Journey

The Journey - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

'...this just in, thousands are fleeing the city as I am reporting this in...and I have received a staggering two hundred people are now missing. Police have begun putting the city under quarantine to avoid the virus from spreading any further. We haven't been able to receive much information on how the virus came to be, but what we do know is that these..things, are incredibly dangerous. If there are any survivors still out there who can hear me, stay indoors, and make no attempt to go anywhere, barricade every window and door and stay alive. Police will also be searching every house possible for survivors, so be cautious. And this in....' the station fuzzed in and out of focus on channel six, and then every channel went down. It was nearing two in the morning, the rain drizzled down over the town, grey clouds darkened throughout the early hours of the morning, the city grew quieter, and ever more still as the hours passed by.      

An arm lay straight in-front of his eye, completely bloodied and scratched, ribs continued to ache deeply, and they would do for a few more hours, until he could make it to a nearby hospital. The first attempt at moving was a failed shot; after heaving in pain at his bruised body, but then the second time around, he pushed himself up with whatever strength that he had in him and stood up to the damp floor. Not yet realising that trickles of warm rain ran down his face, he was far too concerned with a red, leather bag that was soaked throughout on the edge of the drain that was on the verge of overflowing with dirty water, it was Amy's bag. He couldn't help but feel sick, all he wanted to know if she was safe and well, but where on earth was she...he began to panic, feeling complete rage and grief within him.

"HELP ME!!" a man screamed from the distance, a man came running down the road, appearing terrified...what..ugh shit, I don't know what the fuck is going on!

"You okay man??"  he ran past quickly, but as he did he simply said "Run!" Why would I run, what the fuck's going on!? "What's happening!?" but there wasn't a response.

A faint hum of voices came from close-by, but it didn't appear as if it were normal people speaking or shouting out, a body suddenly stopped and turned to make its way down this street. It stopped for a while, but appeared to have spotted something..."Hey! you there...what the fuck's going on here??" Peter had to shout to be heard as this man was standing , and gazing in the distance. Nothing of this situation felt normal, nothing seemed right, Peter could only hope that he was dreaming all of this. The person in the distance didn't move a muscle, not until Peter fell silent again, this thing moved suddenly, its legs stumbled forward, and then it began running towards him.

"Hey man...what you doing??" arms reached out to grab him, as he threw himself on-top of him. Blood and spit drooled over his face, Peter shook his head frantically to avoid any more of it covering him, he tried to release this thing's grip over him, and after the first attempt it felt completely useless, but the second time round, his hands grabbed its throat and pushed it aside with all his bodily force. He screamed in agony, as he could feel the pressure releasing from the weight of a body coming from his ribcage, with a quick, deep breath, he jumped up to his feet, slipping a little; as winkle pickers didn't have very good grip on the damp ground. Peter ran, he ran fast and far, knowing that it would take him at least an hour to get home; if he were to walk it, he needed to find the hospital first, that's where he was heading.

Continuing down the street, he found himself frightened as to what he was seeing as he passed by large apartment buildings and derelict, broken-in shops. No-one was around, he called out many times for the one person he had to find, but didn't know where to start looking. A store to his right used to be an old fashioned sweet shop, owned by a delightful old couple, its interior painted a baby pink, always had a welcoming feel as you stepped inside, queue's of little children, jumping for joy, holding their arms up high for sweets, fruity candies, strawberry laces and sour apple sherbets. Parents' would usually wait outside impatiently for their daughters and sons, they wouldn't want to spoil their fun; this was usually the weekly, Friday afternoon school treat. Now, all he could see was broken glass jars entwined with sugar laces and cracked hard candy. As he ran further on down the street, he made a turning right into the main street of the city, past the most prestigious retail stores the town had to offer for the upper class residents. Looking back another time, he was to find that the man who was chasing him had disappeared, but hoping that was the end of him and he wouldn't come across it again. He slowed down and went back to quietly walking through the desolate town and coming to find that no-one was around. He looked through glass windows, seeing the mannequins dressed humanly in their clothes, a little creepy in a way; they knew what had been going on in the streets and they couldn't even speak a word. But then, he heard a crash, then a whaling of screams and cry's, a shop on the other side of the street; a jewellery store, had the front window  smashed through completely and beads, glassware, purses and bags thrown everywhere across the paved street. He looked across, and there a woman was, lying across the street, scrambling along the pavement to get away.