Huff Huff

“I can’t run anymore. My legs are already bleeding from the earlier fight,” Sara expressed her discomfort as she fell on the ground on her knees.

“It’s gonna be night soon, let’s finish this quickly,” Jacob stretched out his hand as he comforted Sara.

As Jacob and Sara meticulously set their final charges on the pillars of an old, crumbling building, they prepared for their exit through the treacherous swamps. The pungent odor of decay stung their nostrils as they trudged through the murky waters. Just as they reached a manhole in the garage, thunderous explosions rocked the ground, causing ripples in the water below.

Both Jacob and Sara swam through the muck with full speed to the other side. After about a minute of swimming, they emerged in a dimly lit warehouse. It was the place they had started from.

Before they could catch their breath, a bone-chilling roar echoed through the warehouse, making their hearts race. The source of the roar remained unknown, adding an unsettling layer of fear to their mission.

With the sun dipping below the horizon, they dashed towards their safe haven, a towering structure known as the Tower. Their footsteps echoed through the empty, war-ravaged city, a place that had become an eerie ghost town. They knew they had to reach a safe place before nightfall.

As they were running through the empty canal, Jacob suddenly gestured for Sara to take cover behind a rusty barrel as they heard faint, ominous shuffling—a stray deviant.

It had been nearly five years since the world had irrevocably changed. World War Three had ravaged the planet, resulting in nuclear devastation and plunging the world into an endless winter.

The relentless radiation had given birth to the Deviants—mutated beings that had lost all semblance of humanity and reason. What made them even more terrifying was their ability to reproduce within their nests.

Deviants were grotesque and unnatural, with decaying flesh, sunken eyes, and tattered clothing. Most of them are slow and jerky, limbs hanging limply as it shambles forward. There are also some who run at a speed beyond imagination. 

They emit low, guttural moans that send shivers down one’s spine. The stench of rotting flesh lingers in the air wherever it goes. Its hunger for human flesh is insatiable, driving it to relentlessly pursue its prey.

There were some deviants with special ability, like the one in front of them, the Screech, which could scream so loud that every deviants around the area would gather around it.

To keep a city safe to a certain extent, some survivors like Sara and Jacob hunt these deviants. These survivors are known as Runners.

Jacob whispered urgently to Sara, "Back up, quickly!" His eyes widened as he noticed another Screecher lurking behind them, its dead gaze fixed upon them with its jaws barely hanging from his mouth.

"Run!" Jacob shouted, and without hesitation, he and Sara retraced their steps, fleeing from the advancing Deviants. Panic set in as the horde drew closer. Desperation led them into a once familiar school building. Its classrooms were now filled with eerie silence and walls had claw marks and blood stains on them.

Searching for an escape, they improvised, using a nearby wall as a platform to reach a sunshade. With nimble movements, they clambered onto the roof.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

They entered the building from the door at the roof. They shut the door behind them close and blocked its handle with Sara’s baseball bat.

As they descended downstairs, they decided to make a temporary camp, barricading the doors and windows of the top floor as best they could. They set some traps on the stairs that would make some noise when stepped on. 

Exhausted and battered, they took turns resting. Sara was the first to seek rest, while Jacob remained vigilant, clutching a baseball bat and keeping a handgun within easy reach.

Hours passed, and then, Jacob heard an eerie, sniffing sound emanating from outside. It was loud enough to be heard by Jacob who was inside. Jacob strengthened his grip on his baseball bat as he tried to peek through the hole in the door.

"Kekeke," an unsettling laughter echoed from beyond, prompting Jacob to awaken Sara urgently. 

Bang

A hand suddenly pierced the barricaded door from outside. It was a bloody hand with three claw-like fingers as long as an average person’s arm. It was by no means a normal deviant.

“Uhhhhggghhh”

Screams from deviants started to come from outside as large bangings could be heard on the windows. Jacob’s eyebrows twitched as it should be theoretically impossible to reach the top floor for them from outside.

Boom

A loud crash, like thunder on a stormy night, echoed through the building as the main door was violently breached. It revealed a figure so grotesque that Sara started to throw up on the spot. It stood at least eight feet tall, with grotesquely elongated limbs, each ending in three clawed fingers.

What was most grotesque was its exposed front, revealing a macabre view of its ribcage, pulsating heart, and lungs. Its intestines dangled grotesquely from its open abdomen, and one eye hung loosely from its socket.

The sight of this abomination left Jacob and Sara stunned, their eyes locked on a horrifying vision they had never encountered before.

Bang!

The window shattered behind them, revealing a swarm of Deviants gathering below. The Deviants started to enter the room through the window.

Jacob, without wasting time, threw a grenade right at the mysterious figure and ran out through another door while holding Sara’s hands. They even had to step on their traps as they went back again to the roof.

Boom

A large explosion from the bomb made the whole building vibrate. Thankfully the roof was yet to be taken over by the Deviants. Jacob and Sara made a run for the far edge of the rooftop. Jacob still held Sara’s hand in his own.

"Look, there's a pile of garbage down there. We can make it. Jump!" Jacob urged Sara as he placed both of his hands on her cheeks.

She nodded, her heart pounding, and with a deep breath, leaped from the rooftop onto the heap of garbage below.

Jacob climbed on the wall to make the jump as well. But as he was about to jump, he heard the door crash open behind him. He glanced back to see the monstrous figure stalking toward him.

He quickly jumped down and found Sara still lying on the ground.  "What happened? Get up!" he implored.

Jacob stretched his hand out but soon his eyes shifted towards Sara’s swollen and injured legs. She had suffered a grave injury during their jump.

"Leave me—" Sara began, but Jacob interrupted her without hesitation, "I'm not leaving you behind. Never."

Jacob picked Sara up on his back and started to run. He kept running and running. Mere seconds started to seem hours to him.

!!!

Suddenly the mysterious monster appeared before them out of nowhere. Even if it didn’t have any skin, Jacob could still feel its grin.

Jacob started to step backwards in fear. As he turned backwards, he saw hoards of Deviants circling them. The Deviants closed in, seizing Sara and wrenching her away from Jacob, who was overpowered and restrained by the others.

His heart stopped as he watched the relentless deviants rip Sara apart, feasting on her vital organs while she still breathed. Her cries for help echoed through his mind as tears flowed freely down his face. Jacob could not bear the sight any longer and wrenched away, trying to forget what he had seen.

"No, no, please, no," he cried, tears streaming down his face. 

Inexplicably, the monstrous figure grabbed Jacob's head with its razor-sharp claws, lifting him off the ground. Deviants at his feet began gnawing on his limbs, sending shockwaves of agony through his body.

Summoning every ounce of his courage, Jacob retrieved his handgun, took aim at the monstrous figure's head, and fired three shots. 

"Just die!" he screamed.

Click, click. 

The three bullets struck their target, tearing through the creature's head, yet it remained standing. Jacob didn’t understand what was happening. Why them?

With no other option left, Jacob pulled the pin of the time-bomb he created for his mission on his vest. The explosives were rigged to create a deadly chain reaction with each other. Tears mingled with his pain as the bombs began to tick.

Time seemed to have slowed down. The once bustling busy streets of the city are now filled with mutated monsters and dead silence. Perhaps this isn't all that bad compared to the harm humans cause fighting each other. While World War Three had ravaged humanity, it seemed that the world would endure, as it always had.

Tick, tick.

"Let's meet in the next life, Sara," Jacob whispered, his voice filled with sorrow.