Lifeless

The bell was ringing again.

It did so every night, at the exact same time. On and on it rang out, disrupting the still, silent air.

Red slowly turned his empty, emotionless gaze towards the tower in the distance. Something inside him urged him to move, to make his way across the field. He needed to explore the source of the noise, even if he didn’t understand why. And really he didn’t. He never would, even though he made this trek every single night.

His legs began to carry him towards the tower. As he stumbled along, he became vaguely aware of other shapes moving around him, moving just as slow as he did. He paid them no mind, as he always did, concerned with only one thing: reaching that tower. On and on he marched, never growing tired, never needing to stop for a short break.

The tower was about a half a mile away, but Red didn’t care if it was ten thousand miles away. Wherever it stood, whatever sounds it made, he would always return to it. Like a moth to a flame, Red would always make his slow, steady march across the field to the tower, to gaze upon it, enraptured by the strangeness of it. He had to.

He was within just a few yards of the tower when he both heard and felt a soft click under his left foot. Comprehension was an elusive beast, but he went very still anyways. Some small part of him recognized the sound, just enough for him to register that he was now in danger. He did not understand why, but he did understand, in that very moment, that if he were to take even one more step, something terrible would happen.

He slowly looked down at his foot and saw, only partially buried in a mound of dirt, a circular metal casing. His vacant, lifeless gaze remained riveted on this thing, fascinated by what his eyes showed him. How was it, though, that in all the times they had made this trek across the land, he would happen upon one of these strange things now? What were the odds?

The bell continued to sound out, a deafening gong-gong-gong that permeated every fiber of Red’s being. It was louder than a supersonic explosion. He was not bothered by it, nor were any of the others.

Several bodies bumped into him, almost knocking him over. He somehow managed to stay upright, with his left foot planted firmly on this device. Despite the insisting urge for him to continue forward, despite the desperate, urgent, and frantic need to be right up on the tower, practically fused with it, he stayed where he was. He didn’t dare lift his foot while the others were mulling around him, all headed towards a single, fixed point.

Besides, he could see the tower from here. As tall as a skyscraper, standing proudly upon four steel columns. Strange markings were embedded within its round face and there were long, pointed arrows that spun around it at a snail’s pace. Some days, he thought he recognized what those symbols meant, but those memories were always so far away.

And so he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Time meant nothing to Red. There had been countless days and nights before this moment where he would stand and stare out towards the horizon, watching the sun rise and then set again only a short while later. On all those occasions, not a single thought ever ran through his skull. He merely existed in this world, not knowing why or how anything had come to be. Or what it would turn into.

Finally, the bell went silent. The mass of bodies lingered for a while, all staring vacantly at the tower as though expecting it to start up again any moment. But of course it wouldn’t. It never did. Only after the sun had risen and fallen again would it make noise once more. And then they would return to this very spot, as they had so many nights before, to gaze upon the oddity before them.

Would anything ever change? How many days and nights had this ritual been going on? Red did not know the answers to these questions. The only thing he did know was that it would continue this way for eternity.

Little by little, the throng began to turn away from the bell tower and head back the way they had come. Listless, lifeless eyes passed Red by, all unawares of his current predicament. It didn’t matter, though. None of them ever felt anything towards each other. Not sympathy, or pity, or even hatred. The only thing any of them ever cared about was the noise the bell made. They only huddled together during the day because it was something they had always done. Something they were driven to do by some deep, unknown urge. Stay together. Strength in numbers. It was safer that way.

The group slowly trickled away, with only a small handful of stragglers still standing around the tower, continuing to stare at it like it would come to life again if only they had the faith that it would. Eventually, they would give up and turn away as well, and meander back the half mile they had wandered.

Red watched them all go, waiting until the very last one had finally cleared from around the tower. Even then, he waited. He waited for so long the sun had started to rise. A pinkish glow drifted up over the horizon. He turned his gaze up to the sky, staring straight into the bright yellow orb as it rose higher and higher, turning the sky to a deep cerulean. He knew what was to come next; there was no escaping it.

He slowly gazed around one last time to make sure all of the others had gone. Only when he was absolutely certain that he was alone did Red finally lift his left foot.