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Voyager: Chapter 5

"It's getting dark." I looked out the window of the small shop we were pillaging. There was in fact an abundance of supplies here which was both good and bad. Good for us, but worrying as well. After so long, I would expect most places to be picked clean by now. It was a sign that there may not be that many survivors left, at least in this area.

"I think there's a back room we can stay in." Crane was stuffing cans of food into his backpack, it was getting to the point where we would actually have to leave some of it behind.

I looked back outside. The sun was dipping behind a large pile of rubble that went up some fifty feet. I didn't see any collectors around, but they would be out in force any time now. If we closed the doors and avoided too much noise, we would be safe from any of them, usually. The new ones were more inclined to explore more than just the streets now.

"You go check it out, I'll start closing up the front." I told Crane and he went off to the back. I started by closing the doors. The windows were shattered so I started stacking some of the loosed shelves in front to barricade it. It wasn't much, but if one of the collectors tried to come through, it would give Crane and me some warning in advance.

"Shit!" Crane screamed out. I turned around, instantly on the alert. There was a loud bang from his gun that shook the entire store. My ears were ringing from the lack of protection, but I started to run towards the back to see what had warranted such a reaction. The store was small so I didn't have to go far before Crane came barreling out of the door that went into the back. He slammed it shut and leaned against it, with his gun raised and still smoking. His fur was on end and he had a frightened look in his eyes.

"What is it?" I asked like an idiot. Something hit the door Crane was blocking with his body, causing it to shutter and the hinges to squeak. There was only one thing that it could be, collectors. Somehow they had already been inside of the store and we just happened to run into them at the absolute worst time. Another hit caused Crane to bounce off of the door and it to open a crack. He slammed it back shut again before the collector could force it the rest of the way.

"Get something to block this." He yelled. I frantically looked around. There were the shelves that I had used to block off the front partially, but they weren't heavy enough. There wasn't anything heavy enough to entirely stop the collector. I looked over at him and he got the message. "Then get ready to run."

He backed away from the door and the collector hit it again. The hinges failed and the door was knocked over. Crane jumped back to avoid being hit and raised his rifle to his shoulder. A green collector came out and gave off a loud shriek that would alert any other collectors in the area, if the first gunshot didn't already. Crane squeezed the trigger and another deafening blast shook the building. The collector's torso vaporized from the point blank hit, into a mess of gore that painted the door frame and wall behind it.

We didn't stick around. The pitiful barricade at the front did nothing to stop our crazed escape. More would be coming soon to investigate and track us down. There was going to be no rest tonight.

"Are they still there?" I whispered to Crane. We had managed to elude several patrols, barely and were now catching our breaths as we hid in an alley way. It was pitch black, the lights that one made the city visible from space could no longer help us. I could only tell Crane was in front of me due to our heavy breathing that we were both trying to get under control.

"I don't know. I can't see or hear them, but this entire area stinks." I heard his sniff the air in an attempt to tell if any collectors were nearby. Only if the moon was out, then we would have enough natural lighting to navigate. "We'll have to use the flashlights."

"They'll see us." I protested. I was terrified out of my mind and the idea of doing something that would give away our position and draw more collectors wasn't doing me any good.

"If we stay here, it's only a matter of time before they find us. This way, we'll be able to see as we make a run for it."

"Where are we going to run? We're lost right now, the map isn't going to do us any good now that we've deviated from the original plan."

He was already getting his backpack off and unzipping it. No matter how stupid I though the idea was, we were going to do it anyways. I took off my own backpack and began to dig through it as well. It was impossible to see and since I carried the water, every water bottle felt like the flashlight handle. I did eventually find it.

"If I remember right, there are subway entrances staggered so that even the bumbling idiots we are, we'll find one eventually." He flicked on his flashlight, nearly blinding me as my eyes adjusted. "We just need to move fast and get underground. Once there, I think we'll be able to lose them."

I rubbed my eyes and then turned on my own. The area around us was illuminated and there were no collectors at the moment. Crane stepped out first and I followed closely. We didn't move fast.

I wanted to shine my light on everything that made a sound, but I willed myself to keep the light forward. Each shadow looked like a collector to me, every silhouette, a deformed creature waiting to jump and drag me off. I didn't want that, I didn't want to be one of those people that I saw, kicking and screaming, unable to get away while others hopelessly watched from a distance. I had gotten to close to that to know the horror and absolute terror that went through a body when it began to realize there was no escape. That feeling was slowly creeping back into my mind.

"Over there." Crane grabbed my shoulder and snapped me out of my daze. He aimed his light at a small gazebo like structure that had stairs going into the Earth. Sure enough, it was one of the many subway entrances that once serviced the population. It was a few blocks down the road and its odd shape made it easily distinguishable from the surrounding environment despite the small amount of light actually hitting it.

My heart began to race and not in terror for once. The streets were a nightmare where anything could come at you from anywhere, in the subway tunnels, there were few directions to get jumped from.

I took a step forward and heard what sounded like an echo of my steps, except it was coming from behind and it wasn't slowly fading off. There was another step, but neither Crane nor I took one. I shined by light behind me.

The light struck the face of a collector. Not one of the new ones, but an older generation that was still deformed and mangled by the bodies of multiple victims. My beam illuminated an upside down head, whose mouth hung slightly ajar at an unnatural angle. Its eyes stared at me and drool from the open mouth was leaking down its face, creating a sparkling effect as the light hit it. This was but one face of many, the other three were arranged in a semicircle around the one I was looking at. There were all staring back, all twisted at the wrong angle.

"Run." Crane still had a hand on my shoulder and threw me towards the station entrance. I abided and was already in a dead sprint by the time I heard the first gunshot. It boomed and seemed to add to the atmosphere of urgency. I didn't trust anything I saw on the ground, my light was bouncing all over the place making it hard to determine if something was going to trip me or not, so I weaved and vaulted with every step.

Another gun shot rang through my ears, but I didn't dare look back. Though my light only showed one collector, there were always more close by and Crane never missed. Each shot was killing one, but he didn't have enough bullets. After that last shot, he would only have two left in his magazine, then that gun might as well have been a club.

The entrance was close, just one block away. I could clearly see the sign above it now whenever my light.

Times Square 42 Street Station.

Somehow during our directionless fleeing, we had managed to get farther into the city, not farther out. We weren't going to be getting to the lovely woods.

My light also showed things that I would rather have not have been there. Another hulking form was blocking my path. I only saw this one when it stepped out from behind some burnt out vehicles. It was a green collector. Retaining a more human shape with two legs, two arms and one head, but nothing else. There was no neck, the body just formed up into a dome shaped head. It began to walk towards me with what I swore was a grin. Its black grimy teeth made its mouth seem like some black void. Both arms were stretched out to me, long spindly arms with bony fingers that daintily sat on the ends of its meaty palms. Whoever made these things had no desire to make them look appealing in any way. I would rather be "collected" by a bunch of teddy bears, their unblinking button eyes would be much better for my sanity.

I was running right for it, it was the only way to go. Those arms hung out like it wanted a hug. I was trying to think of what I could do. The only weapon I had was my flashlight, but it was cheap flimsy one that would shatter if used as a club. Why do I care? Better to get away without a flashlight than literally running right into its arms.

I readied myself. I held up the flashlight with both hands, the light going straight into the sky. I was aiming for the head. I didn't know if it would work, but it was all I had.

Another boom and the collector's left side vanished before my very eyes. With the light still shining into the air, I didn't see any of the gore that would have been there. It looked like some magic trick. Half of it was simply gone into thin air. I would have to do something for Crane, he had saved my skin too many times to count now. Though, he only had one of his magic bullets left.

I kept running past the collapsed form of the collector. It was still moving to my surprise. Its one remaining arm slowly moved around in the air and tried to grab me. It was all it could do and I easily avoided its grasp. I heard some squishing when I got behind the collector and a few crunches that made me sick to my stomach. So much for magically disappearing body parts.

When I reached the steps, I gazed down into the gaping maw if the tunnels that snaked through the entirety of the city. At the bottom of the first flight was a crow bar, red with a bit of shiny grew near the top. It would be better than a flashlight. I ran down the steps, bending over to pick up my new weapon and went in. Another loud bang, magnified by the close quarters of the subway entrance echoed into the depths of the tunnels. That was Crane's last shot, everything from now on would be up close and personal.

My light allowed me to keep going further down the stairs without falling. It seemed cleaner, not a lot of trash and the walls had white tile on them that shined in a comfortable way.

I got to the bottom and immediately threw up. The sweet taste of beans clashed with the bitter and sourness of stomach acid and stuck in my mouth, causing me to gag. I braced my hands on my legs and a set of spasms went through my core and up my throat. I tried to take deep breaths to calm down my stomach, but that only seemed to encourage it. Eventually nothing came out anymore and the vomit ceased its escape.

While setting down the flashlight so that it acted like a proper torch, I dug out a bottle of water and greedily drank it to wash way the taste. I heard some footsteps coming down the stairs and they stopped behind me.

"Let's not do that again Crane." I coughed up and wiped the water from my mouth. "Sorry you had to use up all of your ammunition." I turned around with the bottle raised up to offer him a drink and he would have taken it if it was him.

Another green fucking ugly bastard was standing there. It was no more than three feet way and looking at me. I don't know if it was instinct or just luck, but I swung my arm, the one with the crowbar at its end and hit the thing in the head like I had planned to do earlier with the flashlight. The hooked metal end dug into the side of its skull with a sickening, but oddly satisfying crunch. I pulled back and the crowbar came away with a stringy steak of blood and brain matter in its wake. I didn't wait to see if it fell or not, I swung again and again and again. Each strike dug deeper into its head and it eventually did fall, but I didn't stop there. I was pissed, so very pissed. Everywhere I went, they were there to just haunt me and I was just so tired of it. I beat into its head until I couldn't tell it was a head anymore. I aimed for the eyes, then the mouth and even where the nose should have been. I went even when there was just a pile of meat in front of me.

I don't know how long I just beat on the thing, but when I did stop, my arms ached and I was out of breath. My arms and the bottom of my legs were soaked in blood. My mind began to clear and I noticed one thing, just one thing. The silence. I was alone, Crane wasn't here like he always was. I had heard his gun shots, they were so loud and I just assumed he was close, but that gun was always loud no matter how far away you were.

I looked up the stairs. In my panic to get here, I had just left him behind. Now I had lost him, my friend and companion was gone.