Darkness

These brambles made her face itch. They always did. She hated them, but so did everyone else. That's what made them the perfect place to hide. Well, that was a part of it. They also happened to be in exactly the right spot.

The bramble bushes overlooked the derelict, half collapsed old building from the top of a rise. They grew between the tall trees, wrapping their tendrils around them as if pulling them back down to earth. Perhaps they were jealous of the sun the trees could reach? Not that there was much sun to boast of today.

The dark clouds lurked high overhead, as if sulking that they'd run out of rain. Somehow they still managed to drench the forest in a sulky gray hue. Just another muddy, gloomy evening.

The weather didn't bother Aria too much. There were plenty of other things to occupy her attention. The light in the window of the old building for instance, or the silhouette of the shadowy figure on the cracked dusty glass. The silhouette looked familiar. The movements were natural. It seemed safe enough. She was sure that the only reason she had survived this long was because she always crawled through the brambles to her hiding spot to check everything was normal before going in.

Aria sighed. A bramble caught her cheek as she rose swiftly to her feet. A pinstripe of blood appeared instantly, welling up within the cut, before spilling over and running down her cheek. She grunted in disgust and rubbed it away. Her filthy hand replaced the bright red steak with a black grimy smear.

She shrugged to herself and bounded down the narrow track dodging the puddles as she went. Her backpack bounced on her back as her dirty sneakers squelched through the mud, and the brambles clutched at her torn trousers. She bounded between the last few trees, through the clearing and into the building through the opening where the door once hung.

"I'm home!"

Her voice echoed hollowly through the almost empty house. There was no reply.

Curious she thought that's unusual.

Something was off. Something wasn't right. Aria moved forward as silently as she could.

The old floorboards creaked as she walked down the hallway. The familiar musty smell wafted over her. It was the dank foul smell of rotting wood and fabric, but to her it was reassuring. Of what was left of the buildings in this world, this one offered relative safety.

It wasn't marked on any map that she knew of. It had survived the war, or at least, most of it had survived. The entire North wall and a section of the roof was missing.

She pressed her back to the wall midway down the hallway and carefully edged her way past a slightly darker patch of floor. She hadn't seen what would happen if she actually stepped on it, but she had been warned.

"Best security system we can afford!" Zeb had told her with a grin "Just mind you don't accidentally step on it. That would be most unfortunate!"

Zeb was good at that sort of thing. The house certainly looked abandoned, but he had it well prepared in case the Crawlers ever found it. There were hidden doors and concealed rooms anywhere and everywhere Zeb could find a place to put one.

Aria liked Zeb. He was a bit older than her, but incredibly resourceful. He always had a grin hidden somewhere about him and a witty comment to match. No matter how bleak things appeared to be, Zeb had an idea of how to fix it and a smile to brighten their spirits. Things had a tendency to be bleak often; much too often, ever since the Crawlers appeared.

Aria stepped back into the middle of the hallway and approached the kitchen door. It was the only room that had a light on. Cautiously she glanced inside.

“Locky? You’re back! It’s good to see you!”

She meant the words, but the tone of her voice didn’t show it. She stood in the kitchen doorway and made no move to enter. The tall figure at the table looked up. A smile broke across his lips, but his eyes remained cold.

“Aria! It’s good to be back!”

They both eyed the other warily. Neither was entirely sure how to react. The tension in the room grew. It was not a matter of distrust, they knew each other well, but if either of them was infected…

Aria glanced about the room.

"Where's Zeb?"

"I haven't seen him.” Locky shrugged dismissively. “He wasn't here when I came in."

"He was supposed to be here at least until I got back." Aria frowned. "It's really not like him to disappear."

Aria knew something was definitely not right, Zeb was always here when she returned. It was possible he had disappeared into one of the hidden rooms.

“Zeb, if you’re hiding here somewhere, come out please?” her voice echoed through the house, and they both waited in silence for several seconds waiting for a reply. None came.

Aria turned to Locky.

“So what did you learn on your trip? How far did you go?”

Locky sat in silence for a moment staring off into space. Finally he began to speak.

“I went to Bankston. It took me a long time to get there - almost two days. I stayed off the roads and travelled through the trees as much as I could. I didn’t see anyone on the way there; it was eerily quiet. But when I got there… ” He turned and stared directly at Aria. “There are Crawlers in Bankston. It is swarming with them.”

Aria shivered. That was not what she wanted to hear. It was much too close to home. She hesitated, her voice trembled as she spoke. Tears were already forming in her eyes.

“Did… did you recognize anyone? Are they... the Crawlers I mean… are they recognizable? Can you see who they were?”

Locky’s eyes dropped to the floor. He sighed.

“I didn’t get close enough to say for sure. They still looked mostly human, but their skin - it’s red and raw, or bleeding, or just not there. They don’t behave like people anymore. Their minds are… gone. They walk on their hands and feet much more than they walk upright. The town is destroyed. I saw…”

Locky heaved and choked as he gagged at the memory. Tears welled in his eyes.

“I saw several of them tear someone apart…” he paused again. “It was probably once a male, early twenties… they tore him limb from limb for no apparent reason. Then threw the body parts away and disappeared. I waited a long time before I dared to go closer to have a look. I found an arm. Beneath the skin - it was full of parasites. Worms or something, I don’t know. They had eaten the skin from the inside out, and even as I watched they began to disappear into the ground, into the water… and the stench... ”

Locky couldn’t hold it anymore. He gagged and bolted for the window, fumbled with the latch and slammed it open. A pane of glass broke and glass shattered over the floor. Locky vomited uncontrollably out of the window, his stomach contents cascading onto the dirt outside. He shut his eyes, but the image of the arm instantly appeared in his mind, causing him to vomit again.

Finally Locky managed to control his stomach. He turned back to face Aria. She still stood in the doorway, frozen in shock, staring at the empty chair where Locky had been sitting. She appeared oblivious to the fact he was no longer there.

“I’m sorry, but if you ever knew anyone in Bankston, you don’t anymore.”

Aria finally managed to tear her eyes from the chair. She stared at him blankly. Her mouth opened but no words came out. Her face was pale, but she was too stunned to cry. There were no words to say the two stared at each other, unable to fully comprehend what was happening to their world.

It was completely dark outside. They had no idea how long they had silently been lost in their thoughts, when they were interrupted by a sound from upstairs. Footsteps walked slowly across the floor. Aria called down the hallway towards the stairs.

“Zeb?”

A grunt came in reply. Aria turned to Locky.

“He must have been sleeping in one of his hideouts. Sounds like he’s still half asleep.”

The footsteps stopped abruptly. There was a dull scratching noise and then an odd pattering sound.

“Zeb? Are you ok? Locky’s here, he’s made it back.” Aria slipped down the hallway towards the stairs, her eyes adjusting to the dim light. “Zeb? Where are you?” She vaguely heard Locky step into the passage behind her.

A figure moved down the stairs. Aria stopped short. The figure moved down the stairs on all fours.

“Zeb?”

The figure stopped short. It looked up. It scratched wildly at its arm. The face was barely recognisable, but it was unmistakably Zeb. 

His eyes, sunk deep into his eyesockets, glinted yellow in the light shining through the kitchen door. His lips, usually smiling no matter what were pulled back into a smeer and almost missing. His usually thick black hair was reduced to a few wisps. He looked nothing like he did that morning.