London Bridge Is Falling

"This place is a system. Based on the work of others"

"You find people, take them in and work them to death?" I ask Joyce.

"The way you put it sounds frightening. I provide a safe environment. The system has to be well maintained"

"Your system is fragile"

"Every system has it's flaws" She says smug. "I have a job for you tomorrow. We sent a group of our men to a mine nearby, it's where we trade with survivors. I need you to go with another group and find them"

"I guess I will" I say sternly.

"Get some rest" She smiles.

I can't sleep. I see so many things wrong in this place, it sends my brain into a rage. She provides a safe place? This place is bound to fall apart. The other day, I seen a new person take an oath to provide endless slavery for the community. I have yet to take that oath and I won't when the time comes.
The next day, a man shows up in my room, shaking me awake.

"Joyce wants to see you in 15 minutes" He says.

I get dressed and make my way to Joyce's office which is down the hall from my room. The door creaks and dust flies in the exposed light coming in from the window. I neglected to see the scar that runs from her ear and halfway down her neck. I don't dare to ask what happened.

"Nice to see you, Emily" She says. "You're looking nice today"

"Thanks" I reply.

"I wanted to say good luck on your travels. I hope you find our missing men"

"I'll do my best"

"You'll meet the team in the lobby"

I get all my gear and take the elevator down to the main lobby where four people sit, waiting for me probably. There's three guys and a girl. They all look like they're prepared for war. I walk closer, looking down at the floor, counting the tiles. One, Two, Three, Four. I look up and gulp, I'm great with new people.

"You must be Emily" He's Irish.

"Yeah. I'm Emily" My voice is hoarse.

"I'm Rob. This is Dan, Erik and Julia"

Julia sticks out to me more. She looks badass, like she's been through hell and back. She wears a brown leather coat, back tank-top, black pants and brown boots and her long black hair is in a pony-tail that trails her spine. She looks beautiful and I'm nothing compared to her. My outfit and hair are messy.

"Hi" I say to everyone.

"So Joyce says they've been missing for a week now" Rob says to Erik" Then he turns to me. "Do you have all your gear? Weapons and all that?"

"Yeah. But what are we expecting to find in there?"

"Anything" He says. "We're just cautious"

We're escorted to the mines and two men guard the door as we go inside. My last look at the sun is greeted by one of the men winking and then the light fades, leaving only our headlamps.

"You guys trade here?" I ask. What a weird place to trade.

"According to Joyce"

"Give a woman that much power and soon they start calling it witchcraft" I say.

"What do you mean?" Dan asks.

"It just seems like everyone bows to her"

"She's given us a place to live. A place to thrive, of course we'd bow to her"

I roll my eyes. Even in the apocalypse there's absent minded people. I listen to water drip from the roof which is also the ground. It echoes throughout the whole tunnel. My light catches something on the ground, a red shimmer, glossy and thick...blood. A few feet in front of the puddle of blood is a body. It's torn to shreds, unrecognizable.

"Can't tell who it is" Julia says, shining her light on it. "We have to keep searching. There might be someone alive"

We're so far into the mine, I start to think I'll never see daylight again. As we continue on, more puddles and bodies appear. This wasn't done by some survivors looking to trade. This was done by a monster. I'd shrinkers, only because it's dark 24/7. But shrinkers aren't known for ripping bodies apart and mutilating their face.

"I think we should head back" Erik says.

"Sounds like a good idea" I say.

But as we turn around, something blocks our paths. A group of infected I've never seen before sit. Their ears pointed, their skin pale, they look dangerous. The sprinkles from the ceiling drip on their skin, only making them look even more terrifying.

"Jules" Dan says. "Light a UV flare"

She reaches into her backpack and pulls off the lid of one of the flares, sending a blue flame out of it. The infected don't seem to be bothered by it. One of them start to crawl towards us, I grab the climbing ax out of my bag. I remember Lara telling me stories about she used these when she'd climb mountains. But she's not here.
We all stand still, watching their every move, they watch ours too. Erik turns around, only to see an infected standing behind him, he screams just as the infected latches it's sharp teeth around his neck, pulling a chunk of flesh off.

"Shit, move!" Dan yells.

We start to run and the infected do too. I run until my legs give out. I fall into a small trench, smacking my light off the ground and breaking it. I close my eyes and hold my breath as the infected fly by me. I hear screams, Rob, Dan and Julia. They're probably dead. I crawl out of the small trench and make my way to the wall, I need something to guide me. I can see a small flicker of blue light in the distance, Julia must have dropped the flare. I ease my way to it, there's no one here. They might have gotten away. Out of nowhere, an infected attaches itself to my back, trying to bite me. I toss it over my shoulder, it grabs my ankles, making me fall to the ground and the climbing ax flies out of my hand. I kick it's head with all my might and reach for the thing closest to me. The flare. I look back at it, as it screeches, I shove the flare into it's mouth then slam my boot over and over in it's face until it's dead.

I reach into my bag and pull out a flare, my eyes squint as it lights. I grab the ax and move on throughout the tunnel. I see Rob and Julia fighting off the infected and Rob takes his last breath. She falls to the ground and cradles his dying body. An infected jumps on her and lunges for her throat. I tackle it off of her. We're rolling around in the dirt until Julia grabs it and snaps it's neck.

"Thanks" I say as she pulls me up.

"What kind of infected are these?" She asks.

"I'm not sure" I reply. There's screeches in the distance and we both look at each other, her eyes wide in horror.

"Dan is dead" She says. "We need to go"

Something grabs my foot. It's a hand. "It's a trap" The man says. He's covered in guts and bones.
"Joyce...She told us...That our group went missing. It's a thinning. Once the community gets too full. She tricks people into coming here to find a group that was never actually here"

"Oh my god" Julia says, shocked. "Why would she do that?"

"She's evil" He says. "You have to get out of here. Kill her" An infected crawls out of hiding and rips out his throat.

Julia and I start to run back towards the entrance. It's far but we have to make it. I'm attacked by one of the monsters. It jumps out of nowhere and tackles me to the ground. I elbow it a few times then jab it in the side with the pick. Julia fights off one while I finally kill this one. Another jumps off of one of the walls and sends me tumbling down a small hill. I splash into a pool of something. I'm under for a few seconds and when I surface, I pull out my flashlight and look around. It's a pool of blood. I begin to climb out but I'm pulled under by an infected. I smack my fist on it's face and take a deep breath of air as I crawl out of the thickness. I grab my pick that lies a few feet away and wait for it to attack. When it does, I swing down so hard, the ax gets stuck in it's head. When I make it back to the top of the hill, Julia is waiting.

"C'mon" She says. "We're not far"

I can see little light peering through the cracks of the door. Behind us, more infected gather.
"Go" She says.

"I'm not gonna leave without you"

"You have to. Kill that bitch"

"Okay" I smile slightly and kick open the door. The two men are still out there. I stab one in the eye with the pick then punch the other.

I run to the truck and take off quickly. A thousand things are running through my head, but one is standing out. Joyce.
When I get back to the hospital, I take the elevator back up and enter her office, slamming the door behind me. She looks surprised to see me. I'm bloody, dirty and bruised.

"You bitch" I say, gripping the pick in my hand and using the other to smack her across the face. "You sent us on a suicide mission. We were trying to find a group that didn't exist. A thinning"

"I..."

"Don't say anything" I look at the blood that's starting to dry on the pick then I look at her. And that's when I jab the ax into her eye and watch her scream. Her suffering doesn't bring pleasure, but it brings revenge. I pull it out and she instantly covers the eye with her hands.

"I'm not gonna kill you" I say. "I'm gonna make you suffer" I lay the pick down on her desk and walk out.

I gather my things and and a little extras and drive out of the hospital in an ambulance. It's perfect size for me. I can even sleep in it. I head for the highway, it's gonna take me somewhere...