Deviant (An Original Novel)

1

"Fucking go! There's deviants here!" Mathew's booming voice orders.

I glance around the abandoned skyscraper office room in a frantic attempt to find an exit. Very old papers and broken glass shards litter the floor, and broken furniture are thrown off to the sides. Glancing around, there are no door apart from the one my team's barricading. I look up, seeing nothing but the old tiled ceiling. I notice a balcony on one end of the room and I make an immediate dash to it, gripping the rails and looking down. My stomach drops when I see how high we are. We're in one of those old skyscrapers that were in the City. My group and I are Supply Runners. Basically, we're the rats that get anything we can grab from the City's ruins. Of course, we can't keep any of it. It goes to Junction 8's supply closet.

"Dani! Any way out?" Mathew demands. Whipping around, I see that the other Supply Runners have their backs pressed against the office door. I can hear the deviants roaring on the other side, and occasionally the other supply runners would jerk forward when a deviant slams against it.

"Not unless you wanna break your legs!" I retort.

"Shit!" He curses under his breath.

"Well what the fuck do we do now, Matt?" Melissa demands, her dirt smeared face distorted in a look of grimace and anger.

Before he can reply, the deviants crash back onto the door, causing the others to fall. I leap back as the door is opened, letting the deviants in. We call them Shrooms. Their human-ish appearance throws beginners off at first, but one way to tell the difference between normal humans and the deviants, is that often, the mutants will have pure green eyes and weird hands. Their arms start normally, but soon turn into spiked fungus at the fingertips.

The first one lets out a roar and lunges froward, towards Anthony. He lets out a blood curdling cry as the Shroom sinks its teeth into his arm. Fumbling with my gun handle, I watch as the other Shrooms swarm inside, screeching at us. After I manage to get the gun out, the air is already filled with the sound of gunfire and screeches of the Shrooms. Aiming my revolver at the nearest Shroom head, I pull the trigger. With a loud BANG, the deviant falls, a bullet hole in its forehead. Aiming at the next target, I fire again and again.

"Dani! Behind you!" Mathew shouts, before turning his attention back to the Shroom in front of him. Whipping around, I scream as a Shroom lunges at me, tackling me to the floor. I desperately hold it by the shoulders in an attempt to keep it back. It's mushroom hands running up and down my body send chills down my spine. Unfortunately, my struggles proved useless. Moments later, it knocks one of my arms away, dropping it down onto me. I shriek as its teeth sink into my left shoulder.

Bang!

The weight is lifted off of me, and the Shrooms teeth releases their grip on my shoulder. Mathew towers over me, a gun aimed at me. I hold my arm up, shielding my eyes.

"Matt, don't do this..." I plead. I don't want to die!

Before he can say anything else, Melissa charges up.

"Is Dani bit?" Melissa demands.

"Yeah. Dani, we have to." Matt states, a look of sorrow and grief in his eyes. Aiming his rifle, he pumps the gun, loading it.

"Matt, don't..." I beg, tears starting to fill up in my eyes. "Please..."

Before he can pull the trigger, more Shrooms screech down the hall.

"Forget her, Matt. We gotta go!" Melissa states, grabbing his arm. "Leave Anthony and Dani for the Shrooms! It'll buy us some time!"

Without protest, Matt lets Melissa lead him out of the room. They race down the hall. Staying on the ground, I hold still as the other Shrooms charge after them. A few feet away, Anthony is laying still, watching as well. Once the last of the Shrooms is gone, we sit up. I pull my shirt collar to the side, revealing the jagged bite mark.