She woke up, everything a blur…her head pounding. Her vision was so unfocused as she tried to make out where she was. She picked herself up from the floor, holding her hand to her throbbing forehead. My head…where…am I? She thought, grabbing onto a counter and pulling herself up. As her vision began to focus, she found herself in a kitchen. Everything was covered in filth, mold and dust. She used the dirty counter to support herself as she moved towards the sink for water. But nothing came out of the tap. Damn it!
She went over to the fridge, but it was empty and looked like it hadn't been used in an age. The cupboards were empty too, besides a sleeping bat that flew out after being disturbed. She then moved to the living room. It was as filthy as the kitchen with wallpaper ripped to shreds on the walls, torn up floorboards and broken furniture all over the place. No one had lived here for many years. She moved slowly, using the wall to help herself balance as she walked towards the open front door. It must've been the way she came in before passing out. But she couldn't remember a thing.
Once she reached the door, she winced from the sunlight as she stepped out. Everything was quiet, too quiet. The street was empty and, by the looks of it, so were the houses. They were all in the same condition; in ruin. For most, there had been an attempt to board up the windows, but they had been smashed through. Maybe this place had been hit by a horrible storm, but the state of the house she had come out of proved that no one had lived here for some time. The whole street was abandoned.
"Hello?!" she called out with a croak. But no one was around to hear her. What happened here? Where is everyone? She grew more curious as she walked down the street. Nothing but more damaged houses and scattered debris along with some trash. She kept walking, noticing the same spray painted graffiti on each of the houses. All resembled an open-jawed skull with red tears streaming from the eyes. She had no idea what it meant, perhaps it was best not to stick around to find out. Besides, the sun was scorching and she could feel whatever moisture she had left in her body drying up by the minute. There had to be water around here somewhere, there just had to be.
It wasn't too long before she reached the town. Just like everything else, it was in ruin with no one in sight. There had to be something left, there had to be at least one person here. She walked towards what used to be a convenience store on the street corner. The windows were all smashed and the shelves were empty. Whatever happened, someone completely cleared the place. She slowly walked through the store, checking behind the counter for anything that had been left behind. But she had no such luck. The back room was her next bet. As she entered she gasped at the sight of dusty skeletons around a table in the employee break room. They were covered in webs, surrounded by bottles of wine, whiskey and vodka. All of them were wearing red store clerk shirts, two were wearing skirts and one was wearing pants. But all the skeletons had one thing in common, they all had a hole in their skulls. A single shot to the head for each of them. Her heart was still racing from the sight of the bones, but it didn't change the fact she still needed water. She tried the sink. Just like the house she woke up in, nothing came out. This town must've been without water for years. But there must be something left. She searched around, finding some employee lockers. Finding nothing in the first two, it was the third one that brought a smile to her face. Inside, she found a backpack. It wasn't dusty or dirty like everything else she had come across so far. It had been taken care of. Like someone had put it there recently.
"Oh, thank God!" she sighed with relief before picking up the backpack and opening it. The smile on her face grew wider when she saw two bottles of water inside. She wasted no time grabbing one, unscrewing the tap and taking a long swig. It was warm, but that didn't matter. Water had never tasted so good before. As much as she could have finished the whole bottle right then, she didn't know when she would find more. Besides, this backpack belonged to someone. If they had stored it here recently, they could be nearby. But before she went out to search the town, she needed a moment to breathe. Her body was trembling, she couldn't remember the last time she ate. For all she knew, it could have been days, maybe weeks. Fortunately, there were peaches in the backpack. Her guilt for stealing was overpowered by her hunger. She took one of the peaches and put it to her mouth, taking a big bite. Sweet, juicy and delicious, just as she hoped it would be. Inside the backpack, there were also rags, bandages, a diary and a bag of what looked like dog treats. She checked the diary for the name of the owner, but it was empty. No clues to who or where they could be.
She went into the women's restroom, using a rag to wipe the mirror. She saw her own reflection for the first time since…she didn't know when. Her blue eyes stared back at her. Her messy blonde hair only just reached her bruised shoulders. It looked like someone had grabbed hold of her with such a strong grip that it left a mark. Was I…attacked? She wondered as she took in the scruffy appearance of her reflection. It was clear that the clothes she was wearing didn't belong to her. The dirty blue vest she was wearing was at least two sizes too big, and the pants were loose. Only being held up by a belt made from some thin plastic tubing. She had already felt that the boots on her feet were slightly too tight. They were surely going to leave her feet with blisters. All this led to more questions; where did she come from and what was she doing before she passed out? But, more importantly, "Who am I?"
She continued to check herself over for any injuries. She was filthy, but besides the bruises on her shoulders…and the loss of memory, she was fine.
The sound of a crash made her jump and turn towards the restroom door. She then heard voices of two men arguing.
"What d'ya want me to do?!" one man shouted, his voice deep and booming with anger. "It was them or us!"
The second man sounded younger and frightened. "Th-They got torn apart! They're dead because of us!"
"Hey! Hey! Get it together, man! If you're gonna keep acting like a little pussy, I'm going to have to–"
Suddenly, a scream echoed from outside in the street. She felt her heart begin to pound. What was going on out there? From the sound of it, she was better off not knowing. She kept quiet, continuing to listen to the men's conversation.
"They got one of them…" said the scared younger man. "If only we–"
"What?" the older man snapped. "They were on our tail before we ran into those guys!"
"We led them here. The poor bastards didn't see them coming…"
"A damn miracle is what it was. Listen."
The two men went quiet, focusing on the sound of the screams before it finally went silent. She felt a chill run over her body.
"That would've been us. WE would've been their next meal if the lord almighty hadn't put those poor bastards in our path. Take it as a blessing. You're still breathing."
"I still think–"
"That's your problem. Ya think too much! Now shut up and get to searching. Those things will only be distracted while they're eating."
"...fine," the younger man sighed.
She heard them begin to move through the building. She had wanted to find someone here, but now she hoped she wouldn't be found. Footsteps were getting closer to the restroom. She quickly moved to hide in one of the stalls, knocking the backpack from the counter as the peaches fell and rolled across the dirty tiled floor. She stood on the seat of the disgustingly filthy toilet so that her feet couldn't be seen from the lower gap in the stall. Her breath was shaking along with her body as she heard the door open.
"Well, what do we have here?" She couldn't see his face, but she could tell the older man was smiling by the tone in his voice. He had spotted the backpack on the floor. She then heard him take another step to pick up one of the peaches before taking a bite. "Mmm…juicy…"
It was quiet for a few seconds before…BANG! The man kicked open one of the stall doors. The other one rushed in, a hint of panic "What happened?!"
BANG! The man kicked another stall door open.
"W-What are you doing?! You're going to attract them!"
She could see the man's feet outside the stall door. As he lifted one to kick the door, she yelled out. "Okay! Okay! I'm coming out!" She stepped off the toilet and slowly opened the door, holding up her hands. "I don't have anything…"
The older man smirked as he eyed her up. "Hey now…we found ourselves a pretty thing here." The way he was looking at her made her uncomfortable. He looked just as he sounded. He was slightly taller than her, stocky and bald. His teeth were crooked and rotten, with a small scar over his lips on the right corner of his mouth. He was wearing a dirty, bloodstained, white vest with holes all over, camo pants and a rifle strapped to his back. He reeked like he had never showered before in his life. But the younger man, he was different. He was smaller, thin, the kind of person that would be afraid of his own shadow. He had curly hair, dark rings under his eyes and held a pistol in his hand. His clothes were in the same condition as his dominant companion, but it looked like he had at least tried to clean them at one point. He went pale and wide eyed at the sight of her. She knew they could see she wasn't any threat to them, she was unarmed and alone. So why did he look so terrified?
"W-We don't have much time left," he said, "They can smell us from miles away…it won't take them long to finish with that guy we–"
"We got a few more minutes…" his companion responded without taking his eyes off her.
"I don't want any trouble," she finally spoke.
"Relax, sweetie," the older man chuckled, "we want no trouble neither." He took another bite out of the peach in his hand, the backpack was in the other. "Where d'ya get these from? They're delicious."
"I found them. The backpack was in one of those lockers out there."
"Is that right?" he sounded like he didn't believe her, but his smirk never faltered.
"Yes. I don't even know where I am. Where is everyone?"
"You expecting to find something here?" he chuckled again, "Ain't nothing left around here but bones."
"What do you mean?"
"You must be real far from home. But I'll tell ya what…" he stepped closer to her, "...you be a good girl and I'll help you out. How's that sound?"
She tried to back away, but he grabbed hold of her wrist. His eyes still on her face, that creepy smirk making her skin crawl. "Let me go!"
"Come on, I'm just trying to help ya out…"
"J-Just leave her alone, Bill…" the younger man finally spoke up, turning his companions attention. His smirk turned into a scowl as his focus shifted to him. But his grip on her wrist didn't loosen.
"Did you say something, boy?" he asked in an intimidating tone.
"We-We need to get out of here before those things catch our scent. We don't have time for this."
Bill was silent for a moment before letting out a short huff and turning his attention back to her. "Yeah, I get you're right. But we can't leave sweetie-pie here. What kind of man would I be if I left a vulnerable woman here to defend herself, hm?"
"I'll take my chances," she said, pulling her wrist out of his grip.
"You got no weapons and you got no idea where you are. It's dangerous out here for a confused little lady such as yourself."
Gunshots were then heard from outside, along with the sound of dogs barking and yelping. Both men looked towards the door then back at each other.
"Bill, we need to go!" the younger man repeated once again.
"Alight, alright! At least we got ourselves a distraction." Bill turned to her and grabbed her wrist again. "Let's go, sweetie-pie."
"No!" she snapped, trying to pull away. "Let go of me!"
"You wanna get yourself killed? I suggest you be a good girl and do what I say!" Bill handed the backpack to the younger man to carry before pulling her towards him. "Make sure she doesn't make a run for it."
He pulled his rifle out of the straps on his back before slowly opening the restroom door. The sounds outside were still going as he crept out, expecting the younger man to follow. The submissive companion did what was expected of him. The backpack over his shoulder, gun in one hand and her arm in the other.
She didn't want to go with these men, specifically the one named Bill. But this man wasn't like him. She could tell that he didn't want to hurt her. Perhaps she could convince him to let her go.
"Please," she whispered to him, "just let me take my chances on my own."
The man shook his head without looking at her. "It's too dangerous out here alone. Be quiet and keep going." He continued to follow Bill, pulling her along gently.
Bill led them to a back exit of the store, but it didn't budge when he tried to open it. He let out a growl and turned back towards the front. "Looks like there's only one way out. Sounds like those things are busy, we might get lucky, Maxi."
"What is he talking about?" she asked the young man quietly. "What's out there?"
"Hellhounds…" he answered. "A whole pack of them."
Hellhounds?