Drugs

A Struggle to Survive

Dead bodies filled the alley, flies buzzed busily around them. Everyone in view was ripped and torn apart. It would seem unreal if the sight was not all over the city. Andrew would not have come to this path had he not seen the door open and knowing this place to be where they might be able to find some food. It was a risk, but they weren't any better options. They were both starving.

He wiped the sweat that had fallen on his brow with his free hand and despite the motion was simple; his hand shook none the less.

"Andrew," Kim whispered, but he did not respond.

Kim held on to his shoulder, pressing into the bag on his back. Her weight was bearing down on his arm and if he had to move, she would surely slow him down. He gripped the crowbar tightly in his other hand.

"Wait here," he pointed with the crowbar to the large dumpster, "hide there for now, you should be safe." He pulled himself free from her clutched embrace.

He knew she wanted to say something, but now was not the time to show weakness. If he was not on his guard whatever was inside might end up killing him be it human or monster and he had no intention of dying. He took his first few steps forward.

"Andrew," she whispered again.

This time he raised his hand again towards the area and told her to wait once more. He was now closer to the door; Andrew noted that it had been broken in before by something or someone. A trail of blood ran from the alley to the inside of the building. The interior was slightly dark, but he was still able to see what was there. He entered cautiously making sure to keep as quiet as possible. Did someone manage to survive? He wondered as he observed what he came for which was now littered on the floor, bottles of water, packs of food, snacks, ramen and other grocery items.

Don't follow the trail, Andrew told himself as he crouched himself over and gathered the food and water, packing it into his bag.

He dropped a pack of chips on the ground, and the noise broke the silence.

"Hello?" a weak voice called.

Andrew hesitated to answer. It could be a trap, he had to take precautions. He did not want to end up being attacked on his way out.

"Hello?" the voice called once more this time weaker than before. "Help me, please."

He stayed quiet as he heard the voice again as he tried to find its location. He found himself following the trail of blood from the alley.

Finally, Andrew saw a young man on the floor propped up against the grocery shelves. He could barely make out his features; there was very little light in this area.

The man looked at Andrew with emptiness in his eyes.

"Help me please," he called, reaching his hand out to him.

Andrew looked around at the rest of the shelves with the dim light barely reflecting in from the door. He noticed that the blood trail ended at the man.

He took a deep breath, not knowing if he would regret this move or not and approached him.

"Are you alone?" he asked.

The man nodded. "I was with my friends, we came here to get food and were attacked outside. Did you, did you kill the monsters?"

"Monsters?"

"You---."

"Andrew!" Kim's voice shouted as a shrieking noise was made.

Andrew turned back to the door.

"Wait, don't go, please don't go."

His plead was drowned out by Kim who shouted over and over, "Andrew! Andrew!" she sounded like she was getting further away.

Andrew rushed without studying what potential harm could be waiting for him outside or what was even still in this room.

He came into the light, and the horror met his eyes. This creature that stood before him, he didn't have a chance of winning against. His body shivered, almost taking steps back to the safety of the building.

All he was able to do was watch it unfold; he was helpless to do anything as the creature took her into the air. It paid him no mind at all as it looked down on him from his position within the confines of the alley. He contemplated tossing his weapon, but that might be a death sentence and noting the size it was more than likely to hit Kim. He saw the defeated look in Kim's eyes as she got further out of sight.

Enraged by his own weakness, he hit the crowbar into the wall. There was nothing he could do to save her. He leaned on the wall before his body slumped all the way to a seated position on the ground.

"Damit!" he shouted.

Gunfire rained loudly in the distance for a moment. It seemed like it had come from a few streets down. The noise of gunfire distracted him for a few seconds and he forgot about his anger and his inability to save her which had loomed over him. He bit his lip, held his weapon tight and made his way back to where he had dropped every last morsel of food. He couldn't save her, he thought, even if he wanted to. There were far too many odds against him. How could he possibly fight something that soldiers could not?

"Are you still there?" Andrew called, but there was no response.

Entering the building he heard noises before he saw them, one, two and three of them. They were barely even able to stand, almost like a pure mockery of life itself as they fell and got back up again a few times. They were standing above what appeared to be the corpse of the man. His hand was still outreached towards where Andrew had ran out.

He gripped the crow bar tighter in his hands as they headed in his direction.

"At least I can handle this much."