Henrick and Father David stare as they sit on the floor across each other. The two men stay silent while the other survivors watch the tense confrontation. "So...a priest. You were pretty quick on the draw earlier. Impressive." Henrick says as he relaxes a little. Father David sighs as he looks at his hands, "I ask God for forgiveness, every time I do something...sinful. I've had to ask a lot recently, just to survive." He clenches them and stares at Henrick, an unspoken question in his eyes.
Henrick remains impassive as he says, "Used to be a soldier. Came back to the city a few days ago. Didn't think the world was going to end." He looks to the 3 survivors scattered across the floor and continues, "How about them? Who are they?"
Father David smiles sadly "They were a part of my church. After all this, however, I don't think they're doing a lot of praying ahaha." He stares down at his hands and clenches them as he takes a shuddering breath. Henrick watches silently as the Father regains control of his emotions.
Henrick raises a brow as Father David suddenly perks up. "I've got a radio and there are survivors that set up a camp on the outskirts of the city, away from all the destruction. You're free to join us, if you want." Father David offers. Henrick takes a moment to think and says "Alright. We should move after resting for a while." Then takes deep breaths as he feels his muscles slowly recover.
Father David tilts his head in confusion as he asks "You look like you've been chewed up and spat out. Don't tell me that's actually the case?" Henrick laughs and winces at his bruised ribs. He waves a hand dismissively and says "Fought a bull, if you can believe it." Henrick then points at a window, and Father David peers down.
The priest's eyes widen as he sees the mutated bull's carcass being picked clean by other creatures. "That...that thing must be as big as a small building!! You...fought that?" Father David gasps as he looks at Henrick in a new light, and allows himself a small measure of hope in this grim reality. Henrick merely nods and lays down as he does his best to recover as much as he can.
Father David moves to the windows and decides to keep an eye out for the time being. He glances at Henrick once in a while and mutters to himself "The bull looks burned, so maybe a fire ability?" The Father shrugs in the end and settles into a comfortable position.
Hours pass as Henrick takes a rest, the only sound in the air being the groaning of collapsing buildings and the screams of the damned. Henrick's eyes snap open as he looks out at the ominous clouds that seem to have thickened since yesterday.
Father David feels Henrick waking up suddenly and looks at him "What's wrong?" Henrick stands and clenches his fist as he says "A thunderstorm is coming, and I have a really bad feeling about it." As soon as those words leave his mouth, the deafening BOOM of thunder shakes the building.
A female survivor, Sarah, screams out in terror. "WE'RE GONNA DIE!!!" Father David rushes over and covers her mouth, but the damage is done. An unearthly scream rips through the city as a mutated human with a chest that opens into a grisly maw runs towards the building.
Henrick watches as it digs its fingers into the concrete, breaking them, and forces itself to scale the side of the building. Father David moves to unleash a blast of concussive force, but Henrick raises a hand telling him to wait.
The wait is agonising as the creature comes closer. Sarah's muffled screams mix with the creature's beastly howls. Father David looks between Henrick and the monster with increasing distress. The mutated human finally makes it to the 10th floor and is about to pounce on Father David and Sarah, when Henrick releases a controlled bolt of lightning.
The creature becomes paralysed for a split second. Henrick then grabs the mutated creature's neck and transitions into a chokehold. Father David moves to help, but the CRUNCH of its neck snapping makes him freeze. Henrick drops the monster's body and glares at Sarah.
He looms over her smaller frame and growls "Do you want to get us killed? If so, I think it's better if I drop you from this building and leave you as monster food." Sarah falls down and crawls back as Father David places a hand on Henrick's shoulder. "Peace, Henrick. She's just scared, as I'm sure we all are. Let's all calm down." He pleads with Henrick as the other two survivors huddle closer together, fear etched onto both of their faces.
Sarah continues to crawl back, terrified, but stops when she feels her back come into contact with something. She looks up and, before she can scream, has her head split wide open by a gnarled blade.
Henrick frowns as he looks at the creature that killed Sarah. It lacks a mouth and nose, sporting a sleek fleshy body with limbs that end in sharp blades. Father David whirls around "No!!" and screams as he watches Sarah's body slump down. Henrick looks to the mutated creature that killed her, "Shit.", and curses as it shimmers and disappears.
Father David tries to rush forward to Sarah's body but is pulled back by Henrick. In the space where his head was a second ago, a blade appears and viciously cuts through the air.
"Father! Get a grip!!" Henrick shouts as he unleashes a blast of electricity that hits nothing. Father David widens his eyes and looks to the other survivors. They scramble and knock each other over in a desperate bid to escape. One of them manages to get to the emergency exit, but is bisected at the hips. "AHHHHH!!!" The bisected survivor screams as he loses blood at an alarming rate.
The remaining survivor screams and tries to go the opposite way, but is eviscerated, his intestines spilling on the floor. Father David pales in horror as his entire body trembles in fear. "David! Did you hear me?!" The priest snaps out of his shock and looks at Henrick with no idea of what he is talking about.
Henrick frowns and unleashes another blast of lightning that hits nothing but air. "On my signal, jump and get ready to use your concussive blast, understood?!" Father David nods and shakily raises his arms in preparation.
"Jump!!" With a roar, Henrick slams a fist onto the ground and unleashes a large shockwave of lightning that spreads throughout the entire floor. Father David jumps into the air and widens his eyes when he sees two silhouettes being electrocuted. "There were two!!" He strikes outwards with both hands and unleashes concussive blasts that sends the creatures flying into the far wall.
Without missing a beat, Henrick slams a lightning enhanced kick on one of the downed creatures head, that breaks it open. Brain matter and skull fragments explode outwards as Henrick grins in satisfaction. He tilts his head back as a blade passes where his head once was, and grabs the offending limb with his left hand.
"Hahaha!" With a laugh, he grabs the creature's neck with his right hand and stabs it in the stomach. Dark purple mist rises from both corpses and enters Henrick, strengthening him just a little. He wrenches the blade out and the monster's guts spill out onto the floor. Father David tries to ignore the viscera, but can no longer bear it. He clutches his stomach and retches out the contents.
The 10th floor is silent, save for the retching the priest, as Henrick grabs a cloth to clean his hands. "Why...why?!?! Why must we suffer like this!!?!" Father David screams into the ground, his eyes watering as tears threaten to spill. Henrick approaches and picks the father up by the collar as he speaks calmly "Get up. There's no use asking these questions. The only question that matters, is do you want to survive?"
Father David's frantic mood lifts at that question and he looks to his trembling hands. He squeezes them tight, then looks at Henrick and nods. "Good. Let's gather what we can. We couldn't save them, but we can live." Henrick says as he sifts through the remains of the survivors.
"How do you do it? How do you kill so easily? How do you laugh in spite of all this?" The priest's question cuts through the air as Henrick freezes. Images of gunfire and dead bodies flash through his mind. He shakes his head clear of those thoughts and continues finding supplies.
In the end, they find a flashlight, a medkit, and water bottles. Father David, realising that he wouldn't be getting the answers to his questions, moves towards the lift to call it. Henrick grabs a bag that remained intact and places the pilfered items in them.
The wind picks up outside and thunder booms even louder as they make their way down to the ground floor. "Are we sure about going out when this storm is coming?" The priest worriedly asks as they step onto the lobby. Henrick takes a moment to think and looks around at the deserted street. He spots a subway entrance and turns to Father David.
"We're heading below ground. Maybe we'll have more luck there. You've got the radio right?" Henrick asks as Father David confirms that he does. The duo then head towards the subway entrance and speed up as they hear more mutated creatures' screeching coming closer.
They stop and stare at the eerie darkness of the subway and give each other a look. "You don't happen to be scared of the dark, are you Father?" Father David gulps while gripping his cross. "The Lord is with me. There is nothing to fear." Both men give each other a look and chuckle as they descend down the stairs.
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END