In the face of death

(Ray)

"We need to get out." Ray told his friends.

"What you mean get out?" Rody asked.

"Guys!" Ray urged them, "We need to get out of Prime! Something crazy is happening. I don't understand what's going on either but I know we can't stay here. We need to leave. Trust me. Go get your parents and leave."

There was a short silence before Rody spoke, "What about you?"

"I'll figure something out. But first I need to call my parents. They're out with Momo's…"

'Oh god, Momo!' Ray remembered.

"I've gotta go!" he said suddenly. "I'll call if anything comes up. Bye."

Saying so he cut the call and immediately dialed Meghan's number.

The phone rang multiple times but there was no response. Ray tried again but no one answered.

"God dammit, Momo!" he spat.

He then cut the call and sent her a text asking her to call him immediately.

Ray placed both his hands on his head and looked around the hall aimlessly. What was he supposed to do? Meghan had no idea what was happening. He had to warn her somehow. Should he just go upstairs to her flat? It was only a floor above his.

"Yeah," he told himself, "I can do that. That shouldn't be too hard. I can do it."

Ray scooped up the house keys from the dining table and headed towards the front door. Just before he opened it, he heard a loud scream coming from somewhere in the building. His hand froze mere centimeters from the doorknob.

Ray gulped hard. His heart started beating much faster than it ever had. So much so that it felt heavy against his chest.

"I—I need a weapon…" he decided.

He knew he couldn't take too long. So, he ran to the first place he could think of which contained deadly weapons if held in the right hands: the kitchen.

He threw open the top drawer and pulled out a couple of knives. He found the biggest one and clutched it in his hand. Yes, this one felt good within his grip. He then dashed into the work area and lifted up the wooden mop. He stepped on the end and broke off the mop part of it. He then spent a few seconds chipping away at one of the ends to make it sharp and jagged. It wasn't the cleanest work he's ever done but by the time he was finished, he held in his hand a rather decent looking javelin. He then tucked the knife into his belt and hoped that he wouldn't accidentally cut himself while running.

As he stepped in front of the main door for the second time, Ray felt more confident than before. He was still a bit shaky from what he had seen happen downstairs but he could not linger any further. Something told him that things were only going to get worse from here on out and he had to get to Meghan before anyone (or anything) else did.

He placed a hand on the door and peered through the peephole. The corridor was empty.

Ray took a deep breath, "Alright then." He said as he opened the door.

He stepped out onto the fourteenth floor corridor as slowly and carefully as he could. The screams he heard from inside his flat were much louder and scarier now. The echoing of the voices through the relatively empty passageway did not help ease his tension one bit.

He went down a few stairs to see what was happening on the floor below him. He stretched his body from the corner of the staircase just enough for his eyes to scan the floor.

Nothing. Empty.

He quickly climbed back and set his javelin against the wall. He pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and an audible clang rustled in the air as the individual keys collided with each other.

Ray winced, "Shut the fuck up!" he whispered to the keys.

His hands trembled. He missed the keyhole twice before he finally managed to get the key in and lock the door. He stored them back into his jeans and picked up his weapon. His grip was tighter than it needed to be. His knuckles were white from the pressure. He pressed the javelin close to his chest and took deep breaths.

"You're okay," he said to himself reassuringly, "now move."

The first few steps were nerve wrecking but he took them steadily. Still clutching his javelin tight in his arms, he made it halfway through the passageway without making much noise. Several screams could be heard reverberating through the building. They came from everywhere, deafening his surroundings. The entire apartment resonated with the eerie, bloodcurdling cries of Prime's residents.

Ray tried ignoring them but it was hard. He could feel their fear, their pain and their anguish. No matter what he tried, he could not drown out the pandemonium.

Just as Ray passed the elevator, he heard a sound that made his heart drop.

A single bell. One that he heard clearly even amongst all the uproar. Almost as if it came from right beside him…

Ray turned his head in horror as he saw the elevator door open ominously. A gnarled hand shot out and grabbed the edge of the wall. Slowly and unnaturally, a figure staggered out onto the fourteenth floor corridor. It was a woman. She had long, black hair and was rather tall. Her yellow top and black leggings were stained with blood and dirt. She had severe bruises all over her arms and legs. One of her feet dragged behind her as she heaved herself onto the tiled floor.

Ray froze on the spot. Even though every instinct in his body told him to run for his life, he seemed unable to even move a finger. He kept staring at the woman in the bloodied clothes, praying that she would turn and walk away from him. But the woman did nothing for several seconds. She just stood there, like a sinister statue.

It didn't look like she had seen Ray yet. Mainly because her back was hunched and her head hung low towards the ground.

Ray noticed this. Maybe he could sneak up the stairs without getting detected, he thought. Very carefully, he took one step towards the staircase.

No movement. Safe.

He took a second step.

Safe again.

Third step.

The woman's neck snapped loudly as her head twisted in his direction. She stared at him menacingly for a second and then dove at him.

"OH FUCK!" Ray yelled out and stuck his javelin out in front of him with both hands.

The weapon went straight into the woman's chest but it didn't stop her.

She threw her entire body weight onto him, causing him to fall backward. Ray lay flat on his back with the woman merely few inches away from him. By some miracle, he managed to hold onto the javelin. The other end of the weapon had gotten lodged against the corner of the wall, causing an obstruction between him and the woman.

She clawed furiously at his head as she loomed over him. Each of her swipes close enough to tear the skin right off his face. Ray tried twisting his head to get further away from her reach but it didn't change his situation. The more the woman struggled, the deeper the javelin dug into her torso. Fresh blood oozed out of her newest wound, dripping onto his T-shirt.

Ray knew exactly how vulnerable he was in this position. He was just as trapped as she was, perhaps in an even worse state. He didn't have much time before the javelin bursts out through her back and she would come collapsing down onto him. If that didn't happen then the weapon might just snap in two which would lead to the same thing. He knew he would not be able to fend her off once she got on top of him. These things were unbelievably strong. He had to do something fast.

Thinking quickly, he twisted his whole body sideways in order to free his feet. He then compressed both his legs as far into chest as he could. His thigh muscles tensed; his body was scrunched like a cashew nut.

'Please let this work' he prayed before kicking out both legs as hard as he could.

The kick caught the woman square in her gut and she was thrown back onto the corridor floor, taking the javelin with her. Ray quickly got to his feet and sprinted up the stairs. He tripped twice and even collided with the wall as he sped up to the 15th floor. But he didn't stop. He couldn't stop. Not until he reached Meghan's door.

Once he stepped onto the fifteenth floor corridor, he immediately leapt in front of apartment number 1502 and hammered away at the door.

"Momo!" he yelled, "Momo, it's me! Open the door!"

He waited for a few seconds. Then pressed his ear against the door.

Silence.

Ray pummeled the door again, "Momoooo! Please open the door."

Again, he heard no sound.

"God dammit!" he cursed, "Where are you!?"

He pulled out his phone and called her number. It merely rang and rang till it eventually got disconnected.

Ray was getting really anxious now. Big drops of sweat beaded his forehead. He rapped the door one final time before giving up. His entire body was trembling now. He kept an eye on the staircase. If the woman had chased him up here, he would have no choice but to fight.

But he didn't have his spear.

Ray's hand instinctively went towards the knife in his jeans. He pulled it out and held it onto it dearly.

"Oh fuck…." He whispered to himself, "This is bad. This is so bad."

Soft thumps could be heard coming from the staircase. They gradually grew louder, followed shortly by the sound of something being dragged up the tiled steps.

"Momo…" Ray called out feebly as he saw the woman's head emerge from the stairways.

She creepily dragged herself up one step at a time. Her whole body moving in a single swaying motion.

She had seen him. Her eyes widened. A grotesque sound escaped her lips. A mix between a snarl and a groan. It was horrifying to his ears. The javelin was still stuck firmly in her ribs. It scraped the floor each time she ascended the stairs. When she finally made it up the last of the steps, she stood and watched him for a brief moment. A long drop of drool and blood oozed from her mouth. She contorted her face into a hideous smile and started advancing towards him.

"I'm going to die…" Ray breathed.