Zero Cell ✓

Chapter 17

BANG!

Alex fell to the floor with a heavy thump. A sharp ring in his ears persisted as he rested there motionless; saliva piled up on his right cheek and dripped out of his mouth onto the cold floor. Blood pulsated in his head, and his body ached. As he slowly recovered, Alex heaved and coughed. His dry eyes burned as cooling tears rolled down his reddened face.

"Ali!? Alex!" a voice echoed out.

Alex closed his eyes, feeling the pressure of his muscles, and then blinked slowly. He turned and saw a blurry man with short dark hair staring down at him.

"E-Er..." Alex mumbled. When his vision finally cleared, Keaton's dirt-covered face came into view.

"Thank god you're alive!" Keaton sighed.

"Keaton."

A surge of energy flushed through his veins, and Alex finally came to. With the help of Keaton, he sat himself up and rubbed his eyes. Once finally awake, he looked at his companion. Keaton had a thick wrapping of bandage around his left shoulder. Dry blood had also seeped through. But aside from that and the copious amounts of grime stuck to him, Keaton was still the same.

"You okay?" he asked; his widened brown eyes glanced across Alex's body. "Did it hurt you?"

"How did you get here?"

Keaton grinned and pulled out another card key. "Zombie had one—now I do."

Alex smiled, exhaling warm breath. "My head hurts."

"What the fuck was that thing?" Keaton eyed the adjacent hall, but the Doll vanished. Alex coughed slightly, adjusting his body on Keaton's strong arm.

"It's a long story."

"Let's not dwindle on it." Keaton helped Alex to his feet, and they made their way out of that room. With the keys clutched in his hands, Alex followed his limping friend through the halls back to the main lobby. Alex refused to stop even as the howls from the reapers echoed from all directions.

"Lyra went to collect blood bags. Hopefully, she'll be back," Keaton said. He flicked his large gun at an oncoming reaper and, in a single shot, tore its upper skull clean off.

Alex chewed his lip and refocused his attention on Keaton's back. "I'm not going to go to the roof anymore. I wanna go home!"

"I know, but she had to test her theory, and if it works," the two rounded the next left and reached a familiar stretched hallway. They were nearly back to Lyra, "then we can use it to divert their attention elsewhere while we escape."

An air vent burst from the upper wall, and a reaper slipped out and fell onto the floor. Alex gulped as sweat ran down his cheek. The reaper staggered upright before letting out a reverberated howl. It then stalked toward them, whipping its thick, long tail behind it. Keaton grunted, pushed Alex back, then aimed and fired without delay. The loud bang caused Alex to flinch; the piercing sound burned his eardrums. The reaper collapsed to the floor with a large hole in its skull. As Alex tried to regain composure, his hand was tugged, and the two ran again. They'd jumped over two capped zombies and through the automatic doors.

Within seconds, Alex spotted a familiar blonde woman standing in the open lobby. Her greasy hair was unpleasantly out of place. Even her red long-sleeve shirt was stained with sweat streaks and grime. She had strapped on a small blue cooler, too.

BANG! BANG!

Lyra fired her Hi-Power at a couple of zombies trying to break through a barricaded entrance. Keaton must've created it before he left. Once she was finished, Lyra turned around, and her hardened face instantly softened as she spotted them. Then, without warning, Alex limped quickly and extended his arms, leaning in for a big hug. He pressed his face into Lyra's shoulder, squeezing as hard as possible. It barely lasted a second before Lyra hugged back, surprisingly squeezing twice as tight.