The cold within: Chapter 1.

My worn trainers collide with each step as a sprint up the endless staircase not showing any sign of stopping; me or the staircase. David is behind me panting at speed with fear and exuberation from the Soulless right on our heels. As I run up the battered staircase I hear the echoing groans of the Soulless reverberating up the towering staircase shaking my very heart into shreds. Uniform doors disappear behind me as I rush up floor after floor. Behind each door was a story and none were very happy.

David calls behind me, pants of exhaustion interrupting nearly every word, "Holy shit dude wait up! You don't want me to die do you?"

I don't really care either way. I would prefer you to live. You are useful. But if you can't get your sorry arse up the stairs in time your dead to me.

"No I don't!" I call back but do I slow down? No I do not.

He doesn't reply but he probably nods. It's not worth the trouble of looking back and checking. I need to keep running up to the base. The echoes are more dampened and distant now but all the more ghostly. We have gained some distance on the Soulless; they aren't very adept at stairs but eventually they will find us. They always do. They are the relentless hunters of human flesh. No one knows where they have come from or why they hunt us..

I reach the top floor, my legs throbbing and my back aching from the various items in my medium sized, black backpack poking me there hard. I turn to find David's location on the stairwell. Although I can't see him I can hear him about two floors down from me. He shouts my name at the top of his voice but the waver is noticeable.

He'd better hurry up... I'm not risking my life for his.

He's in sight now. I can hear his groans of pain from a mile away. His shiny machete now out in his hand covered in blood and pus. Idiot. Don't fight run. A patch of crimson blood covers a large portion of his thigh and a large, deep cut runs down from behind his ear, across his lip and down to his cheekbone. It is bleeding profusely.

His steps are more drunk and dizzy like than before. Occasionally he knocks himself into the cream, fractured wall with an uncomfortable thud. He struggles up each step like each one is a mountain. Finally I see him collapse with a agonizing cry. His machete clangs against the floor and falls down the staircase. He rolls back down the stairs hitting all the worst possible things on the stairs on the way down. Finally he stops and sprawls out broken on the landing. Blood seeps out from his various wounds new and old onto the brown carpet staining it.

I see the first Soulless slumbering up the stairs menacingly but obviously excited. Their ragged hair and clothes drip with blood from their own wounds but the wounds do not seem to hinder them. All of them are dribbling saliva out of their blue lips. I count about twenty. No chance of rescue. Not that I would anyway. He was never going to make it and he now knows this. I look out for myself and myself only. He is regaining consciousness slowly but as soon as his clouded vision turns sharp his eyes widen. He does not scream. He just turns, looks at me for a second, then lays back down seemingly tired.

I take advantage of the situation. I quickly turn and enter the room locking the door and barricading it for good measure. Alone again. Although my plan in this world is too look out for myself and no one else. That's how I survived despite my age. At only twelve when this all began I am now fourteen and still going. It's worked for me so far.

I briskly gather some supplies; some food, water, weapons, ammo and mementos for the journey. Everything else stays. Maybe someone else someday will find it someday and wonder.

I stop and gaze at David's makeshift bed we made around a week ago after we found each other. He has his own personal items which I won't touch, nothing useful there. While looking through some loose supplies I stop when I see an old football sitting in his bag with a tiny scrawled out name on it. I pick it up. The name on it says Steven Gerrard. I remember when we both went to a game back before this mess and got our ball signed by him. We were both so excited. I hold it in my hand for a few slow seconds.

Back before then, things were simpler.

I feel the sadness in my heart. I haven't felt like this in a years.

A loud banging on the white door interrupts. I snap out of it. That never happened. It was a different person, not me. The person who went with David to get this signed never existed. No time to remember what was to be.

I sling my backpack over my back once again and I walk towards the window. I slide it open upwards. The air is stagnant, unmoving today so no cool breeze washes the sweat off my face. The banging on the door is gradually getting louder and louder like a crescendo. Eventually crescendos end; that is what worries me.

I have no time to look down at the drop below me into the streets but I know that the drop is around fifteen stories onto hard concrete. Instead I step out onto the old and withered flowerbox, my only footing to hold myself. I doubt it was full of flowers and healthy even before this all happened. Next I grab onto the thick, green gutter pipe leading down into the drain below. I shimmy up it carefully but still with a bit of speed. I don't know the limits of the Soulless' agility but I would not like to test it now or ever.

I pull myself up onto the roof with a bit too much effort for my liking. I'm getting tired and this is not the right place for me to drop down exhausted. I stand myself up and brush my legs down shivering slightly. The world is just exiting Winter, probably the hardest Winter of my life so there is still ice in the air and cold in the water.

A human skeleton sits resting up on side of the roof. The body of a fairly tall man. His leather jacket once expensive now ragged and torn into shreds. This proves that the Soulless can get up here unless the man died from other means. None come to mind though. Concerned I continue over to the edge of the roof. I need to get out of here and now that I think about it having a base on the highest floor was a bad idea; it makes it a challenge to get down in an emergency but does provide a good look out and is easily defended.

I ponder this predicament and as I pace the outline of the roof. The relentless pounding below me unnerves me but I reckon I have about two minutes to start getting down. A few ideas come to mind but none are very appealing: I could fight them off but from the numbers I saw before, about twenty, that seems unlikely; using the window ledges as foot rests on my descent is plausible but I'm not sure if the windows ledges carry on all the way down. They may also be broken, loose or slippery. Getting stuck is a bad option right now. On one side I can see what remains of a fire exit. There used to be a fire exit coming up here but it rusted away and collapsed long ago. I can see the still semi-stable bits about halfway down the building. Possible but it would be nice if most of it was still standing.

I gaze down into the dark and ruined streets below. The main street beneath me is congested with burnt cars and long gone corpse of strangers. The windows of shops of all types smashed and looted by panicking groups of marauders. Not that there was any police left to stop them or any time for them to use the stolen goods. The Soulless took care of that. Suddenly from the floor below I hear a loud cracking noise and a deep thump. The door has broken down. Glass smashing and abandoned possessions falling downstairs adds to the orchestra of sounds counting down the minutes-even seconds now.

My heart beat quickens but I don't panic. Panicking gets you killed and I will not be killed today. Before all this I used to love finding quotes and remembering them for those hard times; this is definitely a hard time and at this moment one comes to mind: "All hope lost. You don't give up. Those empty words no longer fill your heart. But you follow them still. Like a priest to his bible. You don't ever give up." I say it out loud this time. It means that even though you have no point in living you still never give up. Those words have worked for me so far so I know I'll get out of this.

Meanwhile the groaning and screams downstairs gets louder and louder.

I get into action. I turn back to the skeleton. Something catches my eye this time that I didn't spot before. A rope hanging round the man. An idea rushes into my head and begs to be executed by my body. I run over to the man aware that not much time is left. The sound of sniffing reaches my ears. The Soulless have a inhuman sense of smell. They will know where I've gone.

I kneel down beside the man. The grotesque smell of slowly decaying flesh fills my mind. It's not as bad as the newer corpses; this one doesn't have much flesh left to rot but it's still disturbing. I'm not squeamish. His void filled eyes stare at me accusingly almost jealous that I still live while he is dead.

I tug on the rope but it doesn't move. I tug twice more but it only jerks his body around. After closer examination I see the rope is tied round his neck in the most intricate knot I've ever seen. I feel nausea for a second. It's simpler to jump I guess but I guess he didn't want to be food or to become one of them. Shit this guy must have wanted to go...

Scratching from behind me jerks my head around. My hand is still holding the rope and the skeleton leans forward with me bones creaking ominously. My heart skips two beats. I see two pairs of boney fingers curling over the edge like over-grown nails. I spare no more time staring I must get going. I pull out my machete out of the sheath round my waist and I immediately slash the rope of his neck. Some the rope would be wasted but it is enough for my idea. Part of it is caught in his broken collarbone and fractured spinal cord and I must fish it free. I sheath the weapon. More hands cling onto the edge and start to pull themselves up. Long, evil groans escape from their parched throats.

I run to the far edge, the closest bit to the half-staircase. Quickly I chuck one end of the rope, the one with the knot on it, round one of air vents. I tug on it twice to check it's secure. I tie the other bit round me like a make shift harness to hold me on the repel down. I stand right on the edge of the roof on top of the small wall to stop people falling. I hope I won't be the one falling today. I have about ten metres spare on this rope which means I'll have to fall about five metres onto the fire exit. Not fun but necessary right now.

Just now the first five of the Soulless climb up onto the roof. Slow and sluggish but determined for food. Time seems to slow as I stare at these alien creatures. All of them look ragged and tired as if their turning has made them unaware of their selves. They look like they have no need to sleep. The relentless hunters of me.

I regain my sense. Another quote comes into my head as I ready myself to jump: "Sometimes, your only option for transportation is a leap of faith". I smile for a second as I jump off the building. The moans of the creatures then seems almost frustrated or disappointed like the cry of some predator.

I laugh as I swing back towards the building. I catch it with my feet and the grips on my boots stick to the building like a magnet on iron. I begin my repel down slowly but steadily towards safety. I can't believe that worked, I feel immortal, invincible at this point as I continue my descent. Thanks to adrenaline I guess. I lost my ally in the building, not that it mattered anyway. He was a burden to me and probably would have got me dead eventually. I work better alone. If I ally they are just for extra muscle or as a sacrifice.

I run out of rope to use so I once again pull out my machete. With two slashes I cut the rope once again loose. I land rather unimpressively onto the cold metal staircase but I'm not hoping to win any awards. It hurts a lot for a brief moment but not as much as the full fall would have been. I pull myself up and brush myself over. I still can't relax now though. Even though it is day the Soulless that were hunting me will be full of hunger for me now like it was the dead of night. I leap down the stairs as quickly as I can safely. I need to get out of the city and into the country. It's getting too dangerous here and I need to get going.

So I start running.