Dead End ➵ A Fight for Survival

chapter 5 - ever so grateful

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

june 20, 2022

A loud pounding on the metal door woke me from my silent, forced rest.

"Elise! It's Rage! Are you in there?"

I opened my bloodshot eyes, confused and strangely overjoyed with excitement. I was no longer alone in this hell hole. I rest assured that there was hope with Rage here.

"Yes!" I yelled back, my voice quivering. Within a split second, the door thrust open to reveal his comforting presence, and his only. 

I then immediately turned my gaze away from his battle figure.

His flannel was almost torn in half, only a few lines of thread holding the garment together. Intense scratch marks covered a good majority of his lanky body where the skin was visible. His jeans were dirtied in ways that I never thought were possible, various specs of mysterious grit covering them. Two loaded pistols covered in dried blood were neatly tucked in the elastic band holding them up. Dust was smeared on one cheek in a fine line with three neat dotted fingerprints.

A sudden warm hand was on my shoulder, making me jump in surprise. I turn back around in one quick motion and stare at Rage.   

"A pair of scientists are waiting out in the hall. We have to go." He said, his hand running down my chilly arm off of my bony shoulder. His hand caught in my long hair for a moment, causing me to cringe away. I nodded in response, flicking his work-hardened hand off my body. A drip of sweat ran parallel off of his forehead and landed next to me, just barely missing my thigh.

I tried to rise, using the strength left in my arms. Rage backed off, stepping away to give me space. He looked exhausted, about ready to collapse at any second. 

It took a few moments for me to manage to stand on my weak legs. They trembled, bucking underneath the sudden bodily movements. Rage caught me in one swift motion, arms wide, despite his own physical exhaustion. 

I sneered at him for the embrace, and as soon as I was up and standing, I shook him off. It made me feel weak, and besides, I hardly knew this man. I truly had no reason to be fond of him.

"I'm fine, thanks for coming to get me." I said, starting to make my way to the door, Rage following closely behind. "I don't know how much longer I would have held off on my own."

"Just doing my job, Elise. The scientists are waiting up ahead. The plan is to get out of here with a helicopter before the place turns into Hell. It'll be loud, but one of the best ways of transportation out of here." He said, nugging me out into the hall.                                                                His torn flannel waved in the light breeze of motion, revealing his muscular figure underneath. I glanced and imagined what he could accomplish if he used his full strength. I felt the heat rise to my face, but he thankfully didn't notice.

We reached the impatient scientists, one holding a loaded gun with the safety off. The other was Dan-Dan, fatty arms crossed against himself. His thin, wormy mouth was taught. Specks of blood appeared to be sprayed on the other's lab coat, granting them ironically colorful.

"You're finally here and we meet again lovely." Dan-Dan snickered, instantly perking up. "We're gonna escape, run off, get married... Happily ever after, right!?" He said loudly with enthusiasm. He clasped his hands behind himself and gave a stern look after his burst of guilty energy. 

"Can we just go wherever you're taking me?" I said, putting my foot down. I was done with all these little games, knavery, and perverted motives.

"Yes, come, come darling. Our escort is just out there." He said, pointing to silver-lined steel doors with circled embroidery. They definitely didn't match the bland theme of the building. A silent Rage nugged me once more, and I grew annoyed with his touch. I felt that of a dog being motioned to go inside a cage.

"Quit prodding me." I said harshly, craning my head to look at him. His only response was a shrug.

We walked fast-paced to the doors and the other scientist unlocked them with a fingerprint screening. What was beyond them left me in utter shock.

Before us was a large factory with steam-powered machines littered in a clumsy way. I took notice of the few bodies piled on top of the other in the far corner. I gagged as I saw iron-rich blood be splattered from somewhere above onto the floor in front of our direction. I stumbled as I realized that this was not a simple industrial factory, but instead something similar to a slaughterhouse. It reeked of metallic and everything in-between. The air was toxic and hot with an unnatural humidity. 

"This is putrid." I said, wrinkling my nose in distaste. My sense of smell was much stronger than I had previously remembered. 

"The Slaughterhouse." Dan-Dan remarked. "We're taking a shortcut, and luckily, we get to pass right through!" He exclaimed with unnecessary enthusiasm that didn't fit the vibe of the building.

I turned to look at Rage in wonder and disgust, but his gaze was only ahead. I noticed he was walking as stiff as a stick. When he took notice that I was glaring at him, he looked back at me coldly directly in my eyes and I urged to look anywhere else that wasn't at him. 

Can we please just get out of here. I felt the wound on my arm re-open all over again, sending painful shivers all over my body. I decided to not take too much notice of the Slaughterhouse and kept pushing on to told safety. We reached a metal gate with barbed wire neatly spread across the top and pushed it aside. The sound of a very loud motor echoed in all directions and I thrusted my head up to look at the sky. The helicopter floated directly above where we were standing, waiting for orders to descend onto the concrete slab. Dan-Dan reached into his lab coat pocket and fished out an old-school walkie talkie. 

"Dan-Dan to Helicopter 3, we're ready." He spit into the device, raising his voice to be able to be heard over the engine.

"Helicopter 3 to Dan-Dan. Descending now, over."

Helicopter 3 then came down from the smoke-covered sky and landed on a large target symbol a few yards away. The wind from the propellers send my natty hair into a frenzy. It was no longer plastered to my forehead but now flying in the air. Again, I was nugged forward by Rage as a signal to get in. I felt the urge to turn around to snap at him, but it wouldn't make a difference. 

We all climbed in, barely enough room to sit all of us. I took my place in the middle, assuming that Dan-Dan would seat himself next to the pilot. 

"Are we all ready?" The pilot asked. His voice was very deep and had a bit of subtle on his cheeks. His hair was neatly combed with hair gel.

Dan-Dan clapped and raised his voice to a high pitch. "Onwards!" He yelled, pointing to no place in particular. Rage stared out the window and the other scientist flicked his vacant eyes at Dan-Dan. The pilot nodded with a plain expression and shifted a nozzle with his left hand. We began to climb many feet into the air to wherever our destination would be. I looked down at the shrinking ground and opened my eyes wide with shock.

 A hoard of zombies burst through the gate exiting the 'factory' and poured over the concrete slab we took off from. If we had waited a second or two later, our helicopter would have been engulfed by the monsters with gnashing jaws, struggling to get in and rip off flesh. I watched as the things helplessly grabbed at the air towards our helicopter. A fluttery feeling fueled my stomach. I likely looked like one of them with their sickly fluids and open wounds. I shifted my eyes to those pair of gray hands attached to my limbs. They didn't look anything like my fleshy pale hands I had all my life. They were foreign.