Read The Demented: Confliction for Free Online

adjusted enough to at least
see vague shapes. Rows of tables disappeared
into the dark ahead of her. There was
movement in the dark shadows. It was
impossible to make out, like shadows shifting in the night.
  Had it not been for the growls she would have
attributed it to her imagination.
    The growls turned to a loud bark like huff that she knew was a call for reinforcements.
  At least one of them decided she was dinner
and thought his friends should know.
    Abby crouched low and rushed to the side, hoping to duck out
of view. The room was enormous, even the
sidewalls were out of sight, lost in the darkness.
  She desperately wanted to outrun the growing
shrieks and growls. As she moved along
row after row of tables, she noticed they were stacked with various guns.
  Everything from pistols, to rifles, to
shotguns was neatly laid out. What is this, an Army convention?
    Guns clattered to the
floor as tables were tipped over behind her.
    Abby kept working her way to the far wall, moving as fast as
she could in the dark. Her pupils
continued to dilate, revealing more and more of her surroundings, however the
infected could either see better or had the advantage of no fear.
  She could hear their angry growls right
behind her. She cut hard to the right,
sprinting for the far end of the giant room.
    A dark shape emerged from the darkness directly ahead of
her. It shrieked with rage.
  She raised her pistol, never slowing, and
fired two rapid shots. Both went
wide. The bright flashes revealed the hideous
woman’s face as she continued to race directly at Abby.
  Her mouth opened, teeth gnashing in
anticipation. Abby slowed and fired two
more shots, nearly at point blank. Both
rounds slammed into the infected’s chest, sending her toppling to the floor.
    This slowed Abby just enough to allow her chasers to catch
up. Their pounding feet on the hard
floor were scary close. They sensed the
closeness of their prey and screamed out in eagerness.
    More were pouring in from the hallway, drawn to the sounds
of chaos.
    Light spilled in through a large doorway just ahead.
  Abby lowered her head and sprinted for it
with everything she was worth. As she
neared the opening a dark shape stepped out from the side, silhouetted by light
from the atrium windows beyond.
    Demented were right behind her, she could almost feel their
fingernails ripping into the back of her neck.
She couldn’t slow down. While at
full sprint, she raised her pistol, praying her aim would be true.
    “Duck!”
    What?   Then it dawned on her.
  The dark form was one of the
living…uninfected…help. Unwilling to
drop to the ground, she instead crouched and dodged to the side, never slowing her
sprint for the light.
    Ack…ack…ack…
    The gunfire flashed in the dark.
  The whiz of bullets zinging past her sounded
like high speed bumblebees. From behind
her angry growls mixed with the sounds of pain and anguish.
  The shots continued.
    She knifed out of the darkness and into the wonderful
sunlight of the front atrium.
    Her savior continued to pound away at the infected, brass
shell casings clattering to the floor.
Abby was shocked to see it was a young boy, maybe in his teens, standing
just inside the light of the hall, holding an assault rifle.
  The black gun looked massive up against his
tiny frame. The recoil from each shot
slammed his shoulders back even as he leaned into the rifle.
    He never looked over, focusing straight ahead.
  “Go! Exit that way.”
    Infected continued to shriek out with rage from inside the
dark confines of the giant room.
    Abby didn’t know which way “that way” was but it only took a
moment of looking before she saw the green exit sign a dozen paces to her
right. A glance in the other direction
brought her worst fears to realization.
The gunfire was drawing infected from the entrance area where she had
first gained access to the building.
    She yelled, “They’re coming!“
    “I know...go!”
    Rifle fire continued to