Dark Shadows of the Future

Chapter 1. Welcome to Pembroke

2160 April 28th.

The sirens rang out.

Shrill voices echo across the broken town, urging others to run and hide. The siren was long and high-pitched, screaming at us all to hide before it was too late.

I stood shakily from the cold stone floor from which I had spent the night and clenched my fists, my eyes darting round, looking for somewhere--anywhere-- to hide. Ignoring the protests from my cold stiff joints I sprinted for an old brown building, glass and grit that littered the street floor crunching underfoot, shards from a broken window falling and splintering onto the cold stone floor as I leapt through, catching my foot on a jagged piece.

I landed hard, my cheek colliding with the floor, stray pieces of glass working their way into my skin. I release the softest of whimpers, eyes watering as I grit my teeth and push myself up despite the sharp pain; I couldn't get caught, not now.

I dove behind a shelf filled with old dusty tins and packets, making a mental note to come back here once it was light, not many places left with food still in, ready for the taking.

Suddenly the lights cut out, casting the already dim streets into an inky darkness.

No street lights, no shop lights, no warm glow from the window of a home--not that anyone lived in a house anymore. Just the moonlight allowing my eyes to see a few odd shadows in the streets; Old crushed cars, mountains of rubble from old buildings, the odd body here and there.

A cold dead weight settled in the pit of my stomach, nose crinkling and lips curling in disgust. I could never get used to seeing a body, no matter how long I'd been doing this.

The silence was deafening. That, coupled with the thick blanket of shadow outside, caused my heart to jackhammer against my ribs.

They did this to blind us, to stop us seeing when the demons came. The demons they send to kill us. They had decided to send beasts after us, creature's from nightmares. They found it more amusing that way, rather than come down from their almighty castle and fight us themselves. Creature's of all origins, shapes and sizes, with every method of killing imaginable. But in the end, as long as they wiped us out, they didn't really care.

I hated the silence. It was another form of torture, building paranoia and fear until it was almost unbearable. The only thing to break the silence at night was the ragged breathing of the mutts and the screams of our people, the victims. I wasn't sure what was worse.

Then a howl rang out.

My body become rigid as I listened, realizing it wasn't too far away, stalking through the broken gray town in search of blood.

Ragged breaths sounded from outside suddenly, the heavy dull thuds of what I knew all too well to be paw steps , the occasional shattering sound of glass being smashed underfoot, empty cans , bottles and rubble being kicked and skittering across concrete.

A shadow suddenly stretched across the shop floor infront of me as the shadow of a mutt wavered outside the broken window, my breath hitching in my throat as it's ragged breaths materialized in the cold frigid air and seeped into the room. It's yellow eyes burning brightly as they pierced the darkness, peering into the shop. For one terrifying moment I thought they landed on me, I thought it would come in and have its fun before ending me; I always feared the yellow eyed ones, their method of killing was... brutal to say the least.

But it moved on in a mere heartbeat, thankfully not seeing nor smelling me. My shoulders slumped in relief, fists unclenching, palms sore from my long jagged nails imprinting crescent shaped indentations into the tender skin.