Death's Awakening

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Parrish

Parrish felt the breath knocked from her lungs.

Five.

She was suddenly taken back to a dream of her own. A dream she'd been having just before her mother woke her up in the middle of the night, burning with fever.

There was a man. She'd been running through a strange forest, searching for him. There were red thorns on the trees and moss covered the ground beneath her feet. When she found him, it had felt like coming home. Like seeing an old friend again for the first time in centuries.

He'd said his name was Tobias. He'd put a purple stone in her hand and told her there were five.

"Five what?" she'd asked.

But her mother had started coughing and Parrish had been ripped from the dream with a weird feeling of loss.

"Come on," Crash said. "Be ready."

They each pulled their weapons from their packs and waited as the doors opened. A small hive of rotters waited in the hall. As soon as the elevator doors opened and Crash's light landed on them, they turned, their mouths open. Their hands reaching.

The group went to work, slicing and hitting, killing each of the zombies one-by-one until finally, the hallway was empty. Out of breath, Parrish wiped the blood off her sword.

An uneasy feeling gripped her chest. Something felt off to her. Wrong.

But she trusted Crash. If he'd dreamed of this, then it must be okay. She was probably just still shaken up from the long journey and the fighting. She was looking forward to getting back to his place and being able to rest for a while.

Crash stopped in front of the last apartment. The door was unlocked.

The four of them stepped inside. The hairs on the back of Parrish's neck stood on end. She stayed there near the door as Crash crossed the room and opened a closet near the bedroom.

All of them pointed their flashlights in that direction, waiting with their breath held tight in anticipation.

The door creaked as it opened. A pile of blankets and pillows spilled out onto the floor and inside the closet, someone was crying softly.

Crash been right, there really was someone hiding in the closet.

The fifth.

Parrish watched as he stretched his hand out, then pulled someone to their feet.

A young woman stepped out into the room, her long black hair falling past her waist.

<3 Hope you have loved this story! Thank you so much for reading along! Just one short chapter and a short epilogue remaining. Please comment to let me know what you think of this world, the characters, and the story!