Survival

Safety

Droid looked up, hearing the door open. His heart skipped a beat, sinking a moment later as Puffer and Matt hurried in with Soup in between them.

"Puffer, where's Pezzy?" Droid demanded, his voice tight. Puffer clenched his jaw, avoiding his gaze as they helped Soup sit down.

"Puffer. Where's Pezzy?" He demanded again, body tense as he fought to keep himself from rushing over. "He went to the pharmacy," Matt said quietly, Droid's eyes widening.

"By himself?" Grizzy demanded, having moved to Puffer's side but frowning at Matt. "Yes, by himself. Nothing I said stopped him, nothing I did stopped him. And he refused to let me go with him because Soup needed both of us to carry him here with a broken leg. I tried, okay Droid? I fought with him last night and this morning, he didn't listen to me," Puffer finally exploded, Droid pausing as he watched his friend.

Puffer looked tense, worry clear in every breath. His face was pale, his jaw clenching and unclenching rhythmically. Droid felt a moment of guilt, Grizzy catching his eye a second later.

"Okay, someone take care of Soup's leg and head. Who's coming with me to go get him?" Tyler said calmly, Anthony's eyes widening as he looked at him.

Droid stepped forward immediately, as did John. "Wait. Go get him?" Puffer said wide eyed and Tyler gave him a look. "Of course we're going to go get him, it's not safe for him to be alone," he said and Puffer bit his lip.

Droid didn't say anything, just leaving to go grab his backpack and phone. He headed back into the hallway, waiting impatiently. Just as Tyler and John stepped out, a massive tremor hit the hotel and knocked them over.

Tyler grabbed both of them and yanked them under the doorway, Droids eyes on everyone inside the room. Puffer, Grizzy and Matt had pulled Soup into the bathroom doorway, Anthony, Scotty and Smii7y in the bedroom doorway.

The tremors lasted forever it felt like to Droid, terror for Pezzy like a iron weight in his chest. When the tremors stopped for about 5 minutes, they all straightened up and spread out.

"We have to get Pezzy, I don't know where he was during that," Droid said worriedly, Tyler and John nodding quick. They left with a wave and ran off, getting down the stairs and crouching down in the lobby.

Droid grabbed John's arm as he saw three creatures sprinting down the road. In the direction where the pharmacy was.

"That can't be good," John breathed, Droid trembling as they inched forward. Tyler looked out, jaw clenched. "It's clear close by, but I can see them down the road," he breathed, only able to be heard because of the dead silence.

They started moving, avoiding every rock and piece of glass on the sidewalk they could. They got to the gas station, ducking inside as they heard one of the creatures roar.

Please please please be alive Pezzy Droid thought desperately, refusing to even consider the possibility that he wasn't. He couldn't live without his best friend, couldn't live in a world without him there.

Droid grabbed a can of something off the shelf, inching to the window. He threw it as hard as he could down the road, hurrying back over to Tyler and John as soon as it left his fingertips.

A second later, a loud crash sounded as the can hit a car, the alarm going off. The creatures appeared and sprinted in that direction, Droid holding his breath to stop the rapid gasps trying to escape his throat.

The creatures tore apart the car, deep gashes in the metal and the tires flattened before they ran off again. They vanished in the distance, a completely different direction.