The banging on the door has finally stopped. I guess the creatures outside have finally given up, trying to break in. I check on the boards that I had nailed across the windows. Knowing they are secure makes me relax, a little. My heart starts to set a slower pace as it beats against my chest. I put the kettle on and try to get my mind focused on my night excursion to find food and supplies; one wrong move is it all it takes...

As I study the crude maps I had sketched out of the area over the last few weeks, I think back to the day the creatures arrived. I had been in hospital for observation for two weeks after I contracted a nasty disease on my trip to Africa. I had just finished my antibiotics a few days before everyone started turning into those creatures; I guess the antibiotics stopped me from contracting the same virus, but that makes no sense.

It seems that the disease had different effects on people depending on their personalities. The scary guy from next door turned into a dark sludge spewing monster that growled and stalked the corridors during the end of the day, leaving a foul smell where ever he had been. The worst one by far is the eagle faced creature with the long neck and claws sharp as razors. Always hunting me, always trying to trap me and drag me back to her lair. What weird and twisted things she would do to me there, I can only imagine.

I waited a few hours until dark; It seems quiet outside now. I unlock the door and peer out. The corridor outside my flat looks clear, I smell the air, the creature from next door has not been out in a while. I walk quietly past my neighbour's door; I hear him in his flat moving around, but he hasn't heard me. I make my way to the corner shop, Raj, another survivor and owner of the store before the outbreak, asks me how I'm doing. I tell him I am surviving day by day. 'Aren't we all?' he replies, cheerfully. He is a survivor and an optimist; nothing gets him down. I get the provisions for the days ahead and take them to the counter. Raj, not really fully coming to terms with what has happened, still plays the charade of asking for the money for the provisions. Not wanting to burst his bubble by explaining that money is worthless now, I give him a merciful smile, pay him, then leave. People deal with things in their own way I guess. Keeping old rituals and customs helps him deal with this new world of terror and uncertancy.

Not getting two feet out the door the eagle faced monster had noticed me from across the street with her bulging eagle eyes. She called out to me with her screeching crawl. For a moment all the nerves in my body froze, then the electricity in my nerves pulsed down to my leg muscles all at once and I ran. She called after me as I bolted around the corner, straight into a pack of small creatures that shrieked and surrounded me, pushing me and snarling. I barely manage to dodge their claws, twisting out of the way, keeping my provisions between me and their claws that would easily tear apart my flesh. I run through the corridor to get to the stairs to my flat. Two of the eagle creature's cronies are waiting for me in the hall, they grab me before I can get away. I squirm and try and wriggle from their grip but they hold me tight with iron claws dripping with blood; their bodies tall and strong with cold, hard, steel, deep set faces that look down at me emotionless as I pass out.

I wake up in the eagle ladies lair in a panic; I was at her mercy. Soon she would come for me and devour me, just like the others. The door opens and I cower in the corner; my nerves are destroyed; I just want this hell to end... I am so tired. 'Hello Louise' a familiar voice comes from the corridor. I uncontrollably let out a short breath, then catch myself again; tears forming in my eyes. I feel like I am reaching breaking point, is it really her? With a reassuring smile on her face she walks around the corner of the door. it is her! I let out longer breath, collapsing into my mothers arms, it was her! it was really her! she had come to save me. 'Everyones turned into monsters mum!' I plead with her, holding her close, not wanting to let her go. She looks at me the way she did when I was younger 'I know darling, I know. It's going to be alright. Just take these pills and they will all go away again.'