Bone And Blood

1

MOSTLY EDITED

The end of the world has been predicted many times, zombies , aliens , Lucifer, God, your crush not liking you back. So as a reader of books, gamer of games and a watcher of television I thought I was totally ready for this.
Zombies? Headshot. Aliens? Band together and fight back with a few of their defectors. Lucifer? God? Call Sam and Dean Winchester. And yet out of all those ways to wipe out humanity... We got shifters.

Horrifying, flesh eating, tremble at your knees, fear inducing, Body-changing... Shifters. The only plus side is that in their natural form they rely solely on vision, because they have no ears, no nose, and their mouths are strictly for devouring humans. But I regret to advise they're pretty much always in their human form. They find us during the day and eat us at night.

I have a few theories about how they came into our existence, aliens dropped them here and flew away. An evil witch willed them into reality. A virus turned a bunch of humans into cannibals that can change their forms. They were among us they whole time and were just waiting to see how stupid we would get before they couldn't take it anymore. But as much as I think about it, I don't actually care or at least I try not to, because it doesn't matter. They're here. We're screwed. End of story.

The sound of crunching leaves beneath my feet irritates me in a way it never did before. I've seen the same trees repeatedly to the point of hating pine. The smell of bark and rabbit poop fills my lungs every morning, that's what I smell every day, aside from rain and my own malodorous self.

When all hell broke loose I started using a journal to count the number of days going by. Now the number reads: 31. A whole month of endless forest. To be fair, I do choose to stay here because of the easy to access hiding spots. Climbing up a tree or simply crouching down next to one. I prefer to sleep in the cabins but I've also buried myself in leaves, dirt and branches to keep hidden. Desperate times.

I've begun to feel a slight decline in temperature, with the drop increasing every day. Not to mention all the leaves on the ground.

Fall.

Here in Nevada, fall is not very fun for those currently stuck in a forest. It's cold during the summer, I don't want to be around when it becomes fall. I failed to time my walking right so I'll be stuck in the forest for a few more days.

My feet ached with every step only easing for a second as I lifted it from the ground and placed it in front of the other. My head hung and my shoulders grew numb from the weight of the backpack and assault rifle slung over my shoulder. Numb.

This is a very common feeling for me, except it's not my shoulder or any specific body part but rather, everything. Pain doesn't hurt, I hardly even cry anymore. I'm breathing but it feels more like I'm drowning. I'm alive, but do I want to be? I'm plagued by thoughts of guilt. It should've been you. Why are you even still here? Yet I keep moving.

I hadn't realized how long I'd been walking until I saw the shadows of trees growing as the light from the sun dimmed, then it was gone.

Night.

I may have forgotten to mention this, but now that night has sought us out I will reveal another reason why I stay hidden in the forest. At the very second the sun leaves, Shifters change to their true form. I never stopped to ask one why, but let me tell you, their true form is nothing like anyone has ever seen.

They're tall, I would guess, seven feet maybe and thin. Their skin is pitch black, as if all the light has been stripped from them. Cold eyes devoid of life are atramental and filled with nothing. But their hands bother me the most, they're inordinately long and tipped with razor sharp claws that I've seen do unspeakable things. So at night, I hide.