Pain can drive you insane.

Pain can give you madness.

I was full of pain.

The room I was currently in reminded me of my apartment. Flickers of light slipped through the curtains’ holes on the window, breaching into the dark room. The air felt extremely humid.

My head, filled with emptiness, throbbed. The aortas there pulsated with extreme speed, pumping sinful blood to my brain and the rest of my system.

Before waking up, my dream was filled with images… images about everything that had happened to me.

I tried to scan more of the room, but it was just another uninteresting bedroom with bad smell. I checked the condition of my body. Everything was broken.

I struggled to move my feet an inch. I gazed at my stomach and bandages were everywhere, and when I tried to touch it, it stung.

My appearance almost looked as bad as a predator; pale and wrecked.

I realized, at that moment, that I was a mistake. TALVID-20 wasn’t the cause of an infection, but I was. I regretted so many decisions that I made. If I didn’t bring Velna along with me, she would’ve been alive. Someone else would pick her up and maybe she would survive. 

“Hi, Ti.”

The smooth voice shocked me until I almost jumped in my bed. I investigated the source of the sound until I found a chair right across my bed.

Again, it was Ashley, but she wore something different, and she looked different. She wore a light yellow sweater (her favorite color), but was thoroughly stained with dark liquid serenading her whole body. She was blanketed in dead flesh and blood, and her skin pale, and her eyes white.

I saw her clearly, like it wasn’t a hallucination. I saw her actually sitting in there, smiling. Her tangled blond hair danced around her fingers.

A cut on her neck distracted me from her beautiful face. Black blood streamed from there, unstoppable, staining more and more of her clothes, drenching her skin. It flowed naturally, and she didn’t even mind, like it was normal.

“Wh- how?”

“I’m not real, Ti, as you can see. I’m dead.”

I didn’t answer. I was too scared to move, too depressed to talk. Her dimly illuminated form gave her a menacing look, something you’d see in a horror movie.

Seconds passed and she kept waiting for me to speak. I finally did.

“Why- what? What are you?”

“I told you, I’m your sister. The one you swore to protect. I don’t mind about that, though. It was not your fault that I died. I won’t blame you.”

She moved her jellied leg and rose to her feet. The blood flowing from her neck spurt out, splashing here and there uncontrollably. Some drops even splashed to my face.

Fear took hold of me. My eyes turned red.

“But I’m getting very lonely, Ti. I want you to come and accompany me.”

“B- but you said… you said that I have to continue life.”

“I did? Must be because I didn’t know that death is very lonely. And it is very lonely, Ti. Don’t you want to help me? Don’t you want to do anything to make me happy?”

I nodded. I knew where the conversation was going, and I wasn’t even scared of the consequences. She wanted this, and I wanted it too.

Ashley reached her sweater’s pocket and excreted a broken glass, big and sharp. She touched my right hand, and the cold sensation was too real to be a delusion. She was real. She came to me and she asked for my help.

“Just set yourself free, Ti. I’ll be here, waiting.”

I grabbed the shard and held it in front of my eyes. The breaching light from outside was reflected away by the glass. Crystallizing dusts shone with the light, tempting me to use it on me.

Ashley moved back to her chair and sat. She stared at me, waiting for me to do it. 

I hold it closer, and closer, and closer. The glass felt icy when it touched my skin, specifically my neck. I readied myself to slit it, to end it all and live happily with my sister in an endless stream on fading conscience. 

But before I had the chance, the room’s door blared open and Chase burst inside. He looked pale and surprised when he saw me with the glass shard. It was right on my neck.

“Ti, no!”

He ran to me, dropping the food he was bringing. He dashed forward, quick and sleek, and he snatched the glass before I dared to even move a muscle. I stoned out, and my eyes searched for Ashley. She wasn’t inside the room anymore. She was gone.

Berta stepped inside just after hearing the fuzzes. Chase threw the shard across the room.

Then, a whisper hauled from my left ear.

“I’ll be waiting, Ti.”

It was her voice.

Suddenly, my pupils dilated. The world around me seemed to fade, and the only epoch existed was at that moment. The urge to slit my throat with that shard Ash gave me kicked me. The sudden rush of adrenaline rose up and charged my brain. All the pain that plastered my body disappeared, and I didn’t realize when I dove straight for the shard on the floor.

Chase quickly stepped in my way and tried to hold me.

“Ti, stop!”

He was locking my body from moving, but I flanked him until he bounced off me. Berta flew in and grabbed both my hands, but she wasn’t strong enough for mad me. I danced backwards and without having control of my body, I kicked her right on the belly with my knee. She fell down, panting beside Chase. 

I saw the shimmering glass. Its sharp edge made me thirsty. Ashley’s face appeared in my head, charging me up with another rush.

And I seized the glass from below the table. I readied myself.

And the sudden stream of pain knocked the back of my head. I dropped to the ground. Pain tickled every part of my system. I saw Clara with a shovel, standing breathily behind me.

She took a deep breath and banged me again with another hit.

And it brought my madness down. I blacked out right there, right then.

−

It felt like a paradox. It felt like déjà vu. It felt like a dream.

I woke up in the same room, in the same bed, with the same wounds. The only difference was that my friends were there, all of them.

My head was in a countdown to an explosion so it seemed. I felt that a train just ran me over.

Then I saw the chair again… the chair which Ashley rested in. That chair was occupied by Jon.

No one saw me awoke. They were discussing over something, but I heard only muffles. My ears rang like they shouldn’t be.

I tried to move my arms, but something strained me from doing it. Two cable ties locked both my wrists from moving, tying me to the rim of the bed. Same thing happened with my two ankles. 

“Let me go,” I said in a sudden. 

Everyone turned their heads to me. It was an awkward and kinda scary moment. I realized I knocked both Chase and Berta out, but my head wasn’t in the temperature to apologize. I only saw pity in their eyes, and they only saw madness in mine.

“Ti, you’re not getting out of bed until you heal. You’re hallucinating badly. I’m sorry, but we have to do this. Otherwise you’re going to hurt someone, or yourself,” Jon answered in a compassionate manner. He was speaking clearly like a psychiatrist.

“You don’t understand,” I answered with tears starting to run from my eyes. “She needs me. She’s super lonely. I need to be there with her.”

“Be where?” Chase asked. I seemed to notice his angry expression a bit.

“Up there with Ash. She’s alone and I can keep her company. Please send me up there with her!”

Chase moved back, circling closer to stand with Berta and Clara. 

“Is she okay, Jon?” he asked.

John shrugged.

“She’s okay, you dumb fuck!” I didn’t realize that I screamed those monstrous words to Chase. He didn’t bother to respond. His eyes stared towards Jon who was observing me like I was a test subject.

“Does she have like a mental breakdown or something?” Chase asked again.

“I don’t know. All I know is that we can’t untie her. No one let her go! Understood?”

Jon’s command got nodding reactions from everyone… everyone but me. My face turned red when he said that. My blood boiled and I was ready to explode. I started spitting and barking some unearthly profanities towards each of them, and they started to pour out from the room, leaving me alone. I buckled and resisted. I tried so hard to let myself free, while I shouted more words to them. I lost control of my head. I felt like a robot being controlled by a mastermind.

I was imprisoned inside my own head, concealed from the logical sane reality by madness and delusions. I tortured myself inside, and I was hurt outside. Something did happen to my brain, something bad.

I felt like I was starting to lose myself. Everything that happened changed me, and I just wanted for it to stop. I wanted to stop. I wanted to be there with Ashley in peace.

But it was no use. I had almost no energy, and the four cable ties wrapped my ankles and wrists pretty strongly. 

I didn’t stop to struggle for hours, and when the energy inside me died down, I went to a restless sleep. I plunged into a nightmare.

−

I heard birds chirping outside, telling me that it was morning. I woke up for the third time in the same bed. I felt my pants wet and my top drenched. I was just a mess.

The day was young, or so it seemed. The sun hadn’t appeared just yet.

But I was untied. 

I rose slowly and quietly, making as less sound as possible. The room was almost entirely dark if it wasn’t for the small candle on top of the table. I thought it was probably six in the morning.

I peeked through the window to see what was going on outside. I saw a couple of predators walking around aimlessly. Some even hissed and stooped over each other. It was probably a miracle that my fuzzes yesterday didn’t attract them at all. Or maybe it did and my friends put them down.

Am I still in Anderson?

Then, I watched something interesting. I noticed two figures behind a rolled over pickup truck. They were wearing dark hoodies and caps, and they seemed to be carrying large packs. I focused my vision on them, interested. They were just across the street, but it wasn’t a small street so they were pretty damn far.

After the taller person nodded to the shorter one, they just burst out and ran noiselessly towards another car at the center of the street. I counted that there were six predators that could hear them if they made noises. They wouldn’t make it. 

We must be just outside Anderson if there’re predators. 

They eyed the house I was in, and I stepped back so they didn’t see me. Something about them freaked me out. I never dealt with good strangers before, other than my friends.

When they were about to run for it, a predator suddenly saw them and hissed. Then, all six of the predators hissed at them. 

I saw the taller person cussed loudly and tried to outrun the predators, but the shorter person stumbled on the crossroad. The taller person reached for a baseball bat behind their back and started smashing the first predator. It seemed that the shorter person’s ankle was injured.

And then I saw it. The shorter person… was Chase. And the taller person was Clara. She tried to fight the single predator, and almost got bit several times. She suddenly kicked its knees and bashed its brain once and for all, but more were coming.

There was no time to run. These guys were too quick.

Bursting out from the house was Berta. She smacked the first predator on her way with a crowbar, and Jon came out later with a knife. They stabbed their ways out of there until all six of the predators were down.

Suddenly, we all could hear a frantic rumbling of engine from somewhere. A vehicle must’ve been heading this way.

Out of nowhere, from the south, a black SUV drove pass and threw two molotovs to the street. The flame danced near our house, attracting the horde of predators towards the house.

And thousands of predators came tumbling like in cartoons. They came from the direction of the SUV. That stupid car led them here.

I tried to get out there and help them, but the door was locked. I shouted, but obviously no one heard me. They were too busy surviving.

I slammed the door with everything I had. It wouldn’t budge. I moved back anxiously towards the window to witness the treachery and horror. The window was also too small for me to crawl out.

There were so many predators coming. You couldn’t even fit all of them in the range of your vision. 

Where the hell did they come from?

They all came from different sizes and looks. Berta took one shot and regrouped with the others towards the house.

I heard Clara’s muffled voice talked, “Need to let the asshole out.”

Clara let my room’s door to open. I flung outside and slapped her in the face, then I ran towards Chase who lied on the couch with all his face turned red.

He was crying. It was not his injured ankle that bothered him, but the fact that he almost died out there. 

And then the terror arrived. From every corner and every side of the house came knocking and rumbling. Those predators hissed and roared angrily outside, demanding for us to open the door. The entire block was swarmed with them.

“How much ammo do we have?” I asked.

“Not enough,” Berta said.

“Where’s all these fucking predators coming from?” Clara still rested her palm on her cheek. I did slap her.

Jon was scurrying to the kitchen, gathering sharp tools that he could use as weapons. He said, “Maybe from that shelter thing that you found. You said there were many predators there.”

“Yeah… like ninety percent of the town’s inhabitants must be there.”

“Exactly. That military SUV led them here. They must’ve let them all out.”

Jon stopped talking when the chaos started. 

Predators hit the windows and doors and walls. The house was literally shaking, and the constant noises agitated us all. One even managed to make a little crack on the front window. Soon, they would start entering the house. We would soon be cornered appetizers if we didn’t do a thing. We would die as feasts to them. Our ribs and limbs would be torn apart, ripped to pieces.

And I saw it, the same fear in Chase’s eyes. I saw those eyes before. Those eyes belonged to Ashley the moment she slit her throat. Those eyes belonged to the tortured boy in front of the Walmart, seconds before that punk burned him to crisp. Those eyes belonged to Velna, the moment we rescued her, and the moment before Stellar shot her to death.

I made a promise to Ashley that I would protect her. I failed.

I made a promise to Velna that I would protect her. I failed.

I made a promise to Chase that I would protect him. I hadn’t failed. I didn’t want to fail. 

I would protect everyone. They all needed me. Their lives were in my hands. They had to live.

They just had to live.

−

I laid all the weapons that we had on the countertop. We had a shotgun, an M-16 rifle, a glock pistol, and two Remington pistols Jon and Clara found back at our search in Anderson. Chase also found a short revolver upstairs with barely any bullets left. As for ammo, we weren’t having a ton of them. We did have a crowbar that Berta used, the baseball bat that Clara used, the knife that Jon used, the portable metal baton that Chase just found lying in the middle of a road, and my lovely axe which had murdered countless people.

The problem would be; how did we get out? How could we possibly escape a death land with thousands of predators covering the area?

Jon frowned. “That’s a good question. How?”

“Use your big brain, Johnny.” Clara really turned him on right there, but he didn’t really care.

We were wasting too much time thinking. There were no convenient items like a firework or a portable radio that we could use to distract them.

“We also can’t just pretend to walk like them like in TVs. That’s just not gonna work. We can’t risk it either.”

We ran out of options. They could come in at any time. Several cracks could be seen surrounding the guest room’s windows, and the door would budge soon.

Berta and I scurried down towards the basement of the house to pick up some things. We took so many rolls of duct-tape, dozens of packs of cottons, sheets of rags, a motorcycle helmet and two bike helmets, and some sharper knives to reinforce us.

Upstairs, we were getting ready. I could see all the sweats that my friends had. They were blocking the doors with tables and other furniture.

I stood in the center of them all. “Some of us won’t survive this. I have to distract them the other way. You run and don’t look back.”

“Nah, that’s bullshit. We stick together and we get the hell out of here.”

“There’s too many of them!” I insisted. “I want this, please.”

“Ti. I need you to stay with me. You said you would protect me.” It was Chase. He saw me packing some heavy stuff to my pack. I was serious about leaving.

I kneeled in front of him and rubbed his head. “I’m protecting you this way, Chase. I’m sorry about yesterday, but today, I have to be the hero in this story.”

“I can’t just let you leave like that.”

Jon nodded his head. “You idiotic moron. You think sacrificing yourself would help us out of here? We’ll be dead with one less fighter, Ti.”

I didn’t answer.

“Just look at that!” Jon pointed towards the direction of the window. Predators swarmed everywhere. “We have to stick together to survive. You don’t die unless we say so, okay?”

I nodded slowly. Chase immediately hugged me, and I patted his back.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

We started tearing bedroom and bathroom doors apart. After they were detached, we installed simple handles with some duct-tapes. We made shields out of doors. Shit’s pretty impressive if you see it in person.

Jon smiled at his creations. “Movies really helped me this time.”

We heard the first sprang of shattering glass before we were ready. We ran to the source and saw the small window on the guest room had been breached, but it wouldn’t be big enough for those predators to get in. 

In total, there were four doors that we could use. We planned to cover every side and one person should be the attacker, and that would be me.

We also decided to use those rags and cottons to make some body armors. I wore my sweater and on top of that, cottons and rags were being wrapped up on my body by duct-tapes. My whole body felt so uncomfortable, but it was necessary to keep us alive. It would almost be impossible for human teeth to cut through it.

“Alright, what’s the plan?” Berta was still applying more duct-tapes to Clara. She blanketed her with rags and cloths so thick she looked like an NFL player. Berta also applied the scarf to her neck and duct-taped it. 

We helped each other with the layers. Jon found an igniter lighter and a spray paint and he began to be creative.

Minutes had passed since the chaos outside erupted. I was getting more and more anxious every second.

“Okay,” Jon started. “We have everything we need. Clara, Berta, Chase, and I will be the defenders. We’re covering every side, bunking them out from our bodies. Tiany will be in the middle, stabbing and clearing our paths from closing predators. I must warn you that this is very dangerous and the probability of our survival is low. Also, Chase’s ankle is still recovering.”

As he finished his sentences, one of the bedroom windows just burst open. A loud gasp of the living dead thrilled us like a Dolby speaker. One by one, they started entering from there. It took them awhile to recover from the fall, and also, they stumbled over each other. Berta took the business and stabbed each one.

I put my helmet on. We all breathed hard. Clara said she parked the van just behind the house, inside a staple. Those predators must’ve swarmed it too. 

“Shit, I didn’t think this through.” For the second time, Jon swore. That was a rare occurrence.

“Where should we go?” Chase breathed heavily. He was getting really sweaty. 

Jon shook his head. “There’s no other option. We have to use the van. We have so many stuff there as well.”

“Fuck me,” Clara swore. 

“I agree,” I said. “It’s the only choice for us. How far is the van really?”

She shrugged. “Maybe five hundred feet.”

“So we have to swim in a pool of predators for that length. This should be fun.”

But inside, I was trembling with nerves.

Who would die?

Who’s next?

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Art : https://pin.it/4rs5IrH