Claustrophobic | Skephalo

Paranoid Immortality

Dave

As the morning progressed and Darryl returned with no firewood, Dave began to grow restless. All he wants is to return to his city- that's where he felt truly comfortable. Zak's couch wasn't cutting it.

He gets up and signals Vincent to follow him into the kitchen, leaving Clay and Zak to their own conversation in the living room. Vincent complies, entering with a concerned look on his face.

"You okay?" Vincent asks.

"You remember what I told you last night, right?"

"Of course. Why?"

"I've been thinking a lot about it. Like, a lot. Why have I been feeling so strong all the time? Why can I touch things that others can't? Why do I feel like I can never die? Well, the truth is, I can't remember anything from before this cursed apocalypse started. Nothing. There are bits and pieces scattered around, but nothing forms a complete memory, and it's driving me insane. I think that has something to do with all of the impossible things I just listed. What do I do, Vincent? Why am I like this? Am I crazy?"

"You're not crazy, Dave. Listen- I went through the same thing you're going through, sort of, when I felt like I was trapped in the Skeletons. I know that sometimes, everything can just feel like it's wrong. You need to be able to trust your instincts, and do what you feel is best for yourself. Look- I'm not telling you to leave, because I think staying here would actually be good for you, but I think you need to get away from the city you lived in, even if that means you need to be alone. The only way to conquer your fears is to face them."

"I just want to know what happened to me. Can you help me?"

Vincent bites his lip, hesitating. His eyes dart towards Clay, but the boy was too distracted to notice his pleading expression.

He knows more than he's telling me. What is Vincent hiding? And why? Shouldn't I know if there's something wrong with me? Am I infected and was just unaware?

Dave huffs, walking away from Vincent in the kitchen. He was annoyed, both from the secrecy and the coldness of the room.

You know what? I don't have to sit here and deal with this. I can leave on my own. I can go back to the city, and then I can...

...I don't know what I'll do once I'm there. But at least I'll be home. I can figure that out later.

Leaving Clay and Vincent won't be easy. All of the food and water, too. And Rocco is good company. No, it doesn't matter. If Darryl and Zak find out about my immortality, they'll try to sacrifice me, I'm sure of it.

Suggesting he take Rocco for a walk to clear his head, Dave zips up his coat and heads outside, the happy dog following behind him.

They walk past the overgrown soccer field, out into the countryside where it was a little more open. After a while, Dave spots something in the distance. He ignores it at first, patting the side of his leg to signal Rocco to keep up, but when he realizes that whatever was in the fields was getting closer, Dave stops.

It was a group of people- a large one- and they were headed in the direction of Zak's house. Although he had to squint to see them, Dave could make the outline of weapons out in the crowd. They marched together, the biggest on the outside, smallest on the inside. It was a structured army, and Dave realized instantly who they were.

The Skeletons. Are they going to find their leader? Ex-leader? I'm guessing Vincent never formally resigned, but still.

Two men that were smaller in stature stood out in Dave's eyes. They were at the front of the crowd, seemingly directing everyone else.

How do they know where Vincent is? Unless... He still keeps on contact with the rest of the army? No, that can't be right. Vincent told me he wanted to better himself by leaving. I trust him, he wouldn't go behind everyone's backs.

As the Skeleton army grew nearer, Dave dragged Rocco along with him as he his behind a bunch of trees on the edge of the clearing. He listened to some of the men's conversations.

"I can't wait to end this miserable traitor's life once I get my hands on him," One man says, his voice fading before Dave can catch any more of his sentence.

"You know, I would give anything to be the leader of the Skeletons. And he just threw it all away for no reason. Sad," Another man spoke with disgust in his voice.

"Why are we following these spies? I mean, they told us themselves that it took them almost two weeks to get back to base. What were they doing in the meantime?"

The rest of the group passed in a mumbling blur as Dave tried to process what was happening.

"I'm hungry."

"Did you sharpen your sword? It looks dull. Here, I have an extra."

"His real name is Vincent, according to the spies. I always just called him A6D."

I need to get back to warn everyone. They sound like they're out for Vincent's blood, and even though I don't know why, I have a chance to save them. Yes, I have to. If I want, I can leave right after I break the news; it doesn't matter if I'm there or not, even if I might be immortal.

Dave and Rocco take a shortcut home, bursting through the front door, scaring everyone senseless. Darryl rejoined the group downstairs, and everyone gathered in the living room.

"Guys?" Dave speaks, slowly catching his breath, "We seriously need to have a group conversation. And fast."

•••

Vincent

There was always a piece in the back of Vincent's mind that warned him about the Skeletons hunting him down. He always just pushed it to the side, because there was always bigger things to worry about. He had never expected that the entire army would pack up camp and move his way just to kill him, or teach him a lesson, or whatever Dave said they were plotting to do. In fact, the whole thing sounded ridiculous at first. Vincent only started to believe Dave was telling the truth when he told the rest of the group about his feelings of immortality.

Clay had explained to Dave the story that he had told Vincent earlier, sharing it with Zak, and Darryl, who looked unnaturally upset.

Once everyone was on the same page and the paranoid fizzled down a little, Vincent felt panic start to form. There's an army after him now, with spies, assassins, and basically anything else that was super dangerous that Vincent could think of.

There's not much time left until Dave predicted the army's arrival. What do we do? We don't have nearly enough people or weapons to take out half the Skeletons.

"I have an idea. But you guys aren't gonna like it," Clay clears his throat. "Zombies."

"What?" Everyone else asks in unison.

"If a mob of zombies were to somehow wander out to the house from the city, the army could possibly be overrun in minutes. If not, then the zombies could take out a lot of Skeletons."

"But Dave said there were close to no zombies in the city," Vincent pouts.

"Oh, about that... I lied. I know it sounds crazy, but a lot of them are trapped underneath buildings. In basements, storage units, basically any small compartment. I didn't want to tell you before, because, well, it would make me sound like I was crazy for keeping them alive." Dave's eyes don't meet Vincent's when he speaks, leaving the room in stunned silence.

"Is it enough for them to form a mob?" Darryl asks.

Dave nods. "For sure. The only issue— How do we lead them here?"