the potential to claim our lives within the blink of an eye and that, that , I didn’t wish upon my sister.
I stopped walking at the edge of the grass. A line of trees was in front of me. I turned back to the house. No obvious movement from within. Clearly they hadn’t discovered I was missing yet. Should I just turn back? Go home before they say anything?
I can’t.
I need to go on - no matter how scared I am of what I might find.
I closed my eyes and took the first step into the woodland. Okay. That’s it. I opened my eyes again. No turning back now. I’ve done the hard bit; the first step. Now it’s just a question of baby steps making sure to keep quiet in case any of those things are nearby.
I continued forward, careful of where I placed my feet. I knew it would be impossible not to make a noise but it didn’t mean I had to be carefree about traipsing through the woods. I didn’t want to accidentally snap any twigs or branches which may be lying on the floor. Not when the noise could attract the attention of possible trouble.
* * * * *
The sun had made a fair amount of progress across the sky by the time I heard the sounds of footsteps heading my way. Naturally I dived behind some cover (a large oak tree) on the off-chance it was one of them or - worse yet - a group of them.
I had been walking for so long, in such blissful and beautiful settings, that I had gotten used to the idea of being alone and my mind stopped from even thinking about running into anyone (or anything). Until now anyway. Now my mind was chastising me for being so stupid and not staying more alert to the reality of my surroundings.
My heart was beating ten to the dozen as the footsteps continued to get closer. Pushing myself against the tree - wishing I could remain invisible - it was impossible for me to see who (or what) it was. My hand gripped the axe handle tighter and I readied my mind for a plan of attack. Even if this thing walked straight past me, I couldn’t leave it to wander with its own devices. I’d have to deal with it just as Father dealt with the last one.
A swift swing of the axe, aimed at its neck.
With any luck, despite my obvious weight disadvantage compared to that of my stocky father, it would only take one hit to detach head from neck.
I steadied my breathing as the footsteps got closer. With any luck (whoever it was) they wouldn’t hear me.
Please walk past.
Please walk past.
Please walk past.
Closer.
Closer.
They stopped at the other side of the tree. Human. Definitely human. And they sounded out of breath. The thing from the other day, even with a knife sticking from its back, didn’t sound as though it was out of breath. This has to be a person. A normal person.
I stepped out from behind the log with the axe raised up, ready to bring it crashing down into the skull of whoever it may have been. I kept it up there, even when I realised it was indeed a normal person (much to my relief). He jumped when he noticed me.
“Scared the shit out of me!” he said. “I thought you were one of them.”
By them, I presumed he meant the things which my father and I stumbled into when we first left the house.
“What the fuck are they anyway?”
I lowered the axe. Despite his aggressive language, he didn’t look as though he was about to try and attack me. If anything, the medium built man seemed happy to see me.
“I don’t know,” I told him, “something to do with the blast I guess.”
“The blast? What fucking blast? What the fuck is going on?”
Clearly he had lost his memory too. I didn’t have time to fill him in on the details.
“What’s that way?” I asked him referring to the direction he had come from.
“You don’t want to go that way!” he said.
That wasn’t the answer I had been hoping for but it was one I was expecting. After all, he’d hardly be heading my
I stopped walking at the edge of the grass. A line of trees was in front of me. I turned back to the house. No obvious movement from within. Clearly they hadn’t discovered I was missing yet. Should I just turn back? Go home before they say anything?
I can’t.
I need to go on - no matter how scared I am of what I might find.
I closed my eyes and took the first step into the woodland. Okay. That’s it. I opened my eyes again. No turning back now. I’ve done the hard bit; the first step. Now it’s just a question of baby steps making sure to keep quiet in case any of those things are nearby.
I continued forward, careful of where I placed my feet. I knew it would be impossible not to make a noise but it didn’t mean I had to be carefree about traipsing through the woods. I didn’t want to accidentally snap any twigs or branches which may be lying on the floor. Not when the noise could attract the attention of possible trouble.
* * * * *
The sun had made a fair amount of progress across the sky by the time I heard the sounds of footsteps heading my way. Naturally I dived behind some cover (a large oak tree) on the off-chance it was one of them or - worse yet - a group of them.
I had been walking for so long, in such blissful and beautiful settings, that I had gotten used to the idea of being alone and my mind stopped from even thinking about running into anyone (or anything). Until now anyway. Now my mind was chastising me for being so stupid and not staying more alert to the reality of my surroundings.
My heart was beating ten to the dozen as the footsteps continued to get closer. Pushing myself against the tree - wishing I could remain invisible - it was impossible for me to see who (or what) it was. My hand gripped the axe handle tighter and I readied my mind for a plan of attack. Even if this thing walked straight past me, I couldn’t leave it to wander with its own devices. I’d have to deal with it just as Father dealt with the last one.
A swift swing of the axe, aimed at its neck.
With any luck, despite my obvious weight disadvantage compared to that of my stocky father, it would only take one hit to detach head from neck.
I steadied my breathing as the footsteps got closer. With any luck (whoever it was) they wouldn’t hear me.
Please walk past.
Please walk past.
Please walk past.
Closer.
Closer.
They stopped at the other side of the tree. Human. Definitely human. And they sounded out of breath. The thing from the other day, even with a knife sticking from its back, didn’t sound as though it was out of breath. This has to be a person. A normal person.
I stepped out from behind the log with the axe raised up, ready to bring it crashing down into the skull of whoever it may have been. I kept it up there, even when I realised it was indeed a normal person (much to my relief). He jumped when he noticed me.
“Scared the shit out of me!” he said. “I thought you were one of them.”
By them, I presumed he meant the things which my father and I stumbled into when we first left the house.
“What the fuck are they anyway?”
I lowered the axe. Despite his aggressive language, he didn’t look as though he was about to try and attack me. If anything, the medium built man seemed happy to see me.
“I don’t know,” I told him, “something to do with the blast I guess.”
“The blast? What fucking blast? What the fuck is going on?”
Clearly he had lost his memory too. I didn’t have time to fill him in on the details.
“What’s that way?” I asked him referring to the direction he had come from.
“You don’t want to go that way!” he said.
That wasn’t the answer I had been hoping for but it was one I was expecting. After all, he’d hardly be heading my
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