On Death's Doorstep

[bloodsrain]

He didn't have much time to think, he was running out of time and quickly, he needed to think fast, but his options were limited, the chances of him being able to kill all of them before they got to him was very unlikely, his best option was to retreat to his bedroom and try to get out the back window, he hoped the whole house wasn't surrounded by the infected. He quickly dashed to the back of the house and through his room, as he began to push the bed into the way of the door frame, that should hold them for a while.

Mason moved to his back window and began to remove the boards on the windows, they were starting to rot away anyways, it was a painstaking process because of his own stupidity to leave the hammer back in the kitchen, but he didn't have any time to retrieve it. Before he knew it though they were at the door and bashing at it like wild animals, they were hitting hard and that door wasn't going to stay up forever Mason thought, time to panic.

He began to violently rip the planks off the walls with all his strength, several splinters getting into his hands from the rotted and misshapen planks, only a few more left and he could escape, hopefully not to be eaten alive.

[ballerscuba]

Davey stopped attacking as the giant thing, since he almost refused to look at it. He was experiencing the strange sensation of hesitance towards a minor threat simply because it was still new and he felt like he was the first to see it. He slowly lowered his pistol as it became clear the thing was fully gone.

"Freaking Leeroy--" Davey's reference was cut off as he heard the sound of Ichiru's scolding. He quietly holstered his pistol and adjusted his helmet. "--Jenkins," he said under his breath. His shoulders hunched over as he continued to adjust his helmet. He breathed in deeply. "Could it be true?" he thought. "Does she find me annoying? Me? Of all people? I mean, what has Harrison ever done? He couldn't tell Kerrigan from Seven of Nine from Lois Lane, even if I had labels for them! I've seen the way he looks at her. He obviously only wants one thing. One of these days, I'll find out what that one thing is, but my mom tells me it's bad that he wants it!"

He lifted up his helmet slightly and wiped the sweat from his brow. "You know," he thought, "that's probably what happened here. Harrison has been whispering sweet nothings into Ichiru's ear when I'm not looking. This has nothing to do with me. This is all his fault! It must be!" Davey adjusted his helmet again. He began walking back to the group. As he passed J.P., he put his hand on J.P.'s shoulder and lifted up his helmet.

"Good work, there, kid. Good to have you back among the living. I was scared we lost you for a bit, there." He put his helmet back on and continued walking back to Ichiru and Harrison.

Davey adjusted his helmet again. "The only reason Ichiru would be mad," he thought, "is because she's worried about me. Aww, our first lover's quarrel. I knew she had it in her. Hopefully I can help her contain her feelings for me. Don't want the other two getting too jealous. You never know when the beta males are going to push me into stampeding wildebeests." A tear started to form in Davey's eye. "No," he thought. "I have to man up and not let it fall. Umm...something manly...umm...Diablo...Fallout...Warcraft. For the Horde!" His hand tensed up into a fist at this last thought and the tear dissipated.

Davey walked up to Ichiru. He had thought of something really cool to say. He looked her straight in the eye, and instantly lost his nerve. "I-" the words came out like a squeal from a piglet. "I forgive you."

"Close enough," he thought as he turned to Harrison. "I will be watching you," he said to Harrison, pointing two fingers to his eyes, then stretching out one finger to Harrison, and then walked past him. He then turned around. "Oh, and I got a question for you: CAN YOU DEAL WITH THAT?" he said as he did his best movie kung fu moves.

"So," he said after his threat was made clear, "more party members? I've always liked the five man party."

[thatfallout3guy]

"I talked them down. They won't be bothering us anymore," Lewis said to Melissa.

Cassidy seemed to burst from the closet as she tackled Lewis' leg, hugging it tight enough to make herself a pants accessory, "Did you make the bad people go away?" Cass asked, looking up to Lewis.

Lewis gave Cass a quick chuckle, rubbing her head a bit, "They weren't bad people, Cass. Just... scared. But yes, they did go away."

Turning his attention back to Roy and Melissa, Lewis took a more serious tone, "We need to find everyone else. They should be back soon, so if we head to Secronom, we should be able to find them along the way. After that..." Lewis paused, looking outside in the directions of what was surely now the burning remains of the pawn shop. He let out a small sigh, turning back, "we can find a new place to live. Take a breather for a minute or two, then we need to get a move on."

[arentheawesome]

Ichiru gave a heavy sigh of relief when the beast fell, holstering her gun and walking over to the creature just to kick it. Glancing over to JP, she was about to approach and help with patching him up, but she noticed Davey coming up to her out of the corner of her eye, blinking and standing straight, folding her arms. At the statement she received, she seemed confused, lifting a brow. However, watching him further, she rolled her eyes with a sigh. Davey was just that kind of nerd, she guessed. Didn't make it any less annoying or ridiculous.
Finally, Ichiru knelt near JP and looked over the bound wound, making an anxious face and furrowing her brow up at him, laughing nervously.
"Ah, feel free to take a little breather. We don't have many plans, besides maybe see what those people are up to," she patted his shoulder, asking if he needed anything, willing to comply if it was something she could do. Once finished, she approached Harrison and gave him a smile after a sigh.
"As long as no one dies today, or disappears... Then I'm fine." she mumbled, rubbing her arm. "I'd... Well, if they attack us, I don't want to be the one to kill a human. If that's alright." She glanced to the side with a furrowed brow, still remembering Harrison and Davey's kills yesterday... And shuddering.

Migaki was on the verge of tears when they approached the team, and as soon as Brian stopped, Migaki slipped off of him, stumbling a few steps closer by accident. When a gun was pointed at her, she squeaked, eyes wide, trembling. She took a shallow breath and crept behind Brian again, hiding behind his shoulder. At the demand of their 'story', Migaki stammered before speaking clearly.
"I-I... Lucy wanted to see if you were friendly. Was going to come back and inform us. But... She looked like she was ditching us, I'm sorry," Migaki whimpered, holding her side tight. This stress was making her ache.
"L-Lucy..." Migaki muttered as she started to speak, panting softly as pain shot through her side, shifting. She looked between the gun-wielder and Lucy nervously, her hands trembling. She gripped her clothes to keep it hidden. Hiding her face behind Brian's shoulder, she looked to Lucy from behind him, hiding from the one with the gun. She mouthed 'don't leave' with desperate eyes, holding the back of Brian's clothes with her free hand.

[sleix]

There was no clear way across to the store without the infected noticing them, and his knife wasn't going to do much against them either, this was out of his hands unless he acted as a meat shield, which he wasn't prepared to do for somebody he met only yesterday, although it felt like months, the days went so slowly now, something Phil resented in a zombie apocalypse.

Had the epidemic spread across the country, the world even? Was anything Phil once knew existent anymore? Phil needed to know, and what if he did survive this, to keep living in a world like this? The thought of going back to the world he knew was the only thing keeping him going by a thread. "A cure for cancer huh? Ironic," He thought to himself.

[kain17335]

Alex too a set forwards, his boot pressing against the rusted metal of the fallen fence below him. He raised his hand as he turned around, gesturing to Phil to follow. Alex was lucky, in a way, with there being only two enemies in front of him, save the ones that crowded around their next destination, nothing that he hadn't done before. Though each infected in their own right were unique in their behavior towards their next meal.
Quickly, Alex made his way to the nearest car, bending low to try at be as quiet as possible. He leaned against it, hoping the the infected on the other side that was walking against a different car would not notice them. Though it quickly smelt something interesting, because it slowly turned around, a low dull groan coming from it as it raised its arms. As if trying to reach out and grab whatever it could smell.
Alex wondered, could Philip attract the beast towards him and allow Alex to get rid of it? Philip certainly could be able to do the same, the kitchen knife would incapacitate this infected if it were struck from behind, in the right place, of course.

That sort of move wasn't exactly common knowledge from what Alex knew, learning it from a failed survivor with a combat knife, though he did not survive it, the idea seemed as if it would work.
"Do you think you could take it down?" Alex asked, turning his head to the boy next to him, at least Alex should know if Philip could actually kill anything, the blood on his blade could be that of a fellow survivor for all he knew, which were far simpler to kill.

[lukuz13]

July 7th, 2022 Thursday. Huntington, West Virginia

-Brian was surprised. He had acted before he thought, the pressure of the coming undead had made him panic. Suddenly feeling far more ashamed of himself, he turned his eye down when Lucy alerted him that yes, in fact that IS what she was doing, she was simply being cautious.
"I...I'm sorry." He muttered to Lucy suddenly. "I just, I saw the infected coming down the street, and I-" He was cut off as the woman ahead of him opened fire, causing Brian to flinch as if he were already dead. Instead, a thud came from behind the three, and they could see several dead sprinters laying on the ground twitching violently as they tried to force their forsaken bodies to move again.
"Can we please move this along? We don't exactly have all day." The woman ahead of them muttered, now more annoyed then angry that she had gotten most of the story. Brian quickly gave a nod, and made a nudge towards Migaki.
"Y-Yes...we have wounded, so-" He started, before she glanced over to the girl.
"Yeah, I see that. Orders are orders though." She gave a more general smirk, perhaps simply meant for herself. "Com'on, we won't wait for you." She said, turning to move again, apparently having walked this far, however far it was. Brian quickly sped up to follow, slowing down once he was reminded of the woman on his back, and turned to Lucy.
"Hey, they seem fine don't they? It's better then staying here and being overwhelmed...I am sorry, though." He muttered more subtly. "I should have known better." He stated softly, generally feeling ashamed of his assumption.

-Ripping the planks from the door, Mason finally managed to open the window after what must have been years, the rust and hings of the thing nearly snapped at his touch, but they finally opened in time for the first piece of the door to break in. An infected fist, quickly turning into a claw, began to desperately rip at the door, trying to quite literally, tear it to pieces to get at the prize inside. Looking out the window, Mason could see the fire escape, old as it seemed, waiting for him to make his escape. Grabbing what little he could, he made his way out onto it, just as he heard the door began to break again.

-Harrison rose an eyebrow at the look Davey gave him, before the warning came out, suddenly feeling oddly...more unsettled...by that idea. Still, he brushed it off, and turned to Ichiru.
"We'll stick together I think, so don't worry." He gave a more relaxed smile, trying to calm her nerves. When the question of killing more people came to mind, he gave a more reluctant response. "I...think we'll just pass them by if they look dangerous. No need in wasting time there anyway." He stated softly, trying not to let it show how uncomfortable the idea made him. It wasn't like he enjoyed such things, it was just sometimes...

-Everyone seemed in agreement with Lewis' plan, not really sure what to do after being rendered homeless again. Suddenly, Eric spoke up at Lewis' suggestion with a concern.
"You think we'll be able to meet them along the way? The map said it was pretty far...I-I mean, we should probably pick a car to drive there or something. It'll save us time." He suggested, glancing to the vehicles around them. "...You know, one that's in half decent working order at least, heh."

[thatfallout3guy]

Lewis looked to Eric, scratching the back of his head as he spoke, "That'd be a pretty good idea if me and Harrison hadn't already checked most of the cars. The only ones we found that were in any decent shape wouldn't crank. Unless you know a mechanic, we gotta hoof it."

Jake poked his head up at the mention of a mechanic, a smile on his face, "Already got one, driver!"

Lewis jerked his head towards Jake with a shocked look, "Huh... well, alright then. If I remember right, there's an old hippie van just a couple blocks over. If you can get that running, we'd be set."

Jake nodded in response, "No problem, boss man."

Lewis turned back to the street, and began to make his way to the direction of the van, "Stay close together, and don't let your guard down. It's not that far, but all that noise might bring attention. Cass, Melissa, you two stay near the middle of the group. Roy, you take point with me. Eric and Jake, watch our backs. If anyone sees anything even slightly out of the ordinary, let everyone else know. Got it?" He asked, looking over the group.

[Rygand]

J.P looked down at his now wrapped up torso, scratching his cheek, in thought. He carefully reached a hand over, and ran it across the bandages gingerly. Sore, certainly, but he could probably even run if he didn't make any sudden movements. "Good", he thought as he nodded to himself.

As Davey came up to him and gave his compliment, J.P just nodded with a lopsided, awkward smile adorning his face. He was never sure how to react to... just about anything Davey did. Seeing his face was always a strange experience, too. He had seen infinitely more of the cracked and beaten mask than the man's actual face, that was for sure.

He waved off Ichiru dismissively, putting on a strong front. "It's just a flesh wound. I'm fine, honestly." The boy dragged himself and his satchel up, slinging the heavy bundle over his shoulder. He then dusted his raggedy clothes down with his hands, before heading over to the corpse of the special infected they took down. He looked at it suspiciously for a while, before hunching over and grabbing Zombiebane by its handle. The nails had dug in deep, so it took the boy a while to rip his trusty weapon out of the monster's shoulder.

He looked over his shoulder at the rest of the group, beckoning them to get a move on with his hand. "We shouldn't stand around for too long. Breathers are best had when we're not in imminent danger of being zombie chow." With that said, J.P headed towards where they had heard the gunfire from.

[bloodsrain]

Mason climbed out the window and slammed it shut behind him, better to not let them climb out onto the fire escape with him, this thing felt like it was going to fall down under his feet, it was a few flights down but he could probably get down quick enough, he donned his glock and began to climb down the fire escape one foot at a time, every step it felt like the thing was going to collapse on him, some of the hand rails felt like even putting any weight on it would be like snapping it in half, this shoddy making of fire escapes disappointed him.

He kicked down the ladder at the end of the fire escape and climbed down silently, he crouched himself close to the floor and began to think of a course of action. "Well, house is over-runned, if im going to get back in there im going to need help, im running out of water and food, should probably check out some of the nearby shops for a place to rest." he muttered to himself reassuringly, he didn't think himself that would work, but he was out of options.

[sleix]

Firmly gripping his knife, Phil turned to Alex, "Sure thing."

He crouched around the back of the car, quickly looking round to make sure no infected were approaching and got directly behind his target, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach, the confidence he had shown Alex was merely a character he had painted himself as. He slowly stood up to get level with the zombie and prepped himself to kill it.

[arentheawesome]

Ichiru nodded silently to Harrison, giving him a wary, nervous look before turning back to watch J.P head off. She reached up to give Harrison's sleeve a squeeze before releasing him and trotting after J.P. She glanced at Davey and slowed down to his pace a moment, somewhat awkward for a second. Debating on whether she would approach him about what just happened, Ichiru suddenly shook her head and sped up again. Nah, he'd forget all about it, she was certain of it. Either that, or he would make himself forget, or something like that.
"Hurry up, slow pokes," Ichiru tossed over her shoulder at the other boys, trotting close behind J.P.

Migaki flinched when the armed woman barked at them, glancing back at the horde closing in on them. Clinging to Brian's shirt, she reached out to Lucy as if to step toward the girl. She was about to hug Lucy's arm before Brian scooped her up again, and, with a wince, Migaki settled against his back, frowning.
"Stop, I'm heavy," she complained close to his ear, half-heartedly protesting. She glanced over to Lucy.
Migaki had truly believed that the woman had intentions of leaving, and was quite afraid of such a thing. In this world, you cared for the people you were with, and were with the people you cared for. Lucy was Migaki's friend now, and friends needed to look out for each other. She had been shattered when it looked as if Lucy were leaving, but now... Now Migaki was just relieved that they were all staying together again, and possibly in safer company.

[ThatOneGuysBro]

He ran aimlessly, a crimson moon now hanging in the night sky. Like ink blots the world before him seemed to be swallowed by tangible shadows. Simply looking at them for too long a time gave him an ailing sense of blindness. The world he'd spent some unknown time in was unraveling at the seams. He felt like he was in a coloring book and reality was subject to the crayon strokes of, perhaps not a child, but something just as curious in nature, and morbidly so. A terrifying experience.

And once again a past hidden from the man slithered its whispers behind his ears.
"Weeeeeak..." Broken faces slathered in blood, rancid, peeling, rotten, filled with raw and aimless malice, bellowing like morbid things as they ground their horrors into his sanity.

Desperately as he made his way into the apartment he grew into a nagging state of dizziness, leaving him to scrounge for a shaky composure. The shatter of glass felt like sharp stabbing wounds in his already shattering mind. The flight to the upper levels of the building felt an Odyssey of its own, seeming to bend and wind, and he could even swear, to shift under his feet.

Upon passing the threshold of the second floor room and turning around to see the girl upon its brink he moved to grab her and draw her inside before she uttered those haunting words.
"D-Daddy! It's mommy! Mommy's back!"

'Mommy? Back?' He could only fathom what she meant until the hunching shadow from down the hall limped closer and closer when he felt something overcome him. When he intended to reach out a hand to the girl he instead found his foot in her back as he promptly shut the door, only a brief glance at the face of the betrayed before it slammed. His body was no longer his. Now only his thoughts were his alone as he scorned himself, screaming in his mind to rescue her. He tried and tried to move his body, but the vain struggle sapped his will quickly. The expression on her face terrified him... and so did all the more the screams.

As this coloring book reality began to blot shadows in greater strokes he felt his strength leave him as if he was being dragged out of the body that was his for only so ephemeral a time. He felt cold and his lids dropped like iron curtains. And then all was black...

Awakening after who knows how long in the same ice-cold liquid as before John found himself back in the pitch dark imprisonment. He gave no resistance as the long thin appendages squeezed his throat. Unbeknownst to him two great red moons now loomed above as if gazing down on him, void of any luminescence. As the two red beads trailed off, as if to reveal something, John looked on weakly in half-expectancy as most of his energy waned before falling back to unconsciousness.

Upon revival the blackness of the room seemed to have faded, faint silhouettes standing like tall spectral figures off the flickering incandescence that peeked between the crack of an open door but a few paces away. Limp and numb at first he felt like he was buried under some invisible weight. Bright and vibrant in the dark room, almost glowing, the red puddle served like an anodyne to his aching senses. He rose an arm, and like a hefty Cedar it plummeted on to the puddle with shocking force. The red substance splashed across the room and onto his face.

A fierce propensity roused him. Without a thought he charged the door, and with the fling of his arm, unhinged it as it flew across the hall. Flames swallowed the staircase and slowly edged towards the hulking beast that emerged from John's cell. The grotesque spawn of overgrown muscles stood tall, nearly hunching under the constraints of the ceiling. It supported itself on its long bulky arms like strong pillars. With an explosive belch the flames burst forth in explosion.

A large chunk of the second floor of the apartment was blown agape. High in the air the figure shadowed before the moon as it leaped. A bestial echo reverberated through the emptiness of that part of the city as it crushed its arms into the roof of an unsuspecting van. Bright embers danced on the monster's back, arms and head as it continued to roar over the car's alarm that had since begun to alert screaming by-standards. By now it seemed more of the city had been cradled into the gory nightmare that awaited as people began to crowd the once empty neighborhood.

With a small leap the monster found its arm lodged into the vehicle. It pounded the car relentlessly, a new alarm sounding with each thunderous smashing. Picking up the dented bulk of metal with both arms now free it was thrown a far distance before scrapping across the cement with flying sparks. To the beast's attention a cess-conglomerate of the same red substance began to congeal around the car. Treading the red carpet that led to it the thing came across the lower portion of a body severed cleanly into at the waist. Animalistically it bent to smell it before dangling it above its head and crunching on flesh and bone.

Before it had a chance to pursue its course burried under the scrap of the van several other vans began to pour into the streets. S.W.A.T. teams had begun to sweep the city. Uniformly lining up-and-out they formed a semi-circle before it, barrels locked on. As an officer's stiff hand cleaved down through the air the beast felt an impaling number of nuisances shallowly burry itself in its back. The gunfire lasted the team's full round of ammunition before the thing clenched its shoulders and tightened its back.

Some of the bullets began to protrude from their burrow and fall clanking to the ground as the men were ordered to reload with haste. Slowly the beast turned around, blood smeared about its lips as it seemed to mimic a smile with an angled tip of its head. Another flurry pecked at its upper body and several scathed its face only to provoke the inquisitively brusque oddity. The commanding officer cried out in disdain.
"Why can't you men hit a single target?!"
"Sir, we can't hit that thing properly from this range." another replied.
"Then get closer!"

The men were reluctant to do so before it fashioned its fists like hammers and slammed its forearms into the cement repeatedly. With one last potent slam of contestment it rose its arms to prop itself to its usual composure as rubble that dug into its skin began to fall back to the road. A pair of shallow depressions were left with two slightly deeper impressions made where its fist met the rock. After a brief standstill that felt to the men like stifled minutes on end the titan charged at remarkable speed. Using its arms to pole vault in a swinging motion it brought its massive hands down on the men who fired back almost instantaneously. Two were planted into the ground crumpled and disconfigured under its weight. Running past the firers and past the S.W.A.T. vans it turned back as it was pursued. With an impressive range of its arm it swung its arm against the van, the men caught between it and its arm. Its arm swung again and again until bloody imprints soiled their uniforms. Their mid-sections were crushed and their backs were battered.

A mass of humans were fleeing in its direction from another large bulk of muscles that stood in a different build of flesh with greater speed. The two hulking menaces virtually ignored one another as the fear and confusion bred into their prey allowed them to slaughter them in a pincer. As a woman in sweats came past the corner of sight of the S.W.A.T. vans the beast, with incredible reflex, swiftly caught her by the leg and grabbing the other separated her from one of them as it flung the rest of her over its head in one fluid motion. It nibbled then chomped on what it had obtained as a broken half-shin splat to the ground.

Soon what were once humans were now of breed kin to the rapacious beast but of stature similar to what they once were. Before long some of the streets began to quiet as prey became sparse.

[woosleepdeprivation]

Lucy broke off her impassive gaze with a vigorous shake of the head; this was charming, and a little satisfying, but weren't they on the run? She snapped back into an alert a state as she could, pausing briefly to return Migaki a smile. And then: "Yeah, thanks. We...should really get going, now that we're all together and in their hands." So far so good. Looks like none of us blustered out with something regrettable. And we move on.

Off, away, in the distance, she could hear the baying of the encroaching horde - and shivered, tightening the straps on her bag in preparation. Yet a stray thought rose to the surface, even as they exchanged nods with the military personnel, weapons being tended to. "Oh," she started absently, then her look changed as she remembered. "Brian, Brian! Did you bring my shotgun? I planned to fetch it once I'd finished scouting - do you have it?" Immediately, her mind brought up - near automatically, scary thing - the mental count of the ammunition she'd left, the firm stock making a red mark on her shoulder amidst the hell...drat! She fixed the stray hair from her eye and marched over to Brian, hand outreached, expectant, her eyes far less demure.

[lukuz13]

July 7th, 2022 Thursday. Huntington, West Virginia

-Everyone nodded at Lewis' orders, most of them getting up close and making sure not to let others lag behind as they circled the block, looking for this van he spoke of. It only took a few moments, as the streets were still clean from the week of cleaning they did. However, the distant sound was growing and they would soon be coming to investigate all the terrible noise that disturbed their city.

Jake was able to make out that, yes, the van was still functional, but it needed a few parts. After scavenging a few of the vehicles nearby (And a well placed auto shop), the van looked like it was nearly ready to start, all it needed was some gas. Jake would find that, even with his skills, the van was hardly in decent condition, all he could promise would be that it'd be able to run. Draining the gas from the surrounding cars only netted them a small amount, but it would have to be enough. By now, the hordes had begun to flood the block, the gunfire and shouting from before seeming to have attracted thousands of the bastards, a veritable ocean of bodies.

-And with that, Harrison gathered his troops and went further down the street, towards the previous sounds of gunfire. Now, however, it was silent, all except for an odd metal rattling and the sound of muffled carnivorous undead. The group walked no farther then a few blocks before they spotted a man, in his early thirties at least, dressed in an old red lab coat that was quite worn in appearance. He held a pistol in hand as he slid down a rusty old fire escape,

Mason turned from the fire escape to see a group of four, all especially well armed. Three were men, one was a woman, and one of those men appeared to have on a Darth Vader helmet on his head. Other then that, they looked thin, but reasonably healthy considering the circumstances.

-Brian gave a small laugh at the woman's protest on his back, shaking his head and whispering a soft "Hush, you're fine. I can handle it." He insisted to Migaki, trying to keep the woman at both a steady rhythm to keep ahead of the monsters behind them.
"Ah? Yeah, yes, I have it." He assured her, pointing to the rather large bag, as well as the woman on his back. Despite his claim, it did look quite heavy. "What you left inside should be on top. I packed in a hurry." He pointed with a thumb as he continued the trek.

At this speed, the group seemed to be able to keep ahead of the march behind them, more and more stragglers, failing to keep up past the growing number of obstructions in the streets, cars, fallen telephone posts, all manner of debris.
"So since you folks are coming home with us." The woman spoke as they made the march. "Maybe you can tell me a little about how you survived up till now? You have to be something special to survive this long, huh?" He pried at the trio, more out of curiosity and, perhaps boredom for the trip would take a while yet.

-As Phil closed in on the zombie, it groaned half heartily as it gazed up into the sky, when suddenly the sound of Phil's knife sliding into the beast's brain quieted the groan quickly. The beasts moved so slow like this...it was frighteningly easy to take a life these days. The zombies at the doorway of the building still idly swatted at the door, as if they wanted what was inside for some unknown purpose.

-Blood, bodies, chaos, death. For miles it seemed to stretch on and on, as the boy felt his mind, whatever small fragment remained within, slowly become absorbed in something...greater...stronger...something larger then himself. From the edges of his vision, the blackness clouded forward again, but this time...felt inviting, almost like a blanket of cold velvet shadow. There, from within this void, came the voice again, stronger then before, almost to the point it rocked the boy's whole head.
"Strong." It nearly commanded, each bloody pearl piercing the veil like before, but this time the hand was no longer at the boy's neck. It was no longer needed. Instead, the inky shadow that had swallowed the boy's ankles and midsection before now enveloped all below his neck. The thick liquid felt easily as tight as, if not tighter, then the hand on his throat, making it difficult to remain conscious now. The eyes drew closer, and again, the monster's actual form appeared present. Despite what John's mind what him to see, or perhaps, what the monster wanted him to see, the being was in fact, not pure shadow. In fact, it had a face, dark, twisted and skeletal as it was. It's eyes were large and deep, sunken into it's head nearly to the point of evaporating all together. It's bony features were hidden by dark flesh stretched over the frame. Despite it's decrepit state, the monster appeared shockingly well preserved...like a mummy nearly. It's body was, indeed, hidden by a long ruined lab coat. A symbol caught John's eye, but the creature forced the man to return his gaze back up, forced to see the abnormally large skull that this bony monster somehow managed to lift. No matter how old the body appeared, however, it never stumbled.
Suddenly it reached out, blinding John with the long thin fingers and slowly pushing the boy down into the cold thick liquid as it whispered in a rasp just before the boy lost consciousness.
"Im...mor...tal...ity."


John awoke with a start, his chest pounding from the most physical nightmare he had ever had, his vision still blurry, especially now that the sun was rising and clearing away the fog that once encased the boy. Awaking in a small puddle of rain water, the area surrounding John would remain barren, of both all undead and general movement at all. There was, however, still the faint scent of smoke in the air.