Danger in the Darkness, 4

The day had passed with no issues after Valeria had made it back to the treehouse. Her guests were quite strange, yet Valeria was curious about them. Nicky had rusty brunette hair and bright, friendly blue eyes. The male had a blue t-shirt and jeans that had blood splatters here and there.  His brother had the same color of eyes, yet their hair was different. The older brother had strawberry blonde hair. His name was Logan, his blue jeans were ripped to shreds due to his injury. His right calf was drenched in blood from a large gash that was probably going to be the death of him in this age. A simple injury could mean the death of yourself in this world now. Getting held back and being a burden for those around you meant that sooner or later you would be left of the dead or be the death of your comrades. It was your choice of which it would be. But this man seemed to want death yet his brother refused to let that happen. This simple action confused Val, not understanding why they still held onto the bonds from the world before. That beloved bond of theirs could be the end for them both, along with the female with them. 

Speaking of which, Valeria peeled her eyes from the brothers mumbling quietly with each other and to the form curled up in the blankets in the far corner of the room. She hadn’t gotten a single glimpse of her since they arrived. 

"Val, the bleeding stopped. But we need to close this, we've cleaned it but just slapping gauze on it will only cause infection! Do you have anything more?" A smooth yet distressed voice made Valeria pause her thoughts and look back towards the brothers. Nicky had locked eyes on her as she thought for a moment. She hadn't grabbed anything from her own home when she ran. Her 17-year-old mind was only thinking about getting away from danger at that moment. She regretted that every day since then, knowing that if she had taken only a few more seconds to grab a few more things. 

Shifting her gaze from Nicky to the window that overlooked her old house. "That's all I have, I go on supply runs every two weeks. I just went yesterday actually, I know where some actual medical supplies are. But you'll die before you even get close." She said with a shrug, hoping to devastate the two and drop the subject. But not all wishes come true as always.

Rolling his eyes, Nicky got up and stretched. Flexing as if to show Valeria his strength. "Logan needs better help, Tell me where these supplies are and I'll go get them. " He said in a stern tone that made Valeria chuckle lowly. 

The woman stood and walked over to the window and pointed out the house. "Sorry to break it to you, but that house is worse than the parking lot below us. You won't survive 3 minutes in that house alone with Mother." Valeria said in a plain tone, a faraway look slipped across her hazel eyes.  It was only there for a second before panic filled her entire body. Nicky had taken the 2 steps across the treehouse towards her. It was now that she realized just how small her treehouse was due to the 3 guests. Flinching as the male gingerly took her hand and tangled their fingers together, it was supposed to be a gentle touch of kindness. But having been alone for 2 full years and forgetting the human touch made her scared as he held this power over her. 

"Please Valeria, he needs this. Come on, just think of it. We could even... give your mother mercy and let her pass on if we go in." Nicky prodded, but those words were like a hammer slamming a nail into place.

 Ripping her hand away from his, she glared at him. "I already risked my life for you this morning. God, what more do you want me to do? Jump into another horde? Can't you take a hint!? I don't want to give her the pleasure of the afterlife! No way in hell she deserves that! " The woman breathed heavily, now having the attention of both brothers. Along with the female who had been sleeping. Reverting her gaze from Nicky, Valeria crossed her arms and exhale "For f**k's sake- its been 2 years since the start of this, the lights are long dead in there. I've already tried to go in there. At the beginning of this, I thought she deserved mercy too. But she isn't like the other infected. Being in the dark for so long changed her..."

Valeria turned around and pulled her hair away from her neck, showing a horrible scar. It was unusual, the skin was a mix of pink and white. Showing that she hadn't healed correctly. "My father is a doctor, he had supplies so I thought I was lucky but her hearing is abnormal, going in alone is suicide." She explained glancing over her shoulder in amusement to see the look of terror in their eyes. 

"Bu-How? How did you survive a bite? I've seen others get bitten and turn minutes later!" Nicky stammered taking a step away from her in fear. Dropping her hair, Val held up her hands and turned back around. Shrugging she nodded to the machete that laid all alone on the table. "I did what I had to do. That was the last time I had medical supplies for a big injury." She said carelessly, acting as though she never had to do harm herself just to survive another day.

Looking past Nicky and at the half-awake eyes of Logan, Valeria sighed quietly. "I'll go with you, we can go now before the sun sets okay? But there will be no killing understood?" She put the deal out to which the male nodded reluctantly and picked up his own hunting knife and covered up his brother mumbling a goodbye before they headed out.

★　　★°★ . 　*　　.　 °☆ 　. �-� . ★　° .　 • �-� �-� .　　☆　　★ ° ☆ ¸. ¸ 　★

It only took a few minutes to get to the backdoor of the rundown house. Thankfully the yard had been cleared of zombies for a while now. Grasping the sliding door handle she looked at Nicky, holding her machete close she spoke. "Not a word as soon as this door opens. If you need something, tap my shoulder and mouth it okay? Follow me, my father's things are still in the basement. There is a door that locks, once we get there we will be safe. The key is somewhere on the floor near there. " She explained in a whisper. 

Hearing the part about the key made Nicky start to protest, but before he could Valeria slowly pushed the door open. 

It was dark and the smell of rotting corpses filled the air making both gag in disgust. Carefully entering with caution, both watched where they stepped. Being aware of their surroundings as they left all their doubt at the door as it closed behind them with a squeal. 

The noise was ear-piercing, making both wince and hold their weapons tightly. No longer did they have the advantage to run and see. The pitch-black made it impossible to see ahead of them. It didn't help when the sound of thumping heading straight towards them sounded. 

Snatching up Nick's hand and moving just in time for the form to slam again the metal sliding door with another squeal.  In that second the woman yanked hard on his hand. Guiding him straight through the house. Tripping very few feet didn't stop either of them. Rushing through the house with an angry mother on their heels pushed them further.

The sound of angry moaning from the darkness was enough for Valeria to shove Nick through a doorway and hiss lowly. “Distract her!”

The male panicked as he stumbled into the kitchen. The room was dimly lit, but his eyes had grown adjusted to the darkness. Catching his feet and gather up his panicked mental state. Nicky broke free of his trace, bolting across the tattered kitchen. Vines and mold had begun growing across the cabinets and spread across the tiled floors. Silencing his footsteps to his enjoyment. As he stood across the room, Nicky now got a full view of Valeria’s mother.

The dark figure crept into the room slowly. Heavy breathing filled the room with a disgusting smell that made Nicky want to puke. The woman stumbled forward, her face was a dark grey, rioted and the male couldn’t count the number of maggots that crawled across her skin. The sight of the vile bugs made him shiver and tense with fear.

He was almost to distracted by her revolting appearance to see Valeria swinging her arms around frantically behind her. The LIVING woman made a few motions to her ears before turning away and hunching out of Nicky’s view. 

Her Hearing 

It clicked and Nicky glanced around the room and nodded to himself. Moving slowly, Nicky reached the oven. Making a risky move and yanking the rusty oven open. Without second thinking he reached in and grabbed a metal pot before chucking it over his shoulder and through another doorway. 

The clanging of the dish caught the attention of the undead Mother. Sprinting straight for the hallway that the pan now spun in circles in. Now Nicky notices in those 2 seconds she stumbled past him.

A knife was plunged into her heart and wedged in there to stay. 

  "Get down the steps!" 

She didn't need to tell him twice, not even once. Valeria came out of nowhere and snatched up his wrists and pushed him hard down a flight of stairs. Tumbling down the stairs, the boy groaned in pain as his body slammed against the wall at the bottom. His head and body pounding with pain. Not hearing the door slam shut with harsh blam and a whirl of locks. Jogging down the steps, Valeria towered over his body and chuckled in a guilty way. "Sorry, didn't mean to throw you down here like that. Come on get up." She said with a smug look. 

Rolling over, Nicky sat up slowly. His body protesting as soreness spread. His blue eyes looked over at her, glaring and let out a heavy sigh. "Mercy..." He groaned loudly.

Valeria flicked on a light and an overhead lamp whined before switching to life. The blue light along with the whole room reminded Nicky of a hospital room. The was a metal chair in the middle with many instruments laid out. A desk with hundreds of papers scattered about, along with files thrown across the room. 

"Your dad was a doctor right?" He asked carefully making Valeria shake her head. 

"He IS a doctor, well kinda? He is a scientist at heart and mixed his talents together.  There is no 'was' about him. He is still alive. " She answered making Nicky furrow his brows. 

"Come on, let's find his stash and get outta here," Valeria said with a grin and began going through her father's cabinets.  

This woman was a spiderweb. 

So many curious mysterious wrapped around made his head spin.