DEAD END

Chapter 2

5 years later

The silent whisper of the wind, bringing comfort to the lost cities.

"Lucas, how far is it? "

Gabriella breathes heavily, as the scorching heat bites through her skin.

"After we pass that tower, two blocks more then there's an abandoned public garage at the end of the road. I found cars that would help us reach the coast"

Ryan is silent beside her, she wouldn't have acted differently around the man if he told her the truth sooner.

All along she's been living with a lie. Ryan is not her uncle nor she is related to him in any way. He and Lucas are the soldiers that her parents hired to bring her safely to the island.

An island that is long gone, Ryan knows all along. He doesn't plan on bringing her on the Ambergris, but rather on the ship in the middle of the ocean. For what reason? She doesn't really know.

"Stop" Ryan pulled her back, hoisting his gun forward.

"What is it? I don't see anything" I shout-whispered to him

"Lucas" he nodded, before slowly moving forward. Ryan waited for a few minutes before following behind.

An eerie feeling crept to her body, making her spine straighten and magnify her senses.

The familiar sound of the undead as they drag their body on the streets and the spitty hiss of their decayed teeth made her shudder.

She saw Lucas slowly crept behind a broken tree, a few minutes passed he signals them to follow behind.

"How many are there?" Ryan asked, he loosened his cuff and wrapping his arms with leather.

"More or less a hundred of them across the street"

A gasp escaped her lips, shutting her eyes hoping that this is all just a dream.

She opened her eyes when she feels a cold metal on her hands. A gun.

"Ry..an I can't"

"You don't have to use it. Just in case" she swallowed harder to keep her heart from bursting from her chest.

"Gabriella, when I tell you to run I want you to run as fast as you can. Don't stop unless you're inside the building. Don't ever look back, do you get me?"

"But I .. Okay" Lucas nodded his head before slowly moving at the far side of the tree. She followed behind and Ryan is behind her. Carefully avoiding to make a sound, or they'll become someone's dinner. If someone had told her that this thing will happen 5 years ago, she would've laughed and found it funny but their situation is far less than amusing.

Lucas signals to stop

"There are at least 10 of them at this side, but it'll lead us straight to the front entrance. We still don't know if it's infested or not"

Lucas explained as he focuses his sight on the front. She peeks above the tree, and he's right they can get past through here without announcing their presence but what awaits them is something that she doesn't want to know.

"We can try" Gabriella looked at Ryan with wide eyes.

"Are you freaking serious Ryan? You'll get us killed" She turns her gaze to Lucas hoping he'll find Ryan's idea stupid but his expression says otherwise.

"Just stay behind me Gab. And remember if I told you to r-"

"To run, run as fast as you can and don't look back until you're inside the building" She finished his sentence, he nodded his head though she knows that he hates it when she interrupts him while talking.

"And if there's undead inside? I'll be good as dead the moment you set foot inside" Gab told them impatiently, her nerves are all over the place making her feel on edge.

"Don't worry, we're not stupid enough to risk 5 years of keeping you safe just to lead you to your death" Ryan answered smugly. She huffed at his remark. She hates it when he's right.

"Okay, we need to move. It's almost dark we can't risk ourselves in the open at night"

Ryan said, Lucas slowly made his way and he signals her to follow.

Gabriella's heart is beating wildly as they started to make their way to the tower.

The rotting smell of flesh and the decayed yellowed teeth and full of pulpy bits of bloody flesh makes her stomach turns to knots.

Five, six, seven, eight, nine, te-shit

They're almost there, she could see the empty lobby of the building. But the last undead made them stop and stand there frozen. It's sniffing the air, she looked at Lucas and Ryan and they had the same thoughts as her. Undead has only one sense - then why does this one is sniffing the air and end up stopping just a few meters away from us, he almost seems like he could see and smell us.

"Ah Luc.. as" Gabriella panicked when it started sprinting towards them. Lucas aimed at the undead, a loud gunshot made every undead stop moving and looked in their direction.

"Gabriella runnn" Ryan doesn't need to repeat himself, she started running towards the building. Kicking her legs harder, she could feel the burn in her chest but she ignores it. Another gunshot made her almost lost her balance but someone grabbed her arms.

Before she could process who it is, she aimed her gun using her free hand at the person holding her.

"Easy it's just me" Lucas grabbed the tip of her gun, she releases the breath she didn't know she's holding.

"Let's keep going" Gabriella nodded her head, Ryan was behind her who's forehead is creased in confusion.

If Ryan is bothered with what happened earlier, then what they discovered is something new and much more dangerous.

If it means that the undead is now having more than one sense, then what is their chance of survival?