Birds of a Feather (Apocalypse AU)

Chapter 2 - R U N (Stella)

TW: cursing, blood, injury, gore

Stella gasped as she turned around a corner, her blood-stained body pushing against the wall of the alleyway, soiling the smooth, white surface with a dark red tint. Her blue eyes frantic, she searched for an exit, but only found an old emergency fire escape in the dead end. Glancing behind her, she jumped and grabbed the lower rung.

Hauling herself up onto the bottom ladder, Stella reached out to the rough brick wall for balance as the structure creaked and moaned. She silently swore; she wasn't even that heavy. At just over 5' 1" (155 cm), she had barely been able to reach the fire escape in the first place.

Wincing as the metal groaned and shook, she slowly started climbing the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. She wiped a strand of hair away from her eyes, staining her cheek with a streak of crimson. But Stella didn't care - she was running for her life, nothing else mattered but escaping.

She climbed another flight, but her heart skipped a beat when she caught a flick of movement in the alley entrance. Her vision was too blurry- too hazy with stress and panic; her mind contained nothing but a cry for help and release, praying that this particular silhouette was nothing but a rat or bird.

Until Stella's eyes focused.

She froze as a figure lumbered into the alley.

Black hair, gray skin, paired with those trademark glassy eyes that harbored no soul. She couldn't tear her eyes away as it stopped suddenly by the edge of the dumpster. It opened its mouth, turning towards the smear of red slowly dripping down the wall and gradually turned to face her. Stella cringed, a shiver running down her spine, as the figure let out an ear splitting moan, lunging aggressively down into the alley with its rotten, unhinged jaw hanging from the rest of its mouth.

"FUCK!" Stella yelped and started bounding up the stairs two at a time. They clattered angrily in protest, but Stella could only focus on the two more figures that had lumbered into the shadows as they let out shrill moans of their own. Their lanky, noodle-like arms swung aggressively from their shoulder blades, and their twisted legs seemed to have more stamina than those of most track and field athletes.

Reaching the top of the fire escape, she looked down, watching the three figures jostling each other and moaning at the bottom of the fire escape, scratching decomposed skin off each other's faces and arms.

The blond wore a sly smirk on her face as she huffed in triumph, "See ya later fuckers," Stella muttered as she climbed onto the roof of the building, kicking the fire escape. Surprisingly, the rusted bolts at the top gave out, crumpling the metal plates to the ground with a loud clang. Stella winced, knowing that she had just broadcast her location to the surrounding 5 blocks.

But she had to get home. Running her hands through her hair, she swore as she remembered the blood on her arms and hands. Pulling her curly hair to look at it, she realized that the red streaks would be nearly impossible to get rid of without soap. Grabbing a hair tie, she put it up in a messy ponytail. That would keep its annoying curls out of her face at least.

Stella took a deep breath, but almost immediately regretted it. The smell of rotting flesh filled her mouth and made her gag. The stink curled around the city, invading every crook and crevice with its decay and rot.

She covered her mouth and nose with a green bandana she found in a shop, tying it around the back of her neck with an angry tug. She needed to keep moving, or she would never get there in time.

She launched herself over a gap between buildings, falling through the stale air and rolling onto another flat roof. One block straight, two blocks right, third house on the right. Running above the shadows that covered the streets under her, she thanked her parents for encouraging her to take track and field; the endurance she developed was certainly helping her now.

My parents. My brother-- no, it wasn't the time to think about that. She brushed any thoughts of her family away for the moment, deciding that it was more important to keep her head clear and her decision-making sharp. Stella could think more about the future when she was free of her immediate danger.

Stella jumped onto the last building before the residential area. She surveyed the rows of houses: silent, dark, lifeless. Most of the windows were broken, curtains were torn apart and almost all of the lights were out. Corpses were scattered everywhere-- well, if it weren't for the remaining flesh it would've been considered a skeleton.

She reached into her pocket, grabbing a small dinner knife she had been able to grab from the cafeteria before her school had been... taken.

Stella squinted as she heard a panicked shout from among the houses. A figure dashed out into the street, holding a kitchen knife. Despite the distance, Stella recognized that purple sweatshirt and short brown hair and immediately started climbing down the building, the rough sandpaper wall tearing at her hands until they bled. Just a little more blood added to the mix, Stella thought glumly as she reached the ground.

Turning the corner around the back of the building, Stella sprinted down the street towards her friend. "CARLY! Run that way!" Stella yelled as she pointed down the street of houses.

Carly turned to see her friend barreling down the street towards her, a plastic knife in her hand and frizzy blonde hair flying in the wind. Confused, she momentarily forgot about the danger that was slowly following her from around the back of her house.

Stella watched as her friend stood blankly in the middle of the road watching her approach. "NO YOU FUCKING- RUN!" she screamed again as two pale figures emerged from the shadows, drawing a line of crimson across the sidewalk as their stiff limbs dragged against the pavement. She had to get there in time-

Stella rushed past Carly, grabbing a fistfull of her purple sweatshirt in her hands and yanking her down the street. Carly yelped and stumbled as she started running alongside Stella, noting the blood still running down her hands and the streaks of crimson in her hair. Carly didn't have time to look behind and glanced at Stella as she was immediately greeted by a petrified face, red liquid steadily dripping from her forehead. The brunette opened her mouth, meaning to ask questions, but was interrupted by the desolate moans of the zombies trailing behind them. A chord of fear struck her heart, filling her with adrenaline and pushing her to run faster, keeping pace with the only friend she found next to her as they ran into the darkness.