A little mischief

(Meghan)

"I see him." Meghan called out, "There's a lot of Deathless down there. The fence is keeping them from getting to him though."

"It's not going to hold." Said Rody, "We need to go down there and help him."

"What should we do?" she asked, "Should we go back down the exit ramp?"

"No," Ray said simply, "you're not coming with us. Rody and I will handle it somehow. You and Samantha head upstairs to my flat."

"That's a good idea" said Samantha.

"No, it's not!" Meghan snapped. "We're going together!"

Ray sighed hard, "Look, I'm not telling you to go because you'd slow us down or anything. My balcony overlooks the pool area. I need you to get up there and be my eyes. It won't be hard for us to get to the pool but getting out is going to be far more difficult. You will have to guide us back safely to the F block building."

Meghan thought about this for a second, "How would I do that?"

"I'll call you the moment we make it inside the pool area. All you need to do is help us navigate through places with the least number of Deathless. I doubt we can avoid all of them but this should drastically increase our chances of making it out unscathed."

Meghan thought about this for a while. Ray's explanation made sense but she still got the feeling like he was sending her upstairs because she would be safer there. It was almost as if he didn't think she could keep up with him and Rody. She frowned at him. Hadn't she fought a couple Deathless right alongside him since the beginning? How could he treat her like some delicate princess all of a sudden?

Ray turned his head and noticed her glower, "Don't give me that look. I know you want to be more involved. But I genuinely can't think of a better plan right now. I've got a lot on my mind and we don't have much time either. Can you just do what I ask, please?"

Meghan looked away from him, "Fine." She said.

"Alright good," Ray said, "Samantha, go with Momo and be careful. Try not to alert any Deathless on your way upstairs."

"Jeez, I got it." Samantha started, "You don't have to explain everything to me like I'm a child."

Meghan groaned. Not only had Ray relegated her to lookout duty but he was also pairing her up with her least favorite person in the group. She subtly sunk her forehead into her palm and dreaded the idea of having to team up with Samantha. She was by far one of the most infuriating people Meghan had ever met.

Ray brought the car to a stop in front of the F block building. Meghan scanned the surrounding area but didn't find any Deathless lurking nearby.

"We're here," Ray announced as he turned off the car, "Everyone out."

The four of them got out of the vehicle after quickly collecting their things. Ray locked the car and dug his hand into his jeans pocket to fish out his house keys. He tossed them over to Meghan who barely managed to catch them. He got in close to her and spoke in a soft voice.

"Stay safe, alright? F block is still infested with Deathless. Don't take any unnecessary risks."

Meghan nodded, "Okay."

He placed a hand on her cheek and looked into her eyes briefly before turning away.

"Let's go, Rody" he called out as he made his way towards the staircase.

Samantha had her arms wrapped firmly around her boyfriend. She clung onto him so tightly that it looked like he had to wrench himself free. He assured her that he would be back soon before he spun around and sprinted after Ray.

Then it was just the two of them.

Meghan shuffled her feet awkwardly and glanced over at Samantha. She was still staring intently at Rody as he ran off in the distance. For an unpleasant couple of seconds, nothing but silence existed between the two. Neither of them spoke a word. Meghan spun her spear in her hand while she wondered how best to persuade Samantha to start moving.

Not wanting to stay out in the open for too long, Meghan finally spoke up, "Uhh—we should probably get going too. We need to make it to Ray's balcony by the time they reach the pool."

"Kay," Samantha said.

Rolling her eyes, Meghan turned towards the F block entrance and made her way inside. She turned her head slightly to make sure Samantha was following her before continuing further. Meghan walked past the elevators and opened up the heavy fire exit door.

"Come on," she said, "In here."

Samantha hesitated.

"What's wrong?" asked Meghan.

"What floor is it on?" Samantha asked.

"Ray's flat? It's on the fourteenth."

Samantha groaned audibly. "Seriously? I have to climb fourteen floors worth of steps?"

Meghan gave her a look, "You seriously aren't going to suggest using the elevator again, are you? That's what got you and Rody almost killed."

"Yeah but that was in my block." Samantha reasoned, "This is a different building. What are the chances of there being monsters in this elevator as well?"

Meghan raised her brow. "You know what? That makes perfect sense. Go press the elevator button."

Samantha gave a wide smile and skipped towards the elevator.

Meghan closed the fire exit door. She leaned back against it and watched on, looking forward for the spectacle to unfold. Samantha reached out and pressed the button. The elevator was on the third floor. It began its slow descent as Samantha bounced eagerly on the balls of her feet.

A few seconds later, the elevator gave out a sharp ding and stopped at the ground floor. Meghan looked on mischievously as the doors slid open and she saw a glimpse of the Deathless woman's corpse on the ground.

Samantha took only a single step forward before her eyes fell on the bloodied body.

"AIIIIEEEEEE!"

She immediately jumped backwards, tripped and fell on the ground. She remained transfixed on the cold floor for several seconds, unable to look away from the horrific sight in front of her. A sly smirk appeared on Meghan's face.

Samantha pointed at the corpse and stammered, "Wh—what the hell is that?"

"Oh my god, it looks like a dead body." Meghan replied, feigning innocence.

"Are you sure it's dead?" she asked, noticeably shaken.

"I'm not sure." Lied Meghan. She was definitely enjoying this way more than she had to.

Just then, a loud screech echoed through the building. It sounded brassy and tumultuous. Several other sounds followed soon after from multiple directions; it was almost like a rallying cry. Meghan's eyes widened with dread. She came to realize that she wasn't the only one who had heard Samantha's sudden outburst.

"Shit! Samantha, get up. We need to go!"

"What was that noise just now?" she asked, "Another one of those Deathers?"

Meghan didn't bother to correct her. She rushed forward and tried helping her to her feet. Samantha was way heavier than she had expected. With great effort, Meghan somehow managed to help her stand upright.

"Okay," she panted, "Through the fire exit. Come on, hurry!"

She opened the heavy door for a second time and let Samantha go through first. As she slid in and started closing the door, she heard the sound of footsteps coming from the building entrance. Just as the door shut completely, a figure emerged in front of the elevators. Meghan ducked down immediately and pulled Samantha down by her arm.

"Wh—" she started.

"Shh," said Meghan as quietly as she could, "wait."

The two of them crouched there in silence. Neither moved nor spoke for quite a while.

"Is there something outside?" Samantha whispered.

"Yeah, I saw a Deathless run into the building. Might be an Erratic. It could still be prowling near the elevators. We shouldn't stay here. Let's keep moving. We have quite a few stairs to climb."

It took them a couple of minutes to climb up till the fourteenth floor. Meghan had her phone in her hand with the torchlight activated. Throughout the tedious climb, Meghan prayed that Ray wouldn't call her until they reached his flat. The last thing she wanted was for her phone to vibrate in the reverberant fire exit and alert all the nearby Deathless to their presence.

The climb was hard enough for Meghan as it is. But it looked like Samantha was having an even worse time. She was practically wheezing by the time they had reached their destination. She slumped down onto the last step for a breather. Although Meghan wanted to get inside the flat as soon as possible, she decided to let Samantha rest up for a few moments. It was no easy feat climbing up all those stairs in one go.

Meghan expected Samantha to dish out more complaints during their ascent but she had remained surprisingly quiet.

'Seeing that woman's body in the elevator must have really freaked her out' she thought.

She suppressed a giggle as she recalled Samantha's hilarious reaction. Although her little prank had almost put them in grave danger, Meghan didn't feel sorry in the slightest. There was nothing wrong with a little mischief. After all, Samantha definitely had it coming.

"I never… want to… climb… another step… again" Samantha choked out in between breaths.

"Well, you won't have to for a while." Meghan replied, "We're here. Let's get inside."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

Meghan looked out through the transom window and saw an empty corridor. She nodded her head in response and slowly opened the door. She walked out first and held the door for Samantha to follow.

Suddenly Meghan's phone started vibrating. She fumbled with it for a bit before managing to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Momo," said Ray with a slight quiver to his voice "They're everywhere… I—I don't see a way out of this."