"Oh god no."
All the beasts were free. Every single one. And Orion was in their hunting ground. The event couldn't have possibly been worse. Orion needed to run.
He grabbed Andrea and dragged her back up. He tried to run with her, but he could only manage a quickened shuffle. She still wasn't awake, Orion was even beginning to question if she was alive. But it didn't matter, he refused to just leave her out for the monsters.
At the moment, none of the monsters were outside. But that didn't make the situation any less terrifying.
"God dammit Andrea! Wake up!"
The boxer was still unconscious, a limp weight that Orion had to carry. Blood trickled down her chin from where the Face Stealer had hit her.
He dragged her along, desperately trying to reach any safe spot he could find. He heard shuffling behind him, as the beasts began to explore their new territory. They would find him soon. And he wasn't sure he would be able to fend them off.
Orion wanted to scream out, to beg for help, but he didn't want to draw anymore attention to himself than he already had. He doubted anyone would even hear. He would die alone in this hallway.
And yet he would still struggle.
If there was any chance he could save Andrea, he owed it to her to try. His body ached as he carried her forward, but he did not stop.
A hiss came from behind him. Orion gritted his teeth and spared a glance backwards. He saw what appeared to be a stone statue of a woman, with numerous holes revealing a hollow space beneath. A red snake, as thick as Andrea's arms and probably ten feet long, had made its home inside the statue. Orion saw numerous other shapes behind the statue, but they were difficult to make out in the darkness of the hallway.
The statue shuffled forward, its inhabitant opening its maw to prepare for an attack. It revealed four incredibly sharp teeth, all of which glowed red with heat. Orion swallowed his fear and prepared for an attack.
The snake lunged, mouth open and teeth outstretched. Orion ducked, allowing the snake to soar above him. He slashed at it with his knife, but the beast recoiled before he could hit it.
Orion kept on moving, praying that Andrea would awaken. He needed the help. Another attack came from the snake. Orion stuck out his knife to parry it, but the beast grabbed onto the blade. It's glowing teeth dug into the middle of the blade. And Orion could feel the heat radiating from each of the four fangs.
Orion swung his blade to the side, freeing it from the serpents grasp and sending the beasts head to the floor. Orion brought a foot down on the snakes head, slamming it into the ground. It wasn't enough to kill it, but the beast recoiled in pain.
Orion continued forward. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched, like a predator was lurking in the shadows. He shook his head, there was no time to deal with that. He had more important threats around him.
He heard more beasts behind him. Different noises, all equally terrifying. He only turned to ensure that nothing was about to attack him, he refused to linger on the design of these beasts. They were abominations, that's all that mattered. He could focus on the details when he was safe.
Orion parried one more attack from the snake before turning ahead of him again. He could see his apartment, some twenty five paces away. He felt hope fill his heart for a moment. What a mistake that was.
A horrible beast stepped out of an apartment some seven paces infront of him. It was a large, disgusting creature. It looked diseased, with a swollen body that was nearly human, but it carried itself on four spider like legs, and in place of a head it had a large mouth which opened to show rows of razor sharp teeth.
It was larger than the Shambler, and Orion could see no apparent weak spots. But it was in his way.
The beast rushed forward with a horrible screech. Orion gritted his teeth and dropped Andrea to the floor before raising his blade. The beast tried to impale him with one of its legs, but Orions easily side stepped. He swung his knife at the leg, aiming for the place where the appendages segments met. His knife buried itself into the soft flesh of the leg, and got stuck.
The beast cried out, and it raised another leg to try and attack Orion. Orion jumped to the side, leaving his knife imbedded in the creatures leg. The beast charged at Orion, its injured leg limping as Orions blade dug into its flesh. Orion easily sidestepped the creature, but he was now unarmed against a horde of abominations.
He turned back to Andrea, and found another beast lurking over her. It looked nearly human, but it had six arms and a hand took the place of its head. Each hand was adorned with a set of claws. It raised two of its arms, preparing to bring them down on the unconscious boxer.
Orion threw himself in the way, attempting to catch the two attacks. He managed to grab one of the wrists, but the other hand slipped, and left a deep cut on his inner forearm. Orion cried out in pain before raising a leg and kicking the beast in the stomach, causing it to stumble away.
Orion grabbed Andrea and pulled her up. He began to shuffle down the hallway again. He made it only a few steps before something crashed into his back.
He was sent rolling down the hallway, and he was forced to let go of Andrea. Orion grunted in pain as his injured side hit the ground beneath him. He looked up, finding the same spider-like creature had been the one to knock him over. It now loomed over Andrea.
Orion screamed out, and tried to rise to his feet. Something stepped on his ankle hard, and Orion was forced back to the ground. He turned and found another abomination pinning him to the ground.
The creature was nearly seven feet tall, and looked like a man without skin. It had no facial features aside from one massive eye in the middle of its face, and a handful of smaller eyes decorated its body. It pushed down on Orions ankle, and he cried out in pain. The beast raised an arm, ready to assault Orion.
Suddenly, something slammed into the back of the beasts head. It was silent, but a large burst of purple blood came from the wound. Someone grunted as they pulled the object out of the beasts head, and another attack came, this time aimed for the neck. The beast fell, and Orion could see his saviour.
A tan man with a puffy leather jacket and black machete stood over the Flesh Creature. He had a shaved head, a thin moustache, and numerous tattoos on his hands on neck. The man looked to be slightly taller than Orion. And he wore a white wife beater beneath his jacket, both of which were now stained purple.
The man brought his machete down on the creature two more times, splitting its head open and spilling purple blood across the floor. He turned to Orion when he was done, and stuck out a hand.
"God damn man, you looked messed up." He pulled Orion to his feet. Orion nearly fell, but the man held him up. Orion suddenly felt every injury and every part of his exhaustion. He wanted to sleep so badly.
"Andrea…" Orion muttered under his breath before turning to the unconscious boxer. He was relieved to find the beast that had been looming over her was being assaulted by a short girl with long blonde hair.
The girl looked no older than eighteen, and she wore what appeared to be a private school uniform. She held a baseball bat, which she was currently using to attack the spider beast. She landed a good few hits, and the beast was backing off. One of its legs looked to be broken, shattered halfway up the lowest segment.
A plump man with a balding head and golf club followed after her, breathing heavily as he ran down the hallway. He wore a white button up, which was stained with purple blood and sweat. Behind him there was an older woman, with a purple cardigan and blue jeans. Her dark hair was turning grey at parts, and she held a frying pan in both hands like a sword.
"Samantha!" the plump man called out. "Get away from that thing!"
Samantha -the young girl, was already pulling Andrea to her feet.
"Help me get her up!" Samantha demanded. The older man grumbled something Orion couldn't hear, but Samantha gave him a glare, and that seemed to motivate him into helping.
The man threw Orions arm over his shoulder, supporting him and preventing him from falling over.
"My apartment…it's right there." Orion pointed weakly at his door. The man looked up and his eyes widened.
"Perfect, let's go!" The man slowly started walking with Orion. Orion spared a glance backwards and found the Samantha and the older man carrying the still unconscious Andrea.
The older woman came up to Orion and his saviour. Immeadiately, Orion felt his fear disappear. His pain felt more tolerable, and his sorrow gave way to blinding hope.
"Oh dear, you look horrible!" The woman exclaimed as she attempted to put Orions other arm over her shoulder. Orion was taller than her, so it did little to help, but he was grateful for the effort.
"His apartments right there, go help the others, they need it more than we do."
The woman hesitated for a moment before nodding and running to assist Samantha. Orion slowly felt his fear and pain return. He already missed the older woman's company.
The man pulled Orion up to his door, which was still open from when Orion and Andrea had last left. The man brought Orion inside and set him up on the floor against the wall.
"Stay here, imma go help 'em out."
Orion tried to stand, but every part of his body protested. The man pushed him back down gently.
"Relax man, you gotta take it easy."
The man stood and left the apartment, leaving Orion alone and bleeding. There was so much pain, so much blood. He was alive, but he nearly felt like a corpse.
The rest of the survivors rushed into the apartment after a moment, and the man with the puffy jacket slammed the door behind them all. The world became very quiet except for the sounds of laboured breathing.
Orion had survived the event. And he had found his new companions.