Valerie looked at the road that made up the motorway around them. It was busier than expected, with not many cars driving on their side of the road, but many more leaving the city.
The number of vehicles only grew bigger the closer they approached the city.
"Shouldn't they be going back to the city?..." Valerie asked.
Glancing at the cars and trucks and vans parallel to them, Griffin quickly added, "Looks like they've got a mind of their own... Maybe they've figured another way out.". He paused, clenching his jaw. "It'll be a jolly ride getting out of the fucking city...".
"You're not coming along?" Valerie asked. "Thought you said you were going to the airport too.".
"I am... but I can't just yet. I've some more errands to take care of before I go.".
Valerie nodded her head, her stomach once more swirling with nothing but fear.
And then a call came in on Griffin's radio. "Griffin?..." a man's voice called out. "Griffin, can you hear me?... I can't get this fucking shit to work.".
"I can hear you," Griffin responded after pressing a button on the steering wheel.
"Great..." the voice sighed. "Where are you?... Are you close yet?".
"Not yet... but the traffic jam stretches for miles... those who are leaving the city," Griffin responded.
"Tell me about it... the city is packed, it's mayhem... we just got hit by a wave of undead, we fear that there is more to come.".
"Shit..." Griffin voiced under his breath. "Are you still good to go on?".
"Yeah, I am fine. Got out just in time.".
"Good, good..." Griffin started. Silence followed for a mere second before he spoke up again. "Along with Devon, I've another person who'll go with you...".
"Griffin..." the voice was weary. "Griffin... You're putting another life in my hands... You've seen for yourself how everything's like... Please, please don't do that to me. I- I can't, I really can't take on another person...".
"James... She's a detective... Capable of self-defence...". Griffin glanced Valerie's way. "It'll be like she's not even there.".
"Griffin..." James's voice went off again before letting out an audible sigh.
"James... listen, she went through hell. I had to leave her friends behind because they were infected. Don't have to make me do the same to her too...".
"Infected?! Is she infected too??".
"No, no... She... She's fine. She got out of it unharmed," Griffin responded.
"Fucking... Fine!... But if she dies, the blood will be on your hands. Not mine...". His words shook Valerie. But they also made her angry. Was it the heat of the moment so he thought for her to be weaker than him? Either way, she'll prove him otherwise. It'll be him she'll be saving and not her who'll be saved.
"I'll take full responsibility, James...".
Valerie's words came out of her mouth before she could stop them. "Are you implying that I am weak?... I just want to get out of this fucking place. I don't need no protection... I don't need no knight in shining armour who'll sweep me off my feet and carry me to safety. I just need directions... I need to know where I am going. That's all...".
"Do you see what I mean?... She's more than capable, James," Griffin spoke up, seconds after Valerie finished.
"I heard for myself, alright..." James responded. "How long do you have left?".
"About some 60-odd kilometres," Griffin said.
"So about 40 minutes then?".
"About that, I'll try to speed it up.".
"I'd rather you here in one piece, as opposed to a car wreck and a severed-who-knows-what," James answered back. "I'll keep in close touch with any more updates. Tell me when you've entered the city.".
"Alright... Done deal... And please, be safe.".
"You know me, I always am... and I always will be..." James said. Such words struck a chord within Valerie. "Later.".
"Alright...". And with that, the radio contact came to an end.
"I'm sorry about that... I heard the anger in your voice when you told him all of that..." Griffin voiced seconds after the silence ensued.
"I don't like to be underestimated," Valerie responded.
Griffin let a small smile grow on his lips. "I can tell he'll like you already.".
Valerie let out a snicker at his words. "But will I like him?".
For a moment, muteness took over the car before Griffin broke it. "He's not the type to want to gamble on human lives. Especially given the situation we're in... He doesn't take death easy. Especially if it's a death he could have prevented..." Griffin tried to explain.
"And what?... I am that type?... I am a detective, Griffin. I investigate homicides, for crying out loud... I am just like him, hearing the way he spoke to you, I heard myself".
Griffin bit his lip, not knowing what to say next.
"And please..." Valerie spoke back up. "Please don't excuse him... I hate excuses.".
"I wasn't excusing him, I just thought it's something about him that I should let you know of..." Griffin responded. "I wanted to let you know that it might have sounded like he called you weak, but he didn't...".
Letting Griffin's words sink in, her face eased without her notice. She put herself in his shoes. Would she be the same?... She didn't know. She thought back to the forest and how only Tim and she managed to escape.
'Tim...' she remembered, looking down at her phone. It's too late now.
The journey continued as they only got closer to their destination. Around them, slight accumulations of snow patterned the fields and the sides of the roads.
Looking out the window, Valerie took a note of something. What at first appeared like black dots afar, turned out to be bodies a minute later. A wave of zombies. Valerie's eyes widened ever so slightly as Griffin drove through the crowd.
"Holy shit..." Valerie commented, looking out her window as a few smears of blood restricted her view ever so slightly. However, she still managed to catch a glimpse of some of the savage attacks on the innocent trying to escape in the vast, never-ending row of vehicles
"That must be them... the hoard that James told us about..." Griffin spoke up.
Reaching the end of the crowd of the undead, Griffin used his windshield wipers to get off some of the blood that managed to splatter and disturb his line of sight.
Seconds later, over a hill, the vast skylines of the city of Liß came into view from over the horizon. And with them, towers of smoke clouded the big city.
And still, no update from James.
So, Griffin decided to call in. "James?" he called out. "James?... Do you copy?".
"Griffin?... Can you hear me?".
"Yes, I can. How are you holding up?".
"Not so good..." James began. "They just barricaded off more streets... I don't know how we're going to get to the airport.".
"Hold on... We're entering Liß now. Once we get there, we'll think of something," Griffin responded.
"Alright... I- I'll be waiting for you by the 'Gateway of Liß'. That's the closest I can get to the entrance of the city.".
"Grand..." Griffin voiced. "That's grand, we'll be there in a few...". With that, he looked into his rearview mirror, at Devon. "Devon, wake up. We're nearly there...".
Immediately, Devon opened his eyes before sitting back up. "Fuck... I passed out.".
"Would come of good use now, it seems," Valerie added as her eyes were met by the streets ahead of her and the debris that rested on them.
"First time in Liß?" Griffin asked.
"Yeah..." Valerie responded. "Didn't think my first encounter with Liß would be right before the end of the world.
"What a pity. It's a great city... or was..." Griffin answered back. With that, his eyes immediately went to the gateway that James was talking about. "There... we gave to get to there...".
The two skyscrapers opposite each other made up the gateway of the city.
And with that, the first few houses, businesses and apartment complexes zoomed right before Valerie's eyes. People screamed as they ran down the busy street with cars still waiting to leave the city. "This is insane..." Valerie let out under her breath.
However, a little after they managed to get into the city, Griffin came to a screeching halt when he was met with a barricade. Valerie looked behind them, only to see more people running and zombies chasing them.
"James... James, if you can hear me. We're by the gateway... I can't go any further with the car because of a barricade..." Griffin spoke up.
Seconds later, James responded, "I- I think I know which barricade you're on about... meet me on the other side of it if you can find a way.".
Griffin looked at both Devon and Valerie. "I guess... here's where we say our farewell... It's been a pleasure getting to know you, Valerie... Take care... and while you're at it, take care of Devon too.". He let a smile grow on his lips when he heard Valerie let out a laugh.
"Ha-ha... very funny," Devon responded, sarcasm present in his voice as he stepped out of the back of the vehicle. "I'll see you in a bit anyway..." Devon added as he walked past Griffin's window.
With Valerie out of the vehicle and all the doors closed Griffin popped out his head. "Behind the barricade... he should be there.". With that, Valerie saw the way Griffin looked behind him as he backed away, turned around and drove off.
It was then that the true coldness of Liß got to Valerie. Right in front of her, she caught a glimpse of how her breath turned into clouds of mist the second her breath left her body.
"Valerie..." Devon's voice caught her attention. He pointed his finger at something. Looking to what he was talking about, Valerie's eyes were met by the group of zombies that headed their way. "W-we have to go...".
Thinking fast, Valerie looked around herself before seeing the door of a building. It seemed ajar. "We can try to manoeuvre through the building to get to the other side...".
Devon nodded his head. "Sounds like a solid plan to me... now come on.".
And with that, they both ran into what was once an apartment complex. Ensuring the zombies didn't follow them, they blocked the door by pushing a nearby shelf against it.
Allowing a second's worth of rest, a breath of relief more specifically, they then delved further down the darkened and broken-down hallway of what was once a lit-up shelter for its dwellers.
Both Devon and Valerie spent a few minutes looking around them, they knew they were tight on time as James could walk to the barricade at any moment. But a stairway that led up the stairs caught their attention.
Walking up it, they tried to keep their steps quiet, if it wasn't for the people who loomed around the complex, it was for the eerie interior that the stairway exuded.
Through a wooden door, which was covered in blood, they both found themselves in another hallway. It was that bit brighter than the one below them. They continued pacing through, trying to find a way out.
Not long passed before they reached an opening in the ceiling. Devon looked at Valerie and she back at him. They knew that they'd be wasting time if they went looking for anywhere else.
"I'll boost you up first," he voiced to Valerie before getting down on one knee. Lifting her, she managed to get up through the hole and onto the floor. Next, Valerie helped Devon and within a few seconds, he managed to get up too.
A huge section of the building was missing and what Valerie could see of the skyline was further choked out by the thick, black smoke. It reminded her of what she saw in Artull.
Behind it all, the Sun was still on its way, not quiet yet making it past the horizon and the cold winds embraced both Devon and Valerie in a hug of nothing but discomfort.
The blaring sirens of the police and the firefighters filled the background as Valerie decided to take a few steps forward, heading toward the edge of the half-destroyed building.
"Shit..." she muttered, seeing that right below her, one more step ahead, was a direct fall to death. '20 meters for sure,' she thought.
Turning her attention to her right, she saw the barricade and the fact that they made it to the other side of it. 'At least we're moving forward...'.
"How are we going to get down there?" Devon asked.
"I don't know... but we'll find a way" Valerie responded before looking to her left. There she saw that what was left of the floor draped downward and a little ahead of it was a pile of rubble. However, to Valerie, it looked high enough of a platform to make for a safe landing. "We could jump... You see that pile of rubble there?".
Devon looked to where she pointed, nodding once he saw what she meant.
"If we make the jump and land there, I think we'll be fine," Valerie continued.
"But will the wood hold us up?" Devon inquired, referring to the broken floor.
"If we run and jump fast enough, it'll be like we never laid foot on it..." Valerie responded, knowing well that her words were a lie.
Devon raised his brows to her words in disbelief, showing that he knew all the same.
Valerie saw this. "W-well, do you have a better idea?".
"I was going to say that we slide down the wood or something," he responded.
"I don't know... we're like 2 storeys above the ground...". She paused before looking at the bending of the wood once more. "I don't think it would reach low enough to serve as a slide, Devon.". She noticed the slight accumulation of snow and ice on the broken, wooden floor.
"Alright..." he began, biting his lip, his eyes looking at the platform of debris that Valerie was talking about. "We'll do it your way then.".
She nodded to his words. "Look... all we have to do is run, as fast as we fucking can and then jump...".
"And try to land safely," Devon added to her words.
"Yes... that too," Valerie replied, feeling her nerves go more and more haywire with each passing second. She never attempted a stunt like this. Nothing even close to this.
Alas, she knew she had to jump.
And so, she did just that. She backed up before running, as fast as she could...
And then, when she felt the time was right...
She jumped.