"They're here!"
"Kiiiaaarrrghhhh!"
"Arrrrhghhhhh!"
"Runnn arrghhhh!"
Loud shrieks and cries reverberated across the vicinity on the 178th floor of a skyscraper.
"Will this spell the end of the human race?" My life flashed before my eyes as I muttered subconsciously.
Armageddon seemed to be taking place at the moment as everyone in the vicinity ran helter-skelter.
The entire city was in a hellish state of panic as people ran to take shelter from the surface that seemed to have been infested by dangerous and bloodthirsty creatures.
'I haven't lived a very fulfilling life...'
I stood there amid the chaos with disbelief plastered across my face while pondering how it all came to be in the first place.
Krrrycchhyyy~
"Kuchooiirrbhjnj,"
The sounds of flesh ripping and incoherent mumblings were getting louder by the second while my eyes were glued to the direction everyone was fleeing from.
"Victor!"
Pah!
The yell of a familiar voice accompanied by a slap pulled me out of my reverie.
"Are you crazy? let's go!" Bolaji shouted and pulled me by the arm in the opposite direction.
We began running together alongside the others towards the closest elevator.
"How could you just stand there? Are you tired of life?" Bolaji scolded as we fled.
"...sorry... I was just... I don't know..." I let out a sigh, unable to comprehend the reason for my initial actions.
"We're behind! Let's make sure we get into one of the elevators," Bolaji voiced as we increased our pace, speeding past a couple of people.
"Hmm," I nodded as my expression turned focused.
"Kiarrrrhhh!"
We were beginning to hear screams behind us, announcing we were one step closer to death. We quickly arrived in front of an elevator, but to our disappointment, it was full.
-"It's not closing!"
-"There are too many people,"
-"Get out before everyone dies here!"
Yells were heard from within the elevator as its functionality was affected due to the number of people within.
Bolaji and I ran toward the next one, and it was the same scenario.
"We got here too late," Bolaji yelled as he noticed that the third and fourth elevators were full as well.
'It is all my fault,' I blamed myself for our current predicament.
Turning to face the direction we fled from, Bolaji could spot some corpse-like human figures in the distance covered by a small purple mist.
"We have to use the stairs," Bolaji concluded as he turned to look forward.
"If we're heading to the last floors... Using the stairs will take forever," I responded logically.
"We don't have a choice... The only chance we have of defending ourselves is by equipping a QUAX," Bolaji stated.
"Darn it! All of the QUAXs are stored on the last ten floors," I exclaimed in frustration.
"Let's go! We have no time to waste," Bolaji stated and began running again.
'We can't count on the military to come to save us yet since this must be a nationwide disturbance. They have their hands full, so we have to save ourselves,'
We sprinted alongside each other and quickly got past the bunch of people bickering about the elevators.
"Leave!"
"No, you leave!"
"I arrived before you!"
Pah! Pah!
Before long, fists were being exchanged. A few moments later, some people were pushed out of the elevators.
Bolaji and I arrived at the stairways. My sight followed the long fleet of stairs that led upwards, and even after tilting my neck to its limit, I still couldn't spot the end of the stairs.
"Let's go. We have more than seventy floors to scale," Bolaji began climbing after edging me on.
I wasted no time in following after him, and we began climbing as quickly as we could.
Far behind us...
Krchhhhhh! Cccrrhhh!
Multiple human figures with dry-looking skin, tattered blood-soaked clothes, and bloodthirsty eyes could be spotted ripping the flesh of a corpse.
A strange purple mist was being emitted from their bodies, and some parts of their skins were laced with purple as well.
The dried-skinned figures took bites from their victims' flesh a couple of times before turning to glare in the direction the other humans fled in.
"Run! To the stairways! To the stairways!"
One of them yelled out as he sped forward.
"Cuuurrdhhhhhhhh!"
One of the dried-skinned figures screeched and ran after the bunch.
An obese woman with short black hair tripped upfront and found herself getting stomped by an uncountable number of people.
Her cries were completely ignored as everyone was focused on saving their skin.
"Kiarrrrhhh!"
In no time, she was ripped apart by these creatures as she became incapacitated after getting stomped continuously.
"Arrrghhh!"
Another lady behind yelled out as she felt a tug on her hair.
One of the creatures grabbed onto her hair and pulled her to the floor.
Just as it was about to feast on her, a man holding onto what looked like a metal bar swung it toward the face of the creature.
Bang!
A part of its skull was instantly bashed in as it fell to the side and slid across the floor for a couple of feet.
"Paul!" Her eyes glittered with tears as she spotted a popular dark and handsome-looking figure with a muscular build.
"Let's go!" He shouted and pulled her up.
They began running towards the stairway with the others. The other creatures behind had begun to catch up after having their fill of the obese woman.
The creature that had part of its skull bashed in rose to its feet after a few moments and also continued giving chase.
Bolaji and I already made it past the next floor at this moment and was heading further up.
"What if they've already infiltrated the higher floors?" I muttered inquisitively.
"They're only on the lower ones, but we have to hurry," Bolaji responded.
My face showed more hints of worry upon hearing his response.
Bolaji turned to stare at me, sensing something else was bothering me aside from our current situation.
"Don't think about it right now," He voiced out.
"Huh?" I exclaimed with a look of confusion.
"You're worried about Bella, your mum, and your little sis, right?" Bolaji questioned.
"Uhm... Am I that easy to read...?" I questioned in response while letting out a sigh.
"Don't worry about them for now. I'm sure they're fine... look, I'm worried about my family and our friends as well, but we have to make it to the top first and ensure our safety before making any plans of reuniting with them. If we die here, we won't get to do any of that," BJ blurted out with conviction in his voice.
"You're right..." I nodded once more as we kept running up the fleet of circular structured stairways.
I could hear the tapping sound of the stairs from beneath, which revealed that other people had begun climbing the stairs as well.
The rhythmic tapping of footsteps, sent me into a reminiscent mood as my mind travelled back to the events that transpired this morning...
Before the world ended...