A Volatiles Claim

The Fish Eye

           "Oh wow..." I gasp in awe at the magnificent structure in front of me. "...Where did they get all of the wood for something like this? Better yet, how is this thing structurally stable?"

Before me stood the popular gathering for both survivors and PK officials, the 'Fish Eye'. Built upon some long-forgotten commercial building, the entire thing looked huge, looked being the key word. Like every other building made after The Fall, the structure was built on top of a high enough building to avoid biters and virals from getting in and being made of wood gathered from the insides of building or taken from construction lots. Most of the congregating spots were on the roof with a few meeting areas below only accessible via the grand spiraling ramp that was covered with triangular vibrant yellow-orange tarps. If someone didn't want to take the ramp in favor of something quicker, there were a few more makeshift rope elevators I encountered not too long ago in the building Lawan had us go to the top of to witness the temporary activation of power in the city.

From the view down here on the street, I was near tempted to take the shortcut to the top if it weren't for the soreness the hook give after using them multiple times. Glancing down at my flushed palms that had a few speckles of blood on them, I huff with displeasure at my final choice before turning away from the lift and trudging towards the ramp entrance. I knew that the pain in my hands was the result of not wearing gloves like the rest of the sensible survivors, but I can't help the uncomfortable feeling I get when wearing them. But I guess things aren't so bad, I mean I get to admire the view of downtown as I walk up the incline at a relaxed pace. And as I do, I take the time to also reflect on my short and somewhat uneventful journey here.

While I was extremely timid about going back down the elevator shaft using the lift, especially when I remembered the speed at which it brought me up there, I had to end up closing my eyes and just rushing toward the rope so I wouldn't chicken out when I saw the drop down. And though the way down was a bit slower, it still didn't keep my stomach from doing flips from the sheer discomfort of not being on the ground. I remember the sound I made when I collided roughly on the small wooden ramp at the base of the drop, but other than that I gathered no injuries. The survivors in the lobby area went from cheering to confused murmurs and agitated shouting from the power going back off. One of them even stopped me to ask what I saw from up top but all I could say was nothing more than what they experienced down here though I did disclose that someone was already checking on a solution.

Walking up a set of escalators, I made it onto the streets and I have to admit that although the old district took the prize for the smallest and cluttered streets, the ones in the city were not too far behind. Cars, military convoys, and survivor-built structures were even more abundant, not only fortifying my reasoning I gave to Aiden earlier about finding places to hide or use as an advantage, but it also made me a bit giddy about traversing the tops of cars to avoid threats. These threats were of course the biters, and speaking of them, I don't know what made the city so special, but I have never once encountered a biter that was on the ground that was still alive and just 'pretending' to be dead. As I was sneaking by a large group of infected, I passed by a body on the sidewalk and I wholeheartedly thought it was the corpse of a slain-biter but I was apparently mistaken.

As soon as I was within reaching distance, a clammy, and quite frankly ice cold, hand clasped itself around my ankle with a firm grip that attempted to pull me towards its owner. I was completely caught off guard, with most of my attention on the group of biters in case one of them noticed me at which instance I would have to run. A singular biter alone was easy to take care of but add a few more and factor in you are by yourself, that's when your danger level shoots sky high. Numerous survivors have fallen from being caught like that and were easily surrounded, subdued, and eaten alive by the infected. I nearly tripped when that biter got hold of me, causing me to make a surprise choking sound that caught the attention of the cohort a few yards away from me. The biter on the floor groaned and used my leg it was holding as some sort of anker at which it used to pull itself closer to me with its head raised and angled, its jaw open and bloodied yellow teeth ready to sink into my skin. Luckily I had enough functioning brain cells on duty to quickly jerk my ankle out of its grasp and kick at its head before hightailing it around the corner away from the hoard of shambling corpses behind me.