Beyond the Walls

Breadcrumbs (2)

After the discovery of the marks by the door, nobody seems to joke around anymore. Aside from the door marks, they found unusual marks by the growing moats and cut leaves that seemed to be run over by something with four wheels. It was hard to draw a conclusion about what it is except that it was regular thin wheels.

After making one round trip, though, they had to go back since there was a part that crumbled down and was unpassable. Xian is already sweating but the other three looked like it was just a 2 minute walk.

They went for a short break but it was as suffocating as he was walking around catching his breath, the silence between the three of them. In times like this, they look like real dependable military soldiers.

“Okay, Let’s go.” Xian said.

Gabrielle took Xian’s wrist and pulled him to her back. Adam and Alexa held the handle on both sides and they counted in silence before opening it. Pointing her gun, on the insides, there was nothing in there. She proceeded going in first and just like professionals two covered the left right, up and stayed vigilant.

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

They began to relax.

“Don’t close that i***t!” Alexa raises her voice as soon as she sees Xian closing the door.

“It was close for a reason.” Xian reasons out.

“What if it automatically locks? What will you do? Huh?”

Gabrielle called Alexa and said, it’s enough. Adam make way and brought fallen debris and used it to hold open the door.

Alexa and Gabrielle went ahead. “Why did you all become so tense all of a sudden?” Xian asked.

“If there is a sign of those doors opening recently, then what do you think it could mean?”

“Survivors? But there are no survivors found in the last more or less 10 years now.”

“Yes, then could it be an undead? But would an undead can open almost all the doors? Is there a new species that I don’t know about?”

“You don’t know what it is?” Adam asked as he went up and scanned the audience sitting area. Down the audience area, is a devastating view of the damaged field.

“What is it? I’ve read all kinds of undead monsters but none fits. Except for humans, who could do that? ”

“Exactly.”

“Huh? I don’t get it.”

“We are tense because we don’t know. It’s us being wary of the unknown. Those monsters you read are known to you because of the lives of the soldiers sacrificed for the unknown to become known… So shut the f**k up and don’t talk back. You have not known the fear of facing the unknown.” Adam glared which made Xian swallow his saliva and didn’t get a chance to say anything anymore.

On their guard, scanning corners of one part of the audience area.

“Clear”

“Clear”

Alexa and Gabrielle called each other on the radio. Gabrielle came out in the top section where a room is placed while Alexa looked down to the fields.

*bzzz

“Clear.”

Alexa looks at Adam who is going down the stairs from the different section followed by the quiet Xian.

*bzzz

“Nothing unusual now, Let’s split up. Will you guys be okay?” Gabrielle said to her earpiece as she navigated the sections of the stadium using her binoculars.

*bzzz

“Kid, you should just worry about yourself. I’ll take it from the right and go to the upper next. ” Adam said.

*bzzz

“I’ll take left then. Go to the upper section, Gabrielle. We will explore the fields after.” It seems that Alexa’s innate nature of giving orders woke up.

*bzzz

“Copy.”

The three soldiers separated, with Xian coming with Adam. It wasn’t after a few hours when they finished checking the area, even though it was exhausting to do, they had climbed up and down the stairs multiple times.

Since there are three sections, it took longer and exhausted their energy.

Going back on the spot at the lowest audience area where they separated.

“Ah, my legs are killing me.” Alexa complained as she sat on the steps.

“Signs of aging.”

“Wipe that sweat in your forehead first, old man.”

Huffing and puffing slightly with his arms on his waist, Adam can’t even make a comeback to Alexa.

The only one who is not tired is Xian, he decided to be left in a room and they keep updates on him through the earpiece.

*bzzz

“Uh… guys, can you come up here?” Xian waved his hand a little awkwardly while standing on the door of the room in the same area.

“What is it?” Gabrielle asked as soon as she reached the room.

“Look here…” Xian pointed to the floor.

“Sorry, what is it you want us to see? Ants?” Alexa raised an eyebrow.

“They are transporting something…”

“Is that new to you? Rainy seasons are coming, they are working hard to secure—-!!” Alexa only then realized.

Adam shakes his head as if he is disappointed at her.

Xian looked next to the gathering of ants. He had his tweezers out and got a piece of the thing the ants are transporting. He crushed it and it crumbled to the floor.

“I am guessing this is some flour… It can be easily mistaken as dust or ordinary dirt if not for the ants… ”

The thing the ants are transporting is a type of food. Maybe bread or cracker crumbs. Either of it, it only means one thing, there was a food source here.

“Undead don’t eat flour products right?” Xian looked up.

“I haven’t seen one.” Adam replied.

“Is there anything else?” Gabrielle asked.

“It’s not enough yet. Give me more time.” Xian had a serious look in his eyes. Lately, he looks like a typical clueless and stupid human but now, he is looking more like an adult. Maybe reality has sunk in him now.

“Apollo is on the run! Field!” Adam said.

In a split second, everyone in the audience area dropped and hid themselves.

*Bzzz

“I’m going in.” Alexa said in the earpiece, she was the first one to get out of the door. She went down the stairs while squatting low. Adam already assembles his long gun and takes a position.

“Go.I’ll cover you both.” He said.

*Bzzz

“Sighting, negative.” Alexa reported.

It took less than a minute for Gabrielle to come down on the opposite side of Alexa. They nod to each other and come down on opposite sides.

*Sighting, negative.” Adam

“Sighting, negative, but the blood smell and traces of undead is thicker here.”

Maybe because it was an open space that the blood was around the stadium but now Gabrielle is stepping inside the field, the smell gets stronger.

“Apollo spotted. 11’oclock.” Alexa said.

Meeting in the field. Alexa turns her back on Gabrielle, as they move forward. Covering each other’s blind spot.

Reaching on, standing still Apollo, Gabrielle said. “Hey! What are you doing?”

“They are here…” Apollo said.

“They? Who?”

Apollo pointed at the dry blood in the wall. “That is how we communicate. It’s a message.”

“You communicate in blood?” Alexa, who turned around after relaxing a little, asked.

“This is deliberate drawing.”

No matter how much they look over the wall, they can’t see the message.

*Bzzz

“Bring the detective here.”

****

“This is not typical, blood splatter, that is the truth… Seeing that there is a curve here and there. A straight line in this part can most probably be deliberate also. I can say that it can be an incomplete drawing if only it wasn’t drawn in blood…”

First, second, third and even the fourth look at it, it doesn’t look like a drawing at all but ordinary stains, but now the detective is pointing it out, it makes sense.

“Also the blood is too thin and concentrated on some parts while it fades on the end… somebody might have drawn it.”

“Apollo, is the person you think drew this is your family?”

“Yes.”

“Then what does this mean?”

“It mean–”

Gabrielle suddenly grabs Apollo’s mouth and hushes him. “Shhh.”

Both Alexa and Adam were alerted and pointed their guns on the empty field.

“The numbers?” Alexa vigilantly looks at her side range while Adam is covering the other side.

A faint growling reaches their ears.

“To the point it makes me sick.”

“What is that?” Xian asked as he pointed to a figure coming out on the entrance way of the field.

“Well, a slower version of the undead last night.” Adam said as he aimed for it but he saw other movements behind it.

The faint growling grows larger and larger until most entrances are filled with undead.

“Say, is your nose not working anymore?” Alexa continues to point her gun at the gathering undead but never fires it.

“It’s working right now…” Getting dizzy at the severity of the surrounding smell, she put on a gas mask to lessen the strong smell of festering bodies.

“An ambush?” Xian said in a low voice.

“They know we are coming here… They waited.” Adam continued and everyone silently agreed.

A bird’s eye view is a drone flying around. With a camera attached to it, it zooms in closer and closer until the whole squad is seen through it’s lenses.