Floor 31

Chapter 2

"The origin of the virus is still unknown. Some say it was natural, an airborne virus. But others say that the virus is far too complex to be created by nature, they predict that a mad scientist created it. A virus that could kill all humankind, creating a new world free of humans. No more deforestation, no more pollution, with new creatures to roam the Earth. Saving this planet." The reporter explained.

Dream had been replaying this news report for months. It came out 1 and a half months after the apocalypse started. When people were actually alive. Dream memorized this report word by word. It was interesting, the theory of a mad scientist creating a deadly virus to save Earth from humans. Humans are Earth's main destroyer. As much as this theory was crazy, Dream believed it.

Dream had imagined different scenarios of how this virus came to be. She knew that it wasn't an airborne virus since fish and creatures that couldn't breathe air were affected. It was possible that these creatures were bitten by infected creatures, therefore transferring the virus but that was unlikely.

That left Dream with the last option. It wasn't a natural virus. Of course, it might not have been deliberate, it could've have been an experiment gone wrong. But that was also unlikely, a scientist who would've created this virus accidentally or not, wouldn't have been stupid enough to let it out of the laboratory. Dream believed that it was a virus made to kill mankind. And she believed that whoever made this virus, had every reason to want the world dead.

Dream had a troubling past, as a young child, she was abused and neglected. She never went to school, but was somehow extremely intelligent. Her mother had died when she was just a child, and her father grew to hate Dream and he felt that she was the reason for the death of his wife. All of this trauma was eventually made public. Of how a child was beaten, starved and neglected for years. People donated money and she was supposed to live with her new family. Instead, she ran away.

Dream paced the apartment, planning escape routes and gathering all the information she had to have some sort of layout of the hotel. Her apartment was obviously one of the safest places on Earth, and she knew that even opening her door could lead to her death, but she was desperate. Food would run out in less than a week, she had been starved before so she knew her limits. She had to obtain food within 2 and a half weeks, otherwise she would starve to death.

"Grocery store to the left of the elevator, monster at the entrance. Clear windows and broken doors at the entrance." Dream repeated.

She needed to memorize all the blueprints to in and out of the hotel. She knew there was a grocery store to the left of the hotel but it was impossible to get there without running into hundreds of monsters and zombies. She had a clear view of the streets from her apartment window, she could all the zombies and monsters that surrounded the hotel, it would be suicide mission to even try getting food.

Dream had actually found blueprints of the hotel, they helped slightly but there were a lot of thing she needed to know. She didn't know if the elevators were working, she didn't know if the stairs were filled with zombies, she didn't even know if there was anymore food in the grocery store.

Just as Dream went to draw some more points to the blue, something went crashing outside her door. Someone was alive. Or alive for now. Zombies and monsters never made that much noise unless there was something living nearby, whoever or whatever it was. It was most likely dead by now, she knew that at least 10 zombies or monsters were roaming on this floor. There was also a chance that creatures could've entered through the vents and pipes.

Suddenly, Dream heard another crashing sound, she didn't know what it was. It was too dangerous to check, despite all the weapons and survival skills she had. The sound of footsteps was creeping closer, she could the heavy breathing of a boy. She didn't even consider helping him, Dream grew up knowing that you could only trust yourself. And the people you love and care about always end up dying because of you. That was the reality of life.