Pledge to the New Year

Bear’s feet hit the ground with a slap, slap, slap as he sprinted towards his apartment.

Stupid, Stupid.

He had lost track of the months as he went scrounging through the abandoned buildings for scrap parts. He had always been handy with his hands, but it had been a hobby, nothing that he thought his life would have to depend on.

Bear cursed as he the thread of his sole unraveled, making him trip. His load flung from his arms as he threw them out to catch himself from face planting. His stack hit the ground with a loud bang, echoing around the empty streets.

Bear cursed again. Eyes flickering around, he bent down and quickly un-did the laces, pulling them from each hole until he was holding the length of lace. Thinking quickly, he wrapped the lace around the bottom of his shoes, keeping it all together. It would have to do for now. Another day, if he made it another day, he would find another pair.

The streets were desolated.

Bear remembered how they used to be. Cars filtering down the lanes in a rhythm the world had created, the down-trodden march of the daily commutes to work. Now these cars were nothing but abandoned burnt husks with the wild taking over.

This night, years ago, the streets would have been alive. Music would have been filtering through every crack instead of the tense silence that you could feel and triggered your fight or flight instinct. Anyone of every age would be out on the streets, faces alight with delight and excitement instead of holed up in whatever building they could find. The streets were no longer alive, but rotted and decayed.  

Bear’s limbs had locked, his stomach dropping and rolling with cold fear when he heard the whispered words New Year’s Eve.

Something flickered in Bear peripheral vision and he held his breath, body tensing. The shadows slithered across a nearby abandoned bike, the temperature dropping.

With painfully slow movements, Bear straightened from his crouch.

One. Two. Three.

Bear sprinted as fast as he could.

He pumped his arms back and forth, praying that his shoe would hold together. He could see his breath fogging out in front of him in puff of icy white and could feel the sting in his chest with each frantic breath he drew in.

Stupid. So Stupid.

He should have been paying more attention to the months as they went by. Small communities that had banded together in the desperate times spent their time devoted to preparing for the New Year, to make sure everyone was ready with their resolution. To make sure that nobody was left behind. But Bear didn’t live in one of these communities and had let the year slip by without his usual care. He had become complacent and was now quite literally running for his life.

Adrenalin sparked a flare of hope when Bear spotted the abandoned apartment block, he had been living in. He growled, shouting at his body to move faster. His limps grew clumsy with frantic need and he crashed into the door. He momentum sent the broken door flying open and he crashed into the lobby. He skidded through the dirt and rotted leaves.

Bear had once had the brief thought that the building had a decaying charm to it but as he scrambled to his feet his briefly thought that this would become his tomb.

The elevator had long since broken and hopscotched up the groaning stairs, avoiding the gaping holes.

Bear had thought the fourth floor had been a good choice. An escape. Now it felt like a death sentence.

The shadows were close now meaning that the New Year was not far away. Bear stumbled down the hall, bouncing of the walls like a drunk. Many years ago this would have been stumbling home after the New Year celebrations but those days were long behind them.

Crashing through his door, Bear flung himself into room, his shoes finally giving way once more. He kicked it off, flinging it away as his chest heaved with frantic breath.

Resolution. He had to make his resolution before the year ended.

Spinning widely, Bear flung himself to the kitchen. He yanked at the draws, brain working overtime as he panicked. The draws, like most of the house, were empty. Over the years Bear had been slowly collecting items but often traded them for essentials like food and clothes. He would have to go scavenging for something to trade to get new shoes, if he made it to the next year.

His breath stuttered when he found what his looking for. The knife had seen better days. The handle was rusted like many things in his neighbourhood and there was no shine to the blade.

Bear hand’s shook as he yanked up the sleeve. It slipped down and he pushed it again, harder until it jammed in the crook of his elbow. Wrapping his hand around the handle of the blade, his hands steady as he brought the tip to his arm. Four clean scars already marred the skin and he was ready to add the fifth. He pressed the tip of the blade hard into the skin and after a beat red welled out of the cut as he begun to slice the knife upwards.

“I pledge myself to the New Year,” Bear rasped out. “I pledge myself to the New Year.”

Blood dripped down his arm, droplets wetly splattering to the bench top. He removed the knife from his arm and sagged against the bench, eyes sliding shut.

He had made it.

He kept the sleeve up, allowed the blood to drip down his arm and onto the floor. It didn’t hurt to leave his offering to the New Year a little longer.

Something in the air shifted.

Bear shivered, eyes snapping open. The darkness of the apartment hadn’t seemed as cold as it did now. He swallowed hard and his eyes tightened around the handle of the knife.

“I pledge myself to the New Year,” Bear whispered. “Please, I pledge myself to the New Year.”

His breath came out in an icy fog.

The shadows crept along the kitchen floor, slithering closer and closer.

Bear’s eyes slipped close.

“I pledge myself to the New Year.”