Ethan felt the room's atmosphere change instantly as if the very air had thickened. The groaning outside grew louder, more insistent — animated by Lily's scream. The door shuddered as something — someone — began to throw itself against it. The wood creaked ominously, and the tension was so palpable it was nearly suffocating.
Lily's sobs quieted to muffled whimpers as she clung to the woman, her eyes wide with dawning realization. The man with the bandaged arm moved quickly, grabbing a chair and jamming it under the doorknob. Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled out the screwdriver he found, holding it out with grim determination.
"We need to barricade this door more securely," Ethan said, his voice taut as a bowstring. "Does this place have a back exit?"
The young man with the scruffy beard shook his head, his eyes still red from his earlier cries of tears. "No, this is it. But there's a storage closet. Might be something useful in there."
"We should check it," Ethan suggested, scanning the room for any other items that could be used as weapons or barricades.
The woman with the cropped hair tightened her hold on Lily and hurriedly ushered her toward a corner of the room, farthest from the door. "Stay here, sweetie. We're going to figure this out."
As the young man rummaged through the storage closet, Ethan and the man with the bandaged arm wrestled a heavy bookshelf in front of the door, angling it for maximum obstruction. A low, menacing growl reverberated from the other side of the door, punctuated by another thud that made the bookshelf shiver but hold.
The young man reappeared, holding a fire extinguisher and a length of metal pipe. "This is all I could find," he said, offering the fire extinguisher to Ethan.
"Better than nothing," Ethan replied, putting away the screwdriver back into his pocket, taking the fire extinguisher, and positioning himself near the door. His eyes met Lily's, and he was struck by how much she'd aged in those few minutes. Her face, still tear-streaked, was etched with an expression far too mature for her years.
He was brought back to the moment by another thud against the door, this one stronger than the last. The bookshelf creaked loudly but didn't budge. Yet.
The door groaned under the incessant battering, and the cracks that had started as hairline fractures began to splinter, widening and growing. Through one such fissure, a rotting eye could be seen, its vacant gaze fixed hungrily upon them. The room was ripe with the smell of sweat and fear, mingling with the more acrid scent that wafted in through the splintering wood.
Ethan tightened his grip on the fire extinguisher, his knuckles going white. The man with the bandaged arm held his metal pipe defensively, and the young man with the scruffy beard clenched his fists, powerless without a weapon. The woman clutched Lily, her eyes filled with a mix of determination and despair.
As if on cue, another heavy thud resounded, and the wood splintered further. The rotting hand from before found its way through the opening, groping at the air, followed by another, and then another as if beckoning them toward a gruesome fate.
Ethan's heart pounded mercilessly. He knew that the barricade wouldn't hold much longer, that their options were dwindling rapidly.
"Can we use the fire extinguisher to distract them while we make a run for it?" the young man finally asked, his voice trembling.
"It might disorient them for a moment," Ethan considered, "but it's risky. We don't know how many there are."
"Either way, we can't stay here," the man with the bandaged arm chimed in, his gaze fixed on the undulating hands that were making their way through the crack in the door. "We're sitting ducks."
At that instant, the wood gave a final mournful creak before a chunk of it broke off, widening the hole and revealing the twisted, gnarled faces of their tormentors. Their eyes were hollow pools of darkness, their jaws snapping hungrily.
Ethan looked at the woman holding Lily, her eyes searching his for an answer he didn't have. Then his gaze shifted to Lily, whose tear-filled eyes met his with a look that crushed his soul. It was a look of implicit trust, as if despite everything, she believed he could make it right.
"We have to go, now!" Ethan bellowed, discharging the fire extinguisher through the broken opening, filling the air with a white cloud of chemicals. The figures on the other side recoiled, their growls turning into confused whimpers.
Seizing the moment, Ethan shouted, "Run for the exit!"
Ethan and the man with the bandaged arm quickly shifted the bookshelf to the side, and they all sprinted, hearts pounding and lungs burning. Ethan took the rear, glancing back just in time to see the first of the creatures stagger through the mist, shaking its head as if to clear it, and then letting out a blood-curdling howl.
They reached a narrow corridor, its dim lighting casting eerie shadows on the walls. Their footsteps reverberated ominously as they ran. Ahead, they saw the exit sign, a green glow that seemed to promise a sliver of hope. Ethan dared to glance back; the creatures had regained their senses and were now coming after them, their guttural growls filling the air.
The group dashed towards the exit with frantic energy, their breaths sharp in the chilling air of the corridor. Suddenly, a burst of snarls erupted right behind them, too close for comfort. Without warning, the creatures were upon them, having closed the distance with terrifying speed.
In an instant, the man with the bandaged arm was grappling with the gnarled hands that reached for him, swinging his metal pipe with fierce desperation. The young man with the scruffy beard, weaponless, fought wildly, throwing punches that landed with sickening thuds on the decaying flesh of their pursuers.
"Keep running!" the man with the bandaged arm roared, as he was tackled to the ground, his pipe clattering away from his grasp.
Ethan's instinct screamed for him to help them, but the young man's eyes met his in a brief, harrowing moment, urging him to protect Lily and the woman. Their valiant efforts to hold back the tide gave Ethan, Lily, and the woman the precious seconds they needed to surge ahead, even as the sounds of struggle were drowned by the creatures' ravenous growls.
With heart-wrenching reluctance, Ethan led the others forward, the exit now in sight, as the figures of the man with the bandaged arm and the young man were lost in a frenzied tangle with the grotesque mass of their assailants.
The sounds of a violent struggle echoed behind them — metal clanging, snarls, and a heart-wrenching cry of pain. Ethan felt as if each sound was a dagger stabbing into his very soul, but he knew he couldn't afford to look back. Not now.
They burst through the exit door into the open air, the night enveloping them like a cold shroud. Without pausing, Ethan grabbed the woman's arm, pulling her and Lily toward the tree line that marked the edge of the parking lot.
Behind them, the noises of the struggle had died down, replaced now by a chorus of triumphant growls. Ethan felt a void open up inside him, knowing what it meant. But there was no time to grieve, no time to do anything but run.
