Apocalyptic Surrender

Chapter 5

-----------------------------

Chapter 5 

----------------------------

Rule number 3: Never leave your partner unawares

As soon as I opened the heavy oak wood door the cool frigid air rushed in seeping deep into my bones. A few stars twinkled in the distance, a picture of beauty in an ugly world. Dark clouds moved across the sky, occasionally obscuring the half moon, the only source of light. 

Another high pitched screech ran out across the quiet skies. I pulled out the other torch from my jacket to help give more light and searched the tangled mess of wires that circled the house, held by fours sticks in four corners, which we had put up earlier for protection. I moved the torch around as I made my way outside slowly with Darnell right behind me. I struggled to control my breathing as the heavy, shallow breathing and nightmarish screeches of the creeper continued to play out.

For the amount of times we have had to do this, you would think I would be used to it by now. But you can never get used to the fact that that THING with its open flesh, and missing limbs that have fallen off due to rot and gangrene used to be a normal person like you. Who lived their life through thinking about the next day. 

Darnell's beam of light landed on it first...

Tangled in the wires, its face upturned towards us, if you could call it that. Dark, soulless eyes were sunken into its gaunt face. Some of the flesh had peeled off revealing numerous muscles and tendons with a few hints of startling white bone. One ear had been, apparently ripped off and it hung on the side of its face, just barely. Its grunts became more frequent, louder and its struggling became stronger as it locked its sight on us. It's mouth opened in a vicious snarl, revealing yellow teeth with dried blood on them. A disgusting pale red fluid escaped from its mouth as it continued looking at us, its desired next meal. 

I replaced the torch into my jacket and ran my left hand over the smooth metal lines of the gun in my right hand, a feeling of calm washing over me.

"Keep your torch on it." I whispered to Darnell as quietly as I can. Darnell nodded as the struggles of the creeper increased at the sound of my voice. 

I slowly placed my feet in front of each other, they moved quietly and gracefully. Honed through plenty of situations like this, they moved effortlessly and appeared calmer than I actually was. I stopped around five metres from the creeper. Its eyes locked greedily onto me as it raised its only hand, its nails were encrusted with dirt and dried old blood. Its own or somebody else's we'll never know. Its hand was covered in deep untreated gashes that eventually had gotten infected and eventually turned the arm black as the tissues died. 

I raised my gun towards it, aimed point black at its face. Steadying my arm, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and pulled the trigger. I steadied myslef from its strong recoil as the loud shot rang out acorss the land, echoing, until it left an eery silence. The sound of congealed blood splattering on the grass silenced by the ringing of the shot. 

I opened my eyes to be met with the faceless creeper, slumped over the wires, its grunts silenced as it lay on its back. I slowly walked over to it and aimed once again, this time at its 'heart' and pulled the trigger. 

I turned around to Darnell to get him to help me pull the body away from the wires in order for us to burn it. 

What I saw behind him made me stop dead in my tracks.

"DARNELL!"

--------------------------------