CHAPTER SIX

        Look up. Down. Left. Right. Make a beeline for the nearest intersection. Repeat the pattern. Never look back. That’s what the soldiers told me to do not long after we left the confines of my apartment. At the time, I didn’t know what any of them meant by that. But then we got separated, and everything started to make perfect sense.

        I just wish I could’ve stuck around a little while longer. Maybe found a way to help. But I didn’t have much of a choice. There was nothing I could do. Unlike the soldiers, I didn’t have any fancy weapons, or sturdy armor to defend myself with. And even if I did, I don’t think any of that would have done me any good. Once we crossed that first intersection, and locked eyes with that… demon of a woman, it was all we could do to keep our composure.

        Not that it mattered. I think one of the soldiers managed to slip away unscathed before the blood shed started, but I can’t be sure. Everything happened so quickly.

        One minute the soldiers were standing their ground, weapons primed at the ready, asking this lady if she was alright. The next, they were shoving me down a side corridor, out of harm’s way, while they hammered the woman with everything they had.

        In the end, the soldiers’ efforts proved futile; and only served to delay the inevitable – their deaths. Once I saw the first soldier go down, his throat torn to shreds, I did exactly what I was told; trying my best to ignore all the horrible sounds cascading down the corridors after me.

*          *          *

        Later on, after several gut-wrenching twists and turns, I eventually stumble across a sign. It’s handwritten, and in bad shape; but it serves its purpose well. It lets me know I’m almost there. I’ve almost made it to safety. There’re just three more corridors separating me from the nearest safe zone. I just hope my luck doesn’t run out before then; and, for the most part, it doesn’t seem to.

        At least not for me, though I’m not so sure the same can be said about the former occupants of the safe zone. From the looks of things, the people here suffered a fate far worse than any I could possibly imagine. Or so I first thought; but I don’t think that anymore because the longer I stand here, and stare, the more something seems off.

        I don’t quite know what that something is just yet, but I can’t leave without knowing. Not when this could all be some sort of hoax. And especially not with danger potentially lurking around every corner. So, I approach the first guard station with some hesitation.

        It’s a bit unsettling to see all the broken glass, and splattered gore, but what’s even more unsettling than that are the lack of bodies.

        Startled by this sudden realization, I’m about to move on to the second guard station when I feel something hard being pressed into the side of my head.

        From out of the corner of my eye, I can just barely see the barrel of a rifle. It doesn’t look one bit as sophisticated as the ones the soldiers came equipped with back at my apartment, but I’m sure it’s just as deadly.

        Unsure of what else to do, I’m about to turn, and face my captor, when something sharp slams into my side; sending me into the weirdest paralysis-induced state that I’ve ever experienced.