THE WORLD OF RUINS

S01-CH07

Sarah walked past the dozens of bodies strewn across the lobby floor. She was scanning the scene but ignoring the terror of the situation and she stopped a few feet from us, near the check-in desk and she turned to us.

​“Check randomly for pulses.” she said, leaning down immediately, checking the neck of a bellhop who was slumped over the reception counter.

​I moved to a woman collapsed on a couch nearby. I pressed two fingers to her neck and i felt the slow rhythm. “We got a pulse.” I reported.

“I found one, too.” Kabelo reported, right after me.

Sarah straightened. “I found one as well.”

I looked around the sprawling wreckage of the lobby. “So, everyone here is not dead? They’re just unconscious like Mothoa.”

Kabelo added, nodding quickly. “And the one I just checked, his body was out cold as his too.”

​“Mine too.” Sarah said.

​I on the other hand, only focused on given task but I didn’t want to be left out of the deduction phase. So I tried to sound insightful. “So we’re dealing with a demon that knocks its targets out but keeps them alive? For a fresh feast, maybe? This thing has to be smart.”

​“I agree.” Sarah said, turning. “Let’s check the top floors.”

​I quickly headed for the elevator. “No, Yanga.” Sarah said, before i could press the button. “We use the stairs, the elevator is too risky.”

​I hated the stairs but I was forced to use them anyway. We pounded up the steps and reached the second floor. There were only five collapsed people on the landing and the short corridor leading away from the stairwell.

​“Five.” Kabelo unnecessarily announced, stating the obvious. “I count five.”

​“Good job, Kabelo.” I muttered, pushing past him. “We’ll make a note of your counting skills.”

We moved quickly to the third floor. It was completely empty. We then moved to the last floor, the fourth floor. And on this floor we were met by at least seven collapsed men wearing vests and carrying assault rifles.

​Kabelo’s eyes went wide. “What are people with guns doing in a hotel?”

“They are most likely mercenaries or terrorists.” I replied.

​Sarah stepped over the bodies and approached the room where one of them was slumped, trying to get a view inside. She stood a few feet from us, next to the open door and she was suddenly yanked her inside the room.

​“Sarah?” Kabelo called out.

​We moved closer, peering into the doorway. Before we could step inside, the men on the floor sprang to their feet and they started raining fire down the hallway, directly at us.

​The bullets ripped into the wall where we had been standing. I immediately shoved Kabelo hard toward the left. We slammed into the door of a nearby room and we fell inside.

​“The hell! So those guys weren’t affected?” I yelled, scrambling to my feet. Then I turned to look out the doorway and someone jumped at my back and wrapped their arm around my neck, strangling me in a chokehold.

I staggered back, crashing hard against the wall and trying to crush the man against it but he wouldn’t budge. He felt unnaturally strong and I extended my left arm, grabbed the back of his head and used all my strength to flip him, driving him hard onto the ground.

​He jumped back up instantly and his eyes were closed for some reason. I spun and delivered a snapping side-kick, sending him crashing into the far wall. He dropped but still twitched.

Kabelo, finally found his voice. “What is going on?”

​“Who knows, but a little hand when I was being strangled would’ve been helpful, man!”

He backed up slightly. “Oh, sorry! I thought you had it.”

“Yeah, well… of course I did.” I said, rubbing my neck. “But that’s not the point!”

​The gunfire outside finally stopped. Sarah came jogging back, leaning against the doorway. She looked surprisingly unharmed. “Are you guys okay?” she asked, looking between my still-twitching attacker and me.

“Yeah.” I gave Sarah a thumbs up. “But we need to wrap this up fast cause I’m starting to lose my damn mind without my lucky charms.”

Sarah exhaled deeply and shifted her attention back to the twitching body. “Was that man attacking you with his eyes closed? Cause all those others were, so this means the demon is using them as puppets. And also that it knows exactly where we are… even if it’s nowhere in sight.”

​“And forcing us to fight citizens?” I said aloud, the thought escaping my mouth before I could process it. “I don’t like this demon.”

​“I don’t either.” Sarah replied. “And it’s not on this floor. I checked all the nine rooms, so we better check the other floors.”

She already checked all nine rooms on this floor while we were in here?

​She turned to leave and we followed behind her, running toward the stairs. That’s when a bomb passed ahead of me and Kabelo. And it fell into the space between us and Sarah. She was close to it.

​“BOMB!” I screamed, lunging backward. We dove just as the bomb went off, the explosion vibrated through the structure. And a wave of force slammed into my back.

I must’ve hit the wall with my head because I blacked out for some seconds and when I opened my eyes, my vision was blurry. My ears rang a high-pitched whine that drowned out every other sound. I brought a hand up to my head and my fingers came away sticky. Blood was dripping down from my scalp, running into my eye.

I wiped it away with the back of my hand and stood up slowly, swaying slightly. I managed to turn toward the blast site, it was chaos and there was a jagged ruin extending from the fourth floor down into the third.

Kabelo came to me to help me get balanced, supporting my weight. He was looking relatively better than me. “The stairs are gone!” Kabelo said, his voice sounding distant and muffled through the ringing. He staring at the hole.

We went for the elevator, Kabelo pressed the button repeatedly. The doors slid open and then the light hit us. the entire elevator car was filled by an orb of darkness and in the center of it, a monstrous eyeball was starring directly at us. In that same instant, another urge to save someone other than myself kicked in, so I shoved Kabelo with all my might out of the way.

​The eye locked onto me and the world dissolved into darkness.