CHAPTER 377: 377-THE DEAD PEOPLE WALKING

Clementine:

A woman stood behind the glass, knocking on the door with her palm.

She looked weak, barely able to hold herself up, almost like she needed help.

She wore a long, elegant evening gown, and jewelry hung around her neck and wrists.

Her hair was styled in neat curls, but now they looked rough.

There were patches of hair missing, and I could tell she was very sick.

Everything about her looked like she had walked straight out of a royal party, apart from her hair and her showing scalp.

"Hey," I said, carefully approaching the glass, "I’m here. I’ll help you, okay? Just calm down and tell me your name." I tried to communicate with her because it seemed like she was going to pass out.

She was having a hard time breathing.

However, the woman did not respond.

She just kept knocking. Her fingers dragged slowly against the glass door as she leaned forward.

"Ma’am," I uttered, "are you hurt? I’m going to get you out, okay?" I stated. "Do you see the other entrance? It is locked from the outside. What I will do is, I’ll go there."

I was trying to speak when she lifted her head, and my breath caught in my chest.

Her eyes were fogged entirely, fully white. Her jaw hung at a strange angle, swaying slightly.

Her skin had a gray tint, marked with faint bruises, almost like she had been dead for a long time.

When she opened her mouth, no words came out, only a groan.

I stumbled back, shocked at what she was. This was not a civilian, not a survivor, but a monster. But what kind of monster?

I forced myself to stand, backing away from the glass until my shoulder touched the wall.

My legs felt weak from what I was seeing. I could not stay here.

I needed to know if the woman was alone or if there were more inside the building.

I needed to leave because I did not know if she was alone or if there were more of these things.

She was groaning like a dead person moving around.

I tightened my jaw and quickly got to my feet, walking down the hallway and checking one door after another.

Each time I pressed my ear against the wood, I heard something. The same sound.

The dragging sound, faint thudding, someone groaning like a dead body waking up.

It seemed like when this place got infected with whatever it was, someone had latched the doors from outside with wooden planks and other things to stop them from coming out.

But those doors would not be able to hold them forever. I had seen cracks in the windows, even small holes spreading near the centers.

They were going to get out. I knew that for sure.

So I moved faster.

Halfway down the corridor, I found another apartment, and this one had its door left open.

Not pushed open, not cracked. Simply open. My instincts told me to keep walking, but curiosity got the best of me.

I needed to see what I was dealing with.

The entrance led to a living room. Dust covered everything. Couches were ripped.

Tables were broken. The lights did not work, but daylight from the balcony was enough to light up the apartment.

I stepped farther in.

The moment my foot touched the center of the room, something crashed into me from behind.

I fell forward, sliding across the floor as something climbed on top of me. I turned around and what I saw made my skin crawl.

"What the fuck!" The words rolled off my tongue.

It was the same kind of thing the woman had been, but this one was not wearing an evening gown.

The hairstyle was different. The features were different. Its skin was pale and cracked.

There was blood around its jaw, and its breath smelled like metal. Its fingers clawed at my arms, trying to pull me closer.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed and hit my elbow into its face, pushing the monster back.

As it lunged again, I grabbed the nearest object, an old lamp, and struck it across the head.

The thing only went back a little before coming at me again. It grabbed my shirt and pulled, almost biting my shoulder.

"No, get off," I yelled, grabbing at something on its neck and ripping it off during the struggle.

The monster hissed, reaching for me again, while I bolted toward the kitchen.

The floor was slippery, and my steps kept sliding. The drawers were open, and utensils were everywhere.

That was where I spotted a knife under a pile of pans.

I grabbed it and turned around as the monster attacked me.

I stabbed it in the chest, but it only growled and came at me again, flailing its arms like it wanted to eat me.

I stabbed it again on the shoulder, on the arm, everywhere, but nothing worked. Its jaw stayed open.

It pushed at me again, trying to bite me, and I moved my hand fast enough to strike it in the skull.

The blade cracked through the bone. Suddenly, the monster stopped. It fell at my feet.

I backed against the counter while breathing hard. My hands were shaking.

I needed some time to steady myself. I looked down at my fist and opened it to see what I was holding all this time.

The broken necklace chain hung around my hand. I must have snatched it off the monster’s neck. It was a heart-shaped pendant.

I clicked it open. Inside was a photograph of a woman smiling beside her husband.

I looked at the monster lying on the floor. It was the same woman from the picture, but she looked nothing like the person she used to be.

I got out of the kitchen, walked through the apartment, and saw normal things a regular person would have had, bills and letters from many years ago.

"These are the pack members," I whispered, shocked.

They were not criminals, not beasts. They were the people who lived here before all this started.

So what was it? How did they turn into these monsters? Was it because they stayed here for too long? It upset me so much.

I walked back into the kitchen, grabbed the biggest knife I could, and looked for something else I could use.

While searching through the apartment, I saw an open door in one of the bedrooms.

Inside, I saw a gun loaded with many bullets lying around it. It seemed like I had found something I could use.

I grabbed it, looked for an empty bag, and put the bullets inside.

This apartment had an aid kit and other things. I took whatever I could and hung the bag around my shoulder.

I closed the pendant, held it tightly, and stepped back into the hallway. I could not stay in Sector 13.

I ran down the stairs, avoiding every door. The groans inside grew louder with every step I took toward the exit.