MAN, that's a long turn.
Henk lifted the middle cup, revealing a ball. He placed it down and then started spinning the cups in many different circles. Tom watched, having won the last two rounds and ten dollars. Of course, that's just the sucker-in. The ball was long gone, hiding in Henk's pocket. He spun the cups faster and faster, making the game look more and more legitimate.
Up the street there came some yelling. Two men were running straight toward the cup stand. Henk panicked, pushing Tom down and grabbing the money, and fled down the alleyway. Tom yelled at him, quickly getting back up and rushing after him. The two men ran past the alleyway.
Henk exited the alleyway the nest street over. He stopped short of the road, barely avoiding the swarm of cop cars speeding past. He had been hearing them for a while now. He turned to run down the street, only to get tackled by the young man whose money he'd taken.
Tom got a couple of weak punches on Henk before Henk threw him off. The kid was light. He got up quickly, trying to outpace the man behind him.
He turned the corner, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a couple of dollar bills, waiting until he heard the footsteps and then threw them back. He heard the footsteps stop for a couple of seconds and then start back up again as he rounded the next corner. Henk entered the first building, an abandoned apartment.
Tom lost the man. He'd gotten three dollars of his twenty. He'd been careless, betting it in the first place. More cop cars passed by, followed by a fire truck. He suddenly noticed the number of people that were running. Somewhere far away, gunshots went off. Tom ran.
…
Damien woke up, head throbbing. He had just been dumped by his girlfriend. He remembered walking outside, but not much else. His pockets were empty though. He might've been mugged.
Damien noticed the room he was in. There were posters covering the walls, all with pictures of bands he mostly recognized. There was a giant, broken mirror that sat in front of the bed he was on. The bed was bare. The mirror was attached to some cabinets, some of which had burn marks on them. The bed was in equally bad shape.
He got up, rubbing his head. It was dark outside. He must've been here for at least several hours. He turned on the light and opened the door to the room.
The next room over was a living room/kitchen combinations. Everything was a mess. The cabinets were mostly empty and all of them were open. The fridge was in the same condition. The living room fared a little better. There was a small stockpile of furniture in the corner of the room. There were two doors leading out of the apartment.
He opened one door and found the bathroom. It was a complete mess with stains everywhere. The medicine cabinet sat open and empty. Damien closed the door.
He went to the other door and opened it. It led to a hallway, dimly lit. Damien worried. He went to a neighboring apartment and knocked.
“GO AWAY! I'LL KILL YOU!”
He heard some crying within and decided he didn't want to be here. He exited the hall, catching a glimpse of a figure entering from the other end. There was a gunshot.
Damien ran down the stairs and out of the building.
The world outside was dark. There was a giant fire some ways down the road, and Damien thought he could make out a couple of figures.
He didn't know where to go. He didn't know what to do. He w-
“PUT YOUR HANDS UP!” Damien's hands shot up.
There was a sigh followed by a “Thank God.” The voice told him to come over toward it. It was across the street. Damien entered the building to see a man with a black eye. He also noticed he didn't have a gun. Damien put his arms down.
The man led Damien down to the basement, before closing the door. He slid a table and chair in front of it when it closed. Once there, the man asked Damien to remove his clothes.
“What?!”
“Have you been bitten? Do you have any blood on you? Do you have any scratches?” The man's voice was wavering.
Damien was confused. The man asked again, this time adding “from them?”
“From who?”
The man told him to take off his clothes or get out now. He pulled a switchblade from his pocket. Damien wasn't going back out there. He removed his shirt and pants, and the man was even more relieved, collapsing on a couch. There was an oil lamp lighting the basement, with several boxes of crap in most of the corners. There was a kitchenette near the blocked door and a hallway near the couch.
Damien dressed, asking the man for his name.
“Henk. There's a kid down the hallway, but he's a little shook up. He chased me down for taking some money, but I managed to avoid him. Once. Turns out a little after the riot, he managed to find me again,” he pointed to his eye. “Then, once the zombies chased out th-”
“Did you just say zombies?”
“That's what they're called, right? Zombies? Living dead?”
Damien smiled a little bit. “No, I mean... zombies?”
The man looked at him, and Damien expected a smile or something, but the man's face was blank. “I heard a gunshot. I came out to... I don't know. I came out to hope someone could help.”
…
Damien caught up quickly with the news. He must've been knocked out during the beginning of the riots (Though he was confused how he made it to the room.) Shortly afterward, Henk and Tom, the kid, met up again. Tom hit Henk square in the eye, right before a zombie broke the neck of a woman nearby. Tom saw the thing then start consuming the stomach.
“They're not like zombies I've ever heard of. They don't like the head. They like the stomach. Maybe the kidneys. I'm not a doctor. But, you have to avoid the blood. I heard it on the radio, before the power went out. 'Avoid the blood and cuts.' They're also strong. That barricade?” He points for dramatic effect. “That's not gonna to stop them. That's why I want to get out of here.” He looked down the hall.
Tom had pretty much zoned out once he saw that. Henk saw it and dragged the kid with him.
“I felt bad for him. Or at least that I owed him. Anyhow, he's sleeping now. He'll be good in the mornin--”
And then Henk pretty much passed out.
...
Damien couldn't sleep. And luckily too.
The barricade began to move.
Status:
Health: Great
Energy: Excellent
Psyche: Average
Inventory:
Clothes
Condition: Asleep
Health: Great
Energy: Dreadful
Psyche: Good
Inventory:
Clothes
Condition: Asleep
Health: Perfect
Energy: Average
Psyche: Bad
Inventory:
Clothes