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Chapter 8 - Chaotic Evening

Ash couldn't believe his eyes, as he fell into the hole, his head went blank as he saw himself go down.

'Am I- going to die like this?" A single thought raced across his mind.

"I got you," a man quickly grabbed onto his hands before he fell deeper into the hole.

Feeling shocked and relieved at the same time, he managed to pull himself out together with help from several other people including the man.

"Thank you, for saving me," Ash breathed out as both of them kept breathing heavily.

"Don't sweat it, kid," the man replied.

"Just glad you didn't get squashed with those cars and all," another person added.

Ash looked back at the hole he just came out of, he watched the mixture of cars and debris get swallowed up into the hole as if it was a black hole.

Soon he stood up and thanked everyone, and then continued on his way.

Finally, he had gotten to the corner of the street leading to his house. His face became bright as he kept running.

When he got to the supposed location of his house, what he met left him dumbfounded.

The house of his foster parents, the one he lived in together with them, was crushed completely to the ground along with several others.

"This cannot be real," Ash held his head with surprise as he gazed at what used to be his foster parents' house, which looked as if a giant rock had smashed it.

"How has the apocalypse changed this much, I planned to take revenge on my fost-" just as he was speaking to himself, he heard someone call his name.

"Ash!!"

"Huh?" He turned in that direction and saw Kover running towards him.

"Ash, thank goodness," Kover stopped in front of him and immediately began to pant.

"Are you ok? Why are you breathing like that?" Ash asked an obvious question to get him to reply.

"I've been running looking for you since, I searched where I could but didn't find you, I had to come back here," he answered.

"But why are you alone?" Ash asked as he looked behind the boy and then around.

"Where's John and Mary?" He asked again.

"John and Mary? Who's John and Mary?" Kover asked back.

"My foster parents!!" Ash raised his voice angrily.

"Oh, um... A building collapsed across the road, cutting us from each other, so I was instructed to find you," Kover explained.

"But they are safe though, their bodyguards must have taken them somewhere,"

'They had their bodyguards with them?' Ash thought to himself while Kover went on explaining.

"Kover listens to me," he gripped his younger brother by the shoulders.

"The city is not safe, you have to come with me,"

"Come with you? To where? And isn't this the house we stay in, what happened to it?" Kover questioned.

"There is no time to explain, just know that you'll be safe with me," Ash assured his brother.

"Ok fine,"

"Alright, let's go then," Ash pulled his brother's hand long as they both dashed away.

****

From a peaceful morning to a chaotic afternoon and eventually, a dreadful evening.

The day that many thought would be another ordinary and boring day, turned into their nightmares.

Many civilians ran about the place with total confusion, some wept bitterly on the floor close to the corpses of their beloved ones.

Other fought with themselves for the possession of goods, money, and whatever they fought for.

Soon, the place became blurry as green mist spew from the cracks in the ground.

Alerted by this, many civilians ran away from where there was a crack, while some covered their noses with their hands.

They all watched for a while, hoping to not see another terrible disaster. But after several minutes of dead silence, nothing happened, so they went back to whatever they were doing.

****

Just as Ash and Kover dashed through the broken streets, several people trailed behind them, some just ran out of fear, and others ran to look for where they would feel safer.

A couple with a kid on the man's shoulder also ran along with them.

"No!! My Teddy," the little girl cried out as her stuffed bear fell from her hands.

"Oh, sorry sweetie," the lady that accompanied them got down and picked up the toy.

"Thanks, mummy," the little girl thanked with a bright smile on her face.

"Come on guys, let's go," a man with injuries all over his body said to them as he dashed off leaving them behind.

"Right," the man holding the little girl replied to him.

"Mummy? What's wrong with you?" She asked, seeing as her mother's face began to look pale.

"Oh sweetie, I'm just tired, that's all," the lady responded.

"Kate? Your nose is bleeding," the man that held the little girl on his shoulder called her attention to her bleeding nose.

"Oh," she used her finger to touch the blood that went down from her nose. "I think I'm even more exhausted than I thought,"

"Alright then, let's hurry and get off the streets," the man suggested.

Just after taking a few steps, the lady began to cough profusely while slowing down.

The people running along with them, as well as her husband and daughter, immediately stopped and started wondering what was happening to her.

From a random cough to a handful of blood, the lady fell to her knees as she breathed heavily.

"Mummy?" The little girl called out to her mother.

"S-stay back,"

"Kate, what's wrong-"

"I said stay back!!" She shouted at her husband immediately, cutting his sentence short.

"I don't know what's happening to me," she shuddered as she spoke with tear drops running down her cheek.

Fear could be seen in her eyes as she stared at the blood in her hands.

The crimson red liquid that came out of her mouth soon stained her dress, her eyes immediately got swollen and her nose, still bleeding.

She tried to make sense of what was happening to her but her brain seemed to be going against her.

The little girl started to cry out as she saw her mother's state.

"Mummy, no!!" She yelled out to her mother as her father tried to prevent her from seeing such sight any further.

"Hey, what's going on with her?" Someone asked the man but he didn't reply.

"Yo! What's going on?" Another man asked as he began to panic.

"I don't know," the husband eventually replied, with a shaking voice.

"Do something," a woman whispered to the man.

While they were at it, a loud snap, resembling that of a bone being broken, came from the body of the woman as she fell flat on the ground.

"Kate!!" The man wailed out as he saw his wife's lifeless body on the ground.

Soon, loud sounds that resemble bone snapping from their joints or breaking up in two, could be heard from her body.

This scared the man, the little girl, as well as those watching as they stood there, frozen.

The little girl started to cry silently as she prayed that her mother would wake up.

Her prayers were answered several seconds later, but instead of her mother, a mindless flesh-eating zombie woke up with a loud cry that echoed throughout the night sky.

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