So its been a couple of days since my last post... A lot has happened. On a positive note, I’m not dead yet. However, I’m in a new predicament now. I need to post this as a record of what has happened here, I’ll start from where I left off in my previous post.
That hideous sound from the front door downstairs didn’t let up. I needed to decide whether I would find somewhere safe to hide within the house or make a run for it while those creatures were preoccupied at the door. Both of these options had downsides. If I decided to stay in the house and hide, I’d find myself trapped should they find me. If I decided to run, there’s no way of knowing how well they are at tracking or even how many more of them there are outside. I also have no experience shooting a gun, so I felt as though an enclosed environment would give me the best chance of landing a shot should it come to that. But then again, there’s no telling whether a bullet would stop them or not. I do have an attic that I hope would be difficult to reach by those creatures. The opening is in the second bedroom and requires a ladder to get up. Fortunately, I painted that room earlier in the year and borrowed a ladder from my father which I forgot to return to him.
With this plan in my head, I immediately put it in action. I needed to gather food and water before going up there, but I didn’t know how much time I had left before they broke through the door and makeshift barricade. The bottom of the stairs are right by the front door so if I couldn’t get back to the stairs in time, I’d be dead for sure. I grabbed the pistol that had been sitting beside me and bolted downstairs, and then I realised these creatures weren’t just bombarding the front-door, the sound of metal scratching on metal came from the windows too. Never have I ever been so thankful that I had security screens installed on those windows too, but I couldn’t imagine they would hold up for much longer. I had no time to screw around. With haste I headed towards the kitchen.
A lot of the food was still on the counter from when I was taking stock. I grabbed a couple of shopping bags from the pantry and scooped whatever I could from the counter and filled the bags. Not forgetting to grab the can opener, I grabbed it too from the utensil drawer. I predicted all the food I had would last me about two weeks if I stretched it out, but I didn’t have time to gather everything and I wouldn’t be making a second trip down here anytime soon. Water was more important anyways, without water, I wouldn’t even last a week. The only thing I could think of was to fill all the water bottles I had and hope they would last me until these creatures moved on. I rummaged through the cupboards and found four different water bottles of varying sizes and filled them at the tap as fast as I could before throwing them in the bags with the food. These bags were heavy now.
I placed the pistol in my waistband and lifted the bags, running towards the staircase, a loud crash came from the kitchen window behind me, not like what I’d already been hearing. It sounded like one of them had gotten through the security screen. I didn’t have time to look back and honestly was too scared too, hoping I’d make it in time I dashed up the stairs as fast as I could and ran straight for the spare bedroom. I slammed the door behind me, and quickly locked it, knowing full well that a thin bedroom door wouldn’t stop those things. I dropped the bags and grabbed the ladder that was laying on the ground. Lining it up with the attic opening, I climbed up and moved the panel covering the opening. More loud crashes and heavy foot-steps on the wooden floors could be heard from downstairs. There wasn’t much time left. I grabbed the bags and lifted them into the attic with all the strength I could muster. This is when I realised, I’d left my phone in my bedroom. I felt like I needed it in case anybody tried to contact me, but I clearly wasn’t in the right state of mind at the time. Without even thinking I climbed down the ladder, away from the safest place I could hope to be right now and swung the door open about to bolt for my bedroom, stupidly thinking I still had time to spare.
The figure I saw at the bottom of the staircase stunned me and I froze for a second. My mind told me to scream, but it was like I was paralysed, and nothing came out of my mouth. It’s eyes stared wide, the same eyes I had stared into from the window across the street. Suddenly, the figure lunged towards me up the stairs, and I snapped out of it. I ran backwards into the spare room and slammed the door closed again. The creature made contact with the door and a loud thump sound resonated in my ears from the impact. I pounced at the ladder and scurried up through the opening. I don’t know how smart they are, but my mind told me I needed to pull the ladder up, or they’d definitely know I’m up here. I leaned over the opening and reached for the ladder, grabbing it firmly I heaved upwards and backwards. This ladder wasn’t light, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins must’ve helped as I pulled it up into the attic. Vicious scratching sounds came from the bedroom door, and just as I placed the panel over the opening, the sound of the door being caved in boomed. I held my breath and closed my eyes in the dark.
I could hear the creature below me, scurrying around and destroying everything in the room. It would have torn me apart if it had caught me, I’m sure of that. Soon I could hear the other creatures making there way up the staircase and into the room too. The fact that they made no vocal sound unsettled me, like a silent serial killer with a mask, but I’m not sure I’d rather be listening to whatever visceral sound they would make if they had mouths. The only thing I could do from here on out was wait. Wait until they settled down or lost interest and keep as quiet as possible.
I didn’t move an inch for a few hours and continued listening to the rampage happening below me. I had no way of knowing how good their hearing was and I was in no rush to find out. I silently prayed that my phone would survive the ordeal so I wouldn’t be completely isolated if there were a chance of contacting someone and internally reprimanded myself for being stupid enough to forget it.
I had no way of knowing what time it was exactly, but a glimpse of sunlight shone through the small window in the attic signifying dawn was upon us. I had survived the night, and for that I was thankful. I could still hear faint sounds coming from the house below, but the creatures rampage had subsided for the most part. As quiet as I could, I grabbed a snack bar out of one of the bags and drank from one of the bottles I had filled. Only now realising how thirsty I was when the lukewarm water that I would usually only drink ice cold met my lips. I gulped down half the bottle before I could stop myself.
I didn’t want to risk going down anytime soon, so I stayed up in the attic for the entire day. I actually felt relatively safe. I assumed they didn’t know I was up here since I’m sure they would’ve joined me by now if they did, but I couldn’t stay up here forever. I still needed to get my phone for obvious reasons, if it hadn’t been destroyed yet that is. I eventually passed out from exhaustion I think since I don’t remember purposefully laying my head down to rest, despite waking up knowing that time had definitely passed and having my bladder screaming at me to release its contents. Though, there obviously isn’t a toilet in the attic so I’ll spare you those details, needless to say I remained as quiet as possible.
Eventually I realised I could no longer hear any sound coming from the house below. But getting down and back up again wouldn’t be a walk in the park since I’d need to use the ladder again and staying anywhere else in the house clearly wasn’t safe with what I can only guess the state of the windows and doors being in shambles. Luckily though, if the phone had survived it would only be in the next room over where I’d left it. I decided to wait a few more hours before executing the retrieve and retreat again plan.
Slowly I removed the panel from the attic opening and quietly surveyed the spare room below. Everything looked to have been torn to shreds, and I could only imagine what would’ve happened had I taken just a few moments too long to get up into the attic. Whilst the room was a mess, there was no sign of the creatures in the direct vicinity. I poked my head out further and peaked towards the bedroom door, well what was left of it at least. Again, no sign of them. Still, I couldn’t hear a thing from downstairs, so I quietly moved the ladder and lowered it down slowly. I made sure to hold the pistol tight while climbing down the ladder as light-footed as I could and made my way to the doorway. The bottom of the stairs looked clear too, but I wasn’t going to risk going down there right now. I crept towards the open doorway that was once my bedroom door and surveyed the room silently, trying to locate my phone. My bed had been turned upwards and clothes from my closet that had been hanging neatly were now strewn across the floor with plenty of ferocious slashes through them.
Finally I located my phone. It seemed odd that it was sitting so perfectly on top of my favourite jacket, but I grabbed it and turned towards the doorway. That’s when I saw the creature rise onto two legs through my balcony window, like it had been waiting for me in a crouched position. Once again, the creature stared at me for a moment with its deep sunken white eyes but without thinking, I aimed the pistol at the creature and pulled the trigger. The sound of the glass shattering made a deafening sound and I fell backwards. I didn’t know if I had hit the creature or not, but I needed to get back into the attic now if I had any chance of getting out of this unscathed. The sound of the gun would surely alert the others, I knew this, so I immediately got to my feet and started back towards the attic opening. I glanced at where the creature had been a second ago, but it wasn’t there anymore. Assuming I had hit it, I made my way back to the spare room and hurried up the ladder with my phone in my back pocket.
The sound of the creatures galloping up the stairs surprised me, and I glanced towards the staircase from the open doorway. They saw me this time. I hurdled up into the attic and kicked the ladder out from under myself. I quickly moved the panel back over the opening and threw the heavy bags on top of it, hoping to weigh it down. Immediately the pounding began. Pulling my phone out of my back pocket, I unlocked the screen. Another emergency alert flashed on the screen, it read “Seek nearest bomb shelter immediately. Saturation bombing inbound. ETA. 15:00/3 p.m.”. The clock on my phone showed the time as 12:30 p.m.
If you’re reading this right now, please respond.
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