I groan as I extract myself from the remains of the drywall of the… shit I think I'm in a hallway. I'm pretty sure I overshot and went through the wall. A quick look around reveals the person sized hole on through the wall behind me, and a smaller two foot wide hole next to me. Yep definitely overshot, well I'm gonna keep blaming the zombies. But what is this other hole for? I poke my head in it to find what looks to be a break room, with what I'm pretty sure are the mangled remains of the air duct on the floor. Ah, that would do it.
I pull my head out and finish dusting myself off, knocking the drywall bits out of my hair and what not. I'm going to need a makeover after this crazy as shit. I wonder if Charles and Anna would want to help. Actually on second thought, giving Anna control over My look I'd a bad idea and Charles wouldn't care. Anna would probably hook me up with enough bows and pink to make a Disney princess look goth in comparison.
I brush off that tangent thought along with the last of the dust, then start creeping down the hallway and checking rooms as I go. I'd like the think that anything on this floor would come running after my little crash, but better safe than sorry. This floor seems to be office space, but instead of cubicles in an open layout it's lots of small offices in a bunch of always. I also manage to find the stairwell access thanks to the emergency lights above the door.
Thankfully the floor is clear, undisturbed aside from the damage caused by my entry. Once I know the floor is clear, I start looting, I mean reappropriating items necessary for my survival. Like the last office it's sparse on usable items aside from crappy pens and pencils. Unfortunately I don't have as much pocket space as before due to tearing my jacket up, so I need to be selective about what I carry. I do find another nice stapler that I can throw around. And the break room has a small assortment of cheap, but metal, implements I can use. Including a steak knife, score! By the time I'm finished loading up, I have four forks and four butter knives added to my pockets, with the steak knife firmly held in my tail's grasp.
Current plan is to wait out the night or rescue, whichever comes first. Thankfully the breach closed at some point during my escape from the zombies, so I don't have to worry about new spawns anymore. To that end I take off my shirt and fully undo my transformation, allowing my wings to stretch out and my mana to start regenerating. The good news, it's regenerating fast, I'll probably have max in a few hours. And once it's maxed I'll be able to stay fully transformed for probably a day or two straight. Which is good, because after this the scrutiny will be heavy. Next I start finding anything I can and piling it against the door, just in case any zombies decide to try and explore. I can keep the door from opening since it opens into the stairwell, but I can make a blockade on my side of it to force anything trying to enter to make a lot of noise or move slowly. And since I plan to wait here and hunker down, both are a win in my book.
After the barricade is piled up, consisting of tables, desks, chairs, and a few file cabinets, I tie my shirt around my waist and just wait. I quickly get bored, daydreams about anywhere but here or being famous can only keep me entertained for so long. I pull out my phone and check the battery, sixty six percent remaining. Against my better judgment I keep it on and look over some of the few memes and cat videos I have saved. It keeps me entertained for an hour and some change before I run out of material. Rather than look at everything again repeatedly I now decide I should actually save the battery and turn it off.
The good news is the office clocks still work, being battery powered, and when I get close enough the light from my eyes illuminates them enough to read. Eight twenty, and still no sign of any kind of counter offensive from the military. To call it concerning is an understatement. They should be crawling all over this place, especially over three hours later. The only upside to this is I get to regenerate more mana.
Mana: 5697/13,903
Two hours ish and almost at half recharged. Though at this rate I'm wondering if I'll need that mana for disguising myself, or for surviving the apocalypse, because the lack of response isn't looking good. Speaking of not looking good, I finally realized how covered in guts I am. Jeans are caked, don't know how I didn't realize they were soaked in the stuff. My shoes are just a lost cause, no amount of soap is gonna remove that much crap. Jacket is…. we ll the jacket was already a write off from the first incident. The only thing ‘clean’ is my shirt, and even it has a few splotches.
I'm gonna need a complete new set of clothes if I get to the bunker. And god knows what kind of tacky crap they will scrounge up to stuff on me. Unfortunately my lamenting of clothing session only gets to last so long, as some funny noises from the stairwell get my attention. Oh come on, can I get no peace in this shithole? I sneak my way over to the barricade and carefully try to listen to the stairwell. At first it's just the sounds of something shuffling outside, then I see a beam of light flashing near the door.
“Do you think we should check this floor?” The a man whispers.
“We should head back up stairs and hide with the others! This is stupid, we aren't going to find anything useful or anyone not turned into… whatever the hell those things are!” A second man quietly hisses at the first.
“We need the supplies though. Who knows how long it's going to take for rescue. You said it yourself, the army should be here by now and the fact they aren't means something else is going on. We need to stock up at least a few days of food and water just in case.”
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“Just because happened to have a case of water and snacks left over from last week's party doesn't mean any of the other offices will have shit. Besides, we should be doing this during the day when we can actually see without broadcasting where we are.”
“It's fine, all those things went outside. You hear them screaming earlier. Besides, we haven't encountered one yet.”
“Because we have gotten lucky! Now let's not press that luck and…. What the hell?” The second voice says slightly louder than before as I hear the door to the stairwell click open.
Holy shit people! Oh shit people! I immediately start shifting my non-human parts away and putting my shirt on, however the first person has zero patience and does something stupid
“Hello! Is anyone there!?” He screams as loud as he fucking can straight further into the floor.
Holy shit, this guy is gonna get us killed with how loud he is screaming!
“Shut the fuck up! Are you trying to get us killed!?” The second person hisses at the first.
“But there might be someone alive in here!” The first guy responds, still yelling.
“And they might be one of those things now! So stop yelling you fucking idiot!” The second guy responds in a stressed tone.
I’ve finally gotten my wings away and my shirt on, so I make my way over to my makeshift barricade. I’m happy to know I'm not the only one left in this shity hellhole. But at the same time, if I group up with other people I’ll have to be way more careful about my mana usage and hiding my demon parts. That and this first dude seems more inclined to get everyone around him killed then help. Seriously, has this guy never watched a horror movie?
“Hey, you wanna maybe make enough noise to get yourself killed somewhere else!” I chastise the first man while poking my head just over the top of the barricade.
In front of my barricade are two men, both younger dudes, probably in their mid twenties, wearing nice suits. One has blonde hair and the other a brown with light blue highlights.
“Hey now, no need to be an ass about it.” The blonde, who was the first voice from before, replies.
“I don't know Billy, she’s got a point. What with you screaming like a fucking idiot and all.” The other guy, who is also holding and waving a flashlight, says before I can respond.
“Yea, those things may have shit hearing but they can hear. So knock it off.” I chastise the idiot further.
“Clark.. oof” Billy goes to open his mouth again only to get lightly jabbed in the side by the other guy, Clark apparently, who speaks up himself instead.
“Sorry about him, he means well but before you ask, yes, I've met rocks that are smarter. So what about you little missy? I’ve worked in this building for ten years but can’t say I’ve seen you before. Not that that’s really a concern right now. But how’d you end up here? Normally you need ID to get past the lobby but the powers out and generators down so none of those would work.” He says in a charismatic and calm tone.
Now, do I tell them the truth? Or hide my powers? I’m not worried about getting charged for damages, since basically anything short of pointless murder is legal during a crisis like this. But what I am worried about is them expecting me to save them or something. I do not want to carry other people's lives on my shoulders like that. Though one could argue I already made that choice when I chose to become a healer. Either way I can fully see them dragging me back upstairs and make me their savor or something. Or worse, two dudes alone in a building with a young girl, no power, tracking, anything, with an apocalypse going on outside. The perfect time to have some fun and get rid of the evidence, not that they’d succeed. While I’m not getting those kinds of vibes from these guys, it is still a possibility from the rest of their group. Granted the more people there are the less likely someone is going to try something stupid.
But as it stands, all cards are currently stacked against joining up with others. Not unless they have the ability to get rescued or something useful. But that doesn't answer my first question, bullshit or not? I’m gonna have to go with bullshiting my way out of this, because if I tell them the truth they might even go so far as to try to move their group down here thinking its safer with me.
“I found a door propped open when this shit kicked off and made my way up. The rest doesn't concern you.” I say tersely.
“Hey now, I know we didn't make a great first impression so let's start over. I'm Clark and this is Billy. What's your name?” Clark asks.
I think about it for a moment before deciding they don't need my real name either, so I just opt to give them the first letter of my name instead.
“You can call me L.”
“Uh, well OK L. We're looking for supplies for our group on the twelfth floor. There's nine of us in total. You could join us up there if you want.” Clark replies
“Thanks but no thanks. I'm good here.”
“What? Why not? It's safer to group together.” Billy says.
“Because I don't know you for one. Two, I'm not going to hang around a bunch of people more likely to get me killed than now.” I say, making a point to glare at the stupid one.
“But we aren't…” Billy tries to speak up, only to be stopped by Clark.
“Billy, we can't really argue against that after your introduction. Let's go, we aren't going to convince her." Clark says before turning back to me.
“If you change your mind we’re up on the twelfth floor. We’ll get out of your way now.” Clark says as he pulls Billy towards the stairwell door, clearly getting the hint I don’t want them there.
Shame, Clark seemed to have half a brain. But that Billy guy is going to get him and everyone else killed. Even now he seems confused, unable to pick up on the very obvious hints I was dropping as Clark drags him out.
“Dude, why are we just leaving her? She’s gonna get killed.” Billy whispers to Clark as they reenter the stairwell.
“Maybe, but she’s dangerous. Can you not feel the vibe she’s putting off? You pissed her off with your dumbassery so blame yo OH SHIT!” Clark basically screams as I hear him and Billy rush back through the door and slam it shut.
I don't even get to ask them what the fuck they think they are doing before a wretched scream comes through the door to the stairwell, so loud it rattles the barricade. Then something big and heavy slams into the door so hard it visibly dents and bends inwards.
“God damn it you motherfuckers!”