Mike and Alan collapsed to their knees, their hands are shaking and their breathing quickens. Both of them sat down, struggling to control their breathing. Mike grips his fists and takes a deep breath.
Richard walks over to them and says, "Rest, I will cover you while you let the rush die down."
Fuck...
Alan lifts his arms up high and shakes it repeatedly. He jumps up and down and takes one quick but deep breath. His breath stabilizes and his shaking stopped. Mike on the other hand, had flashes of what just happened a few minutes ago. The Rager disemboweling a human, him lifting the Rager and slamming it, Alan shooting the guy to end his misery. All of it came rushing to him. Alan pats his back, giving him a smile and a nod.
Mike slaps his own head, or rather helmet, and stands up. He felt his knees weaken. The after effect of the fight or flight, the Adrenaline Rush.
Several minutes later,
Mike, Alan, and Richard had cleared the second floor. They confirmed bodies of both Ragers and survivors alike, littered across rooms and the hallway. Most of the dead survivors were torn apart by the Ragers. The Ragers had cauterized wound holes on different parts of their body, they were hit by lasers. Some Ragers had bullet wounds.
The Hallway was decorated with flyer ads from different companies of a bygone era. Mike stared at the flyer of Harley Davidson, where they were about to showcase a restored version of the 1970 Ironhead. He reminisced on his old bike, being an Ironhead itself. He read the flyer ad and saw the date.
12th August 2045. Man, if shit didn't hit the fan a year ago, I would have been there.
They continued to carefully scan the area for both survivors and Ragers. So far, not a single soul was found, with the exception of cockroaches and rats scurrying around. The area is too quiet, despite the fact that the guy from before claimed that some Ragers made it further in. This is both good News and bad News.
The Good news is, the Ragers have not yet reached the populated area of the building, as it was too quiet and there were no signs of current fighting just yet. Bad news is, their survival rate just plummeted, and they know it. Even facing one Rager is dangerous with a team of three.
The three carefully ascended through the main stairs, and into the restaurant. The entire floor is dedicated for dining. It was once the main events place of different companies back then, now it was as if a tornado hit it. Furnitures turned, broken glass, table cloth littered. The bar area was clearly looted off of its liquor, and Mike could see that the fridge in the kitchen was wide open and empty.
They plan to continue ascending towards the fourth floor, where the gym was. Alan led the way with his laser rifle raised and steady, carefully scanning the corners and anticipating an ambush. Their steps slow, careful, and silent. To the darkness they move, with only the light from the fire barrels to show them the way.
Richard exhales slowly, his breath fogged, and he felt a shiver. The night is growing ever colder. When they reached the fourth floor, they immediately dropped down.
Three Ragers.
Staggering, and lumbering. With no stimuli, they are slow. The Ragers had no visible veins, and pale in color. Their eyes aren't bloodshot, and they are quite relaxed. Their mouths aren't foaming, but it was drooling.
Mike scanned the Gym and saw two survivors hiding behind a threadmill. They cannot move as there is literally a Rager standing just in front of them. The survivors were a middle aged woman wearing a torn jacket and pants, with one shoe missing. The other was a young boy in a thick coat. The boy was teary eyed and had his hand over his mouth.
From beyond the counter, on Mike's left, was another survivor. It was a middle aged man, and he was wounded. His eyes were bloodshot and veins are visible across his body.
Rager? Can't be, he would have attacked me on the spot.
Mike's eyes widen, as the middle aged man looked at him. He readies his laser rifle for the worst. The man gestured to Mike to stay down as the man casually lifted a barbel with one hand, he threw it overhead, crashing into a broken down mirror, shattering the glass upon impact. All three Ragers simultaneously turned their heads towards the sound, and scanned the area. They saw the man who threw the barbel and roared.
Veins quickly bulged on their body, their eyes become bloodshot, and their mouth foamed with saliva, they were growling and seething. The man vaulted over the counter and ran towards the Ragers. Mike saw the man's back had a nasty flesh wound just below his right shoulder.
A bite? Then that means...
Mike noticed that Alan was no longer with them, he scanned the area and saw Alan sneaking around towards the other two survivors.
When did he get there?
The man put his arms up in a high guard, his left leg forward and knees slightly bent. A classic boxing stance. One of the Ragers lunged at the man, the man weaved to the left and delivered a powerful left hook upon the Rager's liver, even from a distance Mike could hear the wet thud and bones snapping. The Rager didn't flinch, it twists its body, pulling the man into a rear naked choke. The man elbows the Rager repeatedly, but the Rager did not budge. The Rager then bites off the man's right cheek, the man screams in agony in a guttural roar. The other Rager lunged at the man and bites through his abdomen, while another grabs his thighs and rips his flesh with its jaw.
Meanwhile, Alan was leading the other two survivors out of the gym. The young boy was crying and was trying to break free of Alan's grip.
"DAD!"
Richard flinched, the boy shouted, that's for sure going to get the attention of those Ragers.
One of the Ragers snapped its head towards the boy and lunged. The middle aged man flopped lifelessly and dropped to the floor. The other two Ragers kept on tearing the man apart. Alan yanked the boy towards the middle aged woman and he tried to raise his rifle, but he was too slow, the Rager was already inches away from his face, with mouth wide open.
THUD
Richard rammed his forearm on the Rager's left side, it tried to quickly snap its head to bite Richard's arm but the PVC Pipe blocked the Rager's jaw. The force of the ram was enough to deflect the Rager's trajectory to the side, it crashed into the floor. Alan pulls out his handgun and shoots the Rager in the head repeatedly.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
A few shots missed, but quite a few hit its mark. The Rager stopped moving, and it had three bullet holes on its head. Alan's hands were still shaking when he grabbed the boy by the arms and pulled him towards the stairs, so they could ascend to the next floor.
The other two Ragers heard the shots and quickly lunged towards Alan. Luckily, Richard's laser rifle was already primed for a continuous burst. He fires, the Laser Rifle fired a continuous beam of red light that illuminated the entire gym with red hue. One Rager was hit on the chest, burning and melting its flesh, cauterizing it at the same time. The smell of burnt flesh hit them. Richard aims the rifle higher and the laser cuts the Rager's chest, up to the throat, and through its head. The Rager crashed lifelessly in front of them. Richard swings the firing laser rifle into the other Rager diagonally, it hit the Rager's shoulder and sliced through its chest, burning and melting its flesh. Richard was about to slice the Rager in two, but the laser stopped firing. It beeped three times, signifying that it overheated. Alan finished the Rager by firing his own laser rifle, which hit the Rager on its temple, melting through its brain.
Mike from downstairs shouted, "Ragers! Right below us, there's too many of them!"
Mike pulled out his flash grenade. He pulls the pin with his finger and threw it down. He then rushed to rejoin Alan and Richard at the gym and assisted the middle aged woman. The Ragers from below stopped sprinting to verify the flash grenade.
POP!
The bright flash of light was so intense that the Ragers clutched their face, and the sound was so loud that it made them clutch their ears at the same time. The sensory overload made them curl and drop to their knees.
That should buy us a few seconds... Damn it Nora, if I ever make it out here alive...
The middle aged man, woke up and looked at the boy, for a brief moment the rage in his eyes was replaced with sorrow. Rage returned to his eyes, he foams at his mouth, and started seething and growling. He slowly stood up and unleashed a guttural roar and lunges towards the boy, his own son.
Mike primed his laser rifle to short burst. He fired, and an intense red light shot through in an instant, hitting the middle aged man straight on the chest, melting its flesh and spine. The middle aged man fell to his face, lifeless.
The boy saw this and cried, "NO! I'll fucking kill you! I'll fucking kill you, Power Ranger rip off!"
Mike winced as the boy thrashed about, hitting, punching, and kicking him. "I'm sorry... He's already gone..."
Alan picked up the thrashing boy and asked the woman, "Where are your friends?"
The woman replied with a whimper, "Upstairs, beyond the seventh floor... Oh, honey..."
Mike was confused by this answer.
What? Their group is hopeless! No security on the lower floors, their group is sparsely spread, and worst of all, they aren't even armed! What the hell is happening with this group?
The Rager that was shot on the head with bullets had its wound slowly close, even though its brain was blown to bits. But the healed wounds looked grotesque. Lumps and lumps of flesh and skin overlapped, closing the wound. It tried to move, but it was twitchy. Parts of the Rager's body weren't moving, and parts are jolting in short bursts of motion.
Alan rushed to ascend to the upper floors. Richard assisted the woman. Mike followed closely behind, being the guy that is the most armored out of the three. Mike peered down, and the Ragers downstairs were quickly gaining ground. They were growling, seething through their teeth. They were sprinting, and some were even climbing the walls. Mike also could have sworn he saw a Rager scaling the walls outside.
At this rate, we're done for!