Dissension by R.J. Wolf

that was half an hour ago.  Now he could feel himself getting stronger with every step.
    The starless night hid his pursuers, but he knew they were back there.  He could smell them.  He could hear their deep, rattled breathing as they tried to keep up.  If he could only reach the tree line he’d be safe, but the rugged terrain had already claimed one life and he wasn’t convinced that it wouldn’t claim his as well.
    His veins throbbed as blood rushed through them, fueling his muscles like a fighter jet.  He moved like a gazelle, leaping over rocks, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.  He looked back just as a gnarled hand emerged from the blackness behind him.  It brushed against his shirt as he dove into the trees and closed his eyes.
    Suddenly he was standing alone on a barren wasteland.  The scorched ground smoldered as clouds of ash drifted into the sky.  Cities that were once thriving and vibrant now lay ruined, only shadows of their former selves.
    He’d tried his best to stop them, but in the end he wasn’t strong enough.  Now everything he loved was gone.  His mother was claimed in the fires, his father went shortly after her.  The brother he never knew he had; a casualty of a war he couldn’t understand.
    His eyes welled with tears.  He longed for a time when things were simpler, when things made sense.  The emptiness he felt was suffocating.  It choked him, stealing the very breath from his lungs.
    He relaxed and stared out on the charred landscape.  It looked to him like hell, if he’d ever been.  But he was sure hell had a nicer view.
    There was a sobering reality he felt standing amidst the ruins of his home.  He was alone, something he’d always known, but now it was undeniable.  His friends who had stood by him loyally, following him to the end were long gone.  They were dead like everything he came in contact with. 
    A scream echoed in the distance.  A woman’s voice clung to the wind, yelling for help.  He turned and ran towards the sound.  It was a faint whisper that barely brushed his ears.
    The scream echoed again, just as a hand broke through the rubble ahead.  He ran faster, screaming back to the faceless voice.
    “I’m coming, just hold on.”
    She screamed louder.  Her voice bounced around in his head like a basketball in an empty gym.  It wasn’t words, but the sound of someone in pain.  He could feel it; he could sense the agony in every breath.
    Lightning ripped through the sky, illuminating the mountains ahead.  The earth began to shake and thunder rumbled the air.  It was starting again.   He knew he didn’t have much time.
    He ran even faster now, but no matter how fast he moved he was no closer to her.  Suddenly, another hand broke through the ground, then another and another after that.
    “Help me!  Help us!” they screamed.
    His feet pounded the crumbling earth as he sped toward the outstretched hands.  With every step he took, another one pierced the jagged rocks until he lost count.  A wave of cries flooded the air.
    “Help us!  Please help us! Somebody help us!” the voices pleaded and then there was silence.
    Anthony slowly opened his eyes and peered around the room.  He squinted, willing himself to focus as the blue and red ceiling fan stirred dust and bits of loose paper about.  His alarm clock buzzed loudly in his ear.
    "Creepy," he grumbled and rubbed his face.
    Anthony welcomed the new day, a relief from the ghastly visions that had haunted his sleep.  They’d become more than dreams to him, almost like memories that he’d forgotten.  He knew he’d been there before.  He could smell the burning earth; he could taste the despair that lingered in the wind.  The pain of losing everything felt way too real to just be a dream.
    He sighed and reluctantly sat up.  The nightmare that always began with him being chased by shadowy figures, had replayed itself more frequently the last few nights.  As terrifying as it was, he still