Becoming Them: A Zombie Novel

Nineteen

     It was eerily quiet. The sun had gone down and was replaced with the glimmering moon, surrounded by stars and the darkened sky. I'd revel in the beauty of it if I wasn't looking over my shoulder the whole time just waiting for something to pounce at me.

     The small gusts of wind that flew past me sent a shiver to creep up my spine.

     I came across a row of (likely abandoned) houses all in a row on both sides of the road. The darkness swept throughout the street, unable to invade the blaring light that some of the lampposts poured out.

     All I could hear were the faint rustles of my clothes and the taps of my boots making contact with the ground.

     All of the houses looked the same, save for a few minor differences. It was hard to tell from outside which one would be safe to hole up in for the night. I opted to look out for any signs that the infected were in or outside of any one of them, so I knew which ones to avoid. I checked through the windows briefly. A few of the houses did have either the dead wandering around inside or the remains of a few bodies that had been too chewed up to do the same. The last one I checked out had no signs of the infected, but it didn't mean there wasn't any. I was desperate, though. So I guess this was the one. It was just one night. I could make it through that. 

     As I went up the first step, a fierce growl from my stomach echoed throughout the street, and I reflexively pressed a hand to my stomach to shush it. It reminded me of how hungry I was. Hopefully, there'd be something to eat in there.

     When I arrived at the top of the steps, I groped the door handle of the front door and pulled it slightly. It opened with a small click, and I widened the gap it allowed.

     All I could see was black, besides the faded red wallpaper peeling from the walls. The darkness seemed forbidding as if I had trespassed into another dimension, or even hell itself. Hell wasn't deep inside the Earth, under the ground. No, it was here, and I was about to enter it.

     I stepped inside, and the carpet let out a muffled creak as my foot pressed down on it. The noise travelled far, possibly waking anything that burrowed inside.

     I left the door open behind me; I needed as much light as I could gather. With each step, the floor creaked louder, and I flinched, hoping the noise would subside as soon as I submerged myself deeper into the place.

     "Hello?" I quietly called. I was briefly hoping someone would call back and welcome me in, but I didn't expect it.

     My hands swept across the wallpaper in search for a light switch. And soon, my hand landed on some bent wallpaper, damp and sticky with something. As it went further, I realised the wall was wet with something heavy and clotted with globs of whatever it was. I shuddered but moved further inside.

     Finally, my hand came across a switch and pressed down on it with a slight struggle from how stiff it had become.

     A dim light turned on from above me. One glance at the wall told me it was lots of blood splattered all over it, like a paintball game that went wrong. Whose blood did it belong to? I wiped the blood-covered hand on my jeans. Maybe a zed was casually strolling through this place and could pounce out at me any time.

     My ears listened for any sounds. Any dragging footsteps or low growls to give me some answer.

     I clutched my dagger between my fingers as I looked past the blood. There were two stairways: one going up and one going down. Deciding to give the all-clear for this place first, I went up the stairs, finding two bedrooms. Both of the doors were firmly shut, standing together side by side. They were dark shades of brown, but it was hard to tell in the darkness.