Voltaic (Interference: Book 1)

Chapter 4: Vector

Chapter 4: Vector

I began sucking and chewing on my fingers subconsciously. I thought that I had gotten rid of that bad habit long ago, but it seemed that I would get back to it in a tense situation. I didn't know what to say, but it didn't matter since I couldn't speak a word.

I wanted to tell my friends what I was thinking, what I was theorising in my head, but I didn't want those outside to hear me. I also wanted to stick my head up again and peep out of the window to get a closer look at the figures, but I didn't want them to see me.

I knew that there was something unusual about how those people looked. Their body shape, way of movement and the sounds that they made were unusual. My curiously pushed me towards pulling myself up to look outside, but before I knew it, Jake pushed my head down to prevent me from making a mistake.

"What are you doing? They might see us!" he whispered, warning me about the dangerous situation that we would be put in if the figures outside had spotted us. "We'll get moving in a moment. We have to wait until they leave, at least for a few minutes."

I sighed quietly, doubtful that we'll be safe even after the wait. Even if those people left us, would we be lucky enough to avoid getting caught in a deadly accident, just like the helicopter crash that killed the family of three?

"I think we're safe now," Jake informed, checking his watch for the time. At least five minutes had passed, and we waited that long just to play safe. I thought that it was a good idea to be on the safer side if we wanted to get out alive.

"Slowly and quietly we get up," Zoe instructed. "We don't want to attract any unnecessary attention from those weird people outside just now," she cautioned us.

I got up from my sitting position into a squatting one, being standing up completely. The floor was rough and sandy, so it would make a lot of noise if I shuffled my feet around. Thus, I made sure not to drag my feet while moving around.

"Come on," I said, reaching my hand out to Jake, who seemed to be struggling to get up without making a sound. Thus, he grabbed onto my hand, and pulled himself up. I was about to reach out to Zoe too, but she had already gotten up on her own without any problem.

"Let's leave quickly and quietly," I said as I pulled the two of them out of the rotting building. "We'll head back to the carpark and—"

I didn't get to finish what I wanted to say. An ear-piercing and unappealing shriek from behind was deafening enough to stop me from saying anything anymore.

"Back in the building!" Zoe screamed as she tugged the two of us into the unutilised building again. This time, we ran further into it, until we reached a back exit that opened up to a dark and narrow alley.

I turned my head behind to look at those that were chasing us, but it was a mistake. Thankfully, before I could trip and lose my balance, Jake supported my weight and kept me up and running at a good pace.

The moment we all got out of the doorway, I slammed it shut as tightly as I could. Unfortunately, the door latch was on the inside, so I couldn't lock them in.

I tried opening the back exit to the building in front of us, but it was locked and boarded up. I initially wanted to walk through the building to get back to the apartment as a short cut, but I turned out that we couldn't and had no choice but to go around.

"Turn right. We'll walk by the sidewalk," I commanded them before running along the two of them towards the main road. There were no cars moving, as expected. Most of everyone would have gotten on helicopters away from the city, and if not, they would have been brought away in military trucks.