With a grunt, the two men began pushing the shelf to one side. However, with its back being blocked and the two men putting more power into moving the damned thing, the bookshelf began to topple over.
"Shit... shit, James. Move!" Devon shouted as the shelf fell over with a bang.
"Fuck... Fuck, fuck, fuck!" James repeated. "Run...".
Screams of evil came from far away, indicating that the undead was coming.
"Run!" James repeated as Valerie and Devon followed him out of the building.
Looking behind her, Valerie caught a glimpse of the incoming zombies. They emerged from the broken windows of buildings at varying heights.
Valerie, Devon and James followed through the unblocked streets, running past the buildings that were set on fire and whose smoke clouded the streets before them. There were cars, crashed, on either side of them. Some engulfed inflames, others wreaked beyond recognition.
Not long passed before Valerie noticed people rushing out of the broken-down buildings, joining their run. It took her a second look to realise they were alive, terrified just like her. 'There are more of us... Survivors...'.
Such a thought sent a wave of hope through her body.
After a few more meters, seeing that they ran into another barricaded intersection, the only unbarricaded road was to their right, so that's where James led them. Ahead of them, Valerie saw more people, alive. They were all facing them and seeing them run, she could tell that they grew more panicked before running in the same direction.
"They're coming! Run!" James only confirmed what the people feared the most.
"Where are you going?" one person asked.
"The metro!" James released through his tired breaths.
Slowly, Valerie felt her exhaustion catch up as her legs began to slow down. Turning her head to glance behind, her heart dropped when she saw that the undead were still following them. 'Shit...'.
Looking behind, Devon noted Valerie slowing down, so he slowed to get beside her. "We're nearly there...".
She nodded her head. "I- I can manage...".
Above them, another coverage of clouds took over the skies as small flakes of snow began to fall again. Feeling a flake land on her nose, she quickly used her sleeve to rub it off.
Ahead of them, several hundred meters, he saw a crowd of people running from a road perpendicular to theirs and onto the sidewalk.
The metro. They've made it.
James looked behind him only to see Valerie further behind him than she used to be. Devon was close to her. "Come on! We're nearly there... I see the metro!". However, when he looked behind the group of them, his gaze was met by the approaching wall of zombies, rushing their way. His heart began pounding against his chest.
Ahead of him, the queue of people wanting to get into the metro only grew bigger as a bottleneck formed by the entrance of the underground station.
"Fuck..." he sighed. He knew that if the crowd wasn't to clear soon, their chances of making it out of the city would be ruled out as unaccomplishable.
However, as they approached the entrance point, the crowd, slowly more and more, managed to rush into the platforms that awaited them below.
By the time James and his group reached the metro, they managed to find a way to get down the stairs.
Just before his descent, allowing Valerie and Devon to go inside first, James looked behind him only to see that the zombies had nearly reached them.
So turning back and heading further into the station, he managed to regroup with Valerie and Devon who slowly followed the crowd.
Beside them, a group of people rushed back toward the stairs. Looking at them, James saw that they were closing the gates of the metro to not allow the incoming hoard to access the now-survivor's safehouse.
"We're safe here..." James voiced, catching back up to Devon and Valerie. "They just closed off the entrance...".
With that, only then did Valerie allow herself to slouch over and take a deep breath of air. She felt tears well in her eyes. "I-... I never...".
Her words caught the attention of both Devon and James. They both looked at her, in anticipation of what she was about to say next.
"Not in my wildest dreams did I think... shit would get this bad..." she finished her sentence. That was right before her phone began ringing.
Picking it out of her pocket and looking at who it was that called her. It was her mother. Instantly, she answered the call. "Mom?...". She moved away from the two men, as they also took a step back, giving her some space.
Looking at each other, they looked toward the way that led into the platforms. James opened his mouth to speak up. "You stay here, with Valerie... I'll go and see what's happening at the platforms...".
Devon nodded his head as his eyes followed the last of James before he disappeared behind a wall. His path only led deeper into the metro station.
He followed the group ahead of him, heading down another set of stairs before reaching one of the few platforms of the station.
He was soon to realise that all, bar one, platforms were closed.
Walking in, the amount of people present made him feel like it was just another, busy day in the city of Liß. On the surface level. However, he knew it was far from it.
And the more he looked around the more blood, gore and panic he found. He saw people, sitting on the floor, tending after the bites they acquired from the outside. And more people beside them, helping them wrap up their bleeding wounds.
Delving further into the crowd, he managed to get to the edge of the platform. There was no sign of a train.
Turning, he saw a person standing alone, looking into his phone. James proceeded to approach him. "Hey... sorry.".
The man looked up at James.
"Do you... do you know anything about the train?" James inquired, pointing to the empty tracks behind him.
The man looked behind him and upon seeing that it wasn't there, he shrugged at James. "Honestly, I am as confused as you are about it all, Pal. Sorry.". With that, the man proceeded to look back down at his phone. Useless.
Ahead of him, he noticed a group of people who were chatting amongst themselves. Matters turned more relevant to James when he noticed that they weren't talking about anything. One of the men pointed his finger at the tracks before he continued talking. Instantly, James approached him.
"Sorry...". The group paused, turning to James. "I am so sorry to bother you... but I wanted to ask if you knew anything about the train.".
One of the women responded right away. "Believe it or not, we're actually talking about that ourselves now... we're as clueless as you are.".
Then, another woman opposite to the one who just spoke, voiced to James. "I've heard that the conductor is being taken care of. Apparently, he got injured.". She paused for a moment. "I am assuming once they've taken care of him, they'll do something about the train...".
Another person from outside the group gave in their two cents next. "Well they better hurry up... those creatures above know we're down here. It's only a matter of time until they find a way to get us...".
And with that, slowly more and more people began to speak up, whether it was them panicking, giving another opinion, or trying to find another way out.
With the noise slowly getting louder by the second, James approached one of the women in the group. "Are... are yous all headed to the airport then?".
She gave him a mere, sheepish smile. "I think we all are... yes... I don't think we'd be here if we weren't.".
Thinking that was all the information he was going to get, he took a step back. Turning around, he began to make his way back, up the steps before meeting up with Devon.
"There you are..." he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw James walk around the corner. "I thought something had happened when I heard all the chatter down there.".
James smiled at Devon. "Did you think I got into a fight?... I thought you knew me better than that!".
Averting his eyes from Devon, he saw that Valerie still had her phone by her ear. She seemed calmer now.
"I'm on my way there right now..." Valerie said, trying to keep her voice low so that her mother would only hear her. "I'll be fine... I'll call you when I arrive. I love you, Mom... I miss you too.". She paused once more. "Alright, Mom. Bye.". And with that, the call ended.
Valerie turned to see both Devon and James looking her way. "Sorry about that..." she said, approaching them both.
"Don't be ridiculous..." James voiced first. "How's your family?".
"They are keeping well, thankfully..." Valerie responded. "Thank you for asking...".
James let a small smile grow on his lips.
"What did you see down there?" Devon asked seconds later.
"The train is not there... I've asked around and this group of people said that there is a conductor down there, however, he's injured. Once he's somewhat recovered, I am guessing they'll then get the train up and running," James responded.
"And how long will that be?" Valerie inquired next.
"I don't know... soon, I hope," James replied, looking back toward the way to the platforms, seeing that slowly more and more people are headed that way.
"We should follow them down there...". James looked Valerie's way, reacting to her words with a mere nod.
"She's right... who knows, maybe the conductor is better. The train could pull up any moment now," Devon spoke up next, taking sides with Valerie.
With that, the trio made their way down the steps where they joined the rest of the survivors.
Upon reaching the platform, Valerie was hit with a strong smell of wetness and humidity. She sensed her body heat radiate from her, as drops of sweat accumulated on her forehead. For a brief minute, the warmth was welcomed by Valerie, until it got merely overwhelming.
She followed James and Devon as they headed through the crowd, they returned to the group of people James was talking about.
"Any updates?..." he inquired.
A woman from before shook her head. "None... there's a rumour however that the train will arrive on another platform...".
James furrowed his brows. "But... we can't get to any other platform besides this one...".
"Probably just a freak trying to get us even more scared..." a man from the group spoke up. "As if we're not already shitting our pants...".
"How's the conductor?" James asked seconds later.
The woman who just talked to him shrugged her shoulders. "We don't know... We've heard nothing more since the last time you were here.".
"Alright..." responded James. "Thank you.". And with that, he retreated to Valerie and Devon.
"What now?..." Devon inquired.
"We... we wait. We've nowhere else to go," James replied.
Valerie bit her lip as she moved back toward the wall. There, she managed to find a free seat where she sat down. She let out a loud rush of air through her lips. Her heart began to pace once more, beating against her ribcage.
"You don't have to worry now that we're here..." James spoke up after a few seconds of silence. "We're safe here. Safer than out there...".
Valerie nodded to his words. "I know... I just... I want to get the fuck out of here...".
James let out a slight chuckle. "Me too. We all do...".
And in that moment, a horn was heard. For the first time since they've all arrived down the stairs, utter silence ruled the station.
Standing up, Valerie could see the top of the train make its appearance. It continued moving until it came to a screeching halt.
Everyone tried to hurdle into the train at once, pushing each other, squeezing in tight so they could fit. And in the end, they managed to do just that. Everyone in the station took their place on the train.
Valerie, Devon and James were all next to each other, and with the amount of people on the train, the inside got stuffy very fast. However, no one cared. They were glad they had a one-way ticket out of the centre of Liß.
The doors closed minutes later and the train began moving.
The first few minutes of the ride were filled with silence. All the passengers exchanged looks with each other.
And between the trio, Valerie was the first to break the long-lived mutness.
"How many of those fuckers are there?..." she asked.
"What do you mean?" James voiced back.
"I've only seen zombies that walked back in Artull... and now here, I've seen both those that walk and then those that run," she elaborated. "Are there any more?".
James gave her a slight, sheepish smile. "I- I hope that's all of them... I wouldn't wish for there to be more.".
Valerie nodded her head, however, a second later, James would have her attention once more.
"You're from Artull?".
Valerie nodded her head. "What about you?".
He looked and pointed his finger up. "Liß is my home... or... was.".
Valerie felt her heart sink once more as she turned her attention out the window. "Where are we going?" she questioned a second later.
"I'm assuming the last station... it's the closest to the airport," James replied.
"And how long would that be?" she spoke back up again.
"About 20 or so minutes.".
With that, the rest of the journey proceeded with no further conversing.
Valerie had her gaze out the closest window, looking out into the darkness. The feeling of what she felt not too long ago filled her chest and brought a smile to her lips.
She felt hope. Hope that she was going to make it out of the city. And more, out of the country.