“Help me…” He murmured, coughing up blood. Choking smoke billowed out of the wreckage. They were probably more likely to die from asphyxiation than the flames or an explosion, neither of which was particularly preferable.
Hurrying to his aid, she attempted and failed to release him from his constraints. She had to face facts here, there was going to be no easy way of freeing him with just her hands alone and he was bleeding quite heavily.
“Ellie... I can’t feel my leg, I think it’s broken”.
“Hold on, Zachery, I’m... I’m going to find something to free you with”, she replied and clambered off of the wreckage. She stood upright and looked around helplessly, there had to be something she could use.
She wouldn't find the time to think about it though, for no sooner had she begun looking, high pitched shrieks gave cause to halt her search and investigate.
Carefully peering around a corner, she spotted a most unwelcomed sight. Running from the other side of the floor, several of those cannibalistic psychopaths that she had only been filming a few minutes prior.
As if that weren't enough, from behind the wreckage crawled another psycho, except this one lacked the entire lower half of her body.
How was she still alive with her innards dragging on the floor behind her?
Either out of habit or sheer desire to make sense of the unbelievable in some way, Ellie immediately pulled out her mobile. The glass had cracked, but it appeared to still be working, so she began filming, all whilst backing away.
“Ellie! Ellie, where are you? Have you found something yet?” Zachery begged.
Idiot! He was making a scene, he was sure to draw their attention right to this spot now. The crawler seemed curious to the noise too, deciding to ignore Ellie in favour of investigating the insides of the wreckage.
Ellie still had ample opportunity to attempt to save him, but what good would it do if she'd have to carry a guy twice her weight and decrease both their chances of making it out alive in the process. She’d been granted another shot at life and she sure as hell wasn’t about to squander it, regardless of how bad she felt.
She disregarded his cries for help, moving out of the line of sight and only continued to back off when those cries for help became shrill screams.
All that noise was bound to attract the attention of more of those cannibalistic psychopaths and she didn't want to be a guest at that party, so with that, Ellie left Zachery to his demise and fled.
2:43pm - 2 Hours, 58 Minutes since outbreak
Having found a safe area to make a call for her retrieval, her superiors, who seemed delighted to hear she was okay, were saddened at the news of Zachery and Steve’s deaths. She warned them that the building was swarming with the same people she had been filming and it was best to come equipped, or at least carrying someone who came equipped, she was taking no chances.
It was only upon further investigation of said department store to give them her exact location, did she discover that this was no ordinary department store, this was the most prestigious of them all, so prestigious in fact that it was the only one of its existence in the world and visitors came from far and wide to shop, this department store was none other than Lemara, the most expensive, most exclusive, most popular department store in the world. Could she be any luckier? Not only did the god of fortune want her to survive this, they wanted her to be surrounded by luxuries as an apology for the traumatising accident she had been forced to endure.
Her clothes were stained in blood and dirt. It was almost too compelling to grab and change into one of those limited-edition outfits, if it weren't for the fact danger lurked all around. Hell, there were items here worth thousands just sitting around, limited editions and even a few things that were the only one of their kind worldwide worth up to millions she'd bet. How frustrating it was to see them all sitting there enticing and unattended.
Fortunately, the frustration wouldn't have to eat away at her for very long, she spotted other survivors making a daring escape attempt and decided that her best bet was with them... probably.
2:53pm - 3 Hours, 08 Minutes since outbreak
Ellie soon established that these people were members of staff and a Tunisian family who had been visiting London and the department store that day when chaos erupted, many fled or attempted to flee the building when they were shoved and trampled upon, this before staff shut the doors to prevent thieves getting out and looters, as well as those cannibals getting in, but all that seemed to do was trap people inside and the psychopathic cannibals got in anyway, so now they were sitting sheep to the slaughter.
Survivors took to hiding in any spot they could find and waiting for things to blow over and rescue to come, but weren't sure how long that would take. There were probably countless others hiding around the store waiting for rescue, rescue that may never come.
The family with her consisted of a husband with his wife and their three children, the youngest just a baby.
They and the staff, likely others too, all hopelessly thought that her approaching helicopter was a sign of rescue, but when it went down, hope was dashed along with it.
They had seen someone jump from the top floor of another building, though whether they had jumped at the helicopter because they were one of the psychopathic cannibals or fleeing said psychopathic cannibals was something Ellie would probably never find out. Maybe the woman who had emerged from the wreckage without a lower half was the one responsible, but it didn't explain how she was able to still move in a condition like that.
The staff recognised her and automatically assumed they could use her fame to get rescued faster and in the spur of the moment, she stupidly entertained the idea as a means of reassuring them.
The news gave them hope they were already beginning to lose, it was the first sign of a positive development.
2:28pm - 3 Hours, 43 Minutes since outbreak
Good news eventually found its way to her in the form of a text, but in an ironic twist of fate, only her. Her merry band of survivors would not hear the news they were looking for and there was no easy way to reveal that too them.
The helicopter had been dispatched and would be arriving soon, but it had room for only one pickup, they had assumed she was the only one they need rescue.
Ellie’s heart sank, she had genuinely hoped to rescue these people, especially since she couldn't rescue Zachery and Steve, but that wasn't going to be an option now.
She could have offered up her place, but with the noise the helicopter would inevitably draw, she’d be killed in the process and the gods had already bestowed her with one more shot at life, she wasn’t about to give that up for anyone. Life was the most precious gift and she wasn’t prepared to die just yet.
She needed to get to the roof, where they’d rescue her, but how was she going to escape this situation? They had all just seen her on the phone, so they knew she was talking to her rescue.
She made up an excuse about them being delayed and that she needed to pee, before standing up with every intention of leaving the others behind, but her silent departure wasn't going to be that simple, for someone in particular was suspicious.
“Where are you going, Ellie?” He asked. She turned to him and the curious stares of the others.
“Just... somewhere a little more private, I'm not going to pee in front of everyone”, she replied with a nervous chuckle.
“On your own? With those things prowling about?”
“I’m not going far at all. ’ll be fine”.
“But what if they discover you? You’ll draw them back to us, or worse, if you get killed, we’ll have no means of communication with rescue”.
“That won’t happen”.
“Surely you’re not trying to leave us behind here and sneak off to be rescued by yourself?”
There was a series of gasps.
Shit! That little fucker! Was he suspicious of her this whole time?
“Of course not!”
“Oh, okay, it�
�s just that I thought you’d have good news to tell us, but your expression changed when you read that last message, you looked solemn, so I assumed they probably said something along the lines of not being able to rescue us all and you figured you’d leave us all for fodder”.
“That’s not true! I wouldn’t do that! I went solemn because the thought of having to wait longer made me anxious and scared, nothing else”.
“Well okay, if you say so, can’t blame me, I’m a little on edge at the moment”.
Ellie sighed with relief.
“I don’t, I’ll be right back”.
“Oh, just to calm us down, because we’re pretty paranoid, why don’t you show us the text you just got”.
Shit! That was all she needed, why couldn’t he just lay the fuck off and take her word for it?
They stood glaring at each other for an intense moment, as the others pushed her into quelling their insecurities. Her nervousness quickly switched to frustrated anger as she failed to come up with a good excuse.
“What do you people want from me? I owe you nothing!” She snapped, quickly realising the error in her words, as they stared at her in horror.
Slowly she backed off towards the door.
“She’s trying to escape without us! Don’t let her!” The man snapped and like an angry mob, not much different in their nature to that of the cannibalistic psychopaths, they all launched at her, pulling her to the ground as they pulled at her hair, reaching out for her phone.
“Get the fuck off me!” She screamed, raising her voice as loud as she could.
“Make for the roof! If she was going to be rescued, that’s surely the place!” The man shouted, but he only served to stir the group into an angry rage of desperation and as soon as some saw the opportunity to make a break for the roof, they were gone without a moment’s hesitation, soon followed by others. They ignored Ellie in favour of making a quick dash for the exit.
“Fuck!” The man shouted, realising he would be left behind, no thanks to his foolishness and so too tried to run. Ellie panicked, she couldn’t let them all get to the top, the helicopter would never be able to reach her, she’d be stuck in this shithole as it flies overhead and leaves her behind.
She grabbed her mobile and lied through her teeth with a text.
‘Those crazed people almost got me! They are running up to the roof to escape, shoot anyone that gets there on sight until you see me. I can’t get out until they are all gone!’
They texted back moments later assuring her safety by any and all means and with that, Ellie got up and ran.
The noise had drawn the attention of the crazed from the ground below. Tearing across the aisle and smashing through obstacles, they lunged on top of fleeing survivors, ripping them to shreds right there on the ground.
Ellie ran straight past, disregarding them as they screamed out for help. Karma was a fucking psychotic bitch.
An old man grabbed her ankle, bringing her to the ground, on his back a crazed middle-aged woman ripped at his flesh, hissing at her.
“Get off of me!” She screamed, but the man refused, clinging on to her now with two hands.
“You have to save me!” He begged.
“No, I fucking don't!”
“Help me!”
“Get the fuck off of me!” She hit at his hands and face with her phone, but he refused to let go. It wasn’t until another crazed man pounced on top of him and tore out his innards, spraying the old man’s blood everywhere like a grisly fountain and drenching Ellie in it, did he finally release her.
Initially she was far too stunned and terrified to move, as blood dripped down her hair and face and what could only be kidneys and a bit of intestines fell onto her lap.
She screamed and swept the bits off as a chill ran right up her spine.
She scrambled to her feet covered from head to toe in blood. If that wasn’t enough to spur her on, nothing would. She completely disregarded those calling out for her help in blind desperation, in order to save her own skin.
“Fuck you!” She yelled back. This was her future at stake here and she wasn’t about to let it slip through her fingers for anyone. Nobody would take her future, fuck those bastards, fuck them all!
She came to a stop at the escalators, blocked by several crazed people. Those up ahead were pounced upon and torn apart as more crazed people appeared. Where were they all coming from? The entire fucking floor was swarming with them?
Ellie abandoned that route and made for the other side of the floor towards a fire exit, also swarming with the crazed. Along the way she encountered a pregnant woman and filled with rage, she shoved the woman into an aisle, knocking both she and the display down.
“Get outta my way, bitch!”
The woman hit the ground hard and whimpered as she held her stomach, struggling to get back up. Her whimpers quickly became shrill shrieks as she was pounced upon by a crazed person.
Ellie didn't even look back to see the outcome, her legs carried her all the way to the door and with her full body weight, she shoved it open, threw herself inside and slammed it shut behind her, in doing so, trapping the Tunisian family shortly behind her outside with the twitchers to the sounds of their cries for her to wait.
Ellie leaned up against the door, preventing them from getting through. She could hear them, husband, wife and children, thumping at the door, begging to be let in.
“You’re not taking my future!” Ellie screamed.
“Open the fucking door!” The husband shouted, pushing on it.
“Go to hell!”
Stronger than her, he and the added pressure from his family, had almost managed to get in, when their haunting screams suggested the beginning of their demise.
She heard them being slammed against the door and the walls besides it, she heard the husband wailing out for his wife and children, she heard them weeping and screaming out for him, she heard him ordering them to run and their inevitable failure in doing so, she heard it all and could visualise every heart-breaking second of it in head, all the while convincing herself repeatedly that it was absolutely necessary, that it was their own fault and that she had done nothing wrong.
Their screams eventually died down until all she could hear was gurgled groans and shuffling.
She couldn't tell you why she did next what she did, maybe it was morbid curiosity, maybe it was to delude herself into thinking she had tried to do something, but she opened the doors and what she witnessed would scar her more than anything else she had seen or experienced today, as though that helicopter crash wasn't enough of a mental scar as it was.
Scattered across the floor were human remains laying in pools of blood everywhere, absolutely everywhere; belonging to the husband, the wife... the children.
She wanted to break down and cry, awash with shame and guilt. She had been many things throughout her life, but never had she thought herself capable of this. They were just an innocent terrified family, even if she couldn't save the adults, she could have convinced the rescue crew to save the children.
She began to hyperventilate, overwhelmed with self-loathing and guilt.
Ellie shut the door again and backed off from it, her heart racing, her mind a million miles away and her entire body trembling. At least they all died together, it would have been a crueller twist of fate for them all to perish alone, or at least that was morbidly the only comforting thought she had.
She glanced upwards, there were just a few flights of stairs to the top roof and she could already hear the helicopter. Tripping over herself in her desperation to get away, she clumsily clambered up the remaining flights of stairs.
With each step, she was reminded of the horrific screams and scenes of those she had left behind, the family, the pregnant woman, that old man and everyone else.
These steps felt like a mountain with this heavy burden of guilt weighing down on her, so it was only a relief to reach the top of the steps and step out into the open, greeted by a gentle breeze on he
r face.
She stood there for a second taking gulps of fresh air and thanking the heavens for keeping her alive, before making her way around to the roof helicopter pad, one of the few buildings in London to actually have one.
Exhausted and desperate to just be lifted to safety, eat, shower, sleep and be with her family, she stumbled up onto the helicopter pad as the helicopter hovered overhead.
Relieved that this would all soon be over, she waved for their attention and called out, but it didn't appear as though they could hear her over the loud roar of the propellers.
It wasn’t long before she realised the tremendous error in judgement she had made, a cruel twist of fate, the bitchiness of karma returning to exact vengeance.
Her eyes opened wide, her arms dropped and she gasped as a red dot travelled across the ground and up her stomach to stop at her chest. Just before the gunshot, a thought passed through her mind, why the hell didn’t she call off the text she had sent?
Bang!
End
Cryptophobia (Book 1): Outbreak [Fear The Unknown] Page 25