Lives of the Damned

The growling gets steadily louder, the haunting shrieks of laughter of the Damned echoing throughout the street. I run faster, gripping Nicholas’ hand even tighter as I tugged him along. “Don’t stop running, Nico!” I yell at him, my chest heaving with agony

As I run, my heart pounds, I can hear him whimpering behind me.  I risk a glance behind me to find that his dirt streaked face was twisted with fear. “I can hear them behind me, Neveah!” He moans, his young eyes filling with tears. He was exhausted, and so was I; we would not last for long at this rate.

 I grit my teeth and my eyes struggle to search for a place to hide in the darkness. I spot an alley between two worn down apartments, and I make up my mind. I push him ahead into the dark and smelly space, pressing up against the wall. We're panting, our breathing amplifying in the narrow alley. Through the dead of the night, the sound of the Damned dragging their feet across the cement echoed through the street. My heart hammered in my chest as my blood ran cold. They weren’t in my line of sight yet, but I didn’t to see them to know what they looked like.

There was a group of Infected following us. Their bodies were charred, as if someone scorched them alive, their skin peeling in almost every visible place. When they smiled, their faces twisted grotesquely, and you were exposed to the deteriorating teeth coated with the blood of their latest victims. They had eyes the colour of embers, burning with rage which made it almost impossible to look them in the eye. The extraterrestrial disease chewed away any sanity that they had, leaving an empty shell that homed the intense yearning to destruct everything in their path. Those who weren’t infected with the disease yet nicknamed them the ‘Damned’ or the ‘Infected’.

I swallow thickly, a trickle of sweat travelling down my back. We had been on the run for six months. The disease was deadly, undoubtedly; it had only taken half a year to spread throughout America after an astronaut carried it back to Earth from Mars. Six months ago, Nico and I became orphans.

           

I shake myself out of my thoughts, backing further down into the alley, towards my younger brother. He had collapsed against the wall, drenched in sweat.

           

“Do you still have the gun?” I demanded. Nico nodded hastily, dropping a beaten bag on the ground. I held out my hand impatiently as he unzipped his backpack with trembling fingers. He pulled out the revolver and dropped it in my hand.

           

I pocket the weapon, scanning the dark and murky alley that we were in. I take a deep breath in, and my eyes water. The smell was awful; it was like someone had piled stack of dead bodies and abandoned them to rot. My breathing was quick and shallow, my eyes repeatedly flitting to the opening of the alley, waiting for the moment when the Infected might drag their bodies into view. I rushed to think of a possible place that was safe enough for Nico to hide in. My frantic eyes land on a window ledge on the side of one of the buildings, and I nod to myself. It was high enough to keep the charred people on the ground. If I managed to somehow break the window open and climb, we might have a chance of making it through this.

           

“Nico, give me the crowbar.” I say urgently, waving my hand irritably in his face. He nods and obediently pulls out the crowbar. I snatch it from him and angle my body so that I would have a direct hit on the window. I take a deep breath, and send the crowbar airborne, sending as much power as I could into the throw. I held my breath as it soared through the air, and then through the window, shattering the glass. I sigh with relief and grab the backpack from the ground, pulling Nico up in the process.