Cassian Alaric

Male // 18 // M: Reyes

He was lazed on the floor of the bathroom with Reyes, still. The painful fire alarms had stopped, and the water as well. He didn’t say much to her. Maybe she was asleep. God knows how much they both needed it. He couldn’t close his eyes without the chaos and horror flashing in his mind. It was like the images were engraved in his eyelids whenever he started dozing off.

Pinch.

He had started just grabbing a small piece of skin between his fingernails and stabbing them together to give him some form of pain. He needed it to stay awake. In any case, at least he wouldn’t be alone with the memories. Cassian had put his little, trusty mug to his left, his duffle on his right, and the still-alive phone in his two hands. It was like a life-support for him, the way his hands gripped the item so carefully.

His pointer finger slid down to the power button accidentally, clicking the phone on. 83 percent. He had tried his hardest not to continuously check the time in desperation. The thought of being without any contact with the outer world felt horrible. He thought about being alone with no means of communication, and could only feel panicky.

“It’s only 6 AM,” was all that he said, muttering the words so faintly his ears could hardly pick up the words. Blurs of the time spent waiting restlessly in the bathroom flashed by.

He had called his brother. Finally pushed through and stopped being a coward. He had spoken in a soft voice as to not disturb Reyes. His older brother, Alec, was alive and well. As were his two triplet brothers. His father, though, had gotten into an argument with Alec and stormed out the door. Alec had locked all entrances in a fit of rage, including windows. His father had stormed out into a horde of the infected. You can probably guess the rest.

His siblings were okay though. One of the triplets, Andrew, was obsessed with the supernatural, so he was extremely prepared for apocalypse-type scenarios. They were bunking it out in the house, but were ready to make a run for it. They had already packed the car in the garage. They would leave as soon as the horde awaiting them outside the driveway would get distracted by something else.

His mother had faced the same fate as their father, unfortunately. Apparently, she had called the other triplet, Elliot, to check up on her children, and had been attacked on the line. According to Andrew, Elliot had flurried around in a spur of horrible anger. Elliot had always been their mother’s favorite.

Cassian and Alec had been exchanging simple updates, but most of the texts came from Alec. Cassian didn’t open the texts unless it seemed urgent. He had to conserve the battery, obviously. Andrew had warned Cassian - multiple times - that he had to make sure his battery was high. Otherwise, his only way of knowing what was going on outside would disappear.

He had wished them luck. They had almost hung up before he'd blurted out some form of the apologies he had been meaning to say for days and months and years.

Andrew had pretended to get all sappy and fake sob, which had caused Cassina to snap at him with a grumble, but in the end, the siblings had managed to form something similar to a bond. Something similar to what they had shared before, before their lives had been dumped upside because of their parents.

But mainly because of Cassian.

He shook his head. Those thoughts weren't going to get them out of this hellhole. But that tiny, wheedling voice wanted back into his thoughts.

A sigh escaped his lips. Why had this happened to them? Why?

The fluorescent lights above him were flickering lightly. They looked as if they would go out at any time. Maybe he was just paranoid. After all, airport bathrooms hardly had trustworthy lighting systems. He blinked at the phone lazily and shut it off, but the screen didn’t turn dark like it had always done. It stayed on.

What? Is it broken?

He felt another surge of panic. No, no, no. He started tapping the phone aggressively. He felt so tired. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought this was all a fever dream. Everything was swirling around him in colors. His vision was blurring and he felt dizzy. The kind of dizziness you feel when you don’t sleep for a while. The kind of dizziness that makes you feel cold and almost sick.

Then the broadcast screamed out. His heart dropped, and he almost jumped a foot in the air. His heart was beating so loudly he couldn’t hear anything over the noise and the blood rushing in his head. He slowed his breath. Calm down. His heart was still pounding when the words repeated again, the fear in him still very much alive.

" EVACUATION IMMEDIATE "

" This is not a test. Pandemic outbreak avoid infected, check media. "

Why did the EAS send that so late? Why did they wait to broadcast until after so many had died?

His eyes searched for Reyes as the broadcast echoed on the overhead speakers. It was deafening. His phone and the speaker seemed in tune, repeating once again after a momentary pause. A pained look was crossing his features before he settled back into a cold, blank slate. He was so, so tired. He just wished it would be over. The feeling of helplessness and being stuck here forever kept stabbing him, again and again. It was like a weight that wouldn’t let him breathe.

A notification popped up then from the EAS. It was so jarringly familiar, seeing a notification there. Is this the media the broadcast was talking about?

Coordinates?

He was confused, as he crouched and slowly moved towards Reyes. He wasn’t looking at her when he shook her shoulders gently. “Take a look at this,” he muttered softly, eyes stuck onto the little screen as he tilted it towards her. The message seemed so, so hopeful. Like maybe they could really get out of there.

“I guess they finally know what to do with us survivors.”

His words seemed to be a joke, but his voice was utterly solemn as he handed the phone to Reyes (more like dropped it in her lap), and stood up. He grasped the duffle and the mug - that goddamn trusty mug. He was surprised it hadn’t chipped or cracked. It looked to be in perfect condition, with its shiny, white, porcelain exterior.

He stretched out his arms and legs lightly, bending his chest forward to pop his back. The crack of the bones satisfied him enough to crack his neck twice. Right, left.

“It looks like there’s a quarantine camp, and some town that’ll take us there.” He glanced at Reyes with a small, fatigue-filled smile. His little smug, cocky facade had gone, replaced with a tired, “I'm-trying to-survive” outlook. “So it looks like we’ll have to get out of here, but I bet a lot of those infected’s are gone. Maybe we’ll find other survivors.”

Then he grinned, the look crinkling his eyes in a sly way. “Or maybe we’ll just get chased again. At least the blood’s washed off us though.”

A yawn pierced his little, hopeful act. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his free hand. (Don’t worry, he used the sinks to wash his crusty fingers. And he also washed his face and hair. It wasn’t very good washing considering it’s an airport bathroom, but give him some credit.)

He smiled again, this time, more good-naturedly, snickering lightly at the giddy fact that maybe, just maybe, they would get out of there okay, and in one piece.

“And maybe we can get some real sleep on our merry way there.”

Reyes Collin

Female // 23 // M: Cassian

Reyes’s eyes shot open. She flinched at the awful ringing tone that rang throughout her head. A wave of shock and adrenaline immediately pulsed through every limb as she jolted into a more secure sitting position. Her sudden movements caused her eyes to flutter with the newfound dizziness that ruled over her body.

Her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the room as she pressed her back against the door of the bathroom. She could feel the skin on her bare shoulders make contact with the stiff surface of the door; feeling her back being protected caused a sense of relief to calm her nerves as she grasped her surroundings.

A rush of memories prior to entering the restrooms began to sweep back into her dreary mind, causing her to lift a palm to her head and grimace.

That wasn’t a nightmare, it was reality.

To Reyes’s disdain, she could vividly remember every detail of what happened yesterday. That brief moment of sleep that she had taken advantage of was now replaced by the unnerving situation she was in.

Reyes wished that she was back in her bed, cradled by her soft blankets and surrounded with fluffy pillows. She craved the warmth and comfort of her home… Maybe if she just stayed on the cold tiles of the bathroom and fell back asleep, she would be back home. She could just forget about reality, and wait for time to consume her.

Those spiritless thoughts were cut off by another bunch of questions that Reyes kept pushing to the back of her mind. As much as she didn’t want to think about it, those hopeless questions about her family’s safety came crawling back to her. Even after she cried about all that shit for hours, she still managed to sink when it came to that topic; grasping for anything to keep her afloat--- to keep her moving.

Reyes didn’t have time to ponder those curiosities when a deep robotic voice wrecked her train of thought.

“EVACUATION IMMEDIATE.”

If she wasn’t awake before, she was now.

An EAS?

Shit. This was way worse than what Reyes had thought. Of course, she didn’t expect a pandemic like this to magically disappear overnight, part of her had still dreamt like that. She was conscious that this was a threat that wasn’t going to be easily handled, but Reyes wanted to feign ignorance. After all, that was all she learned to do when she was faced with a hopeless situation.

A little cowardly parasite always clings to her, nagging at the back of her head, poking and prying at every decision she makes. She had been trying to suppress it her entire life, but that damn fear of “what-if” always came crawling back. Back on the plane, she was letting that cowardice get to her. She wanted to just lay up there and rot. Become one of them. That was until Cassian came around. Perhaps it was hope that she wasn’t the only one left alive, or the belief that she had someone else to protect that brought her to reality.

Reyes wasn’t exactly the eldest in her family, but she did have one younger brother that she felt relatively protective over; Daniel. The brother she used to slander and insult was someone who created that bubble of responsibility that she held for others—well, that and her father’s morals, of course. She was practically raised around the moto “Do good things and good things will come to you.”

So much for that.

She didn’t agree that being stuck in a bathroom with a complete stranger was good karma; so, what did she do to deserve this? Was the world so cruel to just throw her life away like it was nothing? Other people are suffering from this too. Reyes had to remind herself that it wasn’t personal, and in fact, was challenging every last survivor out there.

The words “check media” made their way to Reyes, causing her morning brain to finally click. Reyes instinctively reached for her phone, only realizing just how damaged it was when she plucked it from the pocket it resided in. A fatigued sigh escaped her as she shoved the device back into her pocket.

Her hazel eyes dragged themselves to meet a pair of amber ones. Cassian. She had forgotten about the stripper guy for a good moment, to be honest. In his hands was his phone—which was still operable.

She shifted her seat as he made his way toward her. She expected words to reach her first, but instead she was met by a hand on her shoulder- which was followed by a shaking motion.

“Auh- I’m fucking awake-“ She hissed through her teeth with an obvious morning voice that oozed I-didn’t-get-enough-sleep. She reeled her shoulder away from Cassian, holding a bit of resentment at the gesture. She didn’t realize just how grumpy she was until she felt the desire to punt Cassian. He wasn’t even the one to wake her up- so why was she getting mad at him again? I’m really not a morning person, am I…

She had to tilt her head a bit to get a comfortable enough position to look at the phone, which had a line of numbers written on the screen’s notification bar. They were Coordinates.

“Looks like they finally know what to do with us survivors.”

Her vacant expression lit up with a surprising amount of optimism at Cassian’s words. Finally, she could stick to a plan and not just keep pulling stuff out of her ass to survive. Finally, she had a chance at reuniting with her family. Maybe they actually had a way out of this. A small lump of hope began to tug at Reyes as she grabbed onto the phone that was now lying on her lap thanks to Cassian.

She eyed the coordinates, taking the best mental image she could before opening a map on the phone. She typed in the coordinates and watched as the app worked its little magic. The app zoomed in on a town with a little red arrow floating above it. The best route title popped up with the time it took to get to their destination. It wasn’t far. They could make it on foot.

She looked over the highways and streets that were next to the route, trying to memorize any and all names that they’d need to get to the coordinates-- In case Cassian’s phone met the same fate as Reyes’s.

Reyes looked at the surrounding areas before opening another app and checking the media. The EAS was at the top of the page, making it easy to tap onto. It opened information on transportation and the quarantine camp. They’d be taken to Washington via truck or plane. Depending on what’s available. The best bet would be to travel by plane, but she doubted a little transportation spot in California had a bunch of planes ready to go for survivors. There were probably hundreds of these hotspots that were ready to transport people in just California. She didn’t even want to think about any of other states right now, let alone countries. She just had to be grateful that they were close enough to the coordinates.

“Let’s get there before they decide to ditch us. It doesn’t say anything about the times they’ll leave so we should go now,” Reyes stood up, turning off the phone and handing it back to Cassian. “Only turn it on when we’re certain that we need it to guide us.”

“Maybe we’ll find other survivors.”

The words burned into Reyes as she thought about what could happen. There had to be at least one other person who survived in the airport- right? They could also be trying to escape at the same time of them, so the likelihood of running into another survivor wouldn’t exactly be slim.

What if she saw them get into trouble? Would she go out of her way to try and save them or just stick with Cassian? Could she live with herself if she let someone die? Or would they try to attract those demonic things over to her and Cassian to use as a distraction? Shit. Stop overthinking things.

“At least the blood’s washed off though,”

Reyes looked down to her halter tank top, which was now stain-free. The water did a relatively good job at washing the blood from her.

Water.

Her throat tugged at her as she left the door for a brief moment and headed toward a sink. She turned the little glass knob and tilted her head to the side, angling it in a close enough position to where she could drink from the faucet. It felt so damn fulfilling to quench that undying thirst. It felt like a reward for surviving this long. Well- technically it hasn’t even been a day yet- but it felt like weeks had passed by.

Water trickled down her face and onto her neck, eventually finding its way down to her forearms and trailing off her elbows. She didn’t care about getting a bit more wet, hell, she managed to sleep when she was drenched so a bit of a water mess didn’t bother her.

After scrubbing her hands together, she brought them up to her hair. She carefully brushed her baby hairs together with her fingers and pulled her dark hair back into a ponytail. After securing it, her eyes made contact with the mirror. A pang of curiosity brought her to look at her condition—and well, she looked like shit, to say the least.

Her left eye had a large purple ring around It, declaring itself a blackeye to the entire world. Around it was a reddish-tint, likely due to scraping it on something on her adventure from running for her life or mildly bruising it on another thing that managed to get in her way. Her right eye was in fairly good shape, thankfully. Only a few tattered bits of skin were scattered around the rest of her face and… oh. Reyes tilted her head slightly, looking at her nose.

Was it always a bit off-center?

The bridge of her nose had an awful purple and red hue coloring it-- she didn’t dare to touch it. She was sure that it wasn’t broken, but she also knew that it wasn’t exactly right either.

Her fingers gently brushed her face as she took in her appearance. She had never looked this beaten up since… since forever. Her eyes fell down the mirror and landed on her lips. Her bottom lip was busted and had that infamous purple tint. Great. She looked like she just crawled out of a pit. At least she didn’t have blood on her anymore- then she really would look like Cassian’s paralysis demon.

She tore her eyes off of the reflection, not wanting to see the pathetic condition of herself. The aches that throbbed in specific locations on her body were indication enough that she pushed herself past the limit. Too bad. You aren’t going to get a break any time soon.

It was surprisingly dark for being 6am. They could use that to their advantage—at least until the sun comes up. She looked over to Cassian, who seemed prepared to leave. He had his trusty little mug clutched in one hand… which was something that Reyes never found a time to ask about.

Reyes looked toward the bathroom door, trying to create a mental map of what she saw prior to entering the bathroom. She didn’t have much time to look around, but she remembered being at the gate… which gate was it? The one opposite to the lounges, right? How far was the exit from there… 3 gates down then there was the TSA… then to the left was the lobby. Yes. She remembered it fairly well now—or at least she managed to convince herself that she did.

It was surprisingly dark for being 6am. They could use that to their advantage—at least until the sun comes up. She looked over to Cassian, who seemed prepared to leave. He had his trusty little mug clutched in one hand… which was something that Reyes never found a time to ask about. Cassian also didn’t look like he was in any condition to even be standing up. He somehow seemed more tired than he was before. Did he even sleep? This is going to be fun. Now she had to make sure Cassian didn’t pull a lethargic move and fuck up something while hauling ass from those creatures.

Speaking of hauling ass, that reminded Reyes. Nothing bad ever came from preparing yourself to run for your life—so a few lunges wouldn’t hurt. Reyes planted one foot in front of her and attempted to do a lunge. It only came out as a pathetic kneel when she realized that it did, in fact, hurt. A cramp would hurt more than this so pull yourself together. Reyes exhaled before getting back onto her feet and arching her back inward. A little pop sounded from her back as she rolled her shoulders about. Finally satisfied with her less-stiff limbs, she brought her attention back to Cassian.

“Those things will probably be a bit scattered thanks to the EAS. We can use the lack of light to our advantage-- so long as we don’t make a single noise and we get to the coordinates before sunrise, we’ll be fine. It'll be dark so stick close,” Her voice was firm with a faint trace of hope that kept lingering in her. From what she remembered about California and their current season; the sun rises at 7. They had less than an hour to get there without being seen and without making noise to attract those things. We got this. There she goes again, cooking up lies for herself.

"Let's run this last fucking stretch."

She took in a deep breath, facing the door. She always took the lead, so what’s stopping her from taking it now? You’ve got this. Just make it to the exit and get to the coordinates, then you’ll be done fighting for your life, Rey. No more blood, no more fear. You’ll be reunited with Mom and Dad. With William, Delilah, and Daniel. With your friends. Just make it past this and then you can finally reminisce over your past life. After giving herself a pep-talk, she neared the door and grabbed the metal knob. She could hear the blood rushing through her as she slowly and cautiously twisted it the cold handle.

Here we go.

She cracked open the door, trying to peep into the nothingness of the outside. She couldn't see much, and couldn't hear much either. Again, thanks to the EAS. She took a quite inhale and placed a foot outside of the bathroom, slowly leaving its safety as she warily slipped out. Her hand held the door open for Cassian before continuing out. She felt around for a wall and eventually came across it. While she was grateful for some kind of leverage, she was also horrified at the feeling of dried blood that was crusted into the walls.

Faint shrieks echoed throughout the airport. The EAS did little to nothing to muffle their noises. Reyes stopped for a brief moment, fear swallowing her whole as she sunk into a deeper squatting position. With a free hand she felt along the floor, making sure she wasn't going to step on anything or kick something across the marbled flooring. Just keep walking. She didn't want to look over her shoulder to see if Cassian ditched her or not. She wanted to feign ignorance if he did... because deep down she knew she wasn't going to go back into that bathroom. Reyes had already made it this far and the EAS was the only time they could escape. It was now or never.

That's when the EAS stopped broadcasting.

Robert Kelvin Wiles | 23 | Male | M: none

Robert walked around the building, trying his best to be quiet. The announcement had stopped. His skin was covered in goosebumps and his heart seemed to be pumping louder and louder each time. He tried to control his breathing, which he thought was more like huffing. It was like hide-and-go-seek on steroids. Or like a paintball game except people are biting you instead of shooting. Of course, he didn’t know if the demon possessed could shoot a gun. He really hoped that they couldn’t.

The cheap fluorescent lights flickered nervously like they had done in the janitor’s closet and the area seemed endless and shadowy. He could hear the suspenseful music playing. He was by the gate B15. That was the flight that he had just gotten off of. What happened only hours ago seemed like a far away dream, no, nightmare. He didn’t want to remember it and especially not now. Not when one of the possessed could pop out of no where. However, he remembered the screaming and the shouts echoing in his ears. The blood stains on some of the walls made his brown eyes grow wider than what they already were. There was a smell too, and it mingled in with the sharp smell of blood. He recognized it as urine, a smell he hadn’t sniffed since the last time he had wetted himself. He supposed that it was from people being scared to death or perhaps it was an after affect of demon possession.

He had heard of demons before from sermons, but he never truly accepted that they are real. He knew about the angels and he liked them because they seemed really cool and were the good guys. He didn’t want to admit that he was scared of demons, but it was the truth. He was frightened by them and their torture. The strength of beings in another dimension like ghosts, spirits and phantoms. Terrible, terrible things that he liked to avoid and he instead thought about the material evils and sins whenever a preacher talked about Satan’s workings. Even then, he didn’t like the thoughts of wickedness. So he focused mainly on God and on His gentle, merciful side.

Robert’s senses were heightened and anxious. If a toad croaked he would’ve screamed. Unfortunately, he wasn’t trying to sneak past toads. He wasn’t sure how to get out of the airport as he’s only been on two other planes. He looked outside a window. He was at least on the second story and it was too high for him to jump. He wasn’t sure if he could break the window either, so he didn’t attempt it. As he scanned through the dirty glass, he looked at the plane he had just come in from. There were stairs leading down from the weird box-tube thingy. That’s my way out.

He looked around at his surroundings. Things seemed safe. So he made way for the open walkway. The door had been ripped off its hinges, an event that he did not remember happening before. He paused as he stared at the dark tight hallway that was before him. Blood streaked the carpet and the canvas walls. It smelled worse in there than what it did out in the airport. He hesitated to go because of this. He’d hate to go ahead and end up being cornered by a demon. He began to chew his fingernails and realized that his mouth was parched. He looked behind him to see a little market nearby. The water bottles glinted in the refrigerator. He’d grab some and go. Nothing would go wrong. The possessed didn’t seem to be near at all.

He dashed over, trying to make this a fast trip. Food and water were strung along the floor. Some pieces of clothing were around. He made sure to step over the puddles of bodily fluids and to the refrigerator. He opened up his backpack and filled it with four water bottles and two bags of potato chips. He opened up a fifth bottle to receive his dry mouth.

While he was guzzling down water, something emerged from the shadows. It was silent and it had returned to where it had made its first kill. It was still hungry. So it lunged and Robert choked. The water in his throat was coughed out all the while he wanted to scream. The water expelled from his lungs and landed on the possessed. Robert’s prosthetic eye would’ve popped out then and there if it was possible. He dropped the half-full bottle and it leaked out on the floor. The possessed panicked for a while until it realized that it wasn’t drowning. During that time, Robert recovered (as best as he could) from his spewing, grabbed his bag, and dashed for the hall leading down to the plane. He prayed as hard as he could that there weren’t any possessed down in the tunnel or in the plane. He didn’t think he could survive another encounter. Especially since he could hear this one giving chase.

Aurora suppresses a yawn, sitting on the ledge of a bathroom sink with her eyes glued to her phone. She scrolls through posts on social media— most of which were just people begging for help or information on the infected, anyway. She’d admit that it was smart to give away your location in case there was a chance rescue came, but Aurora didn’t want to look like such a… coward. That’s when her phone vibrated slightly and a notification arose— it was coordinates to a military camp in Washington. But, could she really make it there all the way from California? Of course, she wouldn’t be alone because of the other kid who she thought was still sleeping, but that was assuming that he didn’t ditch her first.

Then, ripping her attention away from her thoughts arose the faint sound of shuffling coming from the closed bathroom stall. However, Aurora kept her gaze affixed to her softly glowing phone screen, reading through the endless stream of media, most of which was useless considering that it was information Aurora already knew. Couldn’t the internet just be a little more helpful during this shitshow, or did the sixteen-year old have to find out what the infected could do herself? Not that she would, since, of course, she’d probably die if she did that.

Aurora was so focused on her own thoughts that she barely recognized that the shuffling coming from the other person in the bathroom stall had grown louder— along with the spine-chilling shrieks outside. However, what she did notice was the sudden sound of a stall door unlocking, followed by creaking as it opened. When the girl finally looked up from her device, she was greeted with the sight of the other teenager, Aurora’s sky-blue eyes tinged with curiosity. She didn’t really know much about this person, in fact, she was even unaware as to what his name was. Aurora was about to ask when he walked over to the restroom door, sliding his phone into one of his pockets and reaching out for the handle. Was he actually going to ditch her?

Aurora’s suspicions were dismissed as the other teenager glimpsed at her before fully turning around and smiling brightly at her, accompanied by a wave and a hoarse “Good morning!

What Aurora was confused about was how this person could smile so cheerfully in the crisis that the two were currently in. She tried to give a wide grin in reply, but could only manage a dispirited, half-hearted smile. Also, why was he saying good morning? This morning was far from good, in fact, the two were lucky that they themselves weren’t one of those brain dead, infected freaks yet. But, Aurora was too nervous to voice what was on her mind, instead, she just stood there waiting for the other kid to say something more.

After a brief moment of silence, the boy cleared his seemingly dry throat and a voice arose. “Uhm, so, we’re safe while the EAS is playing and distracting the things outside. It’ll stop eventually, though, so we have to be careful after that. Until then, we can move pretty fast while it’s covering our asses, and the dark should keep us out of their line of sight, so — uh, we gotta get to the exit, to the place... yeah. Follow me.”

There was a small pause before Aurora replied. “Uh, y-yeah, I know,” she said, although it may have been too faint and quiet for the other teen to even hear. She steals one last glance at her phone before shutting it off, securing it into the back pocket of her pants. She could feel the burning sensation of anxiety arise in her chest. Although she was partially nervous about what she’d see once she left the safety of the restroom, most of her concern came from what would happen when the EAS stopped broadcasting on the speakers— it was bound to happen sometime. And that sometime could be soon. Shit! The two should’ve left earlier. Well, whatever. It wasn’t like Aurora was able to do anything about it. All she could do was hope for the best, which was that the two survived.

As the EAS rang out through the airport again and the boy peeked outside of the restroom door, Aurora realized that it was dark. Like, really dark. She’d been so wrapped up in other matters that the teenager had completely forgotten what time it was. She was unsure if the infected could see in the dark or not, though, if they could Aurora and the boy whose name she was oblivious to were totally dead. Whatever, she was probably overthinking it. What were the chances that they had enhanced night vision? The girl shook her head, trying to clear her flurry of thoughts.

The other boy walked out of the restroom door, before suddenly he broke into a sprint. Aurora barely had any time to survey her surroundings, that was, if she wanted to keep up with the only other person that was alive to her knowledge. The girl quickly made up her mind, being sure to keep the other teenager in sight as she, too, made a dash out of the restroom. She should’ve run slower; because by the time she’d reached the boy, she could already feel her heart pounding in her chest and her breathing getting harsher. Louder. She’d run after him with no regard for how little stamina she had. Well, whatever. As long as she could quiet down her breathing, then they were fine.

Aurora slowed her pace as the EAS came to a stop, being sure to stay behind the boy, but not so close that she would come into physical contact with him. She flinched and covered her ears as the faint, yet noticeably irritated sound of screeching came from somewhere in the distance. She didn’t bother to look around, as even in such low lighting she was afraid that she’d be able to see blood splattered across the floor and walls.

The EAS began to play again, which meant that the two were now on the move again. They were running out of the check-in-area, but to where Aurora was unsure of. She didn’t actually know the layout of the airport too well, since she hadn’t been to this particular one too many times, just enough to know that the amount of people today was much more than she’d previously seen here.

Aurora stays behind the other teenager the whole time, being sure to mimic his actions in order not to screw this whole thing up, which would probably get the two killed. She slows when the EAS stops, and jolts back into a sprint when it begins again. The whole time she has her hands over her ears, desperate to block the growing shrieks from reaching her ears. But, what’s really preventing her from hearing the cries from reaching her is Aurora’s own heavy, harsh breathing.

She hasn’t even noticed that the screeching has faded into silence— along with the EAS.

“What the—” Aurora whispers, finally uncovering her ears as the realization hits her. Her eyes grow wide with panic, a petrifying scream which is louder than ever before piercing the air like an arrow. Aurora could only wish that she had an arrow to shoot at these rabid people right now. She wished that she had her bow around to grant herself a false sense of security, being in possession of a weapon that she was incredibly skilled with.

The girl was frozen in fear for a second before she grew aware that the one who’d she’d been traveling with had taken off towards the closest open doorway, and Aurora soon followed him. She pressed up against the wall, still being sure not to get into too close proximity to the other teen. There was what looked like a clothing section in front of them— but it was rather indistinct because of how dim it was.

Aurora could see a figure moving around in the dark, dragging its feet on the ground and holding its right hand up to its face as it bit the fingernails on it. There were likely more, too. Aurora had no idea where they were in the airport— or how to make it past the infected without the EAS to aid them. Maybe they could try throwing something in an opposite direction and the infected would charge towards it? No, it wouldn’t work. What did they have to throw?

Cassian Alaric

Male // 18 // M: Reyes, Khufu, Aurora

Reyes was planning things out. He was trying really hard not to scratch his arms, but the urge was increasing. His free hand crept down the opposite arm and he scratched at the limb almost aggressively until the point of an almost refreshing, cold pain. Nope. Stop.

As a kid, he had always had issues with scratching his arms. It had gotten to the point that his arms had been oftentimes covered in skin marks, similar to hives. Cassian had started asking his siblings to tape his hands down for an hour or so, so his irritated skin would calm down. A bit of surprise was dancing in his eyes. It had been quite a while since the little habit had returned to him. He had never known if it was because he was bored or had anxiety but he honestly didn’t care. What he did care about was the fact that his arm was incredibly irritated now, and frustration was starting to stab him as the irritation built.

When Reyes suddenly kneeled down in what looked like it was supposed to be something other than kneeling, he felt like he had to turn away. Not because he was uncomfortable, but because he felt the strongest temptation to start laughing. He was definitely sleep-deprived. Everything was hysterical to him. Especially Reyes’ face.

Why was her face so funny-looking to him? Was it his eyes or was it just her? He tilted his head one way, then the other to eye all angles.. Nope. Still odd. Maybe he was going crazy.

“Yeah, yeah. Lights out helps us. That’s great.” He rubbed his eyes again and blinked tiredly. He started mindlessly scratching his arm again. A yawn pierced him. He didn’t even bother trying to cover his mouth. Tears from the yawn blurred his vision and he grumbled. Rubbing his eyes to get rid of the tears, he squinted at Reyes.

And there she goes again. He sighed. It was good she was leading, though. He had no idea where they were going, but then again, he felt like a lost puppy just trotting after a person. Oh and now she’s opening the door. Yay. His voice mumbled out a wordless complaint. His voice was slurred from sleeplessness and his limbs were almost numb. Maybe he should have gotten at least a minute of sleep. Even a minute would make him able to fully open his eyes.

He grabbed the door from Reyes to slip after her. He felt the slightest bit grateful. It was a small gesture, but in his current state, he could only categorize it as one of the nicest things someone had done for him. He followed her along the wall, not even fazed by the blood decorating the wall in some form of a gruesome display. In a way, it was like a twisted reality of a haunted house. Except, Cassian was not at all afraid of his surroundings. If anything, he wanted to start howling with laughter at the sheer amount of red.

Okay Cassian. Maybe laughing at the color of the blood isn’t the brightest idea you’ve had. Just maybe, ya know?

The shrieks felt like a background soundtrack to Cassian’s ears, like the sounds meant to terrify you in horror movies. He hummed as quietly as he could alongside the screams echoing along the hallway. Ahead of him, Reyes was feeling along the floor. She continued moving in at a steady pace. Cassian followed her in an almost swaying way. He felt like a drunken man, though the thought almost made him laugh. Again. It was like the beginning of the whole ordeal when he had found many things entertaining.

The sound of footsteps caused him to glance up, his humming dying in his throat. Was that a survivor or one of the infected things?

He stepped forward, placing his free hand on Reyes’ shoulder so as to not run into her and more easily go around. He began walking in a more precise manner, crouched a bit. He saw a counter ahead and immediately knew where he was. He had passed this area before. “Shopping area,” he muttered softly to Reyes. His words felt they were being said by another person, sounding far away and quiet to his own ears.

Which one to go to though? Probably a clothing area. He had always thought about that in an apocalypse, it would be so easy to hide in a clothing rack. Similarly to how he had hid from his siblings in a clothing rack at some store when he was younger. It hadn’t been the best idea, considering they had left him there. But at least that meant it had been a good hiding spot. Despite the fact it had traumatized his child-self from hiding from his family, it had somewhat helped his current self. Somewhat.

Thump.

A growl sounded from behind them. And in front of them. He couldn’t tell how many there were, but there seemed to be at least 2. Not again,

“Shit,” he whispered. His eyes flashed to the left side of the wall, where a door to a shopping store sat. “Move, move, move. We gotta go now.” He tugged on Reyes’ shoulder, pulling on the cloth of her shirt once. A single action before he pulled away. Dammit. I thought the alarm and broadcast had gotten all of them distracted. Christ, we have to move fast.

His eyes flashed over his shoulder at Reyes before returning to the door he was racing towards. He slid in and slammed his back into a wall near the door. He tried to silence his breathing, but it felt so loud to his ears. His heartbeat was drumming alongside, slamming into his ears again and again. Reyes would have the responsibility of closing the door, or not.

Wait. Shit. Something’s wrong.

He froze, his eyes slowly flowing to the side and meeting the figure of not one, but two people. “Shit,” was all that exited his mouth, dumbstruck in a way that left him almost frozen. His arms went slack as he stood there, lost and utterly shocked. The things in his hands dangled loosely. He had thought he was so intelligent hiding in the clothing shop, but now, now there were two of those things standing in front of him.

Oh.

They were kids. He couldn’t tell if they were infected or not, but his throat dropped as he could only think of the worst things. Two kids. Ages 15 to 16 or so. Not the youngest, but younger than him. In the years that Cassian had considered the fondest for him.

Sorry Reyes. I guess this is why you usually lead.

No. But the two others looked as afraid as him. They looked fearful, at least to Cassian’s squinting and blurred eyes. One looked female, another looked more masculine. The female looked ahead, and a snarl scratched his ears. His head snapped forward and- and he saw another one. Another one of those things.

Welp. He was satisfied he had lived this long, though. He inched along the wall closer to the other humans - well, he hoped they weren’t infected - and kept his eyes trained on the young teenagers. He was struggling to crack a joke to the strangers, but he had already learned his lesson with Reyes. And there was also one of the creatures in front of them, so he’d prefer not to, you know, die because he couldn’t bite his tongue.

But to be honest, he still really wanted to tell the joke.

Reyes Collin

Female // 23 // M: Cassian, Khufu, Aurora

The EAS stopped.

Why did it stop?

The shrieking grew louder.

Why? Why? Why?

Reyes had probably experienced about forty heart attacks within the past 24 hours. She immediately stopped in her tracks, hoping that those robotic words and beeps would sound again… They didn’t. The only sound that could reach her ears was the heavy thumping of her heart. Her heart was pounding in her ears as fear began to bubble up. No, no, no. The EAS was their only chance and now that’s gone too.

Reyes was frozen solid for what seemed like centuries as she tried to stay as quiet as possible. Her knees began to buckle, and she pressed her palms against the cold marble flooring in an attempt to keep herself grounded. She felt like she was going to faint. She swore she could hear someone talking but she was so zoned out that it was inaudible.

She couldn’t tell if she was wide awake with shock or in a rem cycle. Everything was dark. It was hard to focus on the things ahead of her since she was constantly glancing toward the slightest sound. That’s when she focused on the footsteps coming from what had to be just a few yards in front of her. Move Rey. Move your fucking feet! She couldn’t. The shrieks seemed to flood her mind as she could feel the blood rushing to her head. She felt abnormally light, but her limbs were too heavy to move. It was like the world was spinning around her.

A hand was placed on her shoulder. She flinched, swiftly raising her elbow to block an attack. Though she knew that those creatures would stop at nothing to get what they wanted, she was sure as hell going to put up a fight. She swiveled to face her opponent. Her fist was already curled into position and in motion. She nearly clocked her only companion in the face. If it hadn’t been for his words, she would’ve never stopped that fist from making contact with Cassian. A wave of relief washed over her as she felt herself calm down a bit. So he did follow her.

A part of her was surprised that Cassian didn’t leave her. In fact, she expected the lunatic to stray from her, bidding a silent farewell as he left Reyes in the dust.

“We gotta move now.”

No shit Sherlock. Ah, there she is. Reyes started to regain what little composure she had left when Cassian tugged on her shirt. Somehow, he ended up taking the lead. Let’s hope this ends well.

Reyes took a deep breath in, practically holding it as she followed Cassian. Why was he moving so much faster than her? It felt like she was treading through water; everything was slurred and heavy. Why did she feel so slow?

Oh. That’s right. She forgot to breathe.

With the newfound air entering her lungs, Reyes managed to grasp where they were going. Why in the hell were they going into a clothing shop? Did Cassian want a matching shirt to go with his mug? The door was wide open! The chances of an infected in there was high- so why was Cassian leading them there? Just turn around. Turn around.

As soon as Reyes made it past the door she very carefully closed it shut as to not draw any more noise than they already had. Reyes was probably excruciatingly loud with her little oh-shit-im-going-to-die session back there- and she swore she had never been around someone who breathed as loudly as Cassian did.

She leaned her back against the door and looked aimlessly in the dark, somewhat keeping an eye out for Cassian. For a moment she thought they were safe. For a moment she thought Cassian had actually made a good decision.

But no.

There were not one, but two figures. Just standing there. Just barely ahead of them. Reyes grasped the knob of the door slowly, preparing to haul ass out of there if one of those things spotted them and shrieked—or God forbid lunged at them.

She just started to twist the abnormally wet metal knob when Cassian began inching closer to those things. What the hell? This guy has finally lost it. Reyes immediately reached a hand out to pull Cassian back. Her fingers were just barely grazing his shirt when she got a better look at the two figures. Her hand faltered and slowly subsided. Those two weren’t screeching or twitching like all the other monsters in this place. They were human. Young humans by the looks of it. Just how young were they? Would they slow her down?

Reyes hated to think like this, but it was her logical side. She already felt iffy following Cassian. Could she even manage to keep track of their welfare? What if they got her killed? What if she got them killed? Stop it, Rey, they aren’t deadweight. They’re human beings. If she left these guys behind they would be forever plastered in her memories. Their faceless figures would stand beside that old couple and haunt whatever sleep she managed to get. She didn’t want to have a list of people that she wronged in some way. She didn’t want to be that person. She didn’t want to be the reason why they didn’t make it.

Okay. There are only two. They don’t look incredibly young. We can make it to the coordinates. If they survived this long that means they have some sense to be quiet. They look old enough to have phones… they probably know where to go too—they probably know that we both have the same goal in mind.

There’s a lot of ‘probably’ going through Reyes’s decisions lately.

She shouldn’t get ahead of herself. There are undoubtedly some of those cannibals in here. Reyes slowly let go of the knob, steadying her breathing as she followed Cassian’s tracks with caution. Her eyes were strained on the two younger figures. What if they thought that both Cassian and Reyes were monsters? Shit. What if they scream? Surely they’d know by now that they weren’t—right? Should they say something? No… It’d attract those things. Reyes stopped, spotting the creature that seemed to be inching closer to the teens.

She kept her eyes trained on the thing. It was biting the nails on its hand and twitching simultaneously. It looked so human. She probably would’ve mistaken it for being human if she couldn’t smell the blood radiating from it. The more Reyes focused on it, the more she realized just how much It acted as if it was scared. Its mannerisms looked increasingly anxious and fearful. What would a thing like that be afraid of? What would something so relentless and aggressive be petrified by? Did they have a weakness?

The thing abruptly swiveled around, its back now facing the teens. It seemed to be attracted to the guttural scream that echoed throughout the dark, restless airport. The thing stopped biting its nails for a moment- as if contemplating whether it should act out in aggression or not. This brief pause didn’t last long, as it went right back to biting its nails. The sound of its teeth grinding against keratin made Reyes’s skin crawl. They had to get out of here before that thing called its friends over.

With one hand still on the wall, she reached her free hand out to them and motioned them to come over. Perhaps Reyes was living in some kind of fantasy. Perhaps in a perfect world, these kids would trust her enough in this kind of situation. It’s not like they knew if she was infected or not. Hell, she didn’t even know if they were infected.

Guess we’ll find out.