Operation PHOENIX

First Blood

I was in the tunnel again. All I could see were corpses. They constituted the walls, the floor, the ceiling. I felt all of them staring at me. I felt something drip on my hand. I touched it to find what it was. It was a warm liquid. But I couldnt see it clearly due to the light. I searched my pockets for my cell and turn on the flashlight. When I finally saw my hand, it was covered with drops of blood. I looked upward to find the source. I gasped at the sight, it was my brothers face staring at me. The expression on his face asked a million questions. Suddenly his lips moved and he asked, Why me? I couldnt think of an answer to his question. Why was my life spared instead of him? Why was he dead instead of me? My throat got clogged and I wasnt able to breathe. I felt pressure on my neck. I looked in front of me and saw those empty eyes staring into mine, dads eyes. He was strangling me; I screamed, struggled, but couldnt break free.

Alex, calm down!! Its just a dream! Its just a dream!

I jolted back to reality as Kiara held me in her arms. I was practically shaking..still replaying the nightmare in my head. She just sat with me for a few minutes comforting me.

Serena came after a few minutes with some bacon which was left-over from last night. The three of us munched on it in silence. My outburst had reminded both of them of their own loss. All of us were now reliving the last few days in our minds. The faces of our families whizzing in our heads, the faces that we wont see ever again.

At about 10.30 in the morning, we left the cabin in search of other survivors like us. We got on our bikes and rode into town making minimal noise. It did not matter how far we went, the situation was the same everywhere.

The city was huge compared to our town. It had large buildings, massive shopping centers and wider roads. But the larger the city, the greater the destruction. There were cars smashed into each other, traffic poles, signboards and buildings. The sight was gruesome. I turned to look at the girls. They were stunned too.

I was distraught at my fate. I was losing all hope of survival. I was close to giving it up when out of nowhere I heard my mothers voice, You were spared for a reason, Alex! You have to survive. You must be brave. I stopped in my tracks hearing her voice. I looked around trying to find her, but she was not there. Great! Now I am losing my mind. Awesome!

KIARA: What happened?

The girls had caught up with me and were concerned at my strange behavior. Nothing, I said. They would have pursued me further but both Kiara and I saw a red dot on Serenas forehead. My reflexes kicked in and I pulled her away and dove for cover behind a white SUV. I waited for the gunshot, but it never came. I raised my head a little to get a look at the shooter. There was no one in sight.

The red dot was visible again on the roof of the SUV. I followed the line of sight of the laser to the 3rd floor of a building. I was wrong, it wasnt a sniper at the other end. It was just someone pointing a toy laser. I relaxed and moved back onto the street. I dont know why but I was happy. Maybe because we finally found a person alive.

I pointed towards the building and said, Look They turned in the direction of my finger and noticed the person waving us over. We all were overjoyed at having found someone alive. We started walking towards the building.

There was a car smashed right into the main entrance. It was a hatchback, so it was convenient to climb on its roof and enter the building. Once inside, we made our way towards the elevator, and rode the elevator to the 3rd floor.

When the elevator doors opened, we were stunned to see two of the zombies staring right at us. I slid Destiny out of its sheath and took my stance covering the girls. Seeing us they both started moving toward us. Years of playing Assassins Creed has taught me that Attack is the best defense. I charged towards them and made a swift attack on their necks. Destiny cut through them without any resistance. It was like a hot knife sliding through butter. In one swift stroke, their heads were separated from their torsos.

The steel surface of Destiny was splattered with blood. It was the first time Destiny had tasted human blood. I turned around and saw Kiara and Serena stare at me with awe.

ME: What?

KIARA: Where did you learn to fight like that?

I didn't know what to reply so I just stayed quiet. But now even I was thinking how I did that. I had always wanted to learn sword fighting, but I never got the chance to do it. Then how was I able to kill those two zombies in a single strike. Just then there was a sound at the next door. I shifted my focus and turned away.