"Ahhhh!!"
That same woman screamed again, she must be one of those habitual screamers or something. Maybe she's one of those people who scream the moment the lights go off in a building, but I suppose a gunshot is kinda loud.
For that split-second, everyone was enthralled by the shot that rang out.
*Thoomp…*
A small hole appeared on my side of the mimic's head, and its body crumpled to the floor. The creature that was once giving everyone an unprecedented level of fear was now lifelessly limp on the floor. Its eyes were dull with death, and its gaping jaw now hung loose.
A puddle of blood was being pooled from the other side of its head. A different shade of red melding with the welder's blood below, intermixed with bits of pieces of grey matter that was now slipping out of the exit wound.
It wasn't a sight people saw often, if at all, in their lives here, yet now this traumatizing event might just become a daily occurrence.
Reupholstering my Glock, I helped kill the rest of the mimics. After the death of that welder, the attention of everyone fighting was distracted. In that moment, a couple of people got wounded, but no one else died.
The other welder went into a rage and numerous wounds appeared on him, on the other hand our unnamed volunteer was also lacerated on his thigh.
We in silence we cleared up the area a little and closed the door. To the side was a pile of 6 bodies, the mimics with their slightly misshapen parts, and on a nearby chair was the welder's body. His welder companion softly sobbing in front of the man's corpse. Some of those in the back came over to consul the man via gentle pats or words of encouragement.
While others were mourning, Jordan came up to me.
"Where did you get a gun from?"
I told him about about the cafeteria and what I heard about from Abby.
"Fuck, you think the that heavily armed team is down too?"
"The ones that look like a SWAT unit? No Idea, we're not close to their station anyways, that's on the other side of the entire plant. Theres a good chance that they came in to help fight these mimics, but it's not like we know where they went.
They should be around, the mimics we've seen so far aren't too hard to deal with if you have a gun and ammo."
"If that's the case then how did that security guard die with the gun you have now? It still had some bullets before he died, right?"
"Uh… hmm, yeah you're right. Now you're freaking me out, but that's a good question."
"What are you going to do now then? Our original plan was to leave after this and each try to go home."
"I want to at least know what happened to Robert before I leave, I'll be splitting off from your group from here."
"So you won't be joining us then huh? *Sigh,* I understand. Don't worry I won't force you to."
"I appreciate it."
I watched as he walked away towards the group we had protected and soon another came to replace him. Abby walked up with a soft smile and her hands tucked behind her back.
"So where's our next destination?"
"So you really do want to stay with me, huh? Aren't you afraid that we might have to face them with just the two of us?"
"Aren't you the one who should be worried? You were about to go off alone to find someone in this massive place. Wouldn't it be better with someone by your side to watch your back?"
"Why don't you just join their group and escape? Is there some kind of ulterior motive from you?"
"Wow, how blunt of you. Can't I just be a woman who's grateful to her savior and wishes to repay him?"
"Hmm… Okay, do as you wish then."
"Oh? Anything I wish?" She walked to my side and placed a hand on my arm. Her head tilted to the side a little as her eyes narrowed a little, and a knowing smile widened.
But before I could respond to her blatantly flirtatious attitude, the voice of a man yelling echoed in the room. I turned only to realize the man had been directing that voice at me.
Jordan was by the side of the man, looking as if he was trying to reason with the man, but he was soon pushed to the side. A couple of others blocked him from going towards the man.
The welder was still preoccupied with his friend, and the one wearing an entire welding set stood off to the side. The last guy who fought with us was on the yelling man's side.
"Are you really going to let us fend for ourselves?! Every man helping to defend is invaluable! You really are a selfish man to leave the rest of us without not just one, but two defenders!"
'This guy is trying to guilt-trip me, huh? I could say the truth that I have no reason to protect them, but I don't need to leave on a hostile note.
I could make myself out to be that very same selfish man he described, though. If I just add a dash of scumbag maybe they wouldn't want me to stay. I guess I could just leave without another word. There's nothing stopping m-'
Before I could finish my thoughts, Abby stepped forward.
"Hey, listen here, old man! We're not obliged to help you and your group, okay?!"
"Why, you little minx! You two are just abandoning the group! We have three injured and a number of elderly."
'Shit, why did he say that! His guilt trip is starting to work a little. But most of them aren't that old, are they?'
"Hah! What does that have to do with us? One of them might not have even made it back without our help, and if it wasn't for Nova here, how many more injuries would've happened because of that one?!
Our team was already occupied fighting over here, or do you really think any of your group would be as fine as you are now without him?! And if you're so worried about the lack of people fighting the monsters, then why don't you be a man and fight with them?! Surely you don't include yourself among those elderly, do you?"
"N-no I can't… I'm a… pacifist…"
After those words, the crowd behind him started subtly moving away from him.
'Wow, he's got some shitty backup. They didn't say a word to help him out and immediately started leaving the moment it was going south.'
"A pacifist, huh? What a bold lie. Or maybe you're just a massive hypocritical coward. You don't wish to help fight, yet still demand to be protected? Have you even contributed anything to this group?"
I noticed his eyes shift from Abby to me, and then to the place I had hidden the gun.
"Give us the gun!"
The man clearly didn't have the skill of negotiation, and I think I've had enough. There was no need to entertain the man who was trying to gain something from nothing without any support at that.
I saw Abby take half a step forward. I could feel her outrage, and I put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at me for a second and stepped back.
"Abby, let's go."
We turned and walked out without another word, no one stopped us. I saw Jordan look at me with a bit of shame, but he tried. Didn't try that hard, but he still wanted to be in that group, so it made sense.
"Thank you, Abby, for standing up for me."
"Does that mean I get a little reward?"
"You know, for a married woman, you sure don't act like one."
"How rude… in exchange, I'll be taking this hand!"
Her hand entwined itself with my own in the blink of an eye.
"Wha-... fine sure, do whatever you want."
"Shut up! Uh, so what did you do before this happened?"
"Hmph, you aren't changing subjects very subtly, are you? I'll humor you, though. I was a doctor before, specifically a neurosurgeon. Are you impressed?"
As she spoke, she kept swinging our arms together, which were bound at our hands with each step. It went directly in front of us and fairly far behind us.
"A neurosurgeon? Wait, don't doctors have to take a Hippocratic oath not to hurt others?"
"Hmph, that's what you're focusing on? Well, I'm not harming patients or anyone that I could reason with to treat, now am I? I don't believe the oath really extends to monsters, and technically it's not legally binding."
"Say, why did you, a doctor, want to come to a production plant like this? Were you just interested in the car you drive, or what? I don't expect anyone in your field to be that interested in how cars are built to come in person to watch it."
Slowly, her arm swinging motions slowed down, each arc gaining less and less height.
"I came because my husband wanted to. Honestly, I don't know what got him so fixated on production plants all of a sudden. He picked this place as our date! Can you believe that?! A massive place crowded by loud machinery and the metallic fumes in the air."
"He took you here for a date…?"
"That's right! We've been married for 10 years, 10 godforsaken years! Even after all this time he hasn't changed, he hasn't changed one bit! Back then, I thought it was part of his charm or maybe I've just matured since then. But regardless, his antics make me so mad sometimes! I thought that perhaps I could change him, make him ideal and perfect…"
Her fingers slipped out of our entanglement and stayed limply at her side as we walked.
I glanced over at her in my peripheral vision to see her looking towards the ground even as she walked at the same pace.
After a moment of deliberation, I brought my hand over to her far shoulder, rubbing it as I brought her closer to me.
Honestly, a part of me thought it might be too much, but on the other hand, I felt it might've been necessary.
"Fufu, looks like I got you to bring me closer without me even having to do anything, huh?"
"What! Were you faking it!?"
"No, I wasn't, you did make me feel better… Say, do you know if there's been any news about the world?"
'Now it's her turn, huh? It's probably for the best if I just went along with it.'
I whipped out my phone to see a couple of photos and a text from Juni, it must've been sent when we were fighting earlier.
The first picture was of her upper torso and up, posing with a ballistic helmet, bulletproof vest, and a heavily modified AK. She had a goofy, smug smile, which seemed to be completely devoid of the horrors that the group we just left had.
[Juni: Got your gear ready for you too! 12:33 PM]
The second picture was of a table that had my whole "Spec-ops" gear set. From a dark grey BDU (Battle Dress Uniform) to a multitude of utility items and ammunition for a few weapons that leaned nearby.
I sent a quick reply that consisted of a heart and "I miss you."
"Oh, wow, is that your type? This picture is so much clearer than that little icon from earlier. I never expected that you'd be into tomboys. So I guess that means I'm not your type, huh?"
"Who says you're not? I'm not narrow-minded or tunnel-visioned on one type."
Though I said that mostly to make her feel better, it wasn't a lie.
"Anyway, we're looking for news, right?"
I quickly searched online and picked the first link that popped up of a live feed of a reporter in the streets. It wasn't a standard setup, where he stood facing the camera, but instead it showed the blurry footage of him and the cameraman running.
After a few seconds, the camera unsteadily refocused on a reporter who looked like a mess. His hair and clothes looked drenched, but he still held the mic up with a shaky grip.
["Hah… Hah… for anyone still watching or just tuned in, the world as we know it currently may be turning upside down. It's not just in the US, these creatures are popping up all over the world, Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, everywhere! With no ground zero currently pinpointed, this is almost like some kind of global invasion.
At the very least, those infected are easily identifiable. They will give off a noticeable, uncanny feeling about them. I guess it was good that we evolved this trait, huh? Yeah, not the time for comments.
*Ahem* We currently have no information about how they appear, but we believe that there might be some kind of parasite that turns us into those creatures. As many may have seen, they all look like people we once knew. Not because they transform into them, but because they are taken over.
We had a couple of witness testimonies where they said they said their friends went to the bathroom, and next thing they knew, a monster that looked just like them appeared from where they went.
We also have some footage of those creatures dragging others, alive or dead, away to secluded locations."
The reporter then proceeded to pull out his phone and show the camera a video. Screams rang out in the background, and people were seen being chased and attacked all around. The quality was questionable as the quality made those infected indistinguishable from those being chased. Regardless, the camera zoomed past some of the carnage and focused on a couple of people dragging a couple of bodies away before disappearing. Soon after, an arm flashed past the camera.
"The fuck are you doing! We need to run NOW!"
"Alright! Alright! Let's g-"
The video ends, and the reporter shoves his phone back in his pocket.
"I think I've done enough reporting, let's get the fuck ou-t… of here…"
The man had a chef's knife sticking out of his side. Someone appeared from the sidelines, but there weren't any uncanny features about them. What was odd was the indifferent face that it had on the entire time.
"W-what the fuck! What are you doing to him, you psychopath!!"
"Arghhh!!"
It had twisted the knife and shoved him onto the ground. It's attention now on the cameraman with the bloody knife in his hand. The camera tilted down somewhat, but the cameraman was frozen in place.
By the time he must've realized he should run, he didn't get far. The camera clattered to the ground, in its view was the reporter who lay in a puddle of his blood, and the cameraman clawing his way toward the camera. Behind him was the emotionless man gripping a knife.
After a few more seconds, the feed was cut and was back in a news room, the two reporters that sat in the middle were agasp, and soon there was banging in the room.]