The Beyond

Prologue

He ran as fast as he could, but he knew it wouldn't be long. It would catch up with him; it always did. If he could just reach the perimeter of the Walls, he could try to find a way inside, a way the creature didn't know of.

He felt a wave of regret wash over him. He should have listened to his sister when she had wanted to bring the family inside the Walls. He had laughed at her then. But no one had known the Walls were being built without a way in or out, and by the time that became clear, it was already too late for many of them. Then the Creatures began to appear. Massive and unforgiving, they began to take people one by one, as if monsters woken up with a terrible hunger.

He hadn't seen another human being in almost 3 years now, and he didn't know if there were any left outside the Walls. He had been working for years on a signal device to be able to contact the other side and only recently had received a message back. He was smart, he knew he could be useful inside the city. And obviously his contact knew that as well because they had promised to get him into the city, but he had to arrive safely first.

With the wind at his back as he ran, the first wafts of pungent odour filled the air, signalling the nearness of the Creature behind him. He didn't have long.

The looming figure of the Walls ahead became the only thing he saw, determined to survive. As he closed the distance, the sound of heavy breathing and footfalls came to his ears. He dared not look behind as he came to the perimeter of the Walls. Frantic, he began to run parallel to the Walls, running his hand along the concrete to find the hidden entrance his contact assured him would be there. Coming to a section of wall covered in vines, he saw the entrance barely visible behind them. He dove quickly to his knees and crawled through the vines. He looked ahead and saw the promise of a future in the light at the end. As he moved forward though, he felt a searing pain in his ankle. And suddenly he was being dragged back, the smell of rotting flesh in the air as he realized what was happening. He looked down at his foot briefly to see the immense pair of jaws that had his foot locked between them.

He felt nothing as he was dragged back past the vines and his foot was released. But as he stared up at the Creature in front of him, all he felt was terror, before everything became blackness.....