Fatal | The Second Life I [COMPLETED]

Chapter 29: Split

This part of the story will begin at the Elevation Festival, at the same time chronologically described in the last 28 chapters, from the rest of the gang's Perspective.

There's always two sides to one coin.

- E V A N -

"Oh my.." I say, throwing down my headset and standing up. An explosion happened outside, and the crowd was panicking. This gave me too many 911 vibes.

I see JP follow suit, and soon we're running away and flooding out of the building with the audience. It's a wonder that we don't get trampled or pushed in this absolute stampede. I lose sight of any friends in the crowd and focus solely on escaping the building.

Shuffling people were pushing me every possible way, and I was about to punch these assholes. As I get ready, though, the crowd diminishes and we get outside. I stumble out into the street, seeing the tower. It was just west of Central Park.

"Evan!" Zach exclaims, and he bursts out of the crowd. He runs to me, and his arm was a little scraped up.

"What happened to your arm?" I question, a little shocked. Caden gets out and runs over, with Nick and JP following soon after.

"Some dickwad shoved me into a doorframe." Zach mutters. "Leg slammed against the hinges. I'm fine."

"Where's Ronnie?" Nick asks, and we all gather in a group of 5. I look to the door, and the stampede was starting to dissipate. There was no sign of him.

"Maybe we should look inside?" Caden asks tentatively. I peer inside, and see only empty hallways.

"Yeah, let-" JP says, before recoiling in shock. "Go. Go! GO!" He screams, and we run. His voice sounded more fearful than ever. We didn't bother to ask him what he saw, but we just ran. The streets were as crowded as ever, and so getting through the blocks wasn't easy.

We stop inside what looks like a Macy's, but no one was here. They had all left, I assume. Part of the crowds on the streets.

"What, the hell did you, see." Nick asks, out of breath. JP looks to the ground, breathing quickly and heavily.

"Some sort of monster." He says. I look at him with one of those 'are you sure about that' faces. "I'm serious." He says.

"Yeah, Okay.." Zach says, laughing. Caden laughs along.

"No, I'm serious!" JP spits out, annoyed. "Like people, but bright red eyes, glowing red veins, running like their legs weren't working!"

"Maybe you saw.. this!" I say, getting up and holding a red watch on the face of a store mannequin. I laugh, and Zach and Caden follow suit. Nick stays strangely silent, which is weird. He would've been the first to laugh at this ridiculous story.

"I'm sure it was just something of your imagination." Zach finally responds, standing up and looking outside. The crowds were mostly thinned out, but they were running still. Then I saw something truly disturbing.

There were bodies on the streets, lifeless and most of them missing appendages. They were so torn apart that calling them human wasn't appropriate. They were out of a meat grinder. I back away from the door in shock, almost falling down but catching myself on a counter.

"What's wrong, Evan?" Nick asks, before running to the door.

"No! Wai-" It was too late. He sees the carnage and immediately turns around. His strangely serious face turns to terror and confusion, and he walks back to the group. "No one else look." I say.

My senses rock back to me as I see something slam into the door. It looked human, but was off in all the wrong places. It's eyes were glowing brightly red. It's veins were pulsating and glowing in the dark under its skin. It screamed like something out of a horror movie soundtrack.

"That." JP points at it, and we all realize he wasn't kidding. It slams itself on the glass door, and the only barrier between it and us cracks open. The glass shatters, and it steps inside. It screams, and we take off in the other direction.

The store was very linear, running from one side of a block to the other. I sprint through, following behind Nick. The other 3 trail a little bit behind, and we just run. Looking back didn't seem like a good option.

     My mind was racing with the image of that creature. It looked so disfigured, so wrong.. I feel bad for laughing at JP now. I'd have to tell him that, But I don't have the chance at the moment. My feet are too busy hauling me through the store and through small halls.

     I get sight of the other entrance, noting that I have to go down a flight of stairs. My feet take to them after Nick, clattering on the steps. I was shaking with fear, and I'm sure the others were too. I make it down safe, and look back for the other three.

     They're coming right down, one after another as fast as they can. I could hear racing footsteps behind them, and I assume it's the thing. The three get to the landing, and we run for the door. I slam it open, looking back at the stairs.

     It comes flying off of the stairs, not trying to step down. It looks down and notices it's losing its momentum. It falls to the ground, a solid 5 foot fall. I hear a painfully loud crack as its leg breaks. It looks like one of those gross football moments where their limb goes the complete wrong way.

     Holding back a gag, I follow the other 4 out of the door and we start running. We don't really pay attention where we go, but I think we're heading north. My suspicions are confirmed when we explode out of an alley and run across a street. On the other side was Central Park, with its lush greenery in the middle of a cement sea. We run to it, falling onto some park benches to catch our breath.

     There was so much I could say, but it could be summed up in one sentence.

     "Holy shit." I mutter.