Surviving

Chapter 30

As soon as my feet were on the gym floor I had my knife in my hand, ready to stab anything that came at me. I gave Melody a sideways glance, catching the gleam of her knife, already unsheathed. We krept forward silently, careful not to make a sound with each step.

"Brielle!" Melody hissed. "Brielle, are you there?"

To my surprise she was answered by a slight whimpering that came from a ways down the hallway. I looked at Melody with wide eyes. She made a quick gesture, pointing to go down the hall.

We kept going down the hall, not making a sound. Every time there was a moan of a corpse we practically jumped out of our skin, looking for the source of the sound. We killed at least five corpses as we went, easing their rotting bodies to the floor to prevent more noise.

We followed the whimpering to a small room with several corpses crowded around a tall filing cabinet. On top was a girl, her small body quaking. Brielle.

Quickly, Melody and I descended upon the corpses, slaughtering them in minutes. I quickly wiped the filth off of my dagger, returning it to its sheath.

"Hey Brielle," I whispered to the shaking girl. "My name is Adira. I'm friends with your brother. We're gonna get you out of here."

"I dropped the knife," she whispered.

"That's okay. Come down and we'll take you to see your brother." I outstretched my arms, which she quickly climbed into. I lowered her onto the floor and then took her hand.

We quickly walked into the hallway, stopping when we got out of the door.

"Do you have an extra knife?" Melody whispered.

Brielle suddenly screamed, stopping me from answering. I spun around to see a large group of corpses that had been rambling by. But now their attention was turned towards us.

"Go! I'll hold them off!" Melody commanded. I scooped Brielle into my arms and ran towards our exit. We were lucky and didn't run into any corpses. They seemed to all be towards Melody.

I heard a shriek causing me to run harder. By the time I got to the window I was panting hard.

Roland and Travis were already there with outstretched arms. I pushed Brielle up and they grabbed her, hauling her through the window. I began making my way back down the hall when I realized something was wrong: it was eerily quiet.

I slowed down my pace, making my footsteps as quiet as possible. I heard a slight moan, but it wasn't the moan of a corpse; it was feminine and less raspy.

Walking down the hall I saw a figure on the floor clutching its stomach. I kneeled down beside it, gasping when my fingers became sticky with blood upon touching it.

"Melody, I'm gonna get you out of here," I whispered, trying to pick her up. She groaned, too loud to not be noticed. "Shhhh. You have to be as quiet as possible."

I heard the shuffling of many footsteps, realizing I had to move fast. I grabbed Melody from under the armpits and dragged her as fast as I could towards our exit.

After several agonizingly fearful minutes, we got to the window. Roland and Travis were already waiting. I pulled Melody up to her feet, shushing her as she groaned. I pushed her up to their outstretched hands as far as I could, which was far enough. Travis and Roland pulled her through as the room began to fill with corpses. My breath quickened as my panic rose. I looked up to see somebody reaching to pull me out. I grabbed their hands and was jerked up just as the first corpses were an arms length away. I shrieked as a piece of the broken window cut into my ankle.

I landed on the ground, gasping. I looked around to see Melody lying a few feet away from me, Roland by her side. I got up to go to her, but cried out in pain and fell at the shooting pain from my ankle. Travis caught me, keeping me from tumbling all the way to the ground.

"Get your filthy hands off me!" I exclaimed, shoving him away. I crawled over to Melody, seeing her shirt was dark and sticky with blood around her stomach. She moaned softly, causing Roland to grasp her hand.

Somebody came over with gauze and medical tape. They pulled her shirt up, displaying the wound. It was deep, oozing with blood. The wound was slathered with ointment and then wrapped with the gauze and medical tape. But, even in the dark, it was obvious Melody was already starting to bleed through. I went numb, not really grasping what was happening around me. Somebody spoke and pulled at my foot. They began putting ointment on it and wrapping it, but I did not pay much attention. I was focused on the fact that if Melody did not die now she would inevitably die soon.