent as that wouldn't help their situation. So when Andrew went to sleep, he stood up and found a cracked but intact chair, sat down, and listened.

It was quiet. Eerily so. No birds, no insects. Just the faint sound of wind blowing. It made Philip's skin crawl, but he still adhered to his task.

He'd perk up at the slightest abnormality, and would only relax when it went away. That's how vigilant he was.

Moreover, he didn't just use his ears. His nose as well. Still, other than something damp and the faint smell of something rotting, there was nothing to put him on guard.

He kept checking his watch as he waited. However, when it was about the half-hour mark, he began to get bored.

At this rate, nothing would show up. He slumped in his chair.

Don't be dumb, that's a good thing. If we could get through the night without anything approaching then that would be for the be-

*CRUNCH*

Philip flinched at the sound of something breaking. He strained his ears.

*CRUNCH*

There it was, closer this time. Philip frowned

He silently got off the chair and went to Andrew before shaking him awake. The ex-soldier woke up almost immediately and was about to reach for his gun, but Philip stopped him and put a finger to his lips.

"I hear something outside. I'm not sure what it is but I'm going to go and check." He whispered into his ear.

Andrew didn't say anything and merely nodded. Philip backed off and he sat up before moving over to his sister.

While he did that, Philip went to the second floor and went to the hole in the side before hopping down. Normally, such a drop would at least result in a cracked ankle even if you rolled.

For the current Philip though, his knees merely bent and nothing more.

Now to see what's making all this noise. Philip thought and began to jog in the direction he heard the noise. Be careful not to make any noise and also to go through as much cover as possible.

As he did that, he heard the sound more and more and it kept getting closer, so he was sure that whatever it was wasn't natural, and it was moving in their direction.

Finally, Philip eased himself along the side of one building. Now, the crunching was audible.

When he got to the edge of the wall, he slowly peaked his head around the corner. Then quickly drew back, his heart thundering.

‘What the hell is that?!’ He shouted inwardly.

He took a deep breath to calm himself, steeled himself, and peaked around the corner again.

There, the monstrosity stood.

It was 6 meters tall. Incredibly bulky like a walking tank. Its skin was rough like sandpaper and veins bulged all over its body.

Its head was bald and a pair of angry eyes stared straight ahead and steam came out of its mouth with every breath. The cracking sound was from the steps it took breaking the ground.

Should I run back and tell them? No, even if we run, it's too risky to run around in this darkness. Grim excitement filled Philip's heart.

‘I'm gonna have to kill that thing.’