The moment I pass the threshold into the building I feel a weight in the air. A certain stillness that is unsettling. As if the air itself is too scared to move. An eerie silence is only broken by our footsteps as we walk further into the building.

We find ourselves in a lobby with a set of elevators in one wall and a staircase in another. Two hallways lead further through the floor to what I assume are apartments. A desk stands opposite of the entrance doors. On the wall on either side of it are mail boxes. The room would look nice if it wasn’t for the strange coldness of the air.

“You said you lived on the second floor right?” Kyle asks Abby.

“Yeah my apartment is directly up the stairs and the third door on the left.” She says.

“Is the staircase and the elevator the only way through the building?” I ask.

“Yeah. But there is a fire escape on the side of the building.” Abby says.

“We should make sure the building doesn't have any stragglers first.” I say.

The others agree and we start heading down one of the hallways. Four doors line each side of the hallway with a number on them. As we pass by I try the door knobs to make sure that the doors are locked. We reach the end of the hallway with no issue and find no unlocked room.

The second hallway is much the same but the last door on the left is unlocked. I send a pulse of mana through the gaps of the door finding nothing dangerous on the other side. We pop our heads into the apartment.

Immediately a rancid stench assaults me. It smells like the worst outhouse you can imagine that has been left out in the sun for the whole summer.

I breathe through my mouth and gag as I do so, immediately regretting the action. The smell is so bad that I can practically taste it.

I’m forced to cover my nose with my arm as we explore the apartment. Pictures of a large family permeate the walls. The kitchen, living room, and bathroom are all empty. They are also the first room you see upon entering the house.

The further we creep in the worse the smell gets. We find a hallway leading off from the living room. The pale brown carpet in the hallway is host to foul looking black stains. The largest of which emanates from the door at the end of the hallway.

I conjure a Mana Scythe as I grow close to the door. In my other hand I tighten my grip on my tire iron. My mana passes around the door and with it I can feel the contents of a decently sized bedroom. Yet I feel no movement.

Hesitantly I swing the door open. It squeaks on old hinges, causing me and the others to cringe. Behind me I can feel Abby and Kyle tense. While Andy seems to be slowly backing away. Is he really getting ready to run?

I push Andy out of my mind as I turn my focus onto the room. The smell is the absolute worst here. The simple furniture of most bedrooms greets us however an object on the bed immediately pulls my attention.

The remains of a body lies on the bed. But that’s not the weird part. Instead of looking as if it’s been chewed into the body, it looks as if it’s melted into the bed.

I slowly creep further into the room. A strange sense of curiosity daring me to take a better look. The body seems to be that of an old man’s. His face is contorted into one of either absolute shock or pain.

My eyes gaze down the body where they lock onto the melted chest of the poor man. The bed underneath the chest also looks to have been melted away. Through the hole in the two I see a hole leading further below the home.

The smell is so bad here that I have to pull myself away. Death has kind of become commonplace in this new world. With the living dead roaming the streets and danger around every corner I’ve become a little numb to seeing corpses. That includes the smell of the undead. However, whatever caused that man to lose his stomach like that is by far the worst thing I’ve seen.

I quickly make my way out of the room and realize that I was the only one to explore deeper in there. As I make my way to the living room where the others are now standing I fight back the urge to vomit.

My feet race as I realize I’m going to lose the battle. Bile erupts from my throat with a burning sensation and I can’t stop myself from opening my mouth. Luckily I don’t live here as the vomit spews onto the carpet.

A few moments later my stomach is emptied of all liquid and solid matter. Leaving me dry heaving for a few moments. Once done with that I feel slightly better but now have a horrid taste in my mouth.

Looking up I realize that some of the others are vomiting too. Abby is in the kitchen spewing all over the sink. While Andy has found a house plant to evacuate his stomach into. Looking at Kyle I find him just watching us with pity.

“I don’t vomit easily” He says after realizing why I’m staring at him.

I nod and walk to the bathroom. There I find some mouthwash and toothpaste. It’s only now that I realize I haven’t brushed my teeth in days. That’s not something that I can let slide. I remember reading once in a book that before modern medicine that tooth decay was one of the most horrible ways to die.

And while I have mana to heal myself I don’t know if it can heal teeth. Teeth don’t grow back and from what I can tell Mana just boosts the natural healing abilities of the body. So I'm going to need to find myself a toothbrush if I hope to avoid losing teeth or dying because of my teeth.

I waterfall some mouthwash into my mouth and swish it around for a bit. The liquid burns my tongue and cheeks as it sloshes around in my mouth. Once the tingling is gone I spit it out. Then I pour some toothpaste into my mouth. I want to wipe the tooth paste over my teeth with my fingers but I have no clue what kind of germs I’m carrying on me right now.

Instead I use my tongue to try and spread the minty flavored paste. I spit out the remains of the hygiene products before leaving the bathroom. I hand the mouthwash and toothpaste to Abby who cleans out her mouth.

“Thank you.” She says after spitting out the mouthwash.

Andy cleans his mouth next. Leaving the rest of us to wait for him. Once he’s done we all leave the apartment.

“What do you think did that?” Kyle asks.

“Probably a zombie.” Andy says.

His tone sounds as if he thinks Kyle is an idiot. It sparks more annoyance in me.

“I don’t think it was a normal Zombie.” I say. “I think it’s probably a mutated zombie or different monster entirely.” I say.

Andy grumbles something behind me. Part of me wants to stop and deck the guy. Everything about him just bothers me.

“Do you think it’s still here?” Abby asks.

“I hope not.” Kyle says.

“Just be cautious. At the first sign of trouble we bolt. Okay?” I ask.

The others nod and we continue our search of the complex. I take point as we crawl up the staircase. The second floor is structured similarly to the first floor. A lobby type area with two hallways leading off.

“My apartment is down the second hallway.” Abby whispers.

“We’ll make sure the building is safe before checking your palace.” I say.

I can tell that my words make Abby sad but she doesn’t fight me. We slowly make our way down the second hallway checking the doors as we go.

I stop at the second door we pass. The handle that all the other doors have is missing from this door. Where it should be is a whole where the door looks as if it’s been melted.

I slowly push the door open after making sure no zombies are on the other side. The apartment is structured almost exactly as that poor old man’s.

In this one we find three bodies in the living room. All having horrid gaping holes in their chests. The back of my mind tingles as I look at them but that’s all it does. It doesn’t offer any insight or warning of danger. It just makes me feel like I should remember the state of their bodies for some reason.

We push further into the apartment and find a bedroom with something I’d really rather not have seen. The room is obviously a baby’s room. A crib sits in here with a hole melted through it.

I stay here only long enough to make sure that nothing is hiding in the closet. Then I leave praying that I never have to see that again. The others once again seemed to have refused to enter this room and I don’t blame them.

After confirming that nothing dangerous is in this apartment we leave. I have more questions about the contents of the floor. What killed that family? The old man? What has happened in this place?

We find a few more apartments with open doors or melted doors in this hallway. In one of them we find a zombie’s head. It chomps at the air as if it’s trying to lunge at us and eat us. Kyle pikes it without a word.

Once we clear the hallway we go to the other one. Again we find rooms with open or busted doors. We find the remains of a few more zombies. All of which are in no state to be of any danger. We take care of them anyways.

I even manage to gain a level after dispatching a zombie. A cool feeling washes through me as I feel my mana be restored to full. I leave my Attribute Points alone deciding to deal with them later.

The third door on the left causes the whole group to pause. Abby stands before the locked and closed door. I can tell that she wants to barge in and confirm the status of her family. However, she holds herself back.

We push on checking the last two doors on this floor. One of which is busted open. As we examine the apartment behind it we find a giant hole in the ceiling of the living room. Through it we can see into the apartment above.

Yet aside from that the apartment is only host to two undead. We take care of them and leave. As we pass by the door to Abby’s apartment she stops again.

Her hand reaches up and knocks on the door. Three solid thuds sound out across the floor and with them my heart sinks. I feel the blood in me race as my mana burns hot.

I extend my Magical Sonar ready for anything to run up on us. Inwardly I curse the cute girl. We still have a whole floor above us with who knows what. The monster that’s been melting it’s way through the people and apartments could still be here. And she wants to sit here and make this much sound?

“Dad? Daniel? Craig?” Abby whispers through the door.

Only silence follows. Moments stretch on as I stressfully monitor the hall for any movement. Then the silence is broken.

“Abigail is that you?” A deep voice seeps out through the door.

“DAD!” Abby almost screams.

Tears race down her face as I hear heavy items being shifted from behind the door. Then I hear locks click and the door swing open. A large man stands in the door frame. Bright green eyes like Abby’s peek out from behind strands of long dark hair. A large beard hides most of his face.

“Daddy!” Abby says through tears throwing herself at the man.

He swoops her up in a bear hug. Tears running down his face too.

“If we're doing this now we should take it behind closed doors.” Andy says.

His words break the reunion of father and daughter. Abby’s father pulls her into his apartment and gestures for us to follow. We all pile into the home and out of the hallway.

Abby’s dad closes the door behind us, locking it as he does so.

Once sure that we’re safe for now I breathe a sigh of relief and pull my mana back in. I turn my gaze to the reunited father and daughter. Pangs of jealousy run through me as I watch them hug. When was the last time I was hugged by my father? Was I ever given a hug by him?

I shake the thoughts from my mind. There’s nothing there for me but bitterness and resentment. I need to focus on the future. And by that I need to figure out what we’re going to do next.