WARNING mild body gore (its to add a sense of Dredd or tension)
i hope ya enjoy my short story, also ill accept any criticism or feedback for it
EDIT: i didnt realize this but there are some gramatical errors in my writing and i deeply apologize for that
Prologue ~ The chosen one.
I arose from my bed like a vampire rises from its cold casket. This day has been looming over my life ever since I was made to be the “chosen one” by what remains of my people. I understand why it has to be me, I'm the only young man who hasn't lost one of his limbs from those mutants that have been skulking around the perimeter of my village. But why must it be me, it's not like I was standing tall against those masses of flesh. I hid in my tent and pretended not to hear the bloody screams that boomed throughout the village, but nevertheless I had to leave my half dilapidated tent to speak with our villages wiseman, he calls himself the whisperer, i have no clue why, it's not like he’s done anything but smoke in his tent all day while commanding others, and telling people that they “must do as they are told for the sake of life”.
Leaving my tent’s flappy exit felt like entering a portal to hell. The sands around me appeared to be dyed red with how much blood was spilt, “are you prepared” those words nearly made me jump out of my own skin, i was shocked to see my aunt covered head to toe in bloody bandages, “im ready” i said with a solemn tone as i actually realized what i was getting into. I hadn't left my tent in nearly two days since the last attack, and I never expected to see my own aunt wrapped in crude excuses for gauze. Before that id only seen the wiseman, he entered my tent last night with a frightened look on his face and spoke to me with a tone of grave importance “listen hark, you are all we have left to figure out where these demons are coming from” i didnt get to respond at all because he scurried over to my bed and grabbed me like he was dying “you are the chosen one, if you don't rise up for this we will all die” i could feel the cold sweat of his palms on through the shoulders of my tunic as he looked at me with pure terror in his eyes “prepare and pray as much as you can hark, this town needs you” and with those words and the look of dread that washed over his eyes i could only manage to stutteringly say “okay….” the pause was long, it felt like he just realized how much of a coward i really am “do not let fear consume you boy, if you cannot save us then you will be the death of us” and with that he left. That look in his eyes told me everything he was thinking. “We are going to die, and it will be his fault” that must've been what he was thinking, but seeing my aunt so disheveled and beaten made me realize, “if i dont do this then i will be the reason why she dies”, it filled me with a sense of determination, and with that I turned back to my aunt and spoke again “dont worry aunty, ill save us all”, it sounded so much better in my head but i soon realized how little she actually believed in me. She didn't even bother to reply to my words, she gave a simple nod and with that i turned back to see the wiseman before i left.
When i came to see him for one last time i expected to see him as i always see him, instead he was just sitting silently with his hands joined together in silent prayer like he was at war with ghosts. “Im leaving soon sir” it felt like my words fell on deaf ears, i crept closer to him thinking he just didnt hear what i said but instead of him greeting me with his usual buck toothed grin, he just opened his eyes and coldly stared at me, almost as if he had seen something so grotesque that it sucked the life out of him. “You must speak with the village chief, he knows where you should look” I expected so much more appraisal or words of affirmation but instead i just got a cold response.
“Where is he?”
“Youll find him in his tent”
The exchange was very brief, I understood why but I was wishing for more insights and knowledge.
Once I reached the tent I began to hear noises that sounded like a kid whining to his mother, and as I entered his tent I was greeted with a sight that shook me to my core. It was the chieftain's still breathing body, and my cousin who was tending to it. He had most of himself mangled or almost completely gone, and both his eyes missing. The sight was completely unimaginable to me, I nearly threw up from the sight of him and the smells coming from what was left of his wheezing corpse. “Why are you still here, you fool” My cousin hissed at me while wringing out a cloth to lightly press on his bruised skin. “whisper told me to come here” I couldn't handle the shocking state of the chieftain so I turned away to speak again.
“I dont know where im headed”
“N…nor”
The man speaking to me sounded like a zombie as he struggled to speak,
“North”
I knew he said north but it felt as if he was just making noises that were close to north,
“Thank you sir”
And with my last words, I exited the chiefs tent to head north in hopes to at least catch a glimpse of whatever those beasts call home so I could run back to my tent and cower in fear knowing that at least I can die knowing it wasn't a complete failure.
Chapter 1 ~ The wrong place, at the right time.
The desert sun beat down on my sweaty body like I was meat over a fire, I had no real idea of where I was going other than that I was heading north. I didn't have any maps or a compass, I just prayed I was heading in the right direction, but as I walked endlessly in the dry heat I began to make out what looked like a rock formation, “maybe that's where they live?” I thought to myself as I started to shift my feet in the direction of the formation to see if I could spot any sort of mutant or demon. But as i got closer i started to notice that it was just a couple of big rocks that formed an almost pyramidal shape, I sighed in relief as i saw that it was no more than a pile of rocks but when i turned back i noticed that i could no longer see my village, not only that but i also couldnt even tell where i was, “im not going to make it out here” i thought to myself as i slouched my back and walked to the formation to sit in its shadow in hopes of cooling off.
Sitting down on the warm ground felt amazing to me, I honestly felt like I was going to pass out and wished that the chief or anyone would have given me a water skin so that i wouldnt die of dehydration before I even found out where these things live. But as I sat in the shade and panted like a dog I began to hear a slight sound of shifting behind one of the rocks, not like the sound of these things collapsing on me but more like wet skin coming off of a flat rock. My heart began to race, I was fully prepared to die but oddly nothing entered the little rock dome i was in, nevertheless i never heard any sounds of something getting back up and leaving so i just sat there and waited, until something that looked like the back of my grandfather's bald head crawled its way into the formation with me. What i assumed to be its eyeless head and chattering teeth crawled the rest of its body on top of the rocks so it could nestle itself right above me, “holy fuck what is that thing”, i thought to myself in horror. I knew I had to get away from it as soon as I could but I didn't know how, so I continued to silently sit under it in silent prayer that it wouldn't just plop on top of me and consume me or whatever it is capable of.
Me and it stayed in the same position for awhile, but as i started to think more clearly i remembered why im not sitting in my bed or eating a hot meal prepared by one of the women of my tribe, so i decided that i would atleast try to die with dignity by slowly squirming out of the rocks as quietly as I could, but suddenly its teeth slowly began to chatter again and as i finally crawled out it dropped onto the sand and began to maddeningly writhe around and chatter its teeth as its many legs began to gain traction in the sand. I screamed and began to get up as fast as I could, but it was far faster than me. It got on my leg and began to crawl to my face as I fell over and tried to get it off me. But my efforts were futile, its lipless mouth was almost able to gnaw at my face but a deafening sound of a small explosion shocked both me and it as it screamed in pain and ran off me “what the hell are you doing out here kid?” i thought it was one of my own people, but as I rolled my head towards them and covered my eyes from the sun, I noticed that the man who was holding what looked like a metal pipe at me was not wearing one of the tunics that the elders of my tribe make. He was wearing various different pieces of scrap and leather, all i could really make out was a red plate in the middle of his chest that read “passadina” i had no clue what that meant but before i could say anything he offered a hand to me and said “get up kid, that thing won't be too happy to see us again” so i grabbed his hand and he helped me get up. I was so incredibly thankful that this man saved me that when i spoke it was almost like I was speaking to my father.
“Thanks mister”
“Dont worry kid, it aint like there is much of us left anymore”
“Us?”
“Yknow kid…like humanity and stuff”
The man didn't seem to be very good at speaking, he probably hasn't met a lot of people in his life.
“Do you know where a cave full of monsters is?”
“What the hell are you talkin bout?”
“My chief told me to come over here to look for the den of monsters that attacked us….well it was more of him wheezing the words north at me but still. I am the chosen one and I need to find that place.”
“Well kid i aint really got a map on me but i think i know where that place be”
“Will you take me there?”
“No…”
The way he said no sounded very stern and serious.
“Why”
“Cause”
“But i need to find it”
“Too bad kid, your people need to leave wherever they are”
“Why”
“Cause those things are more then just mutants….they cant be killed easily, and they are quicker than a bullet train”
“What is a bullet train?”
“How old are you?”
“My aunt says im a man”
“You look more like a baby”
“No”
“Yep”
I was starting to get frustrated with this man as he kept talking to me like im not the chosen one.
“Listen… I really need to know where these things live, please at least point me in the direction of their layer”
“They be over yonder”
The man pointed in the direction that the sun was currently at with his middle finger.
“How do you know its there?”
“Cause I've been there”
“Why cant you just come with me then?”
“Cause that place is where all men go to die”
“Good thing im the chosen one and not a man”
“You sure do love telling me how chosen you are, don't you?”
“Sorry”
The man scoffed at my apology and spit on the ground. He then pulled something off his belt that looked like a metal waterskin.
“What is that?”
“Water”
“Can i have some please”
“No”
“Please”
“No”
“Why”
“Cause its mine”
“Please”
“Say anything again and ill kill you with my gun”
The man raised his weapon in the air to threaten me as he drank from his metal water skin.
“This thing is called a canteen by the way”
Hark nodded when the man said that,
“I was kidding when i said i was going to shoot you”
“.....”
“You can speak now, boy”
“Thank you sir”
The man chuckled at me as I thanked him for not shooting me when I spoke, he then offered me his canteen.
“You ain't half bad, kid”
I grabbed the canteen from his hands and began to chug from it. I wasn't expecting to nearly choke on the burning taste of his water as I took my first sip from his canteen.
“What the hell is that??”
“Its called bourbon”
“It should be called fire water”
“People round here called it that a long long time ago”
“Why”
“Everytime you say why i feel like i should knock you out”
“Sorry….”
“Anyways, I best be heading off from here, i gotta get back to camp and get my grub on”
The man took the canteen back from my hands and began to walk away.
“Wait…where did you say those monsters lived again?”
The man sighed
“Listen boy… those things get their food at night, and you look like an easy meal for them, why don't you come with me and ill take you there myself toomara morn”
“But I need to find it quickly”
“You rather die tonight or live another day, kid”
And with that I suddenly decided he was right and I began to head off with him to wherever he lived.
Chapter 2 ~ Nightmares
While me and Pasadena walked under the low hanging stars of the desert sky we slowly began to form a bond that felt almost like a friendship with each other, and when we reached his desolate camp I nearly forgot all about the holy quest I was sent on by my chief.
“So where would those beasts be from here?”
“No more than a mile or two south”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it ain't like they're much of a danger to a man like me”
Pasadena abruptly pulled me to him and whispered into my ear.
“Somebody or something has been following us for quite some time now kid, dont freak out or nothing”
I couldn't help but consider all the things that could be following us, maybe it was that chattering monstrosity, those beasts that attacked my village, or maybe some half human creature that stalked the desert skies.
“I'm just messing with you kid…”
A breath of relief washed over me as i let his words sink in but when i looked at his face, it had no smile adorning it, or a sheepish grin, i think he was just trying to trick whatever was following us into thinking he hadn't noticed it yet, or maybe he really was kidding and this was just apart of his sick sense of human he picked up from surviving out here for most of his life.
“Just because i was foolin ya doesnt mean you shouldnt watch where you step, i set up tons of traps around this place incase anyone ever tried to take my stuff”
“Do you remember where you put them?”
“Mostly…”
‘WHAT???”
“I'm just messing around kid, relax would ya?”
“Sorry, im just not really into jokes like that, mister”
“Youll get used to my type of humor, don't worry bout it kid”
And with that small heart attack he gave me I made sure to stick right behind as we drew closer and closer to his camp till we finally reached his shelter.
“Welcome to me casa or whatever they say”
It looked a lot like the tents that the elders of my village fashioned out of what the hunters could gather, but it seemed to have a lot of old world memorabilia, like assorted pieces of metal with detailed little depictions of water flowing from mountains, or a man wearing clothes ive never even thought of people wearing giving buck toothed grins right back at me.
“This place kinda looks like a pile of junk with a tent in the middle of it”
“Cmon now, you could've just said it looked lived in”
“sorry “
“Everytime you say sorry i wish i never saved you from that crawler”
“Thats what they call it?”
“Thats what i call em”
Pasadena then set down his bag and took off everything he had on except for his brown tunic and black pants before practically jumping onto his bed.
“You brought a sleeping bag with ya right?”
“Whats that?”
“Dont worry about it”
The man paused and thought for a moment before speaking
“Here kid, take my blanket and just sleep on floor, ill worry about finding you a bag later”
And with that he quickly fell asleep, luckily I was there to close up his tent flaps and head to bed on the cooled sand under me, as i fell asleep I started to dream of my village, but it was covered in green, with water flowing out of a nearby mountain just like what was on one of the pieces of junk outside, but as i gazed around me in awe i started to silently notice in the distance, that a huge dust cloud was starting to form, it looked almost like black tendrils were shooting out of it and consuming all the land around it, it almost reminded me of how my ancestors described the end of the old world. Then came a screaming ball of fire that shot from it started to spread all around my village, the screams i heard reminded me of what happened 3 days ago, the howling, the screaming, the sounds of brutality, is this really what the end of mankind felt like? but before i could think too much about it i was abruptly shook awake.
“Listen kid… some dreadful beast is skulking around us… you need to shut up for a bit and keep quiet”
Pasadena then silently pointed under his bed
“Get under here and make sure not to make a single peep”
A feeling of abject horror sprouted within me, I quickly shimmied underneath his bed and laid there with my eyes fixed on the tent flaps, I couldn't quite hear as well as Pasadena but I could definitely tell whatever was out there was definitely scoping out this place. And not too long after shimming under his bed, with my eyes transfixed onto the tent flaps, I began to see it…. Small black hands fidgeted with the tent flaps that loosely swayed in the wind like a child plays with their shirt when they are nervous, and as i continued to watch it i noticed it little black hands getting higher and higher up the tents flaps, till a long bloodied head poked inside the tent. It had so many eyes, too many to count, and what looked like small charred fingers propping up its head, i had realized that in that moment that whatever that thing was wanted to look for a sleeping meal, and as it crept into the tent i got a full scope of its thousands of small hands that formed its body, some different colors and sizes, it loomed over Pasadena and began to drool on top of him, and i could feel the bedframe shake as Pasadena reached for his weapon, but before he could do anything it let out a senseless shriek and with that i fell out of consciousness.