The dark carriage was like a place out of time, a place to rest without consequence. The darkness in that way was a sanctuary, a place to recharge and forget the things the world said had to be done. It wasn't that I couldn't or wouldn't, but rather that I needed that sense of stepping out of the craziness for a while. Therefore, in the darkness that stole even my own form, I was content to let the time pass and awake when conscious streamed in with its bold confidence.

   “ What has happened? ” I asked.

   “ You hear that too? ” asked Elrick.

I nodded my head in response.

   “ It was so loud! ” whispered Wilco.

   “ That shit is definitely a gunshot! ” said Elrick confidently while pushing his thick-framed glasses with his forefinger.

   “ Pow! Pow! Pow! ” A few gunshots were transmitted from distance. The next second, only the steadied roaring of the mutants was heard.

   “ Boom! ” A loud sound was heard out of the blue, causing the ground and ceiling to shake vigorously, some debris even fell off from the ceiling. Elrick quickly instructed us to squat down and protected our heads with both hands. I held Carol to my chest firmly and protected her with my body from any incoming damage.

The uproar ceased after the explosion of something. The mutants outside the carriage ran off to the exit following the mysterious sound of gunshots and explosion.

   “ What was that? ” I asked.

   “ I don't know! Looks like we are not alone! ” said Elrick. “ Maybe it is those military guys! ” added Elrick guessingly.

   “ Anyway, I think we should go! It is clear outside! This is our chance! ” said Wilco while looking thoroughly the space outside the carriage.

   “ You're right! We should get the hell out of here as soon as possible! ” agreed Elrick.

The door was open gently, producing the only sound in the subway just like a pin dropped onto the floor during exam. Wilco stretched out his head partially to scout the surrounding.

   “ All clear! Let's go! ” whispered Wilco.

We stepped out from the carriage and walked toward the exit with light-heeled pace. Carol also cleverly acted in concert with our movement without making a single noise that can possible attach the mutants nearby. There was an opened door in front of us, what's at the other side seem like a corridor leading to the subway entry.

   “ It is the entrance! That is no mistaken! ” said Elrick while pointing at the signboard on the bloodstained wall. “ We can get out from there! ”

We walked through the office-like room while keeping our body low, silencing every footstep to avoid unnecessary attention. The door was about 3 meters ahead, I almost could smell the scent of the sunlight when we resurfaced. I bumped right into Elrick's back while busy imagining myself shower in the mild sunlight, enjoying the heat spreading throughout my whole body.

   “ What's wrong with..... ” Elrick stopped me from finishing my sentences by putting his forefinger on his lips.

A female mutant dressed in janitor uniform stumbled inside the room. It was just in front of us, so near that I can feel her breath exhaling out from her mouth. I strove to hold back my breath and keep my heart from beating out of my chest. We all intuitively started to fall back, one small step back, left, right, left and so on.

Wilco suddenly screamed out of nowhere. I turned my head back, seeing him scratching and slapping his neck, tried to get something off. A black creature that about the size of my palm being swiped away from Wilco's neck, fell to the floor. Elrick simultaneously focused his torchlight on the unknown creature. It was a Stinger, a damn big Stinger.

   “ Fuck! ” shouted Wilco.

Wilco stepped on the Stinger hardly as if it was a cockroach. “ Behind you! ” I was shocked when I saw the scene behind Wilco. The whole wall behind Wilco was being occupied by the roots of Rainmaker, just like the vine in the tropical rainforest. The most terrifying fact was that there was a swarm of Stingers crawling on it.

   “ Holy shit! ” murmured Elrick.

A roar came from behind. The old crinkly janitor lady stared at us with her bleary red eyes.

   “ Oh crap! Run! ” shouted Elrick.

We quickly turned around and ran through the door, leaving the retard old lady behind but she soon realized the situation and started to chase after us. At this very moment, I recalled Mr.Robinson classes back when I was still in middle school, he is our PE teacher. I used to thought he is a badass teacher because he always forced us to run many laps without rest around the field under the burning sun. But now, I regretted.

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My feet slipped outwards on the wet floor as I round the corner, the static moist air shocking my throat and lungs as I inhale deeper, faster. With each footfall a jarring pain shot ankle to knee, ankle to knee. Perhaps jumping that wall onto stairs wasn't so smart. My heart beat frantically, all or nothing. Failed and my whole body would pay the price, ran and the damage is limited mostly to my shins and knees. I knew this estate better than anyone did. I could hear myself panting with the effort from five meters ahead of the mutant, that was how freaking noisy I was.

   “ We are almost there! I can even see the light! ” said Elrick.

   “ Hold on! Just a little more! ” I told Carol who was on my back, crying.

We ran up the stairs at full speed toward the dazzlingly bright sunlight ahead. The next second, we were on the surface, running into a street full of abandoned car. We weaved our way through the sea of vehicles in the effort of trying to get rid of the mutant tailing us.

However, thing wasn't going well as we thought. As we ran down the street, the mutants wandered around at the roadside noticed us at their first glance and decided to join the hunt. The whole scene just looked like a mini marathon was being held on the spot, just more bloody than usual.

Wilco fell down half way, holding himself up with both hands on the ground. He tried to push himself up but he lack the usual strength he had, his arms and legs seemed paralyzed, he fell down again as if his energy was being sucked away by something in his own body.

   “ Are you okay?! ” Elrick braked and turned back to Wilco. Wilco was panting intensely, even he didn't speak, I could tell from his expression that something not right. Wilco seemingly endured the pain that continually bursting out from inside, he almost passed out right away. One of his hand was holding at left side of his neck, I could see the scarlet blood seeping out from between his fingers.

   “ Come on! Errrrrrrr! Get Up! ” Elrick pulled Wilco up and put Wilco's arm around his neck. “ They are catching on us! ” I reminded Elrick. “ Not good! We won't go far in this condition! ” Elrick gazed around the surrounding nervously.

   “ That is it! ” Elrick pointed at a building ahead with a big signboard written Red Cliffs Mall. We quickly headed to the entrance of the mall as fast as we could.

Elrick picked up a broken stick that almost one meter long from the floor and smashed it right at the middle of the french door, scattered it into million pieces. “ Come, get in! ” Elrick picked up Wilco who leaned against the wall beside the french door and followed after me.

My footsteps echoed on the marble floor, which was once aesthetically pleasing. This building that was once a mall of its age now resembled something that had been through a war. The stillness of the pillar inside the mall sent shivers down my spine. The mirthful mall, where once family shopped joyously, was now just a plant covered solitary place. There is water dripping from the roof, rhythmically, generating a melancholic melody. The shutter doors are all rusted and the glass windows are all shattered, shattered like people's hope after the befallen of The Second Impact. Long ago this floor must have been a polished marble, even now there were patches that showed through the encroaching mud and leaf detritus.

We walked into a small storeroom at the end of the corridor, just beside the toilet. We stayed low all the time to avoid attracting any other mutants nearby. I looked through the window of the wooden door, the mutants, who were chasing us the last second, were now calmed down and started their shopping in the mall. Seemed like they won't go berserk if we weren't directly in their sight.

   “ Slowly, sit here! ” Elrick put Wilco down tardily and leaned him against a rack carefully. Wilco sure sweated a lot, the sweat coming down from his hair as if there was a mini raining cloud floating above his head. And, his neck was bleeding, unstoppable.

Elrick tore a piece of his shirt and pressed it against Wilco's neck, trying to stop the bleeding. Apart from that, he also examined Wilco's wound right away.

   “ Damn! He was bitten by Stinger. ” said Elrick desperately.

   “ You mean at the subway station?! ” I was shocked and couldn't believe what Elrick said at first, but I understood the situation after I had recalled the event that happened at the subway. The two of us stayed silence except Carol who was pulling my sleeve, asking about Wilco's condition.

   “ What has happened to him? Is he alright? Is he tired? ” asked Carol naively.

   “ Maybe, I don't know. ” I lied.

Elrick and I knew the answer very well. Although I always believed there was a chance that someone could survive it, but I don't even trust myself now. I couldn't even convince myself that there maybe a miracle. It was just a cruel fact that no one could deny it such as natural selection in the past. It was like a death sentence bestowed upon you.

The tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down my face. I felt the muscles of my chin trembled like a small child and I looked toward the window, as if the light could soothe me. “ Why everyone has to leave me......why......Dad....Mom.....Ivan too.....and now.... ” There was static in my head once more, the side effect of this constant fear, constant stress I lived with. I heard my own sounds, like a distressed child, raw from the inside. I tried to hold it back but I just couldn't.

   “ Why are you crying? ” asked Carol puzzlingly.

   “ Kade! Kade! Don't worry! He will be alright! After we settle down, I'll find some bandage outside to bind up his wound. ” Elrick comforted me.

I knew that I shouldn't depress at this very moment, but I just couldn't control myself. The scene that Ivan got shot in front of my eyes kept flashback in my mind, it felt so real, so near, as if it just happened the last few seconds. The scene that Ivan moaned, motioned us to run, bleeding out, being left to died, kept hovering in my mind, just like a ghost that was haunting me. I was despaired, I hoped I could forget everything but on the other hand, I also wanted to remember everything, wished that Ivan wouldn't fade away.

I turned my head away from them to look outside the window, hiding my reddened face full of running tears. The sky outside the window was overcast. I could barely see some droplets falling down from the wicked gray cloud above.

   “ Oh......it starts to rain now. ” I spoke under my breath.