Chapter 9 – Cold Blood

“I think we’re on the third level,” the woman instructed to Ossy. “Only two more to go...” The duo continued their ascension of the parking lot basement.

The blue-haired girl looked up to the concrete ceiling in thought. “It’s becoming easier to see,” she noted more to herself than to the other survivor. “It must be the streetlights.”

“I wonder if we should take the studio van instead,” the older woman stated. “There’s more room and more protection, but it drives slower...oh, second floor.”

“I wonder how Gingy is doing...” Ossy mumbled to herself as her thoughts drifted towards the boxer.

“Most likely dead, I hate to break it to you,” her companion responded simply. “If he wasn’t taken down by the hoard, he’s probably hiding out in one of the film rooms. He’ll just waste away in there without food or even water.” She pointed upwards. “Ground level,” she stated. “The car is closer; follow me and keep quiet.” The blue-haired girl kept silent as she pondered her boyfriend’s fate.

Continuing to crawl, the boxer considered his options. He didn’t know the layout of the building, so he’d be in the vents forever – it was better if he could get out soon and find his way through the halls. On all fours, crawling through the confined space, he saw his first exit. The woman kept a few feet behind him as he thrust his fist through the vent panel. It quickly broke off like the last one, opening the space. He gave the room a once over...it was relatively large, with many tables and benches taking up space. A variety of vending machines littered the walls, and what seemed to be a mess hall took up all of the right side. Most importantly, the cafeteria was free of zombies.

“Back up into the other pathway we saw a while back,” he instructed to the travelling companion. She wordlessly followed his orders, both of them crawling backwards to retreat into the branching airway. Once doing so, Gingy turned his body once more; his back now faced the open vent, and he could escape safely. Sticking his feet out first, he slowly slinked his body out of the vent while holding onto the sides with his hands before he quietly dropped to the floor. He took a moment to compose himself before opening up his arms to catch the woman who fell out after him, not nearly as gracefully.

“Let’s keep a low profile,” she said to him, Gingy nodding in agreement. Slowly walking towards the double doors that led the way out of the room, both stayed cautious of their surroundings. They quietly pushed open the doors to find themselves in a wide hallway that stretched out into a lobby.

‘Isn’t this the same front lobby we went through after first coming into the building?’ he thought to himself. They were incredibly lucky. Creeping up the hall, Gingy peeked around the corner to re-evaluate his surroundings. A few lagging zombies staggered about on the stairs, and one at the end of the lobby, away from the front door, with none of the pinkish-red fast zombies that ran. This would be easy.

“Get ready to sprint!” he whispered to the lady beside him. She had a perplexed expression.

“Why?” she asked. “I find that these zombies are really slow...if you don’t make a sound and slowly creep by, they don’t notice you. Running will just alert them.” She then proved the point by suddenly moving ahead of Gingy into the hall, casually walking through the lobby whilst keeping aware of the deadly enemies around her. She moved without a sound, avoiding the glass pieces on the floor as she reached the front entrance. Amazed, Gingy soon followed. Keeping his steps to a minimum, they soon crept out of the building’s front doors without a trace - none of the lumbering creatures noticing their passing.

He took a moment to take in the night sky, shrouding the city with darkness that seemed neverending. The clouds mockingly veiled the stars, and the atmosphere seemed to mock the boxer’s attempts to live. It would be a long night.

“Come on,” the girl reminded him as he became lost in thought.

As they turned the side of the building into its vehicle-only lanes, Gingy glanced at the other survivor. “Wow, you were right. Good call. What’s your story?”

“Had to escape a museum full of those monsters, learned a few things.” She shrugged. “I’m lucky to be alive...if it wasn’t for my cousin, I’d...” she trailed off, her eyes welling with tears. Sympathising, Gingy rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to console her.

“What’s your name?” he asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“Jessica. Jessica Hawk.”

“Stick with me, Jessica...we’ll get out of here. As a matter of fact, I’ve also lost someone important to me. She was with me in the building before we were split up. I don’t know what to do...I hope she’s alive, but going back into that building to look is suicide.”

“Isn’t there any way you can contact her? Like, you know...phone, or something?” The word rang bells in Gingy’s ears. He was becoming forgetful after everything that happened, or he was stressed, or he was losing his marbles. Phone. Cell phone. He had one this whole time, but never gave it a thought. He immediately whipped it out of his back pocket and slammed his finger over the speed dial.

The duo of girls slowly walked through rows upon rows of cars. They were especially careful after hearing the collective groans of the undead scattered throughout the underground parking lot, and although Ossy’s eyes may have tricked her, she could’ve sworn she saw the body of one of them lying between a van and a hummer.

The female alongside her cracked out in smile, pushing her glasses back towards her face after it began to slide from her sweaty nose. She then habitually pushed a strand of hair from her face behind her ear. “There,” she said energetically. “All the way at the end of the parking lot is my car. We’re almost there!”

Osrali nodded, but her vocal response was cut off by the ringing of her cell phone. A familiar tune from one of her favourite groups - Capsule - vibrated in the air. Both were stunned by the sudden sound, both freezing in their tracks. Slowly, she answered.

“H-hello?”

“Ossy? Is that you?”

“Gingy?” she asked, her voice suddenly raised with a torrent of shock, relief, and happiness. “You’re okay! Where are you?”

“Outside of the MSN News building....I made it out. What about you?”

“In the underground parking lot, first floor...I also got away.”

The boxer’s voice lit up. “You’re okay? I was worried...stay safe, I’ll come over there right now.”

“Another woman and I are heading for her vehicle,” Ossy replied. “We’ll drive out of here and-”

Immediately, the conversation was cut off with a high-pitched scream, with a myriad of groans that supplemented the fear. Ossy’s benefactor had just been surprised by a zombie, which grasped her left shoulder in hopes for blood. They had heard the phone and had flocked to the source of the noise. The ambush startled the blue-haired girl significantly, making her drop the delicate phone which broke upon contact with the ground. The battery flew out of the cell, tumbling along the floor and landing under a parked vehicle.

“Ossy? Ossy!” Gingy continued to scream into the dead line, faintly hoping for a response.

“What happened?” Jessica asked with sincere curiosity. Gingy wasted no time answering; he made a dash down the lane towards the underground parking and left the girl without answers.

The woman squealed in morbid fear, struggling vainly against the creature’s grip. She didn’t realize that all of her sounds unintentionally attracted a growing hoard. Ossy moved in to help her without a second thought, throwing a light uppercut that echoed her boyfriend’s movements. The blunt force forced the zombie’s hand to loosen despite the attack’s overall ineffectiveness, allowing the survivor to free herself and make a straightforward dash for her car. Osrali's feet moved in accordance, but the path was soon blocked by another infected. Its dead eyes leered towards the flustered girl in a moment of silence before taking slow steps towards her position. Ossy turned with blazing speed and ran to her left, hoping to leave her pursuers by taking a different path. Sweat beads began to run down her face, under the yellow lights lining the underground parking lot’s walls. Zigzagging through a plethora of cars, she spotted a male zombie sulking up to her, the deteriorating skin visible as he opened his mouth.

Wasting no time, Ossy pulled off a movie-like slide off the hood of the Honda beside her to avoid him. Keeping her focus on the woman ahead, she saw her reaching the door of her car and frustratingly rummaging for her keys. Finding them in her left pocket, the female visually breathed a sigh of relief as she pressed a button to automatically open up the doors.

“Hey! Wait up!” Ossy cried out desperately, fearful that she would be left behind. The survivor glanced towards the source of the voice, momentarily distracted by Osrali’s call.

That was all it took for her to get infected.

A teenage zombie - obscured by a large truck beside their escape vehicle – snuck up behind her and sunk its blood-stained teeth into her neck, piercing the jugular vein and ripping out significant chunks of flesh from her body. The bloodcurdling scream his victim emitted was cut eerily short as her body slumped over the unopened door, blood spilling all over the window. Chewing the large morsel of meat he had stolen, the undead leaned forward for another taste.

“No!” Osrali defiantly screamed as she began to move faster, ignoring the growing pain in her legs. She bravely charged into the cannibal with a shoulder tackle, ignoring the risk as she pushed it towards the concrete wall. Surprised but not one to pass up a free meal, it attempted to nibble down on this new human - only managing to bite into the skin lightly and ripping her top before hitting the wall. Its head made a surprisingly harsh impact with it, creating an audible thumping sound that resonated in the area. Ossy nervously blinked as it awkwardly fell to the floor, momentarily stunned.

The lady who had guided Ossy to safety was losing massive amounts of blood by the second. She moaned faintly, showing signs of losing consciousness. Picking up her limp body, the blue haired girl struggled to move her over to the passenger seat. Her hands became soaked with the colour crimson, but it didn’t register to her.

“Stay with me! I won’t let you die!” She pulled open the back door and roughly moved the body inside, trying to move as fast as possible. Blood began to pour all over the black leather and ruined the interior of the car. Slamming the door shut, she picked up the discarded keys from the floor and jumped into the driver’s seat, sorting through the various keys on the chain before finding the one with the car’s logo. Cranking it into the ignition, she turned it and breathed heavily as the engine stirred up. Slamming onto the gas, the car revved out of its parking spot quickly – too quickly, in fact, as Ossy couldn’t make a full turn onto the pathway. The car’s bumper hit the back of another parked van; forcing her to slowly reverse before she could properly position herself once again. She heard a thump outside; she whipped her head around to see that the zombie she attacked regained its composure and now held firmly onto the spoiler, trying to hang on.

“No you don’t!” The driver found herself shouting as she hit the gas one more time, the car jumping into acceleration as it raced up the lane towards the surface. She couldn’t afford to check behind her - focusing on avoiding contact with other cars – but the determined predator held on tightly. She saw the tollbooth up ahead with its gate closed, and pressed on the pedal even harder. The car tore through the plastic arm and rolled into the parking entrance, and the immediate change of setting made it known as the lighting changed. She continued to drive forward until the silhouette of a human walked into the car’s path. Habitually, she slammed on the breaks and the car screeched loudly as it narrowly avoided crashing into the man. The sudden stop caused whiplash and the body in the backseat fell of the seat in to the car floor, causing blood to splash.

She opened the door, blinking to see the man through the darkness.

“Gingy, is that you?”

Before the figure could answer, something started to moan behind her. The zombie had still hung on, and began to move towards her. Osrali turned her body around but it was too late; it had already closed in on her. Suddenly, discharge of a bullet sliced the air and the zombie fell to the floor, dead with a hole in his forehead. She turned to see the man pull back his smoking revolver, returning it to its holster. His childish star-shaped glasses and elf-like red hat contrasted with his calm, quiet demeanour. Wrapped around his back was a first aid kit.

Gingy ran as fast as possible towards the entrance of the underground parking lot, Jessica slowly following his frantic pace. It was right around the next corner, and soon, he would meet up with her underground.

Tears began to well in the survivor’s eyes. “Thank you, thank you!” she repeatedly said, relieved. “You’ve saved my life! Listen, there’s a woman in the car that is severely injured, can you help me tend to her? You’ve got a health pack, right? We can use it to stop the bleeding!”

The mysterious man scoffed as he continued to walk past her, in the direction of the building.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Ossy shouted, feeling betrayed. “You’re going to leave her to die?!?”

“I’m not a charity case,” was the curt reply. The stranger didn’t bother to look back.

Osrali wouldn’t have it. She rushed up to him, pulling on his jacket to stop him from proceeding. “Please! You can’t just leave us here! I-I have a car; I’ll drive you anywhere you want! Just help!”

The man slowly turned his head, irritated by the girl’s incessant talking. His response was cool. “Idiot, you’re alerting the zombies. You have five seconds to leave me alone...” he started, quieting the survivor. “...Or I’ll kill you myself.”

Terror took a moment to sink into Ossy, making her blood run cold and her cobalt hair stand on end. She held on tighter. “Please!” she asked once again.

“Five...”

“I don’t know what I’ll do if you leave!”

“Four...”

“You can’t...you can’t do this...”

The stranger stopped counting, peering at her right shoulder. The fabric was ripped out and he could see red marks, in the formation of a bite. Underneath his glasses, his eyes narrowed. She was infected.

“Time’s up,” he quickly concluded as he raised his gun towards her chest. Osrali only had time for her eyes to widen before he pulled the trigger, sending the powerful magnum bullet through her torso. Her body dropped to the floor as blood started to seep out of the wound.

He pulled out his cigarette whilst putting away the olden gun a second time, sticking the cancer between his lips as he dug his pockets for a lighter.

Gingy stood completely still from the corner of the building as he saw the man shoot his girlfriend in cold blood. His body refused movement as her body fell to the floor, lifeless. His hands began to shake violently as the murderer pulled out a cigarette stick.

“Ossy...” he whispered quietly, disbelieving.

The gunman found his lighter and used its flame to heat the cigarette.

“Ossy...” Gingy said once more, the murder scene replaying in his head.

The stranger took a deep puff of his cigarette before breathing out a long trail of smoke.

“OSSY!”

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