by J. Thorn
Samuel leaned over the edge and gazed out upon a sea of creatures shambling toward the cabin. He watched countless heads with tufts of tangled hair pushing forward like a crowd at a rock concert. They nudged and leaned on each other but never stopped moving forward. He noticed that they did not try to open the door or break the window. They had no concern for those inside, whom the Reversion would swallow whole. The horde did not attempt entry of any kind. They gathered under the support pole, pursuing the one who had left the sanctity of their final resting place, the one living creature attempting to escape the inevitable.
Samuel looked down and watched as hands reached into the air like the filaments of a jellyfish, slim, random movements in an ocean of certain decay. The horde either could not or did not want to climb. Samuel considered the roof his temporary haven and sat down to think. He unfurled the rope and took one end in his hands. He wrapped it around his waist and tied the best knot he could before standing and assessing the trees. A tall oak stood about twenty feet from the edge of the roof, far out of his reach. However, one of its major branches sagged low, angling toward the cabin five feet away. He spun in a circle to verify that this was the only tree even remotely close to the cabin, close enough to attempt what he knew had to be done.
Samuel tied the loose end of the rope into a bulge of knots. If he could toss it over the branch and have it swing back like a pendulum, he might be able to grab it and pull himself on to the low-hanging branch like an adventure-seeker gripping a zip line. He moved as close to the edge as possible, prompting the horde to flow to that side of the cabin. Most kept their heads down like obedient cattle, but several began raising their bony arms, calling to him. He cocked his arm back and let the rope fly. It smacked off the bottom of the trunk and swung low over the heads of the creatures on the ground. They could not react fast enough to grab it, but their shuffling became more rapid, as if they sensed what he was trying to do. He reared back again, and this time, the knotted end cleared the branch, but he missed it when it came swinging back underneath. Samuel yanked at the rope and pulled it back for a third try. Again, he lobbed the rope clear of the branch, and this time, he caught it. Samuel pulled the rope taut, double-checked the knots around his waist, and leapt from the roof with both hands on the rope.
At first, he swung back and forth, his feet kicking in air in a vain attempt to slow his momentum. He closed his eyes and imagined the old, frayed hemp snapping and dropping him ten feet to the ground amidst the undead. Samuel shook his head and cleared his vision. He waited as gravity slowed his swing until the rope rested perpendicular to the ground, suspending him above the horde.
Gravity and physics, my safety net, he thought, thankful that the Reversion had not violated universal laws.
Samuel used his hands to pull himself up the rope until he was within reach of the branch. He felt the burn in his biceps and chest. Samuel had never thought the pull-up bar in his basement was good for much more than a bump on the head when walking underneath it, and now he was thankful for those early-morning workouts that concluded with fifty reps. He clawed the bark until he had enough room to swing his left leg over the branch. Within seconds, he straddled it above the reemerging horde, while the rope created a lazy U shape, dangling between his feet and their heads.
Like a logger, Samuel quickly removed the slack from the rope and shuffled forward fifteen feet until he reached the main trunk of the old tree. He pulled himself up and stood with his feet together, plenty of room to turn and push his back against the trunk. He took a deep breath and let a smile creep across his face. It wasn’t much, but he had made it out of the cabin to a place the horde couldn’t reach.
***
“Because.”
“Because? That’s the best you can come up with?”
“No. It’s the least I can come up with. I don’t owe you or the old man any explanation,” said Kole.
Mara tucked her hands underneath her arms to accentuate the way they crossed her chest.
“You’re a real asshole,” she said to him.
“That’s the best you can come up with?” he asked, mocking her.
Major stared out the window while Mara and Kole faced off. He shook his head and mumbled to himself when he no longer heard Samuel’s feet above.
“He’s off the roof, and the creatures are moving toward that tree.”
Mara and Kole stooped to have a better view, jostling like brother and sister.
“Do you think he’s going to make it?” Mara asked Major.
“Make it where?” Kole asked. “Before you get your panties all wet, consider where we are. I don’t see him—or us for that matter—outrunning that fucking cloud, do you?”
“It might be possible to survive it.”
Kole looked at Major after he spoke and shook his head. “What are you talking about?”
Major sat back and looked into Kole’s eyes. He could see the darkness eating the man from the inside out.
“Like surviving a tornado or a flood. Even though the disaster lays waste to the land, people survive it. Somehow, people always survive it.”
Kole reared back, his fists balled and blood rushing to his face. “I’m done with you. I’m done with your cryptic bullshit. If there is more about this place, us, those fucking creatures, anything. If there is more, I want to hear it now, or I’ll split your fucking head open with my bare fists.”
Mara stepped in front of Kole, her face now inches from Major’s. “Tell us.”
“There are ways to slip out of a Reversion. I know because I’ve done it before,” said Major.
***
Samuel scanned the horizon, above the cabin and as far as he could see in the empty gloom brought by the cloud. He looked toward what he thought was the east, hoping to find a glimmer of ambient light struggling to break through the darkness, but he saw nothing. The shapes of nearby trees stood out in relief against the cloud, the leafless branches scratching at the sky with bony fingers. He could see over the Barren and cabins. He thought of Mara. He saw her at the table, sipping a mug of coffee and enjoying the outlook of optimistic youth. He felt a twinge in his chest and pushed his emotions aside.
The horde had reconfigured itself. Half of the closest creatures swayed beneath his tree, no longer looking up or reaching into the sky for him. The other half inside the Barren circled the cabin, standing silent guard and waiting to pounce on Major, Kole, or Mara if they came out.
He thought about those three.
I really don’t know who they are. I can speak with them in dreams. Maybe I’m not concerned about getting them out. Maybe I’ll swing through these trees like Tarzan and make them a distant memory.
As much as he tried, he could not convince himself to abandon them in the cabin.
They are my responsibility now. I’ve got to go back.
Samuel shook the thoughts from his head and focused on the immediate task at hand. He shimmied around the trunk until he was able to climb onto another branch on the opposite side of the tree. This one grew out toward another that was twenty yards away. He looked down at the huddle of creatures and then stepped out, locking his feet behind him, toes down on the surface of the branch while he used his knees to squeeze it between his thighs. Samuel put his chest on the rough bark and inched forward. He had made it halfway across when he made the mistake of looking down.
The creatures had reassembled, following his motion. They shambled along, thirty feet below. Samuel closed his eyes and kept moving until he came to the main trunk of the next tree. He slapped the trunk and let out a victory holler, the only sound wave in the barren landscape. He stood and did another survey of the situation. Although the darkness and the cloud fought over the locality like two mutts over a hunk of meat, he had gained a different perspective. The Barren stretched out a bit behind him, facing west. Samuel thought he could see a faint, blurry area between the edge of the advancing cloud and the black sky. The strip glimmered as if hanging above a bonfire. He watched the sh
apes break and meld, and wondered what would happen if the cloud swallowed the entire sky, as he thought it would. Beyond the Barren, and as far east as he could see, Samuel spotted another rise, probably a mountain. The peak extended into the blackness as if surrounded by clouds. He strained to see a fine line meandering down the tree line and into the valley at the base of the mountain. Whatever it was, Samuel believed it was proof that something other than the horde had created a path beyond the Barren. He committed as much of the landscape to memory as he could before sitting on the branch and resting. He looked down at the swaying heads of gray flesh and bone beneath him.
Like magnets, he thought. Too many to fight. There has to be another way.
Before his mind had time to contemplate the thought, a swift motion caught his eye. The cabin door was flung open.
***
“You wouldn’t be so eager to get out there if it was your leg they were gnawing on.”
“We have to give him a chance, or we’ll all suffer to the cloud.”
Mara looked at Major for emotional support. He sat in silence, giving none.
“You think if he gets out in front of those monsters that he’s going to repel the cloud, stop the Reversion, and come back to save you? How fucking romantic.”
“The girl is right,” said Major. “We’re not in a position to wait things out. Time is not in our favor.”
“What is, chief? Every time we face a rotten situation, you lay some bullshit on us, something you’ve been holding back. Well, I’ve had enough.” Kole stepped behind Mara and put his back to the door. “Nobody is leaving this cabin unless I open the door.”
Mara stepped forward and slammed her balled fists into Kole’s chest. He stood motionless. Mara winced as her hands lost the battle.
“What’s it going to take, son?”
“I’m not your son, first of all. And for me to open this door is going to require some answers. Like right now.”
“To what questions?” asked Major.
“Don’t be fucking cute with me. You know what I’m talking about. I want to know how you’ve slipped Reversions.”
Major sighed and brushed his hand at Mara as if signaling that her attempts were futile. “Fine.”
Kole nodded at Major and crossed his arms on his chest. He did not step away from the door.
“This isn’t my first rodeo.”
Mara felt a perplexed look creep onto her face. Kole shook his head at her, signaling not to interrupt the old man.
“And you ain’t the first folks I found here. This is the third or fourth locality I’ve entered with a slip. Based on what’s outside, I’d say it’s the most depressing of the lot.”
“You’ve slipped?” asked Kole.
Major nodded.
“So how do we slip outta this shithole?” asked Kole.
Major raised one palm and shook his head with a smirk. “Not so easy. If you want answers, you gotta shut up and quit asking me questions.”
Mara smiled, and Kole closed his mouth.
“The last one had only wolves, not the horde. It felt more like winter than whatever the hell we’re in here, and it was forest as far as you could see. No mountains, hills, valleys. Just trees. I came across two people in that one. Two men, older. They had the growing paunch and shrinking hairline of middle age, although they didn’t seem to know each other. I found them arguing on a path that led to the Barren.”
“This place?” asked Mara.
“No,” replied Major. “It was a series of caves, but I think it served the same purpose. The men called it the Barren, and so that’s what I called these cabins when I found them.”
Mara shook her head.
“Don’t know if it’s the slips, or the fact that I’m always landing in a locality that happens to be fighting a Reversion, and I don’t remember how I got there or where I came from, but I do know that it wasn’t from my birth locality, what you guys might think of as your ‘real world’ existence.
“Anyways, the wolves eventually became like the undead, and they served the same function. Whatever energy runs the different localities must reformulate in different ways, because the wolves did the same thing. They pinned us down inside the cave. If someone went out, they pushed ’em back in. I know what you’re thinking, muscle man. I can see it in your eyes.”
Kole smirked.
“I searched every square inch of the inside of that cave, and it was solid rock, no way out.”
Kole stopped smiling.
“So we’re in the same boat. One of the guys decided he would make a run for it, not sure if the wolves would get him or not.”
“The wolves are here too, aren’t they?” asked Mara.
“They are, sweetheart, and I’m not sure why or where they’ve gone. Maybe they can smell the rotting corpses out there,” Major said with a light chuckle. “Good thing we can’t.”
“You said you got out,” said Kole, trying to force the pace of the old man’s story.
“Eventually. We tried a few times to get past the wolves. They never attacked, but each time we tried, they shut us down. Once we realized the cloud would get us before the wolves would let us out, things got desperate.”
“How desperate?” asked Mara.
“Bad enough that the two men came to fisticuffs, almost the way our two meatheads did.”
Mara looked at Kole, and he avoided her stare.
“The man that tried to get past the wolves had it all along; he just didn’t know how to use it.”
“Had what?” Kole asked.
“The talisman. It’s a physical item that somehow punches a hole in the locale and sets you up to slip and to take others with you. I can’t remember what mine were, but I must have had them to get here. It’s the only way of escaping the Reversion. The kicker is that I keep slipping into another locality that’s in the same shitty condition. The cloud keeps following me.”
Mara paused and looked at Kole. Major remained quiet, letting them process the information.
“You think one of us has a talisman that’ll slip us all out of here?” asked Kole.
“Nope. He knows that neither of us has it,” said Mara.
Kole looked at Major and then back to Mara.
“Then that means—”
“Yes,” interrupted Mara. “That means Samuel has it. And if he doesn’t, we’re all going down in this Reversion.”
Major sat back and folded his hands on his lap. He smiled at Mara.
“And you let him out there, carrying our key out of this place, to fend off the horde?” asked Kole.
“It was a test,” said Mara, pointing at the door, “and now Major has his proof,” she finished, pointing at Major.
“So I guess it’s time we get him back here and find out how he’s going to slip us the hell out,” replied Kole.
Chapter 12
The horde responded to the opening door with a consistent, sludgy movement. The creatures slithered toward the stimulus, dragging remnants of clothing and tattered flesh behind them. Samuel placed a hand over his eyes more out of reflex than necessity, as no sunlight existed here to play with his vision. He saw Major, followed by Kole and Mara, step outside the cabin and stand shoulder to shoulder.
“What the hell are you doing?” he screamed.
Mara stepped down and ran to the opposite side of the cabin, drawing a portion of the fluctuating mass to her. Major yelled something to Kole, who dashed in the other direction, creating a narrow gap between the undead. Major looked at Samuel and waved him down.
Samuel noticed that there were only one or two creatures remaining at the base of the tree. They both paced tight circles, bumping into each other, mindlessly moving like forgotten leaves tossed by the winter wind.
Major waved again, his motion more urgent this time.
“Damn it,” Samuel said.
He turned for one final look at the path extending out of the Barren, blinking several times in hopes that he could burn the features of the landscape i
nto his memory.
He tied the loose end of the rope around the trunk of the tree, threading it over the top of the branch that held him aloft. He then checked to make sure the other end held fast around his waist. Like an expert rock climber rappelling down the face of a mountain, Samuel gripped the rope in both hands. He backed off the branch, using his feet to push outward while allowing the rope to slide through his hands. Samuel cried out as the friction of the rope on his palms began to burn. He descended in a lazy arc from the last push, and the rope slackened as his feet landed on the ground. Three of the creatures shambled in his direction, angling in a way that pushed Samuel toward the cabin. He untied the rope around his waist and jogged to the steps of the cabin, where Major stood with his arms crossed on his chest. Kole came around the cabin from one side, and Mara appeared on the other. Like a drain clogged with blackened sludge, the horde oozed back out and around the cabin, encapsulating it. The creatures moved forward, tightening the noose and letting them know that it would be best if they opened the door and went back inside.
“C’mon,” said Major while waving over his shoulder.
He opened the door and stepped inside, followed by Mara and Kole. Samuel stopped and turned to face the rope dangling from the tree. He watched it sway back and forth, writhing like a snake. Samuel looked at the cloud above, and then to the unseen trail in the distance, before entering the cabin and pulling the door shut behind him.
***
