Surviving World's End

Mark

In the D.A.N.U continent, Springdale City.

Two women stood near the mouth of a narrow alley, both dressed in dirty, worn-out clothes that looked like they hadn't been washed in weeks.

"Are you sure this place is safe?" the shorter woman asked quietly while looking around.

"Yeah." The other woman nodded toward an old three-story building across the street. "Yesterday, I came through here with the others. I saw supplies inside that place."

The first woman frowned immediately.

"Then why didn't you tell the group?"

The other woman let out a cold laugh.

"You serious? If I told them, those bastards would've emptied the place before we even got close." Her face darkened slightly. "And ever since that bald asshole and his people joined us, things have gotten worse."

She lowered her voice.

"You've noticed it too, right? The way they look at women now."

The first woman didn't answer.She had noticed.Everyone had.Food was running low. Tempers were getting worse every day. A few people had already disappeared during the night, and nobody dared ask too many questions anymore.

After a moment, she finally nodded.

"Fine. We'll check the supplies first. If there's enough, we will not return to the shelter anymore and find another shelter."

The two women quickly crossed the street toward the building.

Then,One of them accidentally kicked a metal garbage bin near the alley wall and a loud noise echoed through the empty street.Both women froze instantly.

For a second, the street became completely silent.Then came the sounds of slow dragging footsteps.

Scraping noises.Low growls coming from nearby streets.

The woman who had kicked the bin slowly turned around and Her face lost all color immediately.

A figure staggered out from the corner ahead.

Its skin was pale white, almost gray, like a corpse left in water for too long. Thick saliva dripped from its mouth. Its stomach had been ripped open badly enough for flesh to hang loose, yet no blood came out.Part of its neck was missing entirely.

But it was still moving.

"A-AHH—!"

A loud scream escaped from the woman's mouth before the woman could stop herself. She quickly covered her mouth with both hands, but it was already too late.

Her loud scream had already attracted more of those zombie like creatures .First ,one zombie appeared.Then three.Then more.

Figures resembling zombies emerged from nearby alleys and abandoned stores, all drawn toward the sound.

And the moment they spotted the two women,They charged at the two woman .

They instantly panicked .One of them was closer to the building entrance.

Without even thinking, she shoved the other woman hard toward the approaching zombies before running towards the gate.

The betrayed woman was shocked .

"You bitch—!" she screamed and then intense

rage twisted across her face. She thought ,If she was going to die, then she refused to let the other woman escape alone.

With a scream, she hurled the wooden stick in her hand toward the fleeing woman's legs.

But her aim was completely off and she missed her target .

A second later, a zombie slammed into her and sunk it's rotten teeth straight into her neck. Soon more zombies pounced on her and her scream echoed across the street as more zombies piled onto her body.

Her Flesh was ripped apart and her Bones cracked loudly but the other woman never looked back.

She ran through the building entrance and slammed the gate shut behind her before collapsing against the wall, breathing heavily.

"…I made it." she muttered quietly to herself .

Outside, the zombies clawed against the gate and growled endlessly, but none of them could entered the building.

After calming down slightly, she finally looked around and realised that the hallway was filled with supplies.Boxes of canned food.Packets of instant noodles , Bottled water , and scattered Protein bars .

For a moment, disbelief appeared in her eyes.

Then her stomach groweled in hunger . Realising that she hadn't eaten to her fill in a while .She hurried forward and grabbed one of the protein bars before tearing open the wrapper when Something suddenly wrapped around her ankle.

It was cold and wet . Realising what was happening Her eyes widened.

Before she could react, a thick vine-like tentacle shot out from the darkness and violently dragged her across the floor.

"AAAAAHHHH—!"

The thing dragged her body deep inside and soon her body disappeared into the dark basement entrance nearby.

A few seconds later, horrifying screams echoed from below.

Then came the sounds.

CRACK.

CRUNCH.

*************************

"Women really are complicated creatures ."

Gavin let out a tired sigh

Two young men watched everything from the second floor of a building across the street.

Gavin had blond hair and sharp blue eyes. Under normal circumstances, he probably would've looked like some rich college student or actor.

But Now he looked exhausted.Dirt stained his clothes, dark circles hung beneath his eyes, and his body smelled like smoke and sweat.Beside him stood another young man holding binoculars. The other young man had black hair , black eyes and was 6 ft tall. His face was neither handsome nor ugly. Basically he looked average in appearance.

"Can't really blame them. People stop thinking properly once they get desperate enough."

He lowered the binoculars and looked toward the red evening sky outside. Gavin asked ,

"So, Mark… what's the plan for that thing?"

Gavin's expression turned serious.

"That mutant's the strongest one around this area. If we leave it alive, nobody's going to survive long enough to build a proper shelter nearby."

Mark paused briefly , he lifted his binoculars again , was calculating the distance and checking out the terrain to produce a plan of action .Lowering his binoculars again he said ,

"Now that we know where its nest is, killing it won't be hard."

He glanced toward the building.

"The real problem before was finding it."

Gavin nodded slowly. "Guess Maria was right after all."

"She just noticed something strange," Mark replied. "This area has fewer zombies than normal, but the supplies inside that building are still left untouched."

He looked toward the burning sunset outside the window.

"In this world, people would kill each other over expired noodles. So if supplies are sitting around untouched, there's usually a reason."

"Yeah…" Gavin muttered. "Sounds obvious when you say it like that."A moment later, his eyes drifted back toward the building again.

"Still, after this is over, I'm finally getting a decent meal tonight."

Mark looked at him pitifully as his next words were going to shatter whatever fantasies Gavin was having currently

"Forget the supplies."

"Huh?"

"That entire building's about to burn."

Gavin stared at him."You insane bastard. Don't tell me you're planning another fire."

"Last time wasn't my fault."

"You burned down an entire block!"

"You people panicked first," Mark replied shamelessly. "Besides, this time we'll keep it under control."

He picked up his backpack from the floor.

"Unless you've got a better idea for killing that mutant, stop complaining and help me prepare."

After that Mark suddenly frowned and leaned away slightly.

"And seriously, keep your disgusting breath away from me."

Gavin froze."…What?"

"You heard me."

A vein bulged on Gavin's forehead instantly.

"You bastard!" Cursing Mark he grabbed Mark by the collar but Mark responded by punching him directly in the face.

THUD!

"Didn't I just tell you not to breathe near me?"

"You son of a—!"

"Enough." Mark's expression turned cold again. "We need to reach the shelter before sunset."

After that He picked up his gear and walked toward the stairs.

"Let's go."

A few minutes later, flames began spreading through the building where the woman had died.

Soon, violent crashing noises echoed from inside as something massive thrashed wildly within the burning structure.