The emergency alert that had appeared on my phone’s screen read, “The creatures have been eradicated, any remaining survivors should seek aid at the nearest communal bomb shelter”. My mind eased as I read the words. It seemed as though the bombs had actually worked and from where I stood, the coast was clear. I looked back at the bunker and my mind went back to the things I had seen during my stay in there, there was no way I could live the rest of my life in there. The only thing left for me to do would be to obey the message. The nearest communal bomb shelter was located relatively far from my current location and the trek on foot would be far from ideal. I needed to find a working vehicle that had not been affected by the bombs or some other means of transport, however, if the alert was true walking would definitely be a possibility.
I stepped out of the bunker and the cool morning air hit me again. I guessed that Craig’s house above me no longer stood in its entirety otherwise I would not have been feeling a gust of wind in his basement. The gun I had dropped before entering the bunker, that had landed on the ground at the bottom of the staircase, was no longer anywhere to be seen. The weirdest part about this situation though is that Craig’s body was missing too. The pool of blood where he had been laying remained but what was left of him had been moved elsewhere or simply vanished. It was exceptionally weird that the gun and Craig’s body would be missing… but these creatures had used a bait trick on me once before so I decided it would be better to forget about that gun and solely rely on the one I had obtained in the bunker if I happened to still need it. Regardless, I didn’t want to stay by the door of the bunker for much longer and I couldn’t only rely on the correctness of what the emergency alert had told me. There was no telling whether the creatures had silently returned or remained here for some time since the bombs had dropped if they were actually still alive and lurking.
I moved towards the staircase which seemed to be unharmed by the bombs, the entire basement seemed completely intact for that matter. At the top of the stairs, the door that had once been there was no longer, and the morning light shown through. I slowly began climbing the staircase, waiting for the moment where a lurking creature would pounce on me and end my life. But as I reached the top and peaked out of the doorway, not a single sound could be heard. The house around me was in shambles, the ceiling and walls had been severely damaged leaving only a skeleton of what this place once was behind. But without a creature in sight, now was a better time to move than ever. I slowly moved towards what was once a perfectly intact window but now just a frame which faced the street. Through the window I could see that it was not only Craig’s house that had been severely damaged, but every other house within my line of sight and all of the surrounding foliage was in a similar state. Anything that could survive the impact of the bombs that were dropped would have to be superhuman, there was no way any normal living being could come out of something like that unscathed. At this point, I realised that the likelihood of me finding a functioning vehicle near my location would be next to none and without the keys to a random person’s car that was safely tucked away in their garage, it would be useless.
To get there by foot it would take at least an hour, maybe even two depending on the speed I would be travelling. I needed to have faith that there really were no creatures remaining on the surface or i wouldn’t last very long in the outside world. My only other option was returning to the bunker which would cause me to spiral further into losing my mind, and there was no way I was doing that if there was hope that other survivors waited for me. Human company is what I so desperately needed.
Without much of a second thought, I decided to cautiously leave the remains of what was once Craig’s house and head in the direction of the communal bomb shelter where I pleaded only survivors would meet me, human survivors that is. The sound of birds chirping and the other background noise that we get so accustomed to was eerily absent and the charred buildings and foliage gave the neighbourhood a mute tone. I thought about humming to myself while walking to my destination, but the thought of a lone remaining creature hearing me from somewhere it had been hiding during the bombs forced me to keep my mouth closed and travel with a light step. Moving towards the shelter, I kept a firm grip on my gun and remained on high alert, continuously scanning my surroundings. I prayed to not to see a creature peer from a broken window or from around the next corner and that I would never have the misfortune of looking one of those creatures in the eyes again. The eyes of those creatures had already been scarred into the back of my mind. I thought back to the first time I had locked eyes with one of them through my neighbours window. Even the image in my head caused me to feel extremely paranoid, almost as though I was being watched from afar or stalked but there was no obvious signs that this was actually the case.
About three quarters of the way to the shelter I began letting my guard down, I had almost completely convinced myself that there truly were no creatures remaining here because I surely would have run into one by this point if the alert had been deceptive or inaccurate. I felt safe for the most part and holstered the gun I had been holding in my waist band to rest my arm. I glanced behind me as a simple precaution and what met my gaze sent a shiver down my spine. A dark figure swiftly moved behind a fence a few hundred metres down the street from the direction I had come. My heart skipped a beat. There was no doubt in my mind that the figure I had just seen was one of the creatures.
I froze for a moment and kept my eyes on where I had seen the creature disappear. A few moments passed and I tried to convince myself that my mind had simply been playing tricks on me. Had I actually seen that figure… or was it just something my mind had created out of paranoia? Moments later however, the creatures face peaked from the fence it had disappeared behind and its eyes locked with mine like I had hoped would never happen again. My mind suddenly flooded with images of the creatures and the image of Craig’s mangled body appeared in front of me. Screaming in horror I broke my gaze from the creature’s huge deep-sunken white eyes and swiftly turned around towards the shelter. There was no longer any doubt in my mind that I was being followed, and without looking back, I began sprinting towards the shelter faster than I had ever ran before.
I couldn’t hear anything behind me, but I had no desire to look back and experience what those creatures had just done to me once again or even slow down for a second. Continuously, I braced myself for a swift slash from behind that would end my life but was yet to come. My gun was once again grasped tightly in my hand, not wanting to drop my weapon for a second time. Sprinting had closed the gap between me and the shelter. I turned onto the street on which it was located and now only a few hundred metres of open street stood between me and my new safe haven.
The large yellow sign that declared the purpose of the building I was heading towards came into view. But I then realised that the doors to the shelter were closed and there was not a single person waiting for me outside. I had no other option but to pray that there was someone on the other side willing to open that door for me. A gut feeling took over, convincing me that the creatures were right behind me, ready to mangle my body like what was done to Craig and compelling me to turn around and look. I turned around while still moving towards the shelter door and to my bewilderment the coast was clear. I stopped dead in my tracks for a moment, truly debating whether or not I had already gone mad. There was no way what I had seen wasn’t real… I couldn’t believe that. I turned again back towards the shelter and noticed the door was open and that a man that was stood just outside of the shelter was waving me over. The man yelled at the top of his lungs for me to run. Swiftly, I checked behind me again and what I saw made me feel as though I was going to have a heart attack right then and there.
A huge hoard of those creatures charged in my direction, quickly closing the gap between me and them. Purposefully, I avoided looking at their faces and without a second thought, turned on my heel and raced towards the door. The man swiftly moved back into the shelter and, for a second, I thought he would close the door before I made it inside. But to my relief, he kept it open. A moment after I stepped inside the shelter, the man slammed the door shut behind me but a huge thud on the other side caused it to open again slightly. A barrage of loud thuds came from the other side of the door and I slammed my body up against it, trying to close it again far enough to lock it in place. Just then, a huge effort from the creatures was made and the door swung completely open sending me tumbling down a staircase. Adrenaline rushed through my body and the pain from falling down the stairs was masked by the fear that those creatures had just breached the door to this shelter. I looked up the staircase I had just descended and to my dismay saw the creatures violently tearing apart the man’s body who had helped me moments ago. All of the hope I once had was lost at this point, but I struggled to my feet and jolted towards a door that appeared to separate the entrance/exit from the main living area.
Tumbling through the door, I was shocked to see dozens of other people crowded on the other side of the room, some of these people were trembling on the ground and others were yelling complete gibberish. I quickly turned back around and slammed the door closed. This door was not one that could take much of a beating, but I believed that any time I bought could help me. Without thinking I started dragging any furniture that wasn’t bolted down in front of the door, trying to form a sort of barricade to slow the creatures down. A young girls voice screamed from somewhere behind me asking where her dad was. I could only assume that her dad was the man who I had just seen die right in front of my eyes. I started yelling for the people to help me and that the creatures were going to get in here if we didn’t move fast but not a single person moved from where they were. Another loud voice bellowed from behind me from a woman this time, blaming me for dooming them all and damning me to hell.
A sudden rush of realisation hit me. I understood exactly why this had happened. Those things wanted me to come out of Craig’s bunker, they wanted me to lead them to the other survivors and that’s why they had been stalking me on my way here. They were not allowing me any other option but to get to where I now was. But the emergency alert I had received… was that another one of those creatures mind tricks too? Like what I thought I had seen whilst seeking refuge in the bunker… was that really sleep paralysis or something more sinister? It was clear that the answers to these questions would remain unanswered. After piling what I could in front of the door, I moved backwards towards the other side of the room. The people behind me continued yelling at me while I looked around for any other way out of this situation. Swiftly, I spotted a door to my left that had been left slightly ajar and ran towards it, hoping for something that was never going to happen. As I swung the door open, I realised that it was only a small storage area. A loud bang came from behind me and I turned around. The furniture that I had stacked in front of the door had been sent flying across the room and without thinking I moved quickly into the storage area I had come upon. Screams from the other side of the door bellowed throughout the enclosed area and were soon replaced by the sounds of flesh being torn apart.
The storage area I’m in has no alternate exits, no way out. It won’t be long until those creatures find me in here, and there’s no way I have enough bullets to even cause a dent in the numbers they have. This will almost definitely be my last update. The only solace I have now is the fact that I’ll be saving a bullet for myself. For anyone else who receives the emergency alert that I did, I’ll pray for you. Good luck and goodbye.
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Credits
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