Sky Corruption (Past Tense)

Chapter Thirty-One

An hour had passed and there was yet to be a turning point for Ezra, his eyes searched among the destruction of New York, hoping to find some sort of clue, he had ran across old and faded newspapers and they all had the same headlines: Extraterrestrial Life?

The sun was blocked out by the large buildings that sent a dark shadow among the street the trio had walked in. Ezra slowed his pace, which bought the attention of the two women that were walking ahead of him.

"Tired, Ezra?" Faith asked, her tone was supposed to be sincere but she appeared remorseless. China shifted her weight and walked toward him, Faith had grunted as she followed China.

"Need me to carry you?" China asked, Ezra gazed down her with bewilderment and amazement. The girl already had appeared to be carrying heavy luggage without even breaking a sweat. The carefree attitude she displayed was quite unusual, especially during the post-apocalypse.

Ezra shook his head. "That won't be necessary, I just need to know, how close are we to Brownsville?"

Faith shrugged in response. "Another hour and half away, but I suppose we can take a small break in the meantime, familiarize our surroundings for when we return."

She glanced around the rest of the street. "We need to stay on guard, we're in open space."

"But it's quiet." Ezra protested. Faith her head as if she had been struck, her eyes blazed with ferocity and seriousness all at the same time, which forced Ezra to stop mid-sentence.

"Just because it's quiet, doesn't mean it's safe." Faith seethed, she continued to gaze around. China nudged Ezra.

"Chin up, we'll find him in no time." She chirped. Ezra shot her a warm grin, as she looked around the street with Faith, Ezra couldn't help but plant his eyes on her.

There was no doubt that Jay cared deeply for this girl, and Ezra somewhat found the reason why, the girl sported a bouncy and happy attitude all the time, focused on the positive. Her optimism was out of this world. Her baby doe eyes searched this world with no sort of sadness in her eyes, more so a burning curiosity.

Faith had broken him out of his gaze. "Hey! Pay attention!" She hissed.

A growl had emerged from a fair distance, it almost sounded like some sort of revving engine. Ezra's widened at the sound as China quickly pulled out her handgun. She looked to Faith for some sort of guidance.

"There." Faith pointed at the store that stood idly on it's own at the end of the street, "We'd have a decent resting point."

The brick building was two stories tall, the sign was completely weathered out so the store remained unidentifiable, the windows were boarded and the parking lot was vacant, except for the lonely, rustic shopping carts that rested here and about.

The three silently journeyed down the long and narrow street, careful not to make much noise. A moment had passed and they were passing through the parking lot toward the double doors.

Ezra glanced over his shoulder to see a tall but lanky creature shamble around the far end of the street, as if drunk, it's body figure was a putrid, dull grey color, it's arms swayed back and forth as if it was some sort of rag doll. Ezra couldn't believe his eyes, which were wide as saucers.

He felt a lot of things as his eyes never left the creature as it's arms grazed the old vehicles that appeared to now be items of decoration. The main emotion he was feeling was fear.

A hand gripped his shoulder as he saw that bright flash of orange in his eyes and a dull pain had spread all through the back of his head. Ezra threw his head back, in absolute pain as he let a frustrated but pained growl escape his lips. He desperately clutched the sides of his head, palms burrowed in his temples as his howl echoed down the street.

"Shit!" Faith hissed as the creature slowly turned its head, which had vibrated as Ezra screamed out in pain, it knew that it wasn't alone. The creature began to run, the knife-like tentacles escaped from its abdomen as China frantically grabbed Ezra and pulled him back.

Faith pulled out her gun and moved away from the door. "China! Focus! Get that damn door open!" She screamed out.

China, completely at a loss for words, rushed in front of the door, the doorknobs were bound together by a chain, she quickly swung down her gun toward the left doorknob, in result, it made a dent, just a brink from coming off the door completely.

The familiar sounds of gunshots ran inside China and Ezra's ears as Faith anxiously fired at the moving creature, they were already spotted, there was bound to be more of the outsiders coming out.

"China!" Faith aggressively yelled. China, as if she was ignoring Faith, proceeded to swing down on the door one more time, this time, bringing the base of her gun down with such energy and a stinging sensation ran across her wrist as the doorknob came completely off. China then pulled away the chain and opened the door.

The lobby was dark, as expected. China urged Ezra inside and with a glance over her shoulder, she saw the aggressive alien planted firm on the ground, completely motionless. Faith had successfully taken the outsider down. Faith glanced over her shoulder and made a gesture. "Go. I'll join you in a minute."

China proceeded to reach back toward her bag to pull out a flashlight, a dim light shown across the beige colored carpet as she flicked the switch on. Ezra looked around at the old certificates and plaques that were holsters on the wall.

He started to saunter deeper down the lobby, disregarding the bookshelf that was used to barricade, what seemed like a staircase. He grazed his fingers over each portrait, the dust collected at his fingertips, indicating its age.

China continued around the small lobby. The place had been surrounded by bookshelves, at her far right, the front desk had been completely wiped clean, except for the familiar name: Joanne Dickens.

"What is this place?" China chirped.

"Seems like a place where people hire lawyers." Ezra explained. "Considering that each one of these certificates plastered on the wall had something to do with law school."

China let out a soft sneeze, and awkwardly rubbed her current bleeding nose with her forearm. "This place is infected with dust bunnies." She went about.

The sneeze echoed throughout the lobby, and Ezra frantically looked around. "Try and keep it down-"

The bookshelf that had blocked the stairwell had been knocked back in such a speed, it collided on the wall across the lobby. Ezra let out a startled yell and fell backward on his seat, China, gun in hand, started to approach the stairs. As she gazed up at the top of the stairwell, she noticed a tall, lanky silhouette gazing back down at her.

As the creature stalked down the stairs in a slow, but terrifying manner, China could hear the double doors shut at the same time, and the sound of a loud click emerge from outside.