Experiment: Apocalypse (Reddit Crew AU)

chapter 5

(a/n updates are gonna come less frequently now for a while. I've been trying to do it every 3 or 4 days but it's just unrealistic when I need to focus on school. Sorry, but I also don't wanna burn myself out writing it. Enjoy the less frequent chapters!)

Day 1.

Henry peaked his eyes open, wincing at the sunlight directly in his eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows, confused, and then it dawned on him. His eyes went wide despite the bright, morning sun gazing into them. He picked his hand off the floor, standing up shakily. His vision went black and fuzzy for a moment as he stumbled around. He turned a full 360, scanning over his surroundings.

When he had woken up, his head had been leaning against some old garages with textured stone floors. To his left, a large willow tree stood, the green leaves were hanging down to brush against Henry's head. As he stood now, facing the garages, a street road was behind him. It went downhill, towards a few houses that sat at the bottom.

It looked completely real. It was as if he was really here, and not just floating in some water all drugged up.

A small groan came from the right, his eyes turned away from the tree and towards the noise. Ani was here now, her head leant against the wall. She squinted her eyes open, blinking. She scrambled to put her hands down, about to stand up when she saw Henry staring her down. She visibly relaxed, leaning back against the garage door.

"So we're here, huh?" Henry nodded, silently sitting next to her.

"We're the first ones here. I've only been alone for a minute or so," he muttered. Ani nodded, humming a bit and looking around.

"It's pretty." She commented. Henry was about to reply when he heard a loud growl. He jumped to his feet immediately, Ani close behind him. The growling got louder as it came closer, and they could now hear the dragging feet scuffing against the floor. A gasp left both of them as they spotted what they could only assume was a zombie, shuffling down the hill towards them.

"Holy shit." Henry said under his breath. He grabbed Ani's arm, pulling her over to the tree. He quickly scrambled up, his height being useful as he jumped up to grab a strong branch and hoisted himself up. He held a hand out for Ani, clinging on to a branch to keep them steady. She got up in the nick of time, the zombie was just reaching the low wall surrounding the tree. Ani let out a sigh of relief, but Henry's eyes were still full of fear.

He had spotted Hoover beginning to come into the world. His eyes went wide. Presumably, the zombie was there to kill. The doctor's words echoed in his head. If you die in there, you die out here.

Hoover opened his eyes sleepily. The sun was in his eyes, and for a moment he felt confused. His movement was slow as he brought up one hand to rub his eyes. It dawned on him to where he was and he stood up quickly, not spotting the zombie. Until it gave another loud growl and turned around to go after him, bored of the quiet Henry and Ani. They faced each other with wide eyes. Hoover began to step backwards as saw it getting closer. Unaware of his surroundings, he tripped, falling back on the concrete.

Henry acted quick.

"Be quiet." He whispered to Ani, who nodded. He clung onto the branch they had used to get up, and lowered himself till he was able to drop down quietly. The zombie was way too close to Hoover now, he was scooting backwards but barely quick enough.

Henry picked up a large rock from under the tree, throwing it in the direction of an abandoned car. It hit the car with a loud thump, and then rolled off against the concrete.

Hoover was barely breathing, the zombie only a few foot away. When he heard the thump he jumped, turning his head to look at the rock rolling away. He furrowed his eyebrows. The zombie started moving, trudging towards the noise.

Hoover's eyes drifted to where the rock had come from, and his worries lifted a bit as he saw Henry crouched down by a big willow tree with one finger to his lips. The zombie had wandered off by then, probably distracted by some bird flapping around or something.

Henry stood up once it had cleared off, helping Ani down from the tree. They both approached Hoover, by which time Aksel had just appeared.

"We should probably wait for everyone to get in before we explain." Henry said, scratching the back of his head. Ani nodded beside him.

Once the other four had joined, all with fuzzy heads and sluggish movements, Henry and Ani attempted to explain what they thought was going on.

"Zombies. That's the 'experiment'." Henry raised his hands to do air quotations.

"Nah, that can't be right." Alex chuckled at the shocking statement Henry had said. He glanced around at the group who were all sat on the floor in a kind of circle shape. Upon seeing everyone else looking dead serious, he turned to face Aksel. "Right?"

"I mean... It makes sense. There had to be something that put us in danger." Aksel replied.

"So we have to survive in here for a month?" Kwite confirmed.

"Yeah, I think we should find somewhere to set up. I don't know where the borders are but there are houses down there." Brandon muttered, pointing his head down the street. The sun was at its peak; high in the sky, though it was a bit cloudy.

The group made their way down the street in silence, as there wasn't much to talk about anyways. They stopped, looking round to decide which house looked the most decent. There were 5, situated in a U formation. The first looked like any pressure would cause it to collapse, the second was barely there, pulled apart and the top floor was visible inside from where they stood. The third was more tucked away, a small square of front garden before the house began. While the garden wasn't in good condition, the gate has fallen off its rusty hinges, the grass was all mud and no green, and any sign of plants had gone brown. The house had probably seen better days. But unlike the other two, it still had most of its windows intact and a working door. The fourth and fifth were attached, but still in some kind of good condition. While they lacked a front garden, instead they donned a stone driveway. Which, of course, had no cars in.

"That seems like our best bet," Hoover said, staring ahead at the third house. The others followed his gaze and nodded, hummed or made some sort of agreement.