They quickly ran upstairs, ensuring that the boy and the woman goes first. Just a few floors above them and they should reach the main group. They passed the fifth floor, then the sixth, then now they are at seventh floor. The Ragers on pursuit are closing in. Mike, Alan, and Richard would fire occasional shots to slow down the nearest Rager.
The seventh floor was an open area. There were no dedicated rooms as the rooms were broken down to make more space. There is a pool by the deck, which connects the building into another. Across the deck is a barricaded makeshift gate made of commercial heavy appliances bolted together with metal sheets and reinforced with dismantled furniture and doors. There are two makeshift towers on each side of the gate, each were manned by an armed guard, equipped with an M27. Just below the platform are banners with a symbol. The symbol is an eagle perched on top of the globe.
So this is why there were no Guards on the lower floor. The people we met there must've been scavenging or scouting.
They ran towards the gate, but was stopped by the guards. "Halt! State your business!"
Alan raised both of his arms, "We mean no harm, we are here to investigate the Ragers that entered the building."
The guards pointed their rifles towards Alan.
The woman cried out, "Please open the gate! Its me Eleanor, let us in! The Ragers took my husband, Victor..."
Mike turned around as he heard the first Rager enter the open area of the seventh floor. It scanned the area looking for the group. With a snap, it lunged towards the group. Richard fired his laser rifle, burning the torso of the Rager, melting its flesh like wax. Then another Rager entered, then another, and another, and another. Some were sprinting, the others were crawling. Mike raised his laser rifle and assisted Richard.
Mike yells, "Any time now! The freaks are closing in!"
The guard shouted, "Open the gate!"
The makeshift gate opened with a deep groan, but it was too narrow for all of them to fit in at once. One of the guards by the gate pulled the woman and the young boy inside. Alan was about to follow but he was kicked down by the guard. The gate would then close shut, leaving behind Alan, Richard, and Mike.
Alan hit the ground hard and grunted, "What the hell?"
The guards on the tower platform changed their M27 rifles into laser rifles. They primed their Rifle and shot short bursts of red light that hit the Ragers. The Ragers hit with the laser had their flesh burned, not deep enough to kill but enough to slow them down. Alan looked at the banner and memorized its details, the eagle perched on a globe. Richard continues to fire his shot until it beeped one long beep, powering down. Its juice had ran out. Mike checked his rifle, and he's nearing its limit too from both overheating and drying out.
Shit...
Richard turned to Alan, "Our rifles are out!"
Mike turned to Alan, "I'm out too, what should we do now?"
Alan just grits his teeth and ordered, "Run! Run like rabbits!"
Richard removed the PVC pipes from his arms, threw away his metal pot helmet, removed the pillows on his torso, removed the gardener gloves and dropped his rifle. Mike dropped his laser rifle and started to sprint towards the edge of the deck. Alan took one last glare at the guard who kicked him. It was as if Alan was killing the guard several times over with that look. He turned around and followed Mike.
Mike stopped by the railings to assess the surroundings. Richard stopped beside him and vaulted over, grabbing the railing to support his weight and sliding under, he landed on a ledge with the ball of his sole. Mike and Alan saw this and followed him. Vaulting over the railing, grabbing it, then sliding down. The ledge was wide enough to support their sole.
Good thing Big Boss Arthur forced us to do those drills back then...
Richard slides his sole off the ledge, he dropped and grabbed the ledge with his fingers. They were pretty high up. One wrong slip and they will fall the height of seven floors. Just below Richard was the parking area for the entire building. He knows that landing there safely will allow them to get a safe footing. Richard reached his foot down to the railings of the parking area, but he can't reach it. He feels his grip lose strength the longer he grabs on the ledge, supporting his entire weight.
Alan looked around, his sole is still on the ledge. He saw a condenser unit of an air conditioner near Richard. He drops and grabs the ledge, supporting his weight, and landed on the condenser. The condenser jolted a bit, it was not designed to support a grown man. Richard gestured down to the parking area by the sixth floor. Alan looked down and tried to reach the railing below. He succeeded. With great care, he landed below with a thud.
Mike heard the roars of the Ragers. They are really close. Some Ragers saw them vault over the railing. When Mike looked up, he saw a Rager vault over, but it was too fast and ended up launching itself and fall crashing down to the street below.
SPLAT!
The street was stained with a splatter of blood, and on it was a mangled Rager, twitching. Another Rager vaulted over directly above Mike. It twisted its body like a parkour maniac and tried to reach Mike as it fell down. Mike quickly slid his sole from the ledge and dropped, grabbing the ledge with his fingers. He nearly fell, he was swinging on the ledge. The Rager stretched out its arms, but due to its momentum, it barely missed Mike. The Rager fell and splattered on the street below.
Alan successfully assisted Richard in landing on the parking area. They saw a Rager fall, then another. Richard peeked his head to check on Mike. He saw Mike barely holding on to the ledge above. Just then, Mike's fingers slipped, he fell.
Oh shit!... This is it...
Richard reached out and grabbed Mike. Alan grabbed Richard by his waist and pulled him in. Mike was pulled and crashed into Richard and Alan. Richars got up, and gave Mike a lazy two finger salute. Mike exhaled, relieved that he was saved by Richard and Alan. Richard got up, extending his hand to Mike, they are not done running.
Richard said, "You know, that helmet of yours is getting in the way of running."
Mike shook his head, "No way, I'm keeping this on."
Alan took the lead and ran towards the slope. Behind them, just by the railing, several other Ragers were falling, making a wet splat sound upon hitting the street below. Alan looked at a column and saw the sign '6C'. They are currently on the sixth floor. Just then, a few Ragers managed to do the same parkour move they did, that is vaulting over the deck railing, twisting their body as they land on the ledge, dropping down and grabbing on to the ledge, then hopping off and grabbing the parking rail.
These freaks are free running better than us!
Alan found the fire exit stairs that leads down. He gestures to Richard and Mike to follow him. He shoulder tackles the door, swinging it wide open. He saw the stairs made of steel, and was outside the building, one wrong move and they fall to their deaths. He vaults over the railings of the stairs to descend quicker. Mike and Richard followed his route.
The Ragers on the street below, that splattered on the ground, started twitching violently. Their broken limbs snap back in place. They roared and sprinted into the building, upon entering, they stumbled on the man that was shot by Alan in the head. His wound had closed and on it was thickened bone and lumps of skin and flesh. His veins were bulging, his mouth was foaming, and his eyes were bloodshot. The Rager that he had its head smashed, had regrown the destroyed flesh and brain, but it was protruding and hanging, its skull had also regrown thicker than before, but it failed to cover the regrown brain. Both of them had heard the roars of other Ragers and started sprinting with them.
Meanwhile at the fire exit, the three had arrived at the third floor. Alan stopped abruptly when he saw that the steels stairs had been corroded or destroyed. He looked down and saw that the drop would break his legs, or worse. He tries the door that leads to the restaurant but it wouldn't budge. Either the rust had finally locked the door in place or there is something heavy beyond the door.
Alan looked up and saw that the Ragers from above were still following them. Some fell, some are following the stairs down.
Alan said, "We need to get down there and somehow lose them."
Richard landed beside him and said, "We could jump from here to there."
Richard pointed towards the mezzanine of the restaurant on the same floor. The mezzanine was a bit too far to jump on. Mike had arrived next, nudging the other two.
Mike said with urgency, "Whatever plan you have, you better do it now!"
Richard stepped back a few steps, and started to sprint. He jumped with one leg, folding his knees to avoid the railing, he circles his arms simultaneously, then he stretched his legs, and he landed on the mezzanine. He gestures the two to come and reassured them that he will assist them.
Alan took a few steps back, and sprinted. He jump with a one legged jump, flailing his arms, he tried to reach the edge of the mezzanine railing, but he can't reach it. Richard reached out his right arm and grabbed unto Alan. Alan was swung towards a wall and he slammed hard unto it. His kevlar helmet came off, falling to the pavement below. He was hanging freely. Richard pulled him up, while Alan climbed up. Alan had made it to the mezzanine.
Mike took a few steps back.
Alright, let's do this!
He started sprinting, and jumped just before the railing. He was in mid air when he realized he wouldn't make it. The drop from below was calling him. He started air walking, believing it would work. His arms flail, but he sees that he started to lose altitude.
Oh shit!
Richard quickly jumped off the mezzanine and grabbed Mike with two hands. Alan quickly grabbed Richard's lower body and they slammed upon the steel railing, fully supporting their weight. Mike swung from being grabbed, and was thrown to the balcony on the second floor, crashing hard into the floor. Had he not worn his motorcycle gear and helmet, he would have suffered quite a debilitating injury.
Alan pulled Richard up and shouted, "Mike?"
Richard told him, "Mike is on the second floor. Lucky bastard made it there somehow."
Then Richard shouted, "Mike, you okay down there?"
Mike grunts as he stands up. He pats himself a few times, relieved that he made it somehow.
Mike shouted in reply, "I'm fine!"
Alan and Richard sighed in relief.
Alan shouted, "We'll meet you by the lobby! Try not to die!"
Mike fixed his helmet and scanned the floor. He saw the stairs leading down to the lobby. He immediately ducks down behind the wall when he saw several shadows sprint on the stairs, ascending to the next floor. It was a horde of Ragers. Their growls and roars muted his breathing. He remained still, afraid of being spotted by even one of them.
Fuck! Will Richard and Alan be alright?
Going from the mezzanine to the second floor itself is easy, but the stairs is overrun. Mike peered down the balcony, and saw that the drop would hurt. There were no ledges to step on, nothing to hold on to. He looked to the left of the balcony and saw a condenser unit of an air conditioner.
I could scale that... But where does it lead to?
Mike climbed the condenser unit, and slid down to the next balcony. The balcony was still connected to the restaurant. He sees another condenser unit on the other side of the balcony and scaled it again. He repeats this process until he circled around the restaurant, eventually arriving at the back of the kitchen. There, he saw ventilation plenums, a box like compartment that he can definitely step on and use to scale down.
With great care, he steps down the balcony and on top of the plenum. He carefuly drops down, holding on to the plenum and into the next below. He peered down, and he saw that he could make the drop. He jumped down, landing then bending his knees. He staggered from the fall but he made it. He looked around and it looked like an alley. Beside him was a door, and beside the door was a large garbage bin. He turned the knob of the door, it was open. Upon entering, he immediately saw the stairs leading up to the second floor, to the kitchen, and stairs leading down to the basement.
I could have taken the stairs but no, I had to scale the wall like Spiderman!
Mike moved deeper, and realized that he was at the restricted area of the building. Piles of rotten documents were scattered in the area, there was a broken computer by the side with lots of monitors, a pack or cigarettes lay unopened on a desk, and a can of coffee sat by its side. Mike took the pack of cigarettes and pocketed them. He moved further in, with light steps, carefully navigating through the restricted area.
He arrived behind the counter of the reception area. The familiar marble counter gave him a sense of relief. He sat down behind the counter, breathing deeply. He then felt his body weaken. He's tired and wants to sleep, but he shouldn't. His hands and feet trembled slightly. All that's left for him now, is to trust Alan and Richard to make it through and meet him at that lobby.