Chapter 2: Ingrid #2

Hugo slept on the roof of his brother’s apartment complex. The morning breeze brushed across his face, forcing him awake. The sound of sirens and screams was quieter now but still echoed throughout the city. The skyline was painted with towers of smoke.

The street was filled with people who’ve gone mad. Hugo didn’t want to leave the roof; it was safe there. His phone still had no signal. It buzzed three times whenever he would make a call.

KNOCK KNOCK

Hugo pressed his ear onto the door. Hearing the aimless shuffling of feet on the other side, he left the door closed. With no other choice, he left.

Leaping across the rooftops, one by one, Hugo made his way across the city. On one jump, he slipped and almost fell to an alley below. His hand gripped the metal gutter as tight as possible. It creaked as he swayed back and forth. The wanderers came. They held up their hands to him, waiting for Hugo to fall. When he made it back onto the roof, a swarm had collected under him. Their groans and stench fogged the air.

Continuing across the rooftops, Hugo heard and followed the sound of gunshots. Jumping onto another building, he found the source. Armed soldiers lined 7^th street with automatic rifles. Just as Hugo was going to wave, a group of people emerged from another building.

“We’re here! Help us!” called the group. They were immediately gunned down. Hugo ducked for cover, but nothing was fired his way. He crawled across the rooftop and jumped to another building, away from the gunfire.

“Why would they shoot at them?” he whispered under his breath. “They were normal.”

BRRRRRR

A blue family car had sped past Hugo on the street below, heading north. The front was painted with red as it ran over dozens of wanderers in its path. Hugo didn’t follow, he was looking for something else.

After a day of jumping across rooftops, several close calls, and a bathroom break, Hugo made it home. He lived near the center of LA, in an apartment with his family. He threw a hook and rope onto his balcony and climbed to it. The glass doors were locked. He took a moment to consider his options, when all he had was the hammer and gun from his brother’s place.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

“Mom? Dad?” said Hugo. He pressed his face against the glass doors only to be met with a pink and white curtain. No response. He wedged the pointy tip of the hammer into the gap of the glass doors. With one swift push, the door swung open. The groaning of the wanderers grew louder from around him, but the inside was quiet.

Stepping inside the apartment, the air was still. The couch seemed untouched, and the tv had a light layer of dust over it. Baby toys had been placed in a basket in the corner. The front door had been broken down and laid in the center of the room. His parent’s room had a trail of red dots that led around the bed. The smell of rotting flesh flooded his nose.

At the end of the trail, Hugo had found two corpses. Their stomachs had been turned to mush and the bones of their lower body had been scattered across the area. The only recognizable thing about the bodies were the hands that were still grasping each other. His stomach shivered and rumbled. He covered his mouth and left the room. Shutting the door behind him, he ran into his sister’s room.

Shaking his head, he checked the crib, but there wasn’t a body. Tilting his head at the sight, the crib looked as if there was something was removed from the cloth.

Creak went something in the living room.

Hugo lifted his hammer and turned around. He busted out of the room swinging, but there was nothing to hit. Entering the living room, the glass door was left open. It creaked with the breeze. Hugo shut it and propped the front door against the glass, keeping it shut. He went back to his room, but passed the bathroom on the way.

Drip went the sink.

Hugo paused and stepped into the bathroom. He closed the sink and looked into the mirror above it. Seeing the shower curtain closed, he took no chance. With another mighty swing the shower curtain was ripped off the hooks, revealing an empty tub.

Thud thud thud thud

“Who’s there!” Hugo called. He followed the thuds out of the room, down the hall and down the stairway. He found a single double door at the very bottom. Opening the door, the room reeked with the stench of rooting flesh. He saw the dim white eyes of dozens of wanders. He shut the door, but a rotted food had already got past. Unable to shove it back, they kept coming. The grabbed onto Hugo’s pack, pulling him into the hoard.

“Dammit kid!” said a woman with a funny accent. She ran from around the stairway and pulled Hugo away from the wanderers. His backpack wasn’t so lucky as it was pulled into the hoard. “Start running!” said the lady. She and Hugo ran up the stairs together, back to the floor of his parent’s apartment. The groans from the bottom of the stairway slowly increased in volume.

When they got into the light, Hugo found he had been saved by very fit woman. The bottom of her legs were shaped weirdly through, and her blond hair was in a bun.

“Thank you,” said Hugo, catching his breath.

“Eugh!” the woman put her hands on the door that leaned onto the glass and threw it aside.

“Hey! Where are you going?” said Hugo.

The woman sighed. “Away. You should be too.”

The groaning from the bottom of the stair grew louder.

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“Please, I need to find my little sister.”

The woman paused, throwing her head down. “Your sister is dead.” She took a step onto the balcony. The sun shined on her forehead.

“Wait! She’s not!” said Hugo. The groans grew even louder. The woman turned her head so that Hugo could see the corner of her eye. “Her body isn’t here. She has to be somewhere.”

“Ugh!” The woman shouted in a foreign language, that Hugo could almost recognize as German. “Zur Hölle damit! Es ist mir Wurst!” She scowled at him. “Come on. Don’t expect me to slow down for you.”

Hugo nodded and the woman jumped off the balcony. Hugo ran to the ledge and saw her stick the landing onto a building below. Behind him, the groans had reached the top of the stairway. He put his hands on the rail, lifted himself over and dropped onto the building.

“Ah!” Hugo landed on his side. He singed in pain.

“Get up!” said the woman. She stood over him, watching him endure the pain to his left shoulder. “Americans,” she said, rolling her eyes. She grabbed Hugo’s right bicep and lifted him up.

“Ow ow ow!” Hugo, pulled away and rubbed his left arm.

“Where is your sister?” said the woman.

“I- I don’t know.”

“Tell me now, or I’ll leave you here to die.”

“That way!” said Hugo. He pointed in the direction of the car he saw. The woman turned her head, seeing the Hollywood sign in the distance. She looked back at Hugo with a stink eye. “I saw a car going that way, it’s our best shot.” The woman’s mouth curled downward.

“Fine, let’s go,” said the woman. She took a step before pausing and pointing her finger at Hugo. She opened her mouth, ready to say something, but stopped and continued forward.

Together, the two made their way north jumping across the rooftops of LA.

“You’re really good at that,” said Hugo after pulling himself onto the roof of a corner store.

“What?” said the woman, walking across the roof to the other side.

“You look like you’re prepared for this.” Hugo stood next to her, out of breath.

“I am.” She jumped from her spot and flawlessly held onto the ledge of another roof.

“What did you do?” Hugo tried following her form and jumped.

“Fitness…” she said. Hugo’s grip slipped from the ledge, but his outstretched hand was caught by her. “…instructor.” She pulled him up onto the ledge.

“Convenient.” Hugo said with a heavy breath, looking over the ledge. “Would you mind… *huff* giving me a few tips?”

The woman sighed. “Sure. What is your name?”

“Hugo,” Hugo answered.

“Hugo, your form sucks. You need to bend the knees more.”

“Uh, can I ask for your name?”

“Ingrid.”

“Well, Ingrid. Thank you for the tip.”

The two stupidly smirked at each other. Ingrid shook her head, sighing with a sense of slight ease. Hugo felt a slight weight come off his shoulders. The sirens and screams of the city had become a random occurrence now. The military would drive by in random intervals, but they never found Hugo and Ingrid. If a helicopter were to fly by, they would duck for cover or play dead. Almost as if it was just them against the world.

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