Chapter 23

Cacophonous with the roar of monsters, the clash of steel, the screaming of dying men and women— the world outside was a living hell.

But Theodore's promise resonated so, so much with his unattainable dream.

Planting a gentle kiss on the cardboard picture frame, Idris reluctantly inserted it into his suit pocket.

"Let's do this."

He pushed open the fire emergency exit, scouting the environment ahead.

The winding stairwell echoed with deafening silence. Beaming his flashlight across the flights of concrete steps, Idris motioned the people behind him to stick close.

"I've never seen him so eager. How'd you do that?" Following behind, Qi Rui stooped forward to Theodore, whispering in his ear.

Feeling her light breath brush past his earlobe, Theodore flashed a calm grin. "Nothing much. Some enlightenment from a guild leader like me could fix any person."

"Pretty impressive I'd say." Qi Rui complemented as she drew even closer to Theodore. "Come on. Tell me a little more."

"It's my turn to ask now." Hushing Qi Rui, Theodore tapped on the robotic device in her hands. "What's with this cool tech?"

"Jealous?"

"Not really." Theodore ignored her playful taunt as the group suddenly halted. Raising his guard, Theodore saw Idris holding a finger against his lips at the frontline.

'2'

Idris mouthed out the number to the people behind him, warning them of the danger up ahead.

Feasting recklessly, two male zombies dressed in suits and ties devoured the organs leaking out of a mangled corpse. The deafening silence amplified the gruesome chewing and tearing of bones and flesh.

Assimilating into the silent environment, Idris held his breath and crept toward the distracted zombies. When Idris got close enough, he raised his cleaver high up and bashed it into the first zombie's skull. Accompanied by a sickening crunch, the cleaver split open the zombie's skull. Warm juices oozed out from the skull wound, dying the full head of black hair with brain matter.

The second zombie reacted to Idris's assault and ceased its consumption. But before it could attack Idris, a metal file bar smashed into its jaw, shattering all of its sharp teeth. Dripping blood, the zombie bared its toothless mouth, only to be welcomed with Idris's cleaver.

"Thanks." Idris murmured softly to the man who stepped up.

"No problem." Roko mumbled back in admiration to the towering giant before him. Sharing a darker skin tone, the two biggest men of the group nodded to one another in acknowledgement

"Good job! You two big men sure are efficient."

Theodore praised, walking down the flight of stairs towards Idris. Before speaking, he looked up to read the carved '11th Floor' sign on the wall.

"Tyler, I'll do the adventuring this time. Gotta prove to y'all why I'm the guild leader."

Idris nodded, passing the flashlight to Theodore. The two men returned to the group formation as Theodore began taking them down the staircase spiraling into the ominous abyss.

10.

8.

6.

4.

With Theodore leading the group, they cruised down several stories, not encountering any infected humans along the way. But no one could stop the rapid pounding of their hearts as they get closer to their destination. Along the way, they only managed to find another squad of 3 employees hiding on the 7th floor, who refused to leave the comfort of their office despite Theodore's generous membership offer.

However, Theodore's confidence as a leader was not wavered by such a minor setback.

"One more floor guys! We're almost there..." Theodore threw out words of encouragement as he passed by a sign that said '2nd Floor'. He could hear the beating of hearts in everyone's chest, pumping intensely from anticipation and stress.

All of a sudden, his heightened senses picked up on a metallic stench. It was dense and suffocating, evoking a sense of fear and distress. He himself was no stranger to this environment. His flashlight shone at the flight of stairs leading down to the first floor.

Blood.

It was pungent blood plastering the surface of every step of stairs.

A chill jolted down his spine as he instinctively brandished his weapon, pointing it towards the flight of stairs leading to the first floor as his arm trembled slightly from fright.

Discovering Theodore's frantic reaction, the members behind him drew their weapons out, equally terrified of the dreadful unknown.

Idris took a step and stood beside Theodore, his blank gaze fixated on the darkness looming over the last flight of stairs leading to freedom.

"Danger?"

"Yes Tyler. Extreme danger." Frowning, Theodore grunted sternly.

"Oh."

Idris cradled the flimsy cardboard picture frame, closing his eyelids. The cheap material pressing against his chest filled up the void in his heart with warmth and security. If only he could shower in the love of his family once again…

"Head back up. This path is too dangerous." Theodore whispered. He turned his flashlight away from the staircase, ushering his guild members to retreat upstairs and replan their strategy.

However, a distraught flurry of footsteps resounded from above as a figure emerged from the 3rd floor stairwell. It was one of the survivors who rejected his offer earlier.

"NO!"

Theodore's eyes were bulging in disbelief. He wanted to scream aloud. He wanted to rush towards the person he tried to recruit. He wanted to force his stupid mouth shut.

Qi Rui, who was trailing behind the group, immediately climbed up the flight of stairs leading up, desperately attempting to seal the survivor's opening mouth as she extended out her arms. But the panting survivor didn't catch on.

It wasn't particularly loud, nor was it suppressed.

His audible vocalization emanated from his exhaling throat, reverberating in the soundless environment.

"I changed my mind! I'll join you."

The man had dropped a bomb.

Directing his flashlight towards the first floor, Theodore witnessed everything was fearing of.

Monsters. Death. Despair.

The emergency exit door to the lobby was held wide open by several mutilated corpses. Floods of workers, guests and visitors plagued the lobby of the office building, their unnatural jittering deeming their demise. Their jaundiced skin were marked with infectious injuries and drenched in the blood of unfortunate human beings. The stairwell leading down to the basement was clogged with bodies and crimson blood. Mindless zombies that were once humans cannibalized the fallen, satisfying their thirst for violence.

A humanoid beast lingered near the walls, consuming the grisly aftermath of a slaughter. The white walls and ceiling were encrusted with colors of scarlet and shredded innards, inducing a revolting stench that pervaded in the air.

The survivor's words echoed throughout the staircase, alerting the monsters feasting below.

Chomping on a severed human leg, the huge beast locked its hungry eyes onto Theodore.

"Run."

Theodore's voice barely made it out of his lungs. Beads of perspiration trickled down his forehead as his hands quivered in fear.

"RUN!!! RUN UPSTAIRS!!!"

Without the need for Theodore's warning, the survivors had already began scrambling up the stairs, saving their breath for running.

"I… I…"

The man who caused the disaster was frozen in place as his teeth chattered uncontrollably.

"Pay the price you FOOL!" Qi Rui berated the man furiously.

Having a head start, Qi Rui deliberately shoved the man onto the ground as she leaped over flights of stairs.

Footsteps of survivors shuffled before his eyes as everyone staggered up the stairs towards safety, leaving the man who doomed their retreat behind.

Theodore was the last one to pass by the culprit. His usual cheerful demeanor was replaced with sorrow and regret as he shot a look of pity at the man he tried recruiting earlier.

Without having time to reflect on his mistakes, a swarm of zombies had toppled over the man, devouring him into morsels of flesh.

Lights washed over the blackness clumsily as the beams from the survivors' phones danced around the winding stairway as they bolted up the steps as fast as their feet could take them.

In a world without electricity or technology, the only practical use for cell phones is as a flashlight.

"HEAD TO THE 18TH FLOOR! THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TIME TO HIDE INTO OTHER STORIES."

Theodore screamed at the top of his lungs as the emergency exit to the 6th floor suddenly flung open. Attracted by the cacophony of thumping footsteps and blood-curdling growls of monsters hot in pursuit, zombies that were mindlessly wandering around poured out towards the direction of noise.

Scarcely evading the attack, Theodore suddenly halted his running motion half way up the stairs.

"Fuck it. I think I can do this."

Rolling his flashlight onto the ground, Theodore raised his palms and aimed at the swarm of zombies surging up the staircase. Within the circle of light illuminating the stairwell, he could see the lethal claws and fangs baring at him as they trample over one another.

Calming his mind, Theodore felt a familiar sensation coursing through his veins as nostalgia infused into him. In his previous life, this supernatural energy was the ultimate foundation that kept him alive.

He channelled the energy accumulating within his body, chanting under his breath with great vitality.

"Taste this fireball!"

As the temperature rose, Theodore could distinctively sense the rapid formation of fiery flames within his glowing palms.

However, things never go as planned.

In contrast to his grand vocalization, a puny wisp of smoke escaped the palms of his hands, dissipating into the atmosphere.

"No way…"

Theodore gasped in shock as the blood-thirsty swarm pounced towards him. He couldn't believe that he has failed, and that it would cost him his life.

"Looks like I'll never become the leader you wanted me to be…"

Theodore chuckled in defeat, laying down his arms. Maybe he overvalued his reincarnation a little too much.

"And I guess I won't be able to fulfill Tyler's promise anymore…"

Theodore closed his eyelids.

But just before he prepared to face a gruesome death, a deep voice emitted from behind.

"You're not dying here today!"

Gravity lost its grip on Theodore as he felt himself being hoisted up in the air by a powerful force. Flinging Theodore on his broad shoulder, Idris's tank of a body began to charge up the stairs with the company of zombies in hot pursuit.

"What the fuck Tyler I thought you were ahead of me!" Theodore flailed like a fish, trying to jump off Idris's shoulders.

"Yeah but I doubled back when you stopped like an idiot!" Idris answered back. Grabbed hold on the railings as a pivot, he yanked himself forward to boost his speed.

Theodore had already begun regaining his energy back as they ran past the sign '14th Floor'.

"Do you have any idea how risky that was! You could have died there!"

"So what, I need you to teach me more about that obelisk."

Sprinting past the 16th floor, the emergency exit beside them also bursted open, almost catching Idris off guard. Escaping from Idris's grasp, Theodore dodged an incoming zombie and bolted up the stairs along side Idris.

Behind them, the zombies continued to surge up the stairs relentlessly, trampling over one another without feeling pain. Theodore and Idris were picking up their pace as they began to outrun the brainless zombies.

But this phenomenon wouldn't last any longer. While they were humans who would eventually fatigue, the monsters behind them had limitless stamina. As Idris caught up to the group in front, he noticed one of the survivors who had joined them earlier start to lag behind.

Engulfed by fear, the young woman accidentally tripped over a step, falling onto the ground as a purple bruise gradually formed on her knee.

"Ahhhhh!" The woman released a long scream of despair, desperately crawling up the steps with her two hands. Her fingernails began to peel off painfully as she scraped them against the concrete stairs while trying to increase her grip.

Idris didn't turn back. He didn't want the thought of dying to weaken his current state of mind.

The gut wrenching screams of the woman echoed throughout the endless staircase as the starving monsters tore her apart piece by piece, inflicting anguish onto everyone still struggling to survive.