Breathing the Dead ~ H.S

Chapter Six

"This is how we get into the more treacherous part of town," said Hailee; gesturing to the battered truck, "the other side of this building leads into the heart of the place – where the majority of this town's undead are. The only way to get through, is with some hardcore stealth," she looked at me, "think you can handle it?"

I looked up at the hole; my stomach lurching as I took in how eerily dark it looked...making me unable to see anything beyond it unless I entered. I gulped; and I wrung my free hand and took a deep breath before turning to Hailee and nodding.

"If I don't start getting into it now, I never will," I said.

"That's the spirit," Hailee smiled and patted my head playfully, "come on, then. You need to give me a boost,"

"OK," I replied with a nod.

Cautiously, I made my way to the truck and crouched down; putting my hands together so that Hailee could step into my open palms and hoist herself onto the top of the truck with a grunt. As soon as she was on top, she held out her hand to me.

"One big jump, Laura." She instructed me.

I nodded and made a jump for her outstretched hand; my sneakers squeaking against the truck's cargo carriage as I scrambled on top of it.

"You ready for this?" Hailee asked me seriously.

Taking a deep, shaky breath; I nodded. "I guess,"

Hailee nodded back. "Just follow my lead,"

She turned around and disappeared into the dark hole; and I gulped and crossed my fingers before following her – trying to avoid the sharp shards of broken glass as I awkwardly climbed through. There was a bit of a space between where we were and the floor; but after a little jump our feet were set firmly on the ground.

"Last time we were here, it was clear for the first few sections," Hailee told me, "then there was a whole bunch of them around the middle of the first floor, but once we started going up the building they began to wean out. We only have to go as far as the third floor to come out from the other side,"

"OK. Sounds easy enough," I said; sounding way braver than I felt.

She didn't say a word and kept moving forward – beckoning at me to follow her. Biting my lip, I pulled out my crowbar and jogged slightly to catch up with her. Together we maneuvered through a dark, empty hall – the silence between us unsettlingly eerie. Despite how much more pacified I'd feel if we shared a little bit of conversation – I still knew perfectly well that it was a terrible idea.

Hailee suddenly stopped in her tracks, and she immediately grabbed my arm and pulled me beside her into a dark corner before I could move any further. Confused, I frowned at her – but she was way too focused to notice – looking like a hungry cat silently stalking its prey.

"There's our first guy," Hailee whispered to me; pointing ahead of her.

My eyes followed her direction, and in the darkness I could just make out the silhouette of a dazed walker wandering around on the path ahead of us; its strained moaning sounding almost pained as it lumbered down the hall in wonky, limping steps.

"We take him out, we move forward. Care to do the honours?" Hailee asked, looking at me.

"Sure," I replied; tightening my grip on my crow bar and holding it at the ready. However, just as I was about to make my way over, Hailee held out an arm in front of my chest and stopped me.

"Don't use that," she nodded at my crowbar, "soon enough we'll be dealing with way more than just him in here. Things like that will get stuck in their heads way too easy – nowhere near suitable for a swift kill," she pulled a screwdriver out of her pocket and hand it to me, "put that crowbar away, and use this instead. It's much easier,"