Rotten ✔️

Chapter 16

I quickly fumbled for my torch, turning it on as soon as it was in my hand. I tried to make my panting quieter, but my heart was beating so fast and my blood was rushing so quickly, it was hard to stifle it. I moved the torch around quickly trying to see if there was any people or Rats inside. Thankfully nothing was in here.

                I held my breath as I heard the Rats come closer to the dairy. The only things I could hear were the Rats groaning and grumbling outside and my heart beat. Suddenly I was afraid that they would be able to hear my heart and come in after me. But the slowly moved away. I was too scared to open the door to the dairy to see if they had left or not.

                I sunk to the floor, leaning against the door, keeping it shut. I let out a small sigh of relief once I knew they were gone. Sweat was running down my face, so I wiped it away with my sleeve. I waited in silence. Waiting for Lizzie and Garth to arrive.

                One minute passed.

                Three minutes passed.

                Seven minutes passed.

                Ten minutes passed.

                They still hadn't arrived.

                I was starting to freak out. What if the Rats had caught them. What if they were trapped somewhere and needed my help? What if, what if, what if? I stood up from my position and was about to open the door when I heard three light knocks on it. I opened the door and Lizzie and Garth stood there red-faced and panting. They quickly rushed in and I shut the door behind them.

                "Oh, thank god you're both okay." I muttered as I hugged them.

                "Did you put the note somewhere safe?" Garth asked once we pulled away. He pulled out his torch as well, adding to the light.

                "Yeah. I put it in the mailbox." I replied still a little fatigued from the run.

                He gave me a nod before looking around the dairy. There was a black stain from where the man shot the Rat right in front of me. Lizzie takes out her torch as well and we all search around. Taking as much food and water as we could. Even taking some sweet and sugary stuff as well as a little treat.

                I decide to open one of the chocolate bars. I moaned quietly as I bit into it and the sweet, milky taste filled my mouth. I love chocolate and I haven't had any in a week. I grab one of the water bottles that couldn't fit into our bags and open it. Drinking as much water as I could. Lizzie and Garth were both doing the same, drinking and eating stuff that couldn't fit into our bags. We were lucky that nobody had raided this place yet.

                Once we had eaten, drank and taken our fill, we decided to leave the safety of the dairy and keep moving towards the town. We walk down the middle of the street, this way we will be able to see if someone or something is coming towards us.

                Some houses were destroyed. Doors broken down, windows smashed. There was even a house with a car buried into one of the walls. Our neighbourhood was a wreck. We kept walking down the street. The houses were slowly turning into small shops. Then to some bigger shops. Then we found ourselves in town.

                We were all on edge. It took us two hours to walk here and we hadn't encountered a single Rat. And it was deathly quiet. We became more cautious the further into town we walked. The buildings getting higher. There were plenty of abandoned cars and smashed windows around. But no Rats.

                We heard them before we saw them. What sounded like humming from a distance. The closer we got to whatever the noise was, the more we realised what was making the noise. It was a herd of Rats. We suddenly saw them stumbling around a corner and we quickly rushed towards the wall of the nearest building. Luckily none of them saw us.

                We stayed pressed up against the wall as we watched wave after wave of Rats walk past the street a couple of blocks down from us. It was terrifying seeing so many of them in one place. They stumbled past. Seeming to be following something, but they just keep coming. There was nothing that passed us before they came by.

                The horde eventually died down to a few moving past every now and then. We slowly move down the street more trying to find a good building that could possibly have food in it. We find one that is five stories high. The first floor is a clothing store. The clothes we have smell since we haven't washed ourselves for a while. It would be nice to wear some clean ones even though we won't be clean ourselves.

                The second floor was a suit hire shop. Useless to us. The third, fourth and fifth were apartments. But we needed a key to get into each of the floors. We tried to break down the door on the third floor, but then we heard the Rats that were behind the door and we quickly gave up.

                We had enough food to last us for another two weeks, so we decided to stay in the suit hire shop. The door that lead to the stairs from the shop was able to be locked from the inside, so we would be safe from any Rats that might wander in.

                We decided to set up by the window. We wouldn't be able to have light, or it would attract unwanted attention. We put our bags down and use the suits to make make-shift beds to sleep on. Once those are finished, we head down into the clothes shop below before it gets too dark, so we can get some better clothing.

                I grab some new jeans, more t-shirts and a leather jacket. Jeans and leather are going to be hard for the Rats to bite through which means more protection for us. I see Lizzie and Garth grabbing similar stuff to what I grabbed. We try on the new clothes and I can't help but say, without weapons and new clothes... we look badass.

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A/N: Heyo, so I have a questions for you all. Is this story more Horror or Science Fiction? Cause I'm not sure which one it is meant to be... I'm not sure what else to write as well XD

Anyway, please vote and comment and stuff... yeah...

Happy reading!

-FlatMatesForLife