by Amal, C. O.
Hanna is still unconscious. Sophie and Jacobson are crying out loud. They uttered foul words to the crazy men one or two times. Danny is still silent. He must be grieving in his wife’s death.
A tall old man came in front of us with a thick book. He opened the book and flipped through the pages.
“Oh lord, forgive your children’s sins and cleanse them in your holy fire. These people on the stake before you did sins against you. As per your order we have captured them and we are delivering them to you. Please forgive their sins and take them to your holy heaven if they found worthy.” The old man said.
“Now let’s lit them up.” Old man finished.
Quickly two men came forward with lightened torches.
Suddenly a sharp growl and shriek came from the back of the buildings. I hope it is what I think it is. The men looked back and whispered one another. They looked like haven’t seen those beasts before. A scream came from behind the building.
Suddenly a pack of wolfish dogs came from behind the buildings. Roar and growl filled the very air. Men ran in different directions. Wolfish dogs jumped on top of mad men and bit them in the head and neck. Crazy men quickly fell under the might of beasts.
“Oh beast, I command you to go back to hell from whence you came.” The old man with thick book commanded to a beast who is ripping apart one of his men.
The beast raised its head from the opened chest of the man and stared at the old man. The beast walked around the old man growling.
“I command you to go back to hell. Go, run, before our god will burn you alive in his holy fire.” The old man said.
“The beast made an unholy screech and jumped on top of the old man. It sunk its teeth deeper into the old man’s neck. The beast ripped out a chunk of flesh from the old man’s neck and it swallowed the flesh.
Within moments the scream ended and growl filled the air. Fortunately none of the dogs noticed my group, may be because of the smell of the oil. A moment later the dogs retreated back to the nearby forest with the freshly fallen human bodies in their mouth.
We stayed in that position for hours. No one came to the bloody scene to help us or to burn us. Sun moved to its highest position almost burning us in its heat.
“Joe, what should we do?” Luc asked.
“I don’t know, my arms are tied tightly. Maria, look if little Hanna could escape from the ropes.” I said.
Maria looked at Hanna. “Hanna, can you escape somehow?”
Hanna with tired face looked at the restraints. She wriggled herself but there is no way she could get out of the rope. “I don’t think I can.”
“Oh god please help us.” Maria cried.
“Ehh, pretty boy, do you need a hand?” A woman’s voice that I heard before asked me.
I looked in front of me and saw just what I needed to see.
Chapter 13
A.D. 2087, Path to Sanctuary
The woman who I saved yesterday on the field cut away our restraints.
“Thank you.” I said.
“Don’t mention it. We are now even.” She said.
“I didn’t get your name.” I said.
“I am Melissa.” She said.
“So are you on a journey to somewhere?” I asked.
“No. My hideout is near that building. I have been living here ever since the war ended.” Melissa said pointing at a building far away.
“Alone?” I asked.
A sadness quickly covered her face. “I was living with my brother. Last month those crazies killed him.”
“I am so sorry.” I said. “You can join us if you want. We are going to the sanctuary.”
“No. I am good here.” Melissa said.
“It’s better if you’re not alone.” I said.
“Strength in numbers?” Melissa asked.
“Something like that.” I said.
Melissa smiled. “Okay, I will come with you.”
“Okay.” I said.
We all searched the surrounding and found our back packs in a corner. Jacobson’s back pack still contained apples that he collected yesterday.
We ate apples and started our journey from the hellish place. We slowly walked inside a forest on the south. We all are extra alerted now. Those hellish dogs may be here.
“So, you’re going to someplace your dreams told you?” Melissa asked.
“We saw numerous people who had this same dream. It must be vision. So far everything the dream told me about was true.” I said.
“So Melissa, how did you survived this long alone?” Sophie asked.
“Well I ate what I hunted. I usually won’t go out of my hideout.” Melissa said.
“Usually people go on crack if they are alone for a long time. In your case it is a miracle.” Sophie said.
“Yeah. Someone actually may be looking at me from above, or Joe would never have crossed my path yesterday.” Melissa said. “I think we are meant to see each other.”
Sophie smiled. I also smiled at Melissa. I can’t shake away the fact that Melissa is too damn beautiful. I felt a connection between us as soon as I saw her yesterday. We may be meant to be together.
I walked in silence thinking about Melissa and the crazies.
“So did you saw those wolfish dogs before?” I asked.
“No. They looked like are trained.” Melissa said.
“How can you tell?” I asked.
“Well they mostly are only killing people but not eating. And the way they hunt is peculiar. They must be trained.” Melissa said.
“Who would train those things? They looks like doesn’t belong to this world. May be they are normal wolves who have mutated.” I said.
“But how can mutations happen within a year?” Melissa asked.
I looked at Hanna. Hanna is walking with Maria in the back. I turned my head from Hanna to Melissa. “We have seen a human turning into a monkey like being, instantly.” I said in a lower voice.
“What?” Melissa asked. “How is that possible?”
“We don’t know. On the way we saw a village of survivors. We thing he caught the disease from there.” I said.
“So the human who have turned into monkey was one of you?” Melissa asked.
“Lower your voice. Hanna might hear you. It was her dad who had turned.” I whispered.
“Oh, I see.” Melissa said lowering her voice. “So we should be careful if we want to survive.”
“Yes.” I said.
We silently moved through the forest. There are lot of crumbled buildings in this forest. We also saw some fruit bearing trees on the way. We filled our stomach with fruits and we drank water from a narrow stream flowing through the forest.
We didn’t find any waterfall. It must be in the south but how long we should walk is actually confusing us.
Chapter 14
A.D. 2087, Path to Sanctuary
Sun began to set in the horizon and darkness crept forward. We increased our pace. So far there is no good building to stay for the night. The buildings which stood on the side of the road are all crumbled in the war.
A thin layer of darkness covered the entire way. Everything of course is visible, but faintly. Finally not so far from where we are, we saw a promising building. It is double storied and is big. We rushed forward. Before long we reached the building and got inside through the unlocked door. To our surprise the entire house is in good condition. There is no green growth inside but a small layer of dust covered everywhere.
Maria lighted a candle and fixed on the living room table. We all gathered around the table.
“This house is far better than the previous houses.” Sophie said.
“Yeah, if those crazies and wolfish dogs weren’t here we could have lived here our entire life.” Danny said.
The smile in Danny’s face have returned and he seemed to have forgotten the death of his wife. It’s better forgotten. Danny sat on a chair and closed his eyes. Maria and Hanna went inside the kitchen. Luc and Jacobson went deep inside the
house examining the situation. Sophie and Melissa sat on the couch and fell in thoughts.
I slowly walked outside and examined the surrounding. Sound of night sets in and darkness have covered everywhere. A moment later I got inside the house and closed the door. I found Melissa alone in the couch.
“Where is Sophie?” I asked.
“She went inside kitchen.” Melissa said.
I sat on the couch. Suddenly a pain coursed through my back. “Ahh...”
“What is it?” Melissa asked.
“I don’t know. A pain in my back.” I said.
“Let me look at it.” Melissa said.
She approached near me and lifted my shirt on my back. “Oh, it’s pretty bad.” Melissa said.
“What is it?” I asked in shock.
“I am just kidding. However you have a big cut on your back.” She said. “May be those crazies were the one responsible for this.”
“But I can’t remember I am being cut.” I said. “Is it bad?”
“No. It’s just a scratch.” She said.
Melissa dropped the hem of my shirt and sat back. Maria, Hanna and Sophie came out of the kitchen discussing things. A moment later Jacobson and Luc also got back to the living room.
“I found two sharp of knifes.” Hanna said to me.
“That’s good. We need knifes to cut apples.” I said smiling.
“Well I am thinking about protecting myself using these.” Hanna said smiling.
“Well, it can be used for that too.” I said.
“So, are you going to marry her?” Suddenly Hanna asked.
“What? Who?” I asked surprised.
“I can tell by the way you too sitting on that couch. You both are perfect lovers.” Hanna said smiling.
Melissa looked at me blushed. I too am in confusion. Maria and Sophie laughed.
“So what did you found out Luc?” I asked desperately wanted to change the subject.
Melissa took a deep sigh.
“Nothing we could use. All the rooms are clean and tidy. If we want we can sleep on the bed.” Luc said.
“No, it’s better if we sleep together. That way at least we can look after each other.” I said.
Everyone nodded. Jacobson brought blankets from the bedroom and we spread out the blanket on the floor. We all crouched down on top of the blanket on the floor and we slowly lie down.
With pleasant thoughts I closed my eyes.
***
I woke up with the chirping of birds and I found myself in that green field. Again the dream!
I looked around and to my surprise instead of Evelyn, I saw numerous people. All are wandering through the grass land. I don’t know what to do. I went near the stream hopping Evelyn would appear any time.
“Go south Joe.” Evelyn’s voice said in my head.
I looked around and moved in south direction. Suddenly a big crocodile appeared in front of me. People on seeing the crocodile ran in different direction. Crocodile moved at high speed and start to kill the people. I ran in the south direction. Before long I saw a group of people coming in my opposite direction.
“Hay, don’t go there. Go south. Sanctuary is on the south direction.” I said.
“But south is that way.” One of the men said pointing in my opposite direction.
“No, south is this way.” I said. “There is a big crocodile that kill people in the direction where you’re going."
“But south is this way.” One of the men said pointing in the north direction.
“Don’t listen to those people Joe.” Evelyn’s voice said in my head.
“I quickly sprinted in my own way. The group of people went in their own way. Before long I saw a big building. I rushed forward. Then I saw a big waterfall on the side of the building. A big river is flowing through the land in that direction. Suddenly a crocodile appeared out of nowhere and bit me. My world went blank.
I woke up on the floor of the house panting. Nobody is awake. Outside sunlight started to sweep in through the foliage.
A stood up and walked towards the door and I slowly opened the door a little and I peeked outside. Darkness slowly started to flow away from the land and sunlight crept forward.
Chapter 15
A.D. 2087, Path to Sanctuary
We started our walk from that good looking house. The part of the road we are now walking is mostly free of leaves and flora. We seldom saw vehicles. Forest in this part is very big and healthy not to mention the animals who thrive here.
Before long we exited the forest and saw a river flowing across the road. There used to be a bridge across this river but now it is nothing more than a wreck. We need to find an alternate path or we are not going to reach the sanctuary.
We all walked through the river bank in search for a path. Then we saw it. Not far away from the wreckage of the bridge there is a part of the river where water is too shallow. There are lot of big stones blocking the water. We all passed through the big stones and reached the other side of the river. This part of the river bank is full of sand and it is free of flora. A moment later we saw the road that leads in the south direction.
For now we are sticking with the road but soon we may need to change our course. A moment later we saw reasons to change our path. In front of us, not far away from the river stood a big tower made of metal and glass. Sunlight illuminated the whole tower clearly. It looks like not a human made structure because we haven’t heard about this kind of towers in our life time and also there is no human made glass structures standing intact after the war.
The tower is very tall and it may hosts about forty or fifty floors. We are still far away from the tower and we don’t know it is a good idea to wander around the tower. Maria took her binocular from her bag and looked through it.
“What the hell?” Maria said.
“What is it?” I asked.
We all patiently waited for the answer from Maria.
“It looks like the tower indeed is not made by humans.” She said.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because, I can see aliens walking around.” She said.
“What?” I quickly grabbed the binocular from her hands and looked through it. “What the hell?”
I couldn’t believe what I am seeing. I swear I saw aliens, who I saw only on films, walking around the tower. I looked closely. Aliens have elongated head and long pointy ears which tower over their head. They have long hands and legs. And they are wearing a black material around their body.
“I told you.” Maria said.
I handed over the binocular to Luc who also saw the aliens.
“Guys, I can see crazies too.” Luc said.
“What?” I asked.
“They are on the north part of the tower and are bowing down before an alien. It looks like we found their god.” Luc said.
I grabbed the binocular from Luc’s hand and looked through the scope in the north direction. And I saw what he had said. There are hundreds of crazies gathered around there. I looked around the building and then I saw something else too. In the east part of the building there are cages and inside the cages there are monkey like people. I kept it in mind and gestured at Luc about it. I gave the binocular to him and he also saw them. We silently stayed there. We both didn’t dare utter about them near Hanna.
“So this disease may be spreading by those aliens.” I said.
“Yeah.” Luc said.
Maria seemed to have not understood what me and Luc are saying but she hushed her mouth since she know we know what we are doing.
“So can we move?” Danny asked.
“South is through that tower. We may need to go around it, through that forest.” I said pointing at a nearby forest.
“So let’s go.” Jacobson said.
“Okay.” Luc said.
We slowly, silently, started our walk. Before long we reached inside the forest.
“Melissa, Sophie, you guys need to be a little bit faster.” I said when I saw them far behind
us.
Melissa and Sophie ran rest of the way to reach near us. Suddenly Luc and Jacobson stopped moving and they motioned us to stop. We all stopped and looked in front of us. A little panic start to crawl through our legs. Whatever they have found might not be a good thing. Suddenly a monkey human thing rushed at us. We all dodged the violent monkey but sadly on the way the monkey scratched at Sophie’s hand and it ran away. We all sighed.
