Speedster In The Apocalypse

Chapter 8 : Situation

The food court was very much scattered. Chairs were broken, tables overturned, and an unsettling amount of dried blood.

The group quickly went over and got to the counter.

Andrew told Philip and Dina to stay before jumping over the counter and moving out of sight into the kitchen, towards the Fridge Philip assumed.

He and Dina ducked and waited. It was at this time Philip finally got a good look at the mostly silent girl.

She was very good looking. She had a slight tan, constantly running from monsters in the sun did that to you. She had large green eyes and long blonde hair, like her brother, though his was obviously short.

Her body was also proportioned very nicely. Philip judged that if she was a teacher as she said then she was probably very popular among the male students.

It was then that she turned to look at him and they both stared at each other. Philip caught the same look of wariness which Andrew usually looked at him with.

He smiled at her and she looked away. Philip shook his head and checked his watch. Andrew should be out soon.

There was the sound of glass breaking which caught the two off guard. Philip looked over the table and saw a super fat infected coming out of a shop from the shattered glass.

Its body was flabby and its head was slightly pointed, and the most horrifying thing was the giant mouth open on its stomach, a long, slimy tongue rubbing across teeth the size of knives.

And to Philip's horror, it was moving towards them. Running actually.

How did it know we were here?! Philip shouted inwardly and stopped hiding since there was no point.

Immediately, time around him slowed down and the infected along with Dina froze.

He walked over to the thing and unsheathed his new katana. While he was no expert on swords, he definitely knew how to hit something with the sharp end of a sword.

He held the handle with body hands and gave a horizontal swing. The blade went through the infected's neck like a knife would butter.

He let his perception go back to normal and the infected walked for two more steps before suddenly falling and its head fell off its body and tumbled to the ground.

Dina stood up from behind the table, her eyes wide. Philip also spotted Andrew coming back from the kitchen, his bag looking fuller.

Philip let out a sigh. Thankfully, I killed it before it made too much noi-

*SHRIEK*

Philip spun as a loud shriek reverberated throughout the mall. He cursed.

The long limbed infected stood by the escalator, its wild eyes looking at him with hunger.

Why didn't I hear it? He was stunned but couldn't dwell on the matter. He quickly raised his sword as the creature began charging towards them.

When it got close, he used his speed and perception once more, went to its side, and sliced off its head like the fat infected from before.

He turned to the siblings.

"We need to go. No doubt the shriek from before attracted every damn infected in the building." He didn't bother lowering his voice anymore, then he grimaced. His stomach was really biting him now.

He shook it off and started for the escalator down. However, halfway there, he paused and looked over the balcony.

Tens of horrid monsters charged towards the escalator and some crawled on the walls.

"Go back!" He shouted and the three of them ran back. Philip then paused and leaned over the balcony before swinging his sword and nearly completely severing the head of an infected that looked more gecko than human.

His mind spun. The escalator was blocked and they'd need a way to distract the infected if they wanted to go to the other side of the other escalators.

Once more, moral and logic warred within him. Philip felt that he could easily serve as a distraction and let the siblings run for the escalator. However, did he have the energy to do that?

Right now, using his speed in the short bursts he was doing right now was already taking its toll. He doubted that he'd be able to keep at it for long.

He looked at the numerous infected swarming up the escalator, and he turned back and saw the siblings looking at him. Then he sighed.

This is what I get for being a good person. Then his gaze became determined and he shouted at the siblings.

"I'll distract them. Run for the escalator on the other side!" Immediately he said that, he activated his perception and ducked under the attack of an infected whose hands had morphed with bone-like blades coming out.

He reached and sliced its head off causing it to crumple and retreated ahead of the clawed hand of another infected going for his head.

He risked a glance back and saw that the siblings were indeed running for the escalator. He let out a sigh of relief and faced the swarm.

Alright you damn monsters. Come at me. His fear seemed to disappear as he faced the swarm head on.

He sidestepped an attack and swung his sword, decapitating another infected. Ducked, under another and sliced off the limb before slicing off its head.

Under immense pressure, He began to use his speed more intelligently. He didn't have his perception up at max, just enough for him to dodge the attacks with relative ease, and he also didn't move with that much vigor. Hence, his energy consumption was reduced.

Despite that though, he didn't have a huge amount of energy to begin with and could feel his body tiring fast.

He glanced at the siblings again. Good they were going down the escalator. However, his eyes widened when he saw an infected on all fours creeping up by the side of the escalator.

Damn it, I don't have enough energy to run there! He gritted his teeth and backed off before shouting.

"ANDREW BELOW YOU!" When he did, he jumped back to avoid another attack. However, despite that, pain still seared his chest with such intensity that he almost stumbled.

He looked down and saw a bloody gash through his now torn shirt.

Dammit. Philip thought as his vision swam. His body was on the brink of collapse and the pain brought about from his injury made it so that he could hardly concentrate.

All Philip could do now was constantly retreat to not get hit.

He glanced again and saw no sign of the siblings, the infected that was creeping up on them on the floor with its head partly destroyed. They made it out.

Philip let out a sigh. He wasn't sure if he'd die from exhaustion if he ran again. But then he faced the swarm of infected, their hungry mouths looking to devour him.

Yeah, that'd be better than getting mauled. He gritted his teeth, and used his perception. They were in a tight spot, and it was looking more and more grim with each passing moment