Dead Advent: New World Order (Book 1)

Chapter 4 - It's a zombie apocalypse, you idiot.

Everything turned into a warzone in a flash. Screams echoed up from the guest area and rang throughout the building. People shoved each other out of the way and were scrambling for the stairs. The slow ones were yanked back by others and pushed roughly in to the crowd behind. People crawled on top of one another, scratching and clawing and throwing fists at each other just to get up the stairs first. It was an all-out human stampede, and I watched in horror as people disappeared under the herd, no doubt stomped to death.

"Looks like one has finally bloomed!" The crazy girl shrieked again. I tore my terrified gaze away from the out-of-control crowd barreling up towards us at a rapid speed and  stared at her blankly, not knowing what to expect next. She waved her arms in the air and stuck out her tongue, the sick sadistic smile still plastered on her face.

"You cannot escape!"

She let out a demented high-pitched shrill laugh, just like a witch's cackle and howled at the ceilings. The sound of it threw my nerves into a frenzy, and I felt my limbs go weak. From over the railings, I saw the crowd below advancing up the stairs quickly. No more time to lose. We had to move now before we get dragged under that herd. Something had gone horribly wrong that shocked everyone out of their wits, and we shouldn't stick around to find out. Still, my gaze lingered on the ground floor some more, searching for the thing that had triggered this state of unrestrained panic. Most of the crowd had departed from the guest area, and my eyes fell upon the sight of a bloody mess in the center.

No…

Tamika was straddled on top of another girl, lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling with wide, dead eyes. Her shirt was torn open and her chest was ripped apart, showing the ribcage inside. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, and blood ran down from her mauled neck in an endless stream that pooled around her body. Tamika snarled and growled as she gouged out the insides of the girl. She dug her hands deep into the girl's chest, yanked on something and tore it  right out. The little organ jumped in her hands and spurted out blood, and Tamika sank her teeth right into the heart of the girl she'd just murdered.

Everything clicked together then. The nagging suspicion that I had kept at the back of mind forced itself to the front and flashed ominously behind my eyes. Ruby sobbed loudly beside me. My instincts took over. With all my might, I hauled Ruby forwards and into Marcus's room, slamming the door shut behind me.

Marcus didn't even look up. His gaze was fixed on Neil's limp body on the bed, the sheets stained red with blood. I immediately grabbed him and pulled him back. He showed no sign of registering my presence, and this was no time to blank out, so I slapped him across the face. That didn't manage to bring him back either as he stared unblinkingly pass me. I released Ruby who fell crying into a nearby chair and yanked his collar down.

"Marcus! We have to go, now!" I shook him roughly, and as I did, the tears fell  out from his eyes.

"Marcus, snap out of it!"

"Neil's dead."

"What?"

"Neil's dead."

I released him and he dropped to his knees, tears running uncontrollably down his face. Slowly, I turned towards the bed and saw it for myself.

Neil was a still statue. His face was pale and sunken. The streaks of tears on it meant he had been crying in pain during his last moments. There was no rise and fall of the chest, no raspy sounds of breathing. The yellow liquid that spread out into the sheets around the lower body gave off a dreadful stench.

"HE'S DEAD! HE'S DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD!" Marcus wailed and punched the wall, earning a bloodied fist.

I collapsed on my knees beside him and let the tears fall. No. Why? How? This wasn't happening. This shouldn't be happening! We're just kids! We've done nothing wrong! We don't deserve this! Neil had been nothing but brave and courageous in the few moments I had known him. He didn't deserve to die! He had volunteered to come with me to find Narsha, and along the way he had put himself on the frontlines, unafraid to be the first to face off with whatever danger that laid ahead. And yet, he's dead. And it was all my fault. It had been my idea to check on Narsha, my guilt trip that convinced him to come along, my non-refusal to stay at the back, and my wannabe heroic attempts that ended up with him getting killed by Chuck. No, not Chuck. By me.