Page 2

Just then, a horrible, gagging cough can be heard cutting through the air just down the block, followed by a weak sounding whimper of pain. She keeps her lips shut, peeling herself out of the doorway and slinking towards the source of the sound. The cough comes again, this time followed by some sort of violent gurgling and another soft whimper of pain. Zoey approaches the edge of an alley between two row homes, keeping her back to the wall. She double checks an empty parking lot across the street, then pokes her head around the corner, her eyebrow instantly arching at what she sees.

There is a tall, thin man with his back against one of the houses, his stomach heaving in and out inconsistently as dense groups of muscles on his body involuntarily twitch. There is another gurgling sound as his stomach violently vibrates, followed this time by long, painful, strained groan. His head is turned slightly to the left, facing away from her. "Hey." Zoey whispers. The man lets out a soft cough, producing a misty puff of green smoke. He slowly turns his head towards her, but it is though something is attaching his left cheek to his shoulder.

Letting out a few soft gags as his head bobs up and down, he finally drags a thick, muscular mass that is protruding out of his mouth off of his shoulder. His head bobs down from the weight as it slowly slithers through a viscous membrane bubbled up at his lips. After a moment, he manages to throw his head back and to the left so that he has to look down to see Zoey. His breath quickens as he sees her and he immediately squints, forcing tears out of the corners of his eyes.

The seemingly unending fleshy mass slithers out a few more inches as he tries to swallow hard repeatedly. "Kgh… krrrr… khaooooooooooo… muhh…" Zoey stares back completely motionless. "Khhh-huh… khillllllll neeeeeeee…" He whines again, this time softer. Zoey begins to duck walk along the alley opening, never taking her eyes off the man. He lets out another pathetically sad whimper as she disappears past the other corner of the alley. The coughing continues as she gets further away, but disappears by the time she reaches the end of block.

There is a massive vacant lot in front of Zoey to the left and another series of buildings leading off to the right. Just as she starts to lean towards the right, two more people go running through a dark intersection to the left towards a small, lone section of row home at the far end of the vacant lot. The two people run through a patch of light to reveal their blood splattered clothes, and only seconds later they reach the row home and disappear under an awning in front. The sound of glass breaking echoes towards Zoey, followed immediately by a short scream. "FUCK IT!" A man growls over the sound of shattered glass squealing beneath several pairs of feet.

Zoey quietly duck walks across the lot towards the side of the row home. The closer she gets, the more visible a struggle becomes via the dark pairs of legs wrestling for balance. Suddenly, the four men in front of the row home get pushed back several feet before having their heads vaporized simultaneously with the husky explosion of a shotgun firing. Zoey immediately crouches down, looking in all directions around her. She steps forward, freezing as a growling sound emerges from the roof of the home.

She looks up to see another figure on all fours perched on top of the roof. It hangs its body over the edge, letting go and quietly falling on the awning. Once it regains its balance it seems to sit there for a moment without moving, then quickly leaps off the roof, turns, and pounces through the unseen front of the home with a throaty screech. Another shotgun blast is heard, immediately followed by the sounds of both a man and the creature struggling. Zoey quickly stands and runs towards the awning.

She leaps up on the porch of the house to a see a shattered windowpane leading into a room lit only by a dim, red light. Zoey steps forward slowly, listening to a man’s strained groan. Suddenly, two dark figures on the floor roll over and a heavily tattooed arm rises and punches down with audible force. With a screech, the figure on the bottom quickly rolls over on top of the man. Zoey runs and jumps through the window pane, rolling forward until she’s face to face with the creature. The moment she can see the red light reflecting off of its pale, lifeless eyes, she swings the crowbar forward and belts the creature across the temple with a sickening crack.

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