“Mum?” Adam’s voice stopped her rocking motion.“Adam?” she called as she slowly opened her eyes.“Mum, it is me,” Adam said as he quickly moved towards her.He paid the man no heed as the latter ran out of the basement.A whiff of an unpleasant odour hit Adam’s nostrils even before his mother opened her eyes and raised her hands towards him.Adam could see drying liquid matter on her hand.“You are alive,” she said in a forlorn voice as she patted him awkwardly.The strong smell filled his nose as he looked down at the figure on his mother’s lap.It was unrecognised because it was bloated.A gaping hole peeked at Adam from the skull that belonged to a face that Adam knew as much as he knew his own.“Is he…?”“He is dead,” Marriane said simply, as if she were talking about the weather.Her glazed eyes looked starry at Adam. “They killed him. They said you killed a girl. Did you kill a girl?”A mixture of guilt and shame welled in Adam as he stared into the shock-glazed and devastated
“Adam! No!” Lisa’s voice distracted Adam from behind.He turned to tell her to get back.A sharp, fiery pain stabbed his side as the iguana swatted his stomach with the five sharp claws on its upraised foreleg.Adam had no idea if the scream came from him or his sister, as he hit the wall so hard that his ears rang.Then he rolled down the few rungs of steps to the hard ground in excruciating pain.His whole body was on fire as blood oozed out of the five deep gashes in his stomach.He blinked up incomprehensibly at the high-arched ceiling.The heavy steps of the two creatures approaching from opposite sides sounded like gongs in his head.“Stay away from my brother!” he heard Lisa screaming at the top of her lungs as Layla pulled her back from running down the staircase towards him."Good,” Adam thought weakly. “Keep her away.”The ringing sound in his ears wouldn’t stop and for a moment, he thought he was dead as he stopped hearing anything.The iguana that was directly in his line
“Over here! I found her!"Lieutenant Matteo called to his men as he looked up at the oak tree in front of him.Recently shed leaves could be seen surrounding the tree, including a gap in the branches that suggested a recent disturbance.The source of the disturbance could be seen hanging unconscious in the tree.Still unconscious and her faces full of bruises, Colonel Aguillar lay upside down from the tree. She was held in place by two thick branches.One of the branches had a spike that had plunged into her lower abdomen.The spike was as much what was holding her in place as the branches.“Oh my God,” Lieutenant Matteo muttered when he saw the spike.The footsteps of his men resounded behind him.They were fewer than they were when they alighted the half-torn jet.None of the scientists survived and he had lost five more men since they started searching for the thrown colonel.Strange beasts had accosted them and despite their training and battle-hard experience, they had lost horri
With her heart in her mouth, Sophia navigated the path of the hatch. The facility was full of intriguing designs, like the chrome and black hatch. As much as the facility was a place of great scientific discoveries, the architect who designed it seemed to have put much thought into aesthetics as well. She knew that if the situation had been different, she would have spent weeks exploring and marvelling over the many intricacies that made up the facility. Sophia had wanted to take the exam that would qualify her to enrol in an architecture school. Cain had agreed with her and had even teased her that she was going to be a finicky architect. He had always liked to tease her love for detailing, and meticulousness. Tears formed at the back of her eyes and she blinked them back firmly as she held the rag tightly in her hand. She had already thought of how she would convince whoever caught her that she was only at that part of the facility to do some cleaning. Whether whoever it wa
Jeremy bit into the small apple Shelby gave him.The pretty lady didn’t need to give him the apple for him to run an errand for her, but he was not above getting an incentive.Moreover, she had been sneaking him things that could help keep his sugar level normal since he had mistakenly told her.She had found him getting lightheaded the other day when that bastard Van Claude forced him and Yoshi to keep working after others had gone for their dinner.Jeremy was really happy that Adam had come when he did.He was even more happy that the bastard had been caught down to size and made a messenger.“Oh, that look on his face as he begged like the weasel he is was so priceless,” Jeremy thought to himself as he bit into his apple with a chuckle.He quickly put the apple back into the pocket of his baggy trousers.If anyone saw him munching on the apple, Shelby might get into trouble.He would hate to be the reason why she got into trouble.He kind of liked the lady.She was okay and she spo
“I swear, I didn’t do it!” Jeremy said desperately as Shelby came to him in the compartment where he was held.It had a glass, reinforced door, which means Shelby could see his mouth move but couldn't hear him talk.Yet she understood the desperation in his eyes.She gestured for him to look at her mouth, then she mouthed. “Do not be afraid, okay? We will sort this out.”She saw relief on Jeremy’s face, then, in his typical teenage arrogance, he mouthed. “I am not afraid. I am just sorry I couldn’t beat that asshole to a pulp.”She smiled sadly and nodded.Then she motioned that she was leaving.“Thank you,” she said to the injured soldier, who was lounging in a chair close to the compartment.He looked carefree, like he was just sitting there to recuperate but Shelby knew he was assigned there to watch Jeremy.She had to beg him to let her see Jeremy.Though he only shrugged nonchalantly, like it was none of his business, Shelby knew she would have been kicked out or reported if he h
"Come on" Adam whispered to the people behind him and he quickly darted towards the only undamaged vehicle close to the gate.The beasts must have missed it in their furore of destruction.Adam had seen it when he was scouting from the roof of the hotel to check out their route of escape.Though he could see some of the beasts from afar, he was certain that they could get the hell out of dodge before any of them could catch up with them.He only wished he had his modified offroad jeep with him.That was when he saw the truck still standing upright, parked to one side.It seemed like it was used for supplies by the hotel before the pandemic started.Adam quickly went back to meet the others and he informed them.He wanted to get back to the facility as soon as possible to get help for his mum. He was not so certain that leaving his mom inside the storehouse for a long time was a good idea as well.So he ran as quietly as possible to the truck and the others followed.Luckily the truck
Adam threw out his arms to protect his head as the truck tumbled over and over again.Lisa’a scream accompanied the crashing sound of the truck.The tools in the toolbox tumbled out, and Adam felt a sharp sting as something struck his arms.Another sharp cry rang out just before the truck stopped at a precarious position near the bend of the road.Adam raised his head to see Layla holding on tightly to the door with one hand, with her other hand tightly cinched around the neck of the steering wheel.Her legs were splayed over the compartment divider, almost touching the roof of the truck.She blew her mahogany mane out of her face as she turned her head towards Adam.Adam could see a cut above her brow.“Is…”The scream came again, more agonising this time around.She turned her neck sharply towards the source and winced with pain as Adam scrambled up from where he was thrown across the dashboard.He felt a sharp pain on his back where the truck's front glass had broken against his ba