Chapter 11 Down the Alley

"Uh, shit! I forgot there are two of them!" Jayson fumed, backing out from the door.
I narrowed my eyes to look at the pattern of their movement. The other one, a male, who looked like a gardener, with a missing large chunk of his neck was walking sideways in the aisle. The doors from the third-row lodgings were both open, as it waddled back and forth, side to side, passing into both of them. The other one was only moving in the middle and it would be a good plan if we'll take her first while her back was on us and the other one was inside of one of the apartment rooms.
I explained to Jayson the plan I just put together in my head and he nodded, getting the idea.
"I think that's amazing, Harriet. Ten points for you." He whispered to me and patted me on the head which made me frown at him.
With the ax in his hands, he opened the metal door slowly, attempting not to make even the tiniest creak. He strode out of it as he squeezed himself between the slight opening and I followed him with the butcher's knife in my hand. But before I got out of the door, Timothy unexpectedly grabbed my hand. I darted at him sharply with a confused expression on my face.
"Be careful." He murmured to me.
His face was scared but full of concern. I offered him a reassuring smile and stepped silently towards Jayson whose back was already against the concrete wall and was peeking, waiting for the good timing we needed to ambush the Creepers without making any commotion.
When we saw that the male one passed into the room on the right, we quickly ran towards the female while its back was on us.
Before it could even make a sound, Jayson hoisted the weapon in his hand, the sharp edge of the ax glinted from the light outside the window. Without any second thoughts, he swung the weapon and split its head into two. It fell with a loud thud, the slimy meat inside its ruptured skull dispersed on the tiled floor. Jayson pulled the ax from the head of the Creeper, his face full of sweat as he tightened his jaw feeling grossed from the unpleasant view.
I became wary by the sound it made on the floor and before the second one could even respond to the noise, I ran with sure steps towards it and gashed its neck with the butcher's knife I was holding. It fell on the ground and his mouth made a gurgling sound. To confirm the kill, I severed its head from its body.
Yes. Rule 101. Always ascertain the kill.
I huffed and looked at Jayson at my back who grinned at me, his eyes full of admiration on the gruesome and quick attack that I did. A corner of my mouth pulled up in a smirk as we both signaled the others that it was completely safe to get out of the door.
Enough of the flirt, Jason...
I took a last glimpse at the deteriorated bodies of the Creepers. I felt remorse and sorrow for these people. I knew they were just living their lives before they became these monsters... that they were just caught up between the war of the Arcania against the Scarlet Tundra who wanted the land for their greedy objective.
As the three showed up from the door, we hurriedly went to the stairs, down to the eleventh floor, and looked for the Fire exit.
When Jayson opened the metal door, my eyes went blurry by the height. It was too high from the ground and everything looked small beneath us. The heated wind blew against our faces, the heat of the sun was at its peak.
The stairs of the fire exit ended on the third floor and after that, we had to take the ladder down the narrow alley. I hope it's not as creaky as it seemed because it would be a huge problem for us. The metal frame of the stair still looked sturdy and I think it could still handle our weight.
"Do you think you can deal with it?" Jayson asked Mona full of concern. She looked appalled by the altitude but she nodded at Jayson and put on a brave face.
"Okay, then we should move."
"I'll go first to secure the area while you are all climbing down." I volunteered and swallowed a lump in my throat. The fear inside me gave me a pulsating feeling inside my head.
I was about to take a step when Jayson stopped me by my elbow. "Don't be too reckless, ok? I'll back you up. Our target location is still two kilometers away from here and we're not sure yet what's waiting for us down there."
"I understand." I stared back at him with determination in my eyes and he furrowed his brow as if he was expecting me to ask him to go down first instead.
It became my habit that when I do something risky, I fill my lungs with air and exhale roughly. After doing it, I walked down the stairs, made my feet feel as light as a feather, and avoided creating any diverting sound. The Creepers" ears seemed to be very sensitive to any kind of sound and to save ourselves from a vicious horde again, we just have to be quick and very silent down there.
The air was dry and scorching on the skin and clutching onto the handrails was the worst idea I had ever done. When my hand made contact with the metal, it quickly burned my palm and gave out a sizzling sound of burning flesh. I almost lost my balance because of the sudden affliction. Thankfully, Timothy was at my back and he grabbed me before I fell from the eleventh floor of the building.
"Are you alright?" Timothy asked when I faced him, my eyes were both wide with fear.
"Good lord! I just told you not to be too reckless!" Jason hissed at me and I completely felt apologetic for being a klutz.
He quickly snatched my arm and inspected how badly it was burned. He ripped the hem of his shirt and swiftly wrapped it around my hand, covering the damage for protection from any kind of infection I might get.
"I-I'm sorry." I just said as I winced in so much pain. My fear made twice as much from the burn I got and I slightly went panicky as I gasped, as if it could diminish the pain away from my burnt hand.
"It's ok. Relax. Mona will take care of it when we reach the place." Jason replied, his voice was soft although his face looked frantic at my carelessness.
"I-I'm fine. I could do this." I convinced them with a nervous tone and went on to walk slowly down the stairs. They followed me one by one as we lined down until we reached the end of the stairs and had to climb down the ladder from the third floor.
The sun was burning low and all of us were already saturated in sweat. How could people here live under hot weather like this? It felt like we were in the middle of a desert!
With my burnt hand profiling in pain, I felt the metal with the tip of my finger, assessing the heat, if it was tolerable to touch. It's a good thing this part of the building was covered in shadows of the smaller establishments near it because that part was not worse than the stairs from the fifth floor and up. The heat was tolerable and
I struggled to hold on to the ladder as I stepped down on it. I gave my toughest attempt not to look down because the third floor was still pretty high from the surface.
Finally! I moaned in relief when I got off of it and flattened my feet on the cobbled stoned alley. I leaned my back against the concrete wall as I waited for them one by one, warily turning my head left to right to scan for any Creeper that might appear.
"How's your hand?" Timothy asked the moment he got down the ladder.
"It will be okay," I answered with my burnt hand on my back, enduring the prickling pain and the burning sensation of it. He just nodded at me and waited for the rest.
We looked up and Li was still struggling to step down the ladder. He looked too rigid, terrified as he gazed down on us, his face in a total frown.
Jayson mouthed him not to look down as Li suddenly stopped from stepping down the ladder with shaking knees. And to our horror, he missed his grip on one of the handles! He directly plummeted straight to both Jayson and Timothy who tried to catch him. I felt like my head began spinning when Li made an audible yelp as he knocked himself on the two, all of them sprawled noisily on the ground. I grimaced at the sound when their bodies hit each other.
A loud screech and howling made me flinch as I took the gun from the back of my jeans.
"Sh*t!" Timothy swore as a swarm of Creepers sprinted towards us.