CHAPTER TWO:ALINA AND CODY

Alina decided to take a another quick but careful check around her surroundings. She couldn't see the starry night because she was stuck in an underground subway. Anytime she thought of it her blood boils, the thought of being in this crumbling train station and to make it worse the people in charge rarely make her go out, they keep saying "your mom made us promise her that we would keep you save".

"To hell with that". she said loudly but softly. She looked around the train station that once held a certain grandeur, however it was not so now. A truly different sight beholds her, creepers and vines reach upward, like the boney fingers of a witch. Corridors with cracked flagstones out of which weeds protrude and moss lingers. Must hangs in the air. Rust continues to corrode the tracks, graffiti encapsulates and engulfs the far wall. Tattered posters show a glimpse of what used to be of the place. Old newspaper flutters in the wind, floating on a cushion of wind. Alcoves show the remains of where shops used to trade. Like a black and white movie no colour was really visible. Some were,vaguely, but most not.

Something strange hung in the air: an almost haunted aura. Only smashed windosws provided light. The old wooden sleepers lay decaying, riddled with termites and millipedes. One Hundred and Thirty Seven years of decline and decay the Subway is nothing more than a waste.

She looked at her long black hair that she refused to take care off, her blue eyes itched her, she felt too matured for a seventeen years old.

"Alina" a voice shouted from the darker side of the Subway.

"Yes am coming" she said wiping the tears she didn't know it was from her eyes.

"Where have you been" the voice turned out to be a young boy of the age twelve. "Larry has been asking for you, he said you return to camp now".

"Why, wasn't he not the one that told me to go for a parameter check to clear my head". she said.

"Well he is asking for you, he said something about a breach". the boy yawned.

"Were you sleeping" she smiled ruffling his curly brown hair.

"Yes" he said drowsily "Now Larry said I should watch over the young ones.

"Don't worry Cody you will get your sleep". Alina said laughing as they made their way into the camp which was actually inside a train. Her brother was just like her only that he had brown eyes but he carried the beauty that she had.

Inside the train all the chairs and equipments had been removed creating more space and making the train look wider. Where there should have been seats are now where items like sleeping mats, water bottles, covers are. Some people where already sleeping on their mats while some where still moving around like some kids that where playing happily.

"Innocent" Alina thought to herself. She and Cody bore their way through the kids into the fourth cabin. The train had seventeen cabin, it could have been a tourist attraction in the past world but it wasnt now.

"Alina where you been" a large man asked her. She rolled her eyes away from him as if he was not important.

"Hey don't look away from me" the large man said grabbing Alina's wrist "We own you don't forget".

"You dick let her go". Cody shouted at him as he tried to remove the man's hand from Alina's wrist, the man smiled and pushed him away. He then squeezed Alina's wrist and he was delighted as she squirmed.

"Raid, let her go". a deep voice said.

"Tch you are to over protective over them Larry" Raid said realising his hand from Alina's wrist. Alina massaged her wrist firstly before kicking Raid in the balls. Raid screamed in pain as he fell down holding his balls.

"You little bitch, I should..." Raid said clenching his fist.

"Raid get in and shut the hell up". Larry said coming into both of them. Raid stood up and eyed Larry before mouthing "I will get you" to Alina.

"Don't let him scare you he is a big dick" Larry said smiling,Alina ignored him.

"Come on Alina, why are you angry. Did I do anything wrong?" he asked.

"She is annoyed that you interrupted her brooding". Cody piped in.

"What you still doing her Cody, I thought told you to watch over the young ones?". Larry gave him an adult look.

"Please don't put me with the little ones Larry, those guys are animals, am actually scared of them". Cody begged.

"You are just a coward" Larry said waving him off "Why don't you just go and watch over them and think of a new invention, we could actually use you brain".

"Alright" Cody said walking off.

"Come Alina I want to show you something" Larry said smiling at her, Alina sigh and grumpled.

"You have to and bring your shotgun too, if it isn't here with you go and bring it and meet me at cabin fourteen" he said walking off.

"I feel sleepy" she said to no one.

She made her way towards where her stuffs are in cabin seven. She wanted to pass through the window but it has been blocked, so she had to pass cabin seven which she hated passing. It mostly smelt of blood and despair. At each side of the cabin were injured and dying people, most of them don't have their complete part while the rest are smelling fire or they are looking black from the burns of the fire.

Even though she hated them for giving up hope, yet she was still proud of them, they gave up themselves willing to find supplies for them. She felt proud to know them, but she still wishes she can go out there too, to feel how it is and to bring supplies to camp and people will cheer for them. But all she could do was give them a cheerful smile as made her way to cabin seven, her shotgun was resting on the side of the cabin, it is a double barreled shotgun an 18" to 24" in length placed side by side. She named it fire chaser, it is brown in colour and it is still in good colour. She engraved her initials at the handle. Memories came to her head as she saw it. It was her father's own, she was always marveled at the way her dad took care of it every morning. He told her that taking good care of it makes it easier and longer to use. But one morning she woke up and didn't see him in his usual cleaning place, she went to look for her mom and saw at one corner crying and holding a paper, she took it and some writing was on it, it was her dad's. It didn't contain much, only that he has gone to find the city of hope a proclaimed city that people say that is safe for everyone and he also said he was coming for them. But they had never heard from him again, the men in the camp called him a coward that deserved to die but she didn't believe them and four after her dad left, her mom died but before she died she told Larry to please watch over them.

"Why am I crying" she said to herself smiling "Those memories are all gone now right". She grabbed the shotgun, took some bullets from her bag, she looked at the bag and she decided to take it.

As she was approaching outside, she heard a loud glass crash and some screams.

"What the hell" she ran towards the shout. Before she reached there she saw people running wildly towards her, their eyes were wild in fear, "just what is going on" she asked herself. She tried to ask someone but nobody answered as they kept running. The cabin they were running from is Cabin Nine, she raised her shotgun as she carefully approached it.

A man flew from the cabin towards the place she was, she ha to dodge him to avoid being hit. The man hit the wall of the cabin with a thud, there was a hole in his chest and his clothes was all bloodied.

"Wait, wait, wait isn't he Manny" she choked as the man's intestines came out of the hole in his stomach. That was when she heard the screech, the familiar screech that everyone in the camp fears "Creepers" snakelike creatures that are like the dragons but can't fly or breath fire.

She felt it before it came to her, it first showed it's scaly long feet with it's sharp claws that could cut through a seven year old head easily, then she saw the rest of its body part. It was just like a lizard, it had scales all over its body and it was also covered with bony plates a combination of scales and bones, its eye was moving every where as if it is using it to sniff the air, it opened its mouth and it showed it's long tongue that stretched out of its mouth and the razor sharp teeth was the most threatening of it's body part, it has a very long tail that is sharp at the ending.

"So this is a Creeper" she thought as she raised her shotgun to fire at it. As if it knew her plans, the Creeper jumped across the cabin and it rushed towards her, she had no choice to fire the gun but it target that is usually the head and it met the tail. It made hit loose balance, she had little time to reload but the Creeper jumped right at her. The force of the Creeper hitting her, fell her down. It snarled it's teeth at her as it tried to take a bite at her but she used the strong and sturdy shotgun to keep the teeth at bay. Immediately she saw a shining axe cut through the Creepers head taking it off immediately, a hand came to her face and she grabbed it.

"Are you okay" it was Larry and he looked bloodied everywhere but it wasn't his blood luckily there was no cut on his body or tear on his clothes. "The blood they aren't mine, people are getting killed Alina, the creepers they just invaded us unexpectedly it was too hard for us to fight back..." Larry's voice went inaudible in Alina's head, all she heard was creepers attack and what came to her head instantly was Cody.

"I have to find Cody" she said regaining herself.

"Haven't you been hearing what I have been saying since" he shouted at.

"No I haven't been hearing you" she shouted back "Cody is my responsibility, he is mine to deal and of you can't help me then please leave me".

Larry stood and looked at her before regripping his axe

"Alright let's go but on one condition we have to help people on the way" he said holding her hand.

"Sure".

She hasnt finished her statement when a creeper jumped through the window entering the cabin they were and Alina as if waiting for it gave it a direct headshot in the skull. Larry looked at her in awe.

"Come on let's go" she said snapping Larry out of it.

They opened the door of the next cabin but what they saw was terrible creepers were everywhere and they were attacking the people in there, most people were rolling on the bloodied ground while the creepers try to get them,some were still screaming as the creepers were eating them. A child of about four years old was thrown up and two creepers jumped for him and tore him into two parts. Alina felt like vomiting but couldn't as the feeding Creepers turned their attention to them.

"Come on" Larry shouted as he used the handle of his axe to break the cabin window opened he jumped immediately through it and she followed him too. "What about helping people" she thought as they landed outside the train, there was little sun coming through the underground subway which means it must've been morning already but what the both of them saw outside was much worse than what they saw inside. People were running helter-skelter as they looked for a safe place but creepers were just picking them any how and instantly killing them.

"How" Larry cried. Alina's side vision made her to see a reddish explosion

"Cody's gadget" she said as she made way towards the explosion. "It was just like that time" she thought "Please don't let this happen again". She turned da corner and saw her brother crouching and his hands over kids while a creeper was covered in red and confused.

"Alinaaaa" Cody screamed as he saw her. Alina made good use of the creeper's confusion, she held her shotgun high and shot at the beast but it met the tough belly skin and it flew away probably breaking some ribs. The shot annoyed the beast so it turned it's attention towards Alina and came running towards her. Alina who had sticky fingers couldn't reload, the beast swung its tail at her but her fast reflexes mad her use the shotgun to absorb the hit but the force of the hit threw her hitting a wall.

"Fuck" she sweared as she tried to stand up, she was bleeding from the forehead, she had trouble concentrating, the creeper as if aware of what was happening came charging again. But this time Alina took the dagger at her belt buckle and ran towards the beast and on getting to it she said and raised the dagger up cutting the underbelly of the beast and all its organs came out. The best shrieked and tried to move but Alina jump on its head and started stabbing until she couldn't feel no movement.

"Alina" Cody cried running towards her with the kids.

"Are you guys okay" she sniffed and removed the skins on her body.

"Yeah" one kid said, they were four kids in total with Cody.

"Be at alert it isn't over we have to get out of here" she said picking up her shotgun

"Alina" Larry shouted as he approached them. He looked more bloodly than before. "You just disappeared from me, did you do that?" he asked pointing at the dead creeper.

Alina nodded.

"Okay... but we have to get out of her..." he couldn't finish his statement as a tail swung and hit him right across the head sending him flying.

"Larry!!!" she shouted, the creeper that smacked him at the looked at Alina and snarled. She heard a scream from her back and looked behind and saw a creeper with a kid its mouth. Cody eyes were wide open as he tried to breath, Alina saw a creeper behind Cody sneaking towards him, and on instinct she raised the shotgun to fire but the Creeper that smacked Larry away jumped at her falling her to the ground. It was dominating its strength over her, she tried to reach to reach for her dagger but it pressed it's legs on her. She looked at Cody and saw him trying to fight off the Creeper with a small knife, she saw another creeper join the struggle, it grabbed the second child and tore her to pieces. She looked away sadly and for some reason she thought of what her dad usually tell her "Don't fight because you want to win, fight because you have to win" and with a sudden strength she released her hand from the Creepers grip and reached for the dagger and stabbed the creeper in the head, she removed the dagger and stabbed it again and again till it felt numb.

She pushed it of her body and picked her shotgun, she reloaded it and shot at the creeper that Cody was fighting instantly killing it. She ran towards him and grabbed his hand, she reloaded the gun and aimed for the creeper with the dead girl in it's mouth and shot it head. The other creeper that killed the first child rushed towards her, she tried to reload but it was to late, it reached for them with its mouth opened but an axe met it's head. Larry raised the axe and hit it's head again until he cut he head off. He was bleeding seriously and it was taking a lot out of him to stand still, he motioned for them to come closer.

"Alina, your father is right, there is a city of hope and I want you to find it". he said weakly.

"What are you saying Larry let's get out of here" Alina cried out.

"It's too late everyone is dead, Raid, the kids, everyone we are the only survivors" he said coughing out blood "You two are really special"

"Larry" Cody cried

"Don't worry about me just go I will be okay please" he begged as he stood up holding his axe, some creepers were approaching them "Run guys, find the city of hope for us all please" Larry ran towards the creepers but one stretched it's tail towards him and it pierced it stomach.

Alina took hold of Cody's hand and ran and ran until...