Valkyrie's Lament

Chapter 23

Red Light Green Light

“It’s Red light Green Light.” The words rolled out of her mouth. It felt strange to be saying such words, but she was confident in what she was seeing.

“Red Light Green Light? Like Traffic Lights?” Brianna was confused at what she said. “What does that got to do with anything?”

“Everything.” Silver had a bit of devilish grin plastered on her face. She was glad that she figured out the answer.

“A children game.” Jasper slowly muttered understanding what Silver was getting at.

“You don’t mean that children game are you?” asked Brianna.

“A children game?” Sam asked not quite getting it.

“It where a person calls out green light letting everyone run forward. Then shouts red light, everyone stops. If they move they are out isn’t it? Not only that the last one standing is the winner,” said Brianna.

“Exactly.” Silver snapped her fingers, when Brianna got the answer. “You were also right on the traffic lights.”

“How?” Brianna was completely confused at where this was all going.

Silver pointed downwards towards the traffic lights that were turning from green, yellow and then to red. Each individual portion of the road had a traffic light dividing into six parts before it reached up towards their goal. “Watch the traffic lights. Whenever it turns green, the zombies starts moving. Then as it get’s to yellow their speed starts to slow down, and finally when it hits red they just completely stop. What’s important is the duration between Red light and Green light.”

Everyone was looking towards Silver. They couldn’t help but feel surprised at the revelation of information that Silver had spotted.

“Did you get the time limit of when it flips through the numbers?” Jasper asked.

“Approximately five minutes in green. One minute in yellow and six minutes in red. Though I could be wrong. That’s only on this light though, the one ahead of us. I have no idea.”

“That’s a start at least. We should move towards the next building and count the window of time we can cross through.”

“Wait. Wait. Wait.” Amy finally spoke up. She walked past her family and came up towards Silver. “You’re basing your facts on a traffic light? Are you serious? Just because they don’t move for a short duration of time, doesn’t mean that they won’t attack if we step out.” Her hands threw up in the air to accentuate her words.

“I’ll take my chances. Each mini-game has a set of rules. Finding out those rules, you’ll figure out a way to get out of this mess.” Silver waved her away and not listening to Amy’s rambling.

“You’re going to put everyone in danger over your illogical words? Those are zombies for crying out loud. You’re saying that they obey a traffic light like some machine. Their all dead and unintelligent.” Amy words were sharp and were filled with disdain at Silver’s thoughts. “I rather my family stay here and be safe than run out there over some stupid game.”

“Lady, this must be your first game isn’t it?” Brianna sighed shaking her head at what Amy said.

“What of it?” Amy coldly stated.

“Everything. Your naivety of survival is seriously below average. How the heck did you even survive until now?” Brianna coldly stated. “If you want to stay squirrel away in this hole than please do. I don’t even know when the zombies will break through, but I rather bet my chance on a way to escape than meet my end here.”

“No, you’re wrong. This place is safe.”

“You’re delusional.”

“I am not.”

“Whatever, their is no point in saying anything else.” Brianna completely ignored the next thing that Amy said.

Amy stomped her feet, fuming at Brianna’s words.

“Ignore her. She doesn’t understand the intellectual mind like us.” Brianna gave her a cheeky smile.

“So, what’s your plan?” What was more surprising was the Sam, who was about to leave them, actually stay behind listening to Silver’s words.

Silver cleared her throat. “We move when the light turns yellow and into red. Then we make a run for it.”

“That’s your plan?”

“We got to use every chance we got in running during the ‘safe’ period of time. I don’t know about you, but the closer we get, the more trouble might arise. Going in and out is our priority without fighting as much. I’m not sure about you, but my energy is not bountiful.”

“We’ll go with your plan, but you’re going first.” Sam stated with a wicked smile.

Jasper called out in an angered voice. “She said all of us or are you too chicken to go out and test the theory out?”

“Kid, I don’t know what she says is even true, nor would I risk my life so easily over a possibility. There is no hard concrete evidence that the zombies will turn against us if we leave during the time when the lights turn red.”

“I’m not a kid, and I believe the words that Silver had stated.”

“If you say so, but until I’m sure that the zombies don’t move on red. I’m not going out.”

“Fine by me.” Silver pushed herself up and got down the ledge. “You can watch from up here. The moment I leave that front door downstairs, you’ll have your proof. The next chance would be the next turn of lights.” She started to walk towards the doors.

“Hey, Silver! I’m coming with you!” Jasper bolted off the ledge and came running after Silver. “Wherever you go, I’m going.” He stated with a cheerful disposition.

Silver didn’t understand where Jasper got this positive atmosphere when they were in the middle of a swarm of zombies before them. Even still, she was pleased that Jasper came along with her. In actuality, it lifted her mood even though they would be in the midst of chaos.

“Thanks.” Silver said it so quietly that she thought he wouldn’t hear it.

“No worries. I’ll always help you out. You saved me, I’ll make sure to pay my debt.”

Silver couldn’t help but gently smile. Even though Jasper had paid off his debt, he still thought like that. This gave Silver a stronger resolution for her to help him stay alive.

They made it downstairs and stopped before they rushed out the emergency exit door. Silver peeked out the side, watching at the scene unfold before her. The door that was being heavily pushed against when they first arrived were cracking.

“We got less than a minute until we bolt out of here.” Silver whispered towards Jasper.

“I’m with you all the way.” Jasper pumped his fist, ready to tackle whatever they were getting themselves into.

“Get ready.” Silver was counting down in her head. Five one thousand. Four one thousand. She repeated slowly in her head. Opening the emergency door, she bolted towards the glass door.

“Three one thousand. Two one thousand. One…” Gritting her teeth, she ran towards the glass door. All the zombies broke through the glass door.

“Silver. They’re not stopping!” Jasper was running closely behind her. Fear plastered his face at the swarm that was coming towards them. Their rotten body reached over to grab at Silver.

“One Thousand…” Silver let out a hiss of breath. All the Zombies that were suddenly running towards her froze up, majority of them were already tumbling towards the ground unmoving. Silver had to use her swords to clear away some of the falling zombies.

With a slice of her sword, she dodged the falling bodies. Not a single one of the zombies even moved from her cut, making this an easy fight.

“It worked!” Jasper yelled out in enthusiasm. He was pushing the zombies in front of him to the side. They toppled over on top of each other, creating a path for them to climb up on.

Silver jumped up on the piles of bodies, and continued forward, trying to stay ahead. They ran on top of immovable bodies, until they slide down onto stable ground.

“I knew what you say were true. Those idiots won’t have another chance after they spilled through the door like that.” Jasper shook his head.

Both of them weaved in between the zombies without aiming to cut them down. They only had six minutes to get across to the furthest building in the short amount of time.

So far, they passed by four blocks and making their way to the fifth. Silver and Jasper saw the street light above them. Few seconds later, just before they were about to pass under, the light turned green.

“Damn it!” Jasper cursed. The zombies from behind started to move towards them moaning. “In that building!” He pointed as he was faster than her in speed by a couple feet.

Silver ran until her feet pounded into the ground. She didn’t wanted to be food for the zombie or get caught up in the swarm. With a vicious push, Jasper entered into the door followed by Silver. Silver slammed the door behind her, using her body to prop the door.

“Anything?” Her feet almost slipped underneath her.

“Still looking!” Jasper was running around the lobby looking for anything that can prop up against the door. He pulled the wooden chair over towards Silver. “Got something. Ready? Move!”

Silver pushed off the door, allowing Jasper to exchange her spot. Silver quickly pushed the wooden chair against the door. She moved back, allowing the chair to prop up against the door. Then she ran towards a small cabinet that she pushed towards the door, until finally it stopped in front of it.

“You gotta be kidding me.” Jasper was wheezing, trying to catch a breathe. “We should get out of here before it breaks.”

Silver nodded and they walked quickly through the hallways. They eventually came upon a large room and she quietly closed the door behind her, pushing over a metal cabinet.

Jasper leaned forward, trying to catch his breathe. “We’re not even halfway to our goal. I can now understand why you wanted four days. At this rate, we might not get across in time before the next game begins.”

“Let’s hope we get in and out quickly before that or all would be in vain.” Silver slide down onto the floor completely winded. Her head thumped against the wall. Her tied hair was snapped and let loose her Silver hair as it fell behind her.

Jasper got up and walked over towards the closed drapes. It wasn’t until Jasper pulled back the curtains, allowing the light to peek= through the crack lighting up the whole room. From Silver guess, she could tell that this was once an office building from the scattered papers, and upturned desk and chairs.

“We got a problem.” Jasper worded with worry. He was looking anxiously back and forth towards Silver and back out the window. His hands gripped the side of the curtains tightly.

Silver got up curious in what Jasper saw. She went over and looked through the window. “What is it?”

“I can’t see the streetlights. The building in front of us is literally blocking our view.” He scowled at the problem before them. “At this rate, all we can do is take our chances and head towards the next.”

“That is a problem.” Silver sighed. She didn’t expect the problem to arise so quickly one after the other. Just running from building to building was difficult enough, especially during the red light. “You ready for another run?”

Jasper slowly nodded. “I’m ready whenever you are.” He gave her a thumbs up, wondering what she would do.

“Good. Step back.”

Jasper moved back and Silver pushed open the window. A strained sound of metal against metal could be heard, pulling the window upwards. Silver then took a step back, she injected dark energy into her sword and slashed at the metal mesh.

The metal mesh was easily cut through like jelly. Silver then pushed the metal mesh to side, allowing them to leave. So far, they were no zombies that walked between the buildings, giving time for both Jasper and Silver to get out.

Carefully and quietly, they tiptoed towards the back of the building. Silver strained her senses to the best of her ability, trying her best to listen to any unusual footsteps of the zombies.

They continued on walking quietly, until they saw four zombies wobbling around. Before the Zombies could turn around both Silver and Jasper attacked, quickly dismantling them before they could draw attention to more.

Silver was impressed on how quickly Jasper has gotten stronger. In terms of speed, Jasper was a lot faster, but when it comes to strength, Silver outclassed him.

Trash and broken parts of the buildings were gathered in large piles blocking their way. They were times when they were not able to get through because of the fallen debris that blocked their path. Their trip around the back took twice as longer to maneuver than to run in a straight line where the zombies swarmed in large groups.

“Another dead end.” Jasper kicked the debris in frustration. It was already their tenth time being blocked off from going through to their fourth building. Even though they encountered less zombies, the amount of dead ends were increasing.

“Better that or face the crowd.” Silver pointed behind her. “It might be safer if we go through the back aisle than cutting through the front.”

“True, but it’s so frustrating that so far we only moved past three buildings. Isn’t there a faster way?” Jasper was glancing towards Silver eagerly hoping that she would have the answer.

“I honestly don’t know.”

The hope that was in Jasper eyes was gone in seconds. He let out a frustrated sigh and pushed his hands into his pocket. “I must have asked the god of luck for too much.” He kicked a small pebble in front of him, which bounced off a wooden plank. A hollow thunk sound was heard, catching both their attention.

Silver walked over and pushed the wooden plank aside, and saw a small hole that would allow them to go through. She pushed back more of the plank and crawled in the tiny space. Inside the tiny hole was cramped and dark, but they were pockets of light that lit through the debris. With a push of her shoulder, she moved away stone slab that blocked her path. Debris trickled downwards, creating an echo in the darkness.

“Garablabl!” The sound of zombie’s gurgle cut through the darkness, startling Silver and Jasper. A hand burst through a hole catching Silver’s feet, momentarily stopping her. She kicked with all she had, but the hand didn’t let go.

Jasper pulled out his dagger and slashed downwards, cutting the wrist from the arm clean off. He then reached over and peeled off the hand from behind, allowing her once again to trek forward.

Silver felt like they were stuck in the tight spaces for hours, it was not until the light was starting to dim down were they able to break out of the piled up debris and back on their feet. Pulling herself out, she was covered in soot and dirt.

Jasper brushed off the soot. “I can now understand why some people have claustrophobia. I mean the awful feeling of the walls coming in on you makes me you go crazy just thinking about it.”

“Well, I for once agree with you on that.” Silver couldn’t help but chuckle at Jasper. His whole face was streaked in black, making it look like war paint. “Your face.” She motioned for him to wipe off the black streak.

Jasper hands quickly move into place, wiping the black soot like streak, but missed a small portion that was left on his face.

Silver sighed, and reached over to wipe the finishing touches. She felt like she was taking care of her little sister all over again, but at the same time she didn’t mind it all.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Let’s go.” Silver slowly walked close to the building, watching for any sudden movements. She look for an entrance into the building, because it was starting to get dark. Not to far away, she saw an opened window. She nudged towards the window for them to enter.

Jasper was hoisted up first. Silver followed quickly behind, watching for any suspicious activity, but so far nothing was seen. With a flick of her hands, she brought out an electric battery powered flashlight and turned it on.

The light cut through the darkness, showing them what was around them. They were inside a storage room filled with large stuffed animals. Majority of them still untouched, while a quite a bit of them were on the floor trampled over. Stuffings spilled out from their bodies and head, giving the room a bit of a creepy feeling. Spider webs decorated the wall and the cabinets, where large fist sized spiders laid in wait.

“How recent do you think this place is? The building that we went through so far all seem pretty recent and clean, though they are instances where it’s like this.” His hands motioned in an arch emphasizing around him. “It feels like a decade has passed.”

“Possibly. I’m not really sure, though I have to wonder then how is the streetlights even working and why are the zombies even sync with it?”

“Something might be keeping the electric generators working. That’s my guess.”

Silver agreed with Jasper’s statement. She already had a few thoughts that pointed towards a possibility that they were something more sinister hidden in the city. It could be magic itself that kept the city alive, but she knew that magic wasn’t always the answer to every question in this game. They were things that also followed a set of rules that could be easily explained.

Continuing onwards, they walked up towards and elevator. Clicking the button, they noticed that it was still activated. They entered into the elevator and went towards the top floor and climbed the last few stairs where they could see down into the city. Setting up out from the roof, Silver noticed the sky had changed into a starry night. Empty pockets of street lights and building lights flickered on, thousands of Zombies roamed around the floor aimlessly without a goal.

“We’re halfway there.” Jasper spoke with awe. “I never knew we went through a short cut. I take back on lady luck not looking down on us with favor.” He cheerfully smiled.

“We might be able to make it to the building before we enter into the last one.” Silver was observing every inch of the surrounding.

“That would be great.”

“You and me both.”

“How do you think the other’s are faring?”

Silver shrugged. Off in the distance she saw an unusual movement on the ground. Zombies started to swarm and congregated together towards one area. “You were saying?”

“Yikes. I don’t want to be in that in the middle of the night.” Jasper was leaning over trying to get a better view. “I think that’s the family.”

Silver squinted to get a better view. She could hear the muffling sound of voices that echoed with screams and yells of the people below.

A shriek could be heard bouncing off the building walls, a man fell onto the floor and the zombies swarmed around him.

“Daddy! No!” A young boy’s voice filled with horror and panic.

“Run!” Amy’s voice shouted in fear.

“Which way? Oh my god they’re coming! We’re surrounded!”

The group of five has shrunk down to four, they were running for their dear lives trying to stay alive. Another blood curdling scream of the young boy could be heard, but was cut short. They were headed straight for the building that Silver and Jasper stayed in.

“You gotta be kidding me.” Silver eyes crinkled with a frown. “Their bringing the zombies towards us.”

“We should help them.” Jasper replied. “We can’t leave people out there in that!” He waved his hands before him in exasperation.

“Weren’t you just thinking about how idiotic they were? If we help them, we’re might have to move.” Silver was not liking the idea of moving in the dark.

“That was my negative thought speaking. Having more people at the end will give us a stronger chance to beat this.”

Silver bite her lips and furrowed. It was true, she couldn’t beat things alone, this was a harsh lesson that she had learned when fighting the Emperor. If they had more people to combat against the swarms, it would allow the stronger people to have an all out fight with the Emperor themselves.

“Fine. This is your idea, lead the way.”

“Will do.” With a smirk, he ran.

Both of them ran towards the elevator and rode it back down. The moment they came to the last floor, they headed towards the front door. Before them, the door was partially broken hanging off two hinges.

Jasper pulled the door open, and one of the hinges snapped. With a deep furrow of frustration, he opened the door, allowing both of them to exit. They ran out towards the streets, and Silver raised up her flashlight. She didn’t wanted to shout to catch other zombies attention. Instead she waved it over her head to catch the family’s attention.

The three people saw the light, and they desperately ran towards them. Silver bite the flashlight on her mouth, and pulled out her sword. She knew that they will have a battle in hand and she was not looking forward to it. She willed her magic as the sword blazed black giving it a fiery glow.

She could feel the cold chill creeping up her arms and around her body. Cackling sound of cold wind kissed her skin with a swing of her sword, the first batch of zombies froze over.

Jamie was the first one to run into the building, followed by Amy and Sofia. They were breathing hard, trying to not fall down and get swallowed up by the zombies.

“Go!” Silver yelled, keeping three more zombies from taking them out

Silver poured a vast amount of ice magic into her sword. With just a flick of her sword, the ground before her were covered heavily in ice. Even the zombies that were running on ice slipped and fell, while some were frozen over. She then turned around and ran. She didn’t wanted to waste her time fighting countless number of zombies that gave her no benefit.

“Silver!” Jasper called out. He was holding the elevator door opened for her to jump in.

The elevator door slowly closed, while Jasper was repeatedly pressing the button in the hopes it would close faster. It felt as if time were going in slow motion. Zombies were stumbling upon each other with crazy frenzy, desperately coming towards them with one thing in mind: eat.

“Come on. Come on. Come on!” Sophia came over and smashed her hands into the closed button as in the hopes to help close it faster. Panic was filled in her voice as she glanced back and forth from the oncoming zombie and the button. “Close already!” She screeched.

Silver brandished her sword and swung it in front of her. The zombies that were reaching inside were quickly pushed back and a wall of frozen zombies blocked the oncoming next wave.

With a heavy squeal, the door closed as Silver kicked back a Zombie statue, leaving everyone with bated breath of relief. Sophia collapsed on the side of the metal wall in complete daze. Jamie and Amy was silently crying at the lost of their love one, holding each other in their embrace.

With a slow ascent, the elevator made it to the top floor. Silver stepped out and glanced behind her. Tonight was going to be a long day and she did not look forward to it at all.