Revulsion.
Pure utter disgust is distinguished from typical cringe.
The feeling of a wet slimy liquid slipping down a person's back is not comparable to a slimy eel going down the spine.
Disgust has levels, margins to measure it's intensity and it's potency.
The measurements are instinctual to humans, triggered by a neurological response in the brain when something interacts with the senses that is not comfortable, not pleasant but is infact highly unpleasant and repugnant.
Corpse filles with maggots.
A sewage tunnel bathed in human waste.
And a shelter area where dirty, hungry, cutthroat humans live together out of necessity, fear and desperation.
Shacks made of metal pipes, tiles, bricks, cardboard, blankets, chainmail and a lot of other junk that could be pried and dragged to make something useful as shelter.
Lesley cringed his nose as he looked around the place, his sense of smell disgusted by the foul smells of urine, waste, mold and rot.
The shelters were unorganized, with small passages and turns with dead ends and alleys leading to walls. Few people were around, most were asleep, and others had died in their homes or outside the warehouse.
The air was putrid, and held numerous migrating flies and the promise of infectious disease.
Above them, the ceiling was dark, the lights broken or without lightbulbs. Small spots of fires, scattered around the shelters illuminated the grim place, preventing people from wandering in the dark.
The sounds that could be heard were coughs, grunts and the occasional and sometimes ceaseless song of flies and mosquitoes.
Lesley wondered how humans could live like this, even the orange district in the citadel was more humane.
This area was the hamlet for the people of the queen. Mama V's people, the survivors who followed her orders, lived under her reign within her territory. Outside they scavenged, stole, killed, ran and tried to live longer than the day before. But within the shelters, things were different, Mama V had rules to maintain order, in her little hamlet.
There was still killing, theft and other crimes but they were less likely to happen, since Mama V always kept her people in line, not wanting them to butcher each other like common animals. Her guards and sentries, could be seen wandering alleys, standing and moving around, making sure there was a semblance of order.
They weren't many, but they kept the peace.
Veranda moved Lesley and Mel slowly through different passages, making sure to not be spotted by anyone. Lesley could tell by the way the girl moved that she had done this type of sneaking around before.
"Where are we going?" Lesley whispered when they kept going around in what he thought was circles.
Veranda's reply was to put her finger on her lips, telling him to be quiet. Which made Lesley frown but kept his mouth shut.
They continued to walk.
And walk.
And walk.
And walk some more.
And wal-
"Are we lost?" Lesley hissed at Veranda, it had been nearly twenty minutes of walking now.
Veranda turned to him with a serious face and...nodded her head.
"What?" Lesley gasped, " Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"Cause you'd be mad and shout and stuff." Veranda shrugged," But don't worry, I'm pretty sure if we turn around that corner we'll be there...or the next one..I think."
"But you seemed so sure a few minutes ago. Like you'd done this before " Lesley accused.
"I have."
"Then how come you're lost?"
"Well...I always get lost. But after a while, my mom finds me. Or the guards." Veranda gave a small smile" My bad."
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe this. Let's just go back to training. This was a waste of time." Lesley breathed a breath of frustration and annoyance making Veranda pout.
"I said sorry. You have to forgive me or I'll tell my mom." She crossed her arms.
"Forget it. I'll forgive you tomorrow. No later than that." Lesley didn't fall for her pout, he never did." So lead the way...right, you don't know where we even are. Should we go get one of those guards?"
"Probably. But mom is gonna yell at me." Veranda said helplessly.
"Better you than me," Lesley gave an eye roll and looked at Mel," Zombie, go and get a guard, so we can leave this place."
"What if the humans here try to hurt you?" Mel asked," They wanted to kill us. Mama V, the dirty men and the others."
"We've been here for over half a month, if they wanted us dead, then we would be. I would be at least and you'd go on a rampage or something." Lesley gave a nod," Just go. I'm the only one between us three who can fight and you can't die. I'll be right here when you get back."
Mel hesitated but only for a moment, quickly leaving them to find a guard or sentry.
"Hey Lesley, there's something I wanted to ask you " Veranda said tugging his scarf much to Lesley's irritation.
"What? And stop tugging my scarf, it's the only decent thing to cover my neck." Lesley said as he yanked his scarf from her hands.
"Fine. Why are you and Mel so fast? When you fight...it's like you are super fast."
"You're just not paying attention."
" I am. But you guys move all over, like...a hummingbird. I read it's a fast bird." Veranda tugged his scarf again.
"Stop it, sheesh." Lesley pulled his scarf free once more.
"Ok. I wanted to ask you something else. What is it like, back where you come from." Veranda asked him.
"Oh...well, it's nice I guess. A bit closed off, the buildings are tall and there's people everywhere, especially in the lower areas. The foods okay, but can be terrible sometimes. And Greenhit is-"
"No,I meant your other city. The one you told me you came from. Furuso." Veranda said with a smile.
"Oh, that place, my home city. It was plain, simple like most cities before they are infested." Lesley looked away, his eyes grim," There were people, buildings and it acted like no zombies existed. The only thing to remember they did was the city wall, that covered the whole city. Not just a section like here."
"Did you have friends?" Veranda pressed on.
"Friends? I...didn't really. I knew people but I was not really a social person. I liked being by myself. " Lesley shrugged his shoulders,"My family didn't think about it much and so nobody really cared."
"So not even one friend?" Veranda asked with a pout.
"Well...there was someone who tried to be my friend. Really really hard. They were annoying and wouldn't leave me alone." Lesley gave a small smile," I even started to dodge them at school but they kept finding me. I eventually gave in and we started to talk...but two weeks later,the zombies came."
"I'm sorr-"
Thud! Thud!
Two bodies fell down, and from the shadows a small group of people emerged and dragged one of the bodies away.