Death

What do I do, what do I do, what do I do!? Kaori was panicking as she was begging for an answer. 

Then her ears focused on a particular set of feet that were getting closer, and she instinctively held her breath, her eyes wide open, burning as she refused to blink. 

On one side of her was the beauty of space. The sparkling stars, the distant planets, and not too far from where she was, was the moon and even more spaceships floating in place as debris passed them in their orbit around what she could only assume was Earth; She couldn't see it though, as the window was facing outwards. 

On the other side of her was the only piece of equipment that was separating her from whatever just joined her inside the high-tech cockpit of a spaceship. As more and more made their way inside, her ears began to focus on the set of footsteps slowly making their way towards her; the metal floors only making the impending creature sound more terrifying. 

Tap... 

Dragggg... 

Tap... 

Dragggg... 

Her whimpers intensified, and she finally closed her eyes, not wanting to witness what was about to appear. She could stare at blood and guts and anything horrific any day- As long as it was behind her screen. But in person? Real-life, if this was even real- Kaori was absolutely petrified. 

"20 seconds." The intercom announced, briefly distracting the wanderer. A small wave of relief rushed over her as she listened to whatever it was head towards the intercom that was near the door. 

But then with the countdown nearing zero, her relief was very short-lived. In just 20 seconds she was going to be locked in here. 

Kaori took a deep breath, silently letting it out, as she finally got on all fours while she exhaled softly and as quietly as possible. She needed to find a way out and fast. 

She inched her way towards the edge of the console, slowly using her hands and knees to move like she were pretending to be an animal; the metal hurting her knees even through this odd bodysuit that she had on- gloves and heels attached while the only opening was to allow her neck and head out. 

When her fingertips were flush with the edge, the ship suddenly jerked, throwing her off balance. She accidently let out a low screech as she fell onto her side, hard, dislocating her right shoulder in the process. 

Then, as if things couldn't get any worse for her, the lights went out; everything but space was pitch black. The only light was what the moon was providing through the large, glass window. 

"Fuck!" Kaori whimpered to herself softly, desperately wishing for a way out as she repositioned herself as best she could. Maybe I'm just overreacting? I mean, I haven't actually seen whatever it is quite yet.  

Unable to use her right arm, she now sat with her back to the console. This pain she was having to experience back-to-back was beyond what she had to ever endure before. The most she has ever had to deal with was maybe a skinned knee in elementary school; She hasn't even had a broken bone yet! 

"Power shortage detected," the feminine AI voice announced, breaking Kaori's chain of thought. "All mechanical personal, please report to the Power Supply Room. Repeat, power shortage detected. All mechanical personal, please report to the PSR. Civilians, please remain calm. You are in no danger; everything will be fixed shortly..." 

Then an alarm began to sound, "all doors will close until power is restored. Entering Power Saving Mode..." 

Kaori could only listen as the blast door, that still had a few seconds originally, slammed to the floor with a loud, metallic bang; her heart dropping with it. 

Now what am I supposed to do!? I'm stuck in here with possible zombies! Kaori took a big gulp of air, holding it as she leaned slightly, tilting herself over until she could peek behind her and around the edge of the console. 

Death. 

That's all she could think when she saw its face; the background becoming hazy as she made eye contact with it. She felt nauseous, and the taste of bile began to fill her mouth before she spit everything out in front of it. 

Its face was torn to shreds, the skin only attached at the left brow bone and cheek, so its skin was laying on the ground, collecting dirt and debris on the inside of it. It wasn't even really bleeding, it was as if it had all dried up, yet, it wasn't moaning in pain as its exposed eyeballs focused on her- it was groaning in hunger. 

Zombies!?  

Her cover was blown; the frantic sounds the zombie on the ground was making as it began to drag itself towards her was attracting the others. As Kaori shot to her feet, clutching her right shoulder in pain, she could only watch as a room full of rotting corpses turned towards her in unison. Some were walking, some were limping, and others were crawling on the floor like the first one she saw. 

Kaori couldn't breathe, and she began to back up away from the console until her back was against the cold, thick glass of the window. 

She finally screamed with everything she had in her. 

A blood curdling scream she had never emitted from her lungs before, and she could hear it echoing down the halls as her body strained to produce it. She was calling for help without ever needing to mutter the word. 

As the zombies got closer to her, she began to notice that some were dressed like her, some were in full space suits, and some were still wearing everyday clothes- but all of them were far from saving. 

Kaori listened as their jaws snapped together over and over, clicking their teeth as they dragged themselves closer, one-by-one stepping into the moonlight that broke some of the room's darkness. 

The first one she saw was the first to her, grabbing her right ankle with an inhuman grip before biting into it without hesitation, causing her to collapse to the floor as all strength left her leg. As it continued to gnaw at her flesh, tearing through her clothes, another zombie toppled on top of her, before beginning to eat away at her left shoulder; her body was jerking as her flesh was torn. 

"Help me!" She screamed out, tears rushing from her eyes as the pain became so unbearable her brain began to numb it. 

I'm dying again.... She closed her eyes, "please, help me...."