Blood

by Cheryl Twaddle

  “Max!” I cried out as Colonel Al and I collapsed on the other side of the portal. I looked at the hole we had come through and saw nothing. The door had closed; the portal was gone. Max and Barker were still on the other side and I didn’t know if the arrow had hit its target. I stood up and reached into my pocket for another rock. I threw it at the air where the door had once been. Nothing. I tried again, still, nothing. Why wasn’t it working? I felt a hand on my shoulder.

  “Perhaps those rocks don’t work from this side,” said Robert.

  “But he’s still on the other side!” I sobbed. “We have to get him here!”

  “We will,” said Robert, “but not with these. We’ll have to find what works from this side but, first, we have to find shelter. I don’t think it’s safe to be here.”

  “What?” This was my world, of course it was safe here. I turned and looked around, confused by what I was seeing.

  The city looked like it had been bombed several times over. All around us were burnt out houses, smashed cars, cracked roads and crumbled buildings. Smoke filled the air making the sky dark and the air thick. I coughed to get a breath. I could hear distant gunfire and rumblings that sounded like explosives. I saw no people and wondered where everyone was. There was graffiti sprayed onto some of the destroyed vehicles and some of the walls that were still standing. I looked at the others and saw them covering their faces with the ends of their shirts to escape the smell that hung in the air. It was the smell of death, rotting over time.

  “What the hell happened here?” I asked but no one could answer me.

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