Infection - Part I

Chapter 17.

Everything passed in slow motion for Valerie as she lept over the gap. Her heart was pounding against her chest, and nausea filled her stomach when she looked and realised how high she was.

For those few seconds she had airtime, she heard nothing. Everything went quiet. A sort of serenity washed over her and she knew that if she didn't make it, she'd be gone. Gone for good. And she accepted that.

However, she knew it'd be nothing like that when she saw the platform approach her feet. And slowly, as she reached over the rubble, time began to speed up as the serenity in her head began to fade away. Her body prepared for impact as she began falling.

Her feet made the initial contact with the ground before she began tumbling. Slowing herself, she used her feet to stop in place.

The serenity hadn't fully disappeared as it took her a moment to realise where she was. Her ears began ringing as the sounds around her slowly began making their comeback by sounding louder and louder.

She hadn't realised it, but Devon called out for her. And upon noticing no response from her, he too jumped, making it. 

Not the same could be said for the wood as, just as Devin jumped, the floor crackled before breaking down that bit more.

Making his way to Valerie when he stumbled back onto his feet, he called out her name again. "Valerie! Valerie... Are you okay?". He caught her, gently lifting her onto her feet.

At first, she nodded. "Holy fuck... We... We made it, Devon...".

He laughed at her remark. "Of course we did... We're Valerie and Devon...".

And in that moment, they heard a shout. "Devon?".

Valerie saw the way Devon's head shot toward the direction of the voice. "Who's that?" She proceeded to ask.

"James..." Devon released under his breath before taking a few steps forward. Noticing Valerie wasn't following him, he glanced back her way. "Come on... he's close...". 

And with that, they both headed down the heap of rubble and reached one of the many destroyed streets of the big city.

It took a mere second for Devon to see James, standing with his phone in his hands. Looking up, his eyes instantly were met by Devon and Valerie. "There yous are!". He ran over to them both.

To Valerie, James was taller than she expected, he was of a bulkier build than Griffin, or so it seemed. And just like Griffin, James also had a dark gaze, his deep brown eyes were nearly a match to his hair, which was a few shades lighter.

However, one of the differences between the two men was that, unlike Griffin, James had a mere stubble stretched across his face.

He stopped before them both, looking Devon's way and later averting his eyes to Valerie. "You must be the detective..." he started, putting out a hand for a greeting. "I am James Clarke. Pleasure to meet you.".

"Valerie Simmons..." she introduced herself, placing her hand into his. And with that, they shook hands. "I don't mean to be hurrying you, James..." Valerie began, retrieving her hand. Slight sarcasm was obvious in her voice, she couldn't help it. "But we're in a little bit of a hurry to get to the airport...".

"Well... I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but as we speak, we're still trying to figure out a way to get there..." James responded, returning the sarcasm. "Most of the roads are closed and if we try to find a way, it'll probably take us a good, few hours to get through the city.".

"But I thought there was a metro throughout the city..." Devon spoke out, furrowing his brows ever so slightly.

"There is... but I don't think it's in operation... I mean, look around us... Who, in their right mind, would be using the metro right now?" James responded, looking around himself.