After a few more minutes, I stop and look around. Goal achieved. I have no idea where I am. Buildings rise on every side of me, at least what's left of them. Piles of rubble from their structures on the ground. I turn to see everything around me. There is no visible life, yet I sense eyes watching my every move. The longer I stay standing still, the more exposed I feel.
I start walking in the direction from which I came, and the smell of this particular area catches up to me. It's burning and rotting flesh.
A loud crash causes me to stop in my tracks. My heart beats faster, and I can feel the adrenaline rushing to every part of my body. I focus my eyes on the sound's direction, where I can see a couple of figures hiding behind a pile of trash and rubble. If I'm not mistaken, there are even some human or animal remains in the pile as well.
My mind flashes for a moment to when I was above the city in the Fly, and I saw an outsider eating another one. It makes my stomach drop, and now I hate myself for running away from the stadium. Especially alone.
I walk with caution toward the two figures behind the pile, doing my best to keep my senses keen on everything else around me. I see a small slab of concrete with a thick wire running through it by my right foot. Without missing a step, I pick it up and ensure the slab is secured to the wire. The concrete slab is about the size of my forearm and has an excellent weight to it. The wire is pretty thick, so there isn't much bend to it. I hold it by my side, ready to use it if I need to.
They must have been scared by my choice of weapon, because the two figures run off. Both looked like young kids.
Before I can register anything else, something jumps on my back. I reach over with my left hand and pull whatever it is over my head. I throw it to the ground and see that it is an older outsider. The outline of his bones is visible through his exposed skin.
Seconds later, dozens of outsiders charge toward me, most in conditions as bad as the older man, so they don't move very fast. I run off in the one direction where I don't see any outsiders, and with my speed, I create some distance in seconds. However, I see others pouring out of various hiding places and coming toward me from different streets as I run.
I slow down as I realize that I let myself get trapped. The malnourished outsiders have blocked every path except for one. I turn, ready to fight my way out, but the dozens have become hundreds. As much damage as I know I could cause, there are way too many of them.
My legs continue to carry me to what appears to be my last stand, along an alley flanked by two large brick buildings. At the end, there is a brick wall that looks to be about sixteen feet tall. I assess my options and take off in a full sprint toward the wall. Before I get there, I jump against the wall of one of the buildings to try to propel myself higher up the back wall.
A stinging pain jolts through my body as I slam hard into the wall. My hands smack at least a foot from the top. The wall is too high. I fall and land on the blood-stained ground. The outsiders have done this numerous times before. I feel stupid for falling for this. I lost focus, and I overestimated myself.
I turn my back to the wall and face the horde coming toward me. They walk over the concrete slab and wire I called a weapon. I forgot that I dropped it when I ran toward the wall.
If I'm going to fight off my death, it will have to be with my bare hands.
CHAPTER V
“Up here!” I hear a voice call out.
I look up and see a rope fall from an open window two floors above me. I'm not sure I can trust it. There might be more outsiders waiting for me up there. But given the prospect of having to fight off a hungry mob of fifty or more, I'm left with no other choice.
The outsiders closest to me see the rope and quicken their pace. They push each other out of the way and trample those who fall to the ground. As unified as they were in trapping me, they have abandoned any notion of teamwork to appeal to one of their most basic instincts: hunger.
I jump for the rope and grab hold of it. Immediately, I pull myself up, but not before an outsider grabs one of my legs. The little muscle she has does its best to hold on. I kick with my other leg, connecting with her jaw. The crack of the bones shattering in her face is a sound I won't soon forget. She falls to the ground, and I pull myself up to the second-floor window ledge.
I look back down before I go into the building and see that a few outsiders have taken advantage of their fallen comrade. They are pulling her body apart, their hunger getting the better of them. She screams in pain, but it's short-lived. Any humanity that any of them possessed, they lost long ago.
A clean hand reaches through the window to help me through. With shadows hiding the person behind the hand, I choose to ignore
