About an hour or so prior…

  Karina sat still as a gargoyle in her seat on the train ride to the docks. Her fate was already in a choke hold by this random woman who still held the gun always pressed against her. Not a single moment went by where she did not feel its steel end of the barrel jammed into her side.

  Karina and her soon to be killer had been traveling in silence on their way to their destination. The train was to stop near the dockyards and then they would walk the rest of the way to the docks where the deed would be done. Surprisingly, Karina was calm even with her life in danger. She had been mentally prepared for this kind of outcome ever since she began hunting the collective.

  Kyrie’s finger tapped anxiously at her thigh as her patience began to wear thin the closer they got to their destination. The constant tapping was starting to get annoying. It threw off Karina’s train of thought while she plotted her escape.

  To throw her captor off and to kill some time, Karina decided to start a conversation, “For what it’s worth, I didn’t think things would end like this. They forced your hand, so I bear no ill will towards you.”

  Kyrie’s hand did not even quiver and her face remained stoic and cold. She then began to speak with resentment in her voice, “I thank you. If circumstances were different, we’d be having tea together.”

  The attempt at conversation died there. While she had no intention of harming Kyrie, she also had no time to waste. Her mom will never be found if she’s dead. Then she asked, “Has the collective said anything about a woman named Marina Sizmarik?”

  Kyrie just shrugged her shoulders, “Only because you’re going to die I can tell you this. The last time I was there, I saw that name on a schedule and something about Cell 13. I don’t know if that means anything to you, but I leave you with that on your trip to the afterlife.”

  Karina smiled. Finally, a lead. After tracking the Vocanov Collective for so long this was the first clue she has gotten specifically about her mom. That meant she had to be here in Molina somewhere, she just had to survive long enough to find her. Hopefully her mother hasn’t become a victim to whatever they’re doing behind closed doors.

  The train stops at the station for the Dockyard and the two walk down the stairs to exit the station. But the strange thing is, it’s empty. Not a soul is present at this usually busy stop. It’s dead silent, not even the sound of men working hard on machinery or the usual banter at the nearby shops can be heard. The only thing that Karina noticed was the metallic smell of fresh blood in the air. The smell of slaughter by the dozens. It hung heavy in the air, smothering her. Her captor noticed it too but paid it no mind. Kyrie pressed the weapon into her back again and demanded, “Walk, it won’t be long now till we reach the port. If you have a God to pray to, it would be wise to do so now.”

  The two begin their slow march from the station. The silence continues and the smell of blood gets stronger the farther in they go. It's only after they round the corner that they discover the source of the odor.

  Bodies upon bodies of normal ordinary people laid gutted and flayed, strewn about all over the streets. Some of them looked as if they were punctured repeatedly until they bled out from their wounds and drowned in puddles of their own blood, while others look as if they had been physically ripped in half. A few others were covered in deep bite marks like something with sharp teeth had bitten into their limbs or stomach with the intention of eating them. Blood splattered all over the walls, street lights, and store fronts that were once lively before this massacre happened. Blood covered bulbs and nearby neon signs cast the entire street in a myriad of neon colors mixed with crimson illuminating the grizzly scene for them to witness.

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  Karina ground her heel and threw herself backwards into her kidnapper at the same moment Kyrie turned away to retch and vomit. The short second was long enough to aim a kick at the woman’s hand that held the gun. Her foot connected with Kyrie’s hand and sent the gun sliding out into the middle of the street. She then made a dive for the weapon and came close to getting it but Kyrie was hot on her heels. The woman grabbed Karina by her hair and threw her down. She fell on top of one of the dead bodies and Kyrie continued navigating over the dead bodies to her handgun. Karina picked up one of the shoes of the dead and threw it, aiming at Kyrie’s head. It struck gold right in the temple, causing her to start stumble. She fell over stunned into a puddle of blood and was having trouble standing back up.

  She remained stunned long enough for Karina to walk over and grab the handgun from the ground. It had a full clip in it but she would only need one to end this if she chose to.

  Shakily, Kyrie was able to steady herself and stand. Covered in blood, she breathed heavily and saw Karina with her gun aimed at her. She knew Karina had her beat and admitted, “I just wanted to survive, same as you.” Karina did not falter, though she did feel guilty but she made her choice, even if the collective made one for her.

  In a final desperate attempt, Kyrie rushed forward to attack Karina one more time before a fleshy mass of black mold and sharp, flailing tendrils descended on her from the rooftop. The mass fell right on top of her and pinned her to the ground using the bladed ends of its gnarled accessory limbs. They stabbed right through both her wrist and through her right thigh, pinning her to the ground. She screamed in immense pain as the thing leaned in closer. It was a creature warped and broken, its entire anatomy forever changed into a beast driven by the violet spores that invaded its body. From what Karina could tell it had been a young boy at one point and was just turned not too long ago because the skin under the gunk and mutilated muscle still had color. It had pockets of violet growing all along the inside of it and blanketed the area around the afflicted once they popped.

  The creature wasted no time in turning its prey into a meal. It tore into Kyrie’s stomach, adding even more blood to the already gallons that covered the street. Her screams pierced the air, her eyes darting around for someone to save her until her eyes met Karina’s who was still standing there holding her gun. The creature ripped into her intestines and kidneys and eventually worked its way to her chest to feast on the meat of her ribs and her heart, by then she was already gone.

  This was all Karina had to see before she broke off in a sprint down the street.

  Her legs carried her as far and as fast they could until she was out of breath. Thankfully the train had not brought her all the way to the Dockyard, but now she had to witness the disaster this tragedy has already caused. Everywhere she looked, Molina was in ruins. Her paths were blocked by bodies of the dead, rubble, or the wreckage of violet tumor covered Automatons that were overtaken and left to rot. The only path open to her was a straightforward path that led to a tall marble and brass colored building that shone under the setting sun. A sign above it read, “Seraph’s Grace Hospital.”

  The screeching of whatever that creature was that killed Kyrie and other screams sounded in unison from the direction she came.

  Karina thought to herself, “The hospital might be my best bet. I just pray it looks better than….this.” She took a moment to catch her breath and check her ammo in her new handgun before setting off to find safety in what was once Molina’s most prestigious healthcare facility.

  The front door was alight with flames and the burnt bodies of both regular people and infected. She ruled out entering from the front and was debating on where to go next until she heard loud banging from the side of the building by the parking garage. She ran over with her gun drawn to see a monsterous infected holding a dark skinned man with long black locs tied back by a head scarf. The man had stabbed its eye and was now having the life squeezed from his body, yet he still continued to fight for his life despite the circumstances.

  His bravery stoked her own flame as she gripped the handle of her handgun tight then ran forward to help him. She got as close as she could, making sure to stay in its blind spot and fired a shot that hit it right in the eye. It dropped the man and tumbled back into a building front to be buried in debris.

  She walked over to the man that it dropped and squatted down to check on him. He was out of breath but alive, and smiling like a fool. But again, she admired that he even fought in the first place.

  She asked, “Are you hurt anywhere?”

  The man responded, “Oh yeah, I’m okay. Nothing a nap and a hot bath won’t fix. Thanks for the save.”

  She smiled. “At least the near death experience didn’t kill his sense of humor.” she thought to herself, then responded, “You're welcome. Now what the hell were you thinking fighting that thing?”

  The man shrugged, “Figured I’d figure it out. All I knew was people needed help and that was the best way I could help them. If those doctors and nurses live, they can help the injured and that’ll save more lives.”

  She cocked her head to the side and stared at him curiously. From that type of thinking alone she could tell he was a doctor. Only medics would think of others before themselves like that so readily. Finally she introduced herself, “My name is Karina Sizmarik, I’m a virologist for Zamuni University. And what about you, Doctor?”

  The man responded, “Caelin Frost. I was a doctor until all….this.”

  The moment was cut short as the monster began to move again under the rubble. It was down but not out just yet, and Karina only had so many bullets. Definitely not enough to take that thing down. She helped Caelin to his feet and the two of them ran down the street and around the corner to safety. The hospital was nowhere near safe, they had to find somewhere else.