Desperately, I glanced around and noticed that on one of the windows in the room there was a fire escape ladder. That was our one way to get out of here.

I ran over to the window, stepping over the corpses strewn about the room and tried to pull it open. It wouldn't budge. I swore, then screamed, "Come on, open the hell up! Open up!" It still wouldn't budge, we'd have to smash it open and risk climbing through the broken glass.

My eyes urgently darted around the room, looking for something to smash open the window. I saw a chunk of the wall that had been torn off and swiftly scooped it up in my hand. I cringed as I slammed it into the window, shattering it and sending shards flying in the air. With a few more swings, the hole was big enough for us to fit through.

Without hesitating for a moment, I picked up Aaron and pushed him through the window. I heard him cry out as his legs were cut by the glass, and at the same time I heard the door at the end of the hall tear open. "Go down! Now!" I said urgently. Time was running out. I pulled myself up onto the window sill, took one last look at my wife's face and then dove through. I wanted to scream but held my cries as I cut my arms on the glass. As I hopped onto the metal platform, the cold air and rain added to the chill of fear. I wasted no time and instantly started climbing down the ladder. I heard the things running down the hall. The screams assaulted my ears so violently that I almost let go of the ladder to cover my ears. When we made it down one floor, I heard what must have been the door fly off its hinges and crash onto the opposite wall.

Did they know where we went? Would they come after us? I pushed the thoughts aside, I just thought about climbing down the ladder. The ladder soon stopped on another metal platform, which was connected to a series of stairs. Aaron was already another floor below me. Good. As we made our way down the stairs, I kept glancing up to see if anything was following us. As I looked, I noticed that the fog had become much thinner. I didn't ponder too much on it. Go! That was the one thought taking up all of my mind. Escape!

I saw Aaron had stopped on the platform below me. I was about to ask him why he stopped, but then I saw why. The next set of stairs had been torn clean off, either by the strong winds or by the creatures. The ground was still too far below to jump.

We had no choice but to go back inside the building.

I tried the first window, and was surprised when it opened easily. It was low enough for Aaron to get in on his own, so I decided our best course of action would be for me to go in first, in case those abominations were waiting for us on the other side. I peeked my head in, all I could see was darkness. I took the flashlight out of my pocket and switched it on, revealing an empty storage room. The door was open on the other end of the room. I hesitated for a moment, but then swiftly pulled myself in when I heard the screams ring out overhead. Aaron climbed through an instant after me.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I looked at his face for a moment before we continued on, it showed despair buried beneath exhaustion. My face must have looked the same. The adrenaline and panic of the moment was burying our sorrow, but only for now. When we made it out of this, if we made it out of this, we'd be free to let it all out. I pushed the thoughts away again and we sprinted out the door and into the hallway. We came out into the main staircase, the first one we had taken, on the third floor. We both paused for a second when we heard a crash from the fourth floor. They were coming back down. We almost threw ourselves down the stairs, we were moving so fast. Our breathing grew ragged. The adrenaline rush was starting to wear off. The exertion, combined with the terror and sadness... it was starting to really weigh on us. I didn't know how much longer we could go before collapsing. We needed to make it to the car and get the hell out of here or we'd be finished.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Aaron tripped and fell.

Without missing a beat, I picked him up in my arms. My body ached with pain, but I ignored it.

We couldn't give up. We had to survive. For Jessica's sake.

The screams echoed down the stairs, and I knew that they were almost there. We had to move, and move I did. I barrelled through the lobby, manoeuvring around the debris all while carrying Aaron. Everything was a blur. In mere seconds I felt the rain on my skin, and knew I was outside. My lungs felt like they were on fire, and I knew I was going to collapse if this went on for a moment longer. I leaped into the car and put Aaron into the passenger seat, all in one motion. I put the key into the ignition, and turned.

It didn't start. I tried again, and again and again. It still wouldn't start. The car had finally crapped out on us, at the worst possible time imaginable. I slammed my hands down on the steering wheel and let out a howl of rage, which made me start to cough. My vision started to get blurry. I really had overexerted myself. We couldn't die like this... we couldn't... This was my fault.

I tried to get up out of my seat, but I only fell back in. Pitifully, I turned my head towards the building and saw three hunched figures step out of the doorway. So there were only three in the building. Three! All it took was three of those things to cause that much damage.

My vision blurred to the point where it looked like I was in a chlorine pool and blackness started to envelop the corners of my eyesight. My mind slowly started to go blank. I was falling unconscious. The three creatures shambled towards the car.

The last thing I saw was a set of headlights speeding towards the three beasts, I heard tires screeching and then everything went black.