|| Chapter 4 ||

May 2, 2020

A few hours later, Mia found herself on a sofa in the unfamiliar apartment.

Every now and then, she would hear the footsteps belonging to someone running upstairs, or out in the hallway.

The screams haven't stopped. They're able to be heard from all the way up in the highest floor of the apartment building.

The sirens disappeared almost an hour ago.

The fire trucks,nthe ambulances, the cop cars, they've all stopped.

Car alarms have went off for hours on end, and helicopters have flown above the building they're in, but the sirens have stopped.

Since earlier, she hasn't even dared to look outside.

She's too scared.

As she watched The Little Mermaid for the second time that night, the TV went blank. The lights powered off, the refrigerator stopped running.

Mia jumped, immediately scanning the dark apartment. She quickly pulled the blanket over her, and she pulled her phone out from her pocket. She tapped the screen, which woke it up.

There is no service, and it's charged to seventy-five percent.

"Mia," the low voice of Max called out.

Max pointed a flashlight at her. She's under the blanket, formed into a ball, located on the sofa. Mia carefully pulled the blanket back and peaked out at him.

"What?" she quietly asked.

"The lights went out, so you automatically hid under a blanket?" Max questioned, staring at the small portion of her face.

"It scared me," she whispered. She stayed under the blanket, only revealing her eyes.

Max kept the flashlight on. He approached the window in his apartment, he still has a slight limp. He peaked out of the window, sighing.

"It was just this building," he told her. "A breaker must have blown," he turned to face her. "I know how to turn it back on so I'll go do that."

Mia slowly sat up. "B-But c-can't you stay?" she stuttered, allowing the blanket to fall off of her.

Obvious panic is in her voice.

"Would you rather sit in the dark?" he asked her.

Mia quickly stood up, visibly shaking. "W-Well, should I come with you?" she asked him. "I don't wanna b-be alone."

Max stared at her through the dark, clearly contemplating whether or not he wants to bring her.

Obviously, he doesn't.

She'll only get him killed, because she's weak.

"I can watch your back, y-you know?" she offered him a small, nervous smile, but it quickly disappeared.

"Please don't leave me alone up here."

The sadness in her voice caused his heart to break.

Max sighed, clearly defeated. "You can hold the flashlight," he offered her the flashlight, which she gladly accepted.

Max, then, gave her a once over, although he can only see the outline of her body through the dark.

Mia smiled as an attempt to force herself to stop worrying, to stop being scared.

"Come on." he told her. He turned and approached the door, where Mia aimed the flashlight.

Mia slowly and cautiously followed him. Max rested his hand over the knob, and before he could open it, Mia spoke.

"Wait! What about weapons?" she whispered.

Max held up a knife for her to see. It's a pocket knife, and it has a black handle.

"I got it handled," he told her.

The younger girl gave him a small nod. Max slowly turned the lock and opened the door, just in time for someone to run by, clearly in a hurry.

Mia gasped, which caused Max to look back at her. He stared at her, although she's blinding him with the flashlight.

"It's okay," he told her. He held his hand out for her to take, which she accepted.

The two of them stepped into the pitch black hallway. They began walking down it, doing their best to stay silent.

Mia glanced back a few times to shine the light behind them, clearly paranoid.

Nothing is back there.

While Mia scanned the dark hall behind them, she started to trip over a lump.

Max, still holding onto her hand, caught her before she fell into a pool of blood.

Mia gasped, shining the light over the dark, mesmerizing blood.

Panic rose inside of her chest. Her heartbeat sped up, and tears started to spread across her cheeks.

Mia shined the light over the source of blood, finding a young girl. She's pale, has a knife lodged in her skull, but that wasn't the cause of her death.

She has several bites taken out of her.

As Mia prepared to scream, Max slammed her against the wall. He placed a hand over her mouth and covered the flashlight with the other.

"Shh," Max breathed out.

Further down the hall, an infected person roamed out of another apartment.

Max stared at Mia as she looked up at him with teary eyes.

He can feel her shaking, he can feel the fear just radiating off of her small body.

And it broke him.

She's too innocent, too pure for this new world.

Max glanced back down the hall, no longer seeing the outline of the infected man. Max, then, looked at Mia.

"When I tell you to run, you run, okay?" he told her, removing his hand from over her mouth.

Mia gently nodded, "What about you?" she asked.

"I'll be right behind you," he whispered. "The door will be down the hall, on the left. It's the last one."

Mia nodded, not quite understanding how he's so calm under these circumstances.

Max, then, took her hand and led through the very dark hallway.

Once the two neared the open apartment, where the infected person entered, Max glanced over to Mia.

She simply stared straight ahead, tears are streaming down her cheeks.

"Run," Max told her.

It was a wisp of words, barely able to heard, but she did.

Mia immediately ran by the door, catching the attention of the infected in tje apartment.

Max stepped in the doorway, expecting one, but he came to face five.

One happens to be a child.

The living dead standing inside of the apartment, immediately noticed the man in the hallway.

Panic stricken, Max abandoned his original plan, and ran after Mia, who successfully made it to the staircase.

As Max stepped through the door of stairs, he was shocked to find what was waiting for him.

A frozen, terrified Mikayla, and three zombies on the stairs leading downstairs.

One of the zombies, who happens to be a man, noticed them and started groaning.

As Max stood there, clearly in shock, he heard the zombies from the apartment, right outside of the stairwell door.

Max, wasting no more time, grabbed Mia's hand, and yanked her up the stairs, to the only place they could go : the roof.

Once Max pulled the door open, he pushed Mia through, then he followed behind her. He slammed the door shut, locking them up there.

Mia turned to face Max, who's clearly regretting leaving his apartment.

She flipped the flashlight off, and took a step closer to him. She rested her hand on his arm just as a zombie slammed against the door, trying to get in.

The zombies pounded on the door, growling as they know their next meal is right behind it.

Mia jumped back, gasping after hearing the noises up close.

Max glanced back to her, sighing as he saw her through the moonlight.

Panic is all across her face. He walked by her without speaking, and approached the edge of the building.

As he glanced over, down to an alley, a helicopter flew by off in the distance. Max looked up finding it dropping water over a large fire miles away.

Mia stopped near him, making sure not to get too close to the edge. A silent minute passed before either of the two spoke.

"What now?" Mia asked, her voice is laced with fear.

Max stayed silent. His hearing fully succumbed to the growling from the door behind them, but his eyes focused on the helicopter.

For the first time in a long time, he didn't know what he could possibly do.

***

Thankyou for reading plss vote and comment on this chapter :)

10/01/2021

sirsahalder@gmail.com