010 Lucky

A loud crash occured as the zombies forcefully entered through the glass doors and just like I thought, they were runners along with mutated dogs.

My survival instinct kicked in as the danger from the corner now stood infront of us. I grabbed Alex and bolted straight through the other exit without looking back, not caring if I'm literally dragging him as he stumbled to get to his feet, his hand clutching my sleeves like I was his life support.

The runners roared but made no move to chase after us, it was the mutated dogs who started running after us first and I ducked when one jumped towards us which made it crash against a shelf, completely toppling over it as it fall. I didn't have time to open the door so with all my force and the adrenaline rushing through my whole body out of panic, I kicked the glass door hard and shattered it then pulled Alex out and we made a run towards no particular destination, just out of that place and find somewhere to hide fast before the runners decided to go after us.

In the game, runners and mutated dogs often hunt together, when they see a prey/player. They have an attacking pattern, first the dogs would chase after the players and if it doesn't come back for about five minutes the runner would be on the move and hunt down their prey. They deal a small damage but with continuous attack without getting them killed you're the one who's gonna get killed, in the game you would just be revive and start over a safe zone, of course you won't loose your equipments but this, this isn't a game anymore.

The dogs were advancing on us fast and I can see Alex starting to pant heavily, his pace slowing down a bit and he was clutching his chest like he was in pain.

'Is he low on stamina already?' I thought worriedly and without hesitation I stopped. He collided against my back with an 'oof' and I used that force to pull him up against me.

"Hold on tight!" I commanded and started running again, my speed was slowed a little but I didn't let it hinder me, I was a good mile away from the dogs that seemed to lost track of us but another problem would occur if the runners decided to be on the move.

Suddenly something catch my eye and I instantly made a U turn and Alex gasped when I ran towards the direction we were running away from.

"What are you doing! they'll catch up to us!" he protested behind me yet I didn't answer.

I entered one of the small alley between a building and an apartment and kept going in a slower pace towards the end of the Alley that was pitch black even though it was still daytime.

"I-im getting nervous about this! we can't see what's in there" Alex gripped my shoulder, his hands trembling a little.

"It'll be fine, I recognize this place." I replied and went on. If I'm not wrong the end of the Alley would lead us towards an abandoned apartment.

In the game whenever I get killed when I was still a rookie I would always restart in what looked to be an abandoned building, it happened so many times and the location would always change yet the building is still the same, it was an abandoned apartment; one of the safezones. As I kept getting killed and would restart in that area I've gotten hint of where it is whenever I exit it through that small dark alleyway. It always would be hidden in between a five story apartment that looked old and a building that looked like it's been newly built and lastly, there was a particular mark on its entrance through the alleyway. It was a smiley face drawn in what appeared to be blood that's why the moment it caught the side of my eyesight I made no hesitation to go back.

Alex was quiet as I walk through the dark alley. My eyesight couldn't see a thing but I didn't feel nervous. I know this is a clear narrow path and there's nothing on the way for me to stumble upon and fall. I finally could see a bit of light at the end and a smile appeared on my face when it confirmed that I wasn't mistaken about this place.

"What's this?" Alex asked when I let him down, his eyes looking around nervously.

"A safezone" I pointed out and he looked at me in a weird way.

"This is too creepy to be a safezone" he murmured and stick close to me.

"We're entering?" he asked hesitantly.

I laughed awkwardly and shrugged at him. It would seem not a lot recognize this place, afterall everyone don't respawn in the same place.

I didn't check the map as we entered with the thought that it's just the two of us anyway. We walked through the front doors and made our way inside. Unlike the alley it was completely bright here though the abandoned look of the apartment is what made it a little creepy but I've gotten use to it by now cause whenever I would respawn here from the game it was nighttime so seeing this place more clearly because of the sunlight was even better.

As we entered I could see Alex easing up, he wasn't as nervous as he was before and I'm glad to see that at least after we just ran for our lives.

'What if I hadn't found this place' a grim feeling settled on my stomach when I thought of that yet I shake the negative thought off. As long as we lived none of those matters now, we found a safe place to stay and if I can pin this on the map it might reveal it's location whenever it changes.

Just as I was about to take another step I heard the sound of a gun being reloaded and Alex's gasp at the same time.

"Put your hands up!" a woman's voice yelled and I instantly obeyed without facing the other way.

"Who are you two and what business do you have here?!"