No Escape

Fractured Alliances

I was still crying after three hours. Aren't I lucky? Every time I glanced in the mirror, I saw a failure staring back. I wanted to leave this hellhole, to escape and die in peace—just not here. My eyes darted around my dimly lit room, cluttered with remnants of a life I barely recognized. I needed to find that girl—what was her name? Sandra? No, wait, Mary.

Pushing open my bedroom door, I ventured down the hallway, my heart racing. What the hell happened while I was gone? The walls were smeared with colorful slime, and I recoiled at the sight. Blood streaked the floor, leading me to wonder if everyone was asleep—or worse. I glanced up at the clock hanging from the ceiling, its red digits blinking "12:00." Great, just what I needed—another reminder that time was frozen in this nightmare.

"Help! Someone!" A frantic female voice echoed down the hall, slicing through the silence. My pulse quickened. It had to be Mary.

I rushed toward the sound, and there she was, grappling with a familiar figure—the supposedly dead Lissa. My stomach twisted at the sight. This was a terrible omen, a sign that there was truly no escape from this place.

"Lissa, get off me! You know you're not that strong!" Mary shouted, her voice tinged with desperation.

"Don't worry, Mary, I'm here!" I yelled, grabbing a nearby pipe and swinging it toward Lissa, hoping to pull her off Mary. The pipe collided with Lissa, who stumbled back, looking more confused than hurt.

"What the hell was that for?" Lissa exclaimed, her eyes wide with disbelief. "I'm not a monster!"

"Lissa, you're supposed to be dead!" I shouted, the reality of the situation crashing down around us.

"Actually," Mary interjected, anger flaring in her eyes, "Jake sacrificed you. To... to the devil, I think. So this whole zombie outbreak would just disappear. Why would you let him do that?" Mary snapped, stepping closer to me, her expression fierce. "Lissa isn't just some sacrifice. She's our friend!"

"I didn't want this!" I shouted, frustration boiling over. "None of us wanted this!"

Mary's anger flickered for a moment, but then it returned full force. "You think you can just run away from the truth? You're scared, but we need to fight!"

"I don't want to fight you!" I shouted back, feeling the tension rising. But Mary stepped forward, determination etched across her face.

"Then what do you want? To hide forever? We have to face this together!" Her voice was firm, but I could see the pain behind her words.

Just then, Lissa lunged at Mary again, and I instinctively moved between them, ready to defend my friend. "Stop! We can't hurt each other!"

But before I could react, Mary swung at Lissa, and I caught her arm just in time. "No! We can't do this!" I pleaded, the fear of losing either of them crashing down on me.

"Get off me!" Mary shouted, struggling against my grip. "I need to protect us!"

"Protect us by fighting? That's not going to solve anything!" I cried, desperately trying to hold onto her. "We can find another way!"

With a surge of anger, Mary pushed against me, but I held firm. "We have to be better than this!" I insisted, my heart pounding.

Just as it seemed Mary might break free, a shadow emerged from the hallway. It was Silent, stepping in between us. "Enough!" he commanded, his voice steady and calm.

"Silent?" I gasped, relief flooding through me. "Help us!"

He looked between us, assessing the situation. "We can't afford to turn on each other. There's a greater threat out there," he said, pointing toward the darkness beyond.

"I don't care about Lissa!" Mary shouted, her eyes wild. "She's dead! You don't understand!"

"Maybe she's not dead!" I countered, my voice rising. "Maybe we can still save her!"

Silent stepped closer to Mary, his tone softening. "If we don't work together, we'll lose everyone we care about. We need to find a way to break this cycle, not perpetuate it."

Mary hesitated, her expression wavering as the weight of his words settled in. "But what if we fail?" she asked, vulnerability creeping into her voice.

"Then at least we tried," I said, my heart aching for the friends we'd lost. "We owe it to them to fight together."

After a tense moment, Mary nodded slowly, her resolve shifting. "Fine. But we need a plan. I won't let anyone else die."

As we stood together, the fear of the unknown loomed large, but a flicker of hope ignited within me. Maybe, just maybe, we could find a way out of this nightmare together.