Writer's Games Entries

Task 3: "Voices In The Night"

Five years ago
The day is almost over when the ground starts shaking at our feet. Everybody is looking up, and at each other, wondering what the hell is going on. The teacher walks over to the window to find out. At first there's nothing, but then a massive explosion occurs and the shockwaves breaks all the windows and sends the teacher several meters back into the room. As I run towards the window, I see a big black cloud of smoke from the same direction as the factory where my parents work. I know my sister is with them too.

I run out of the room before anyone says anything and out into the street dominated by a massive panic from people running away from the smoke. Some of them are black of smoke, others seem little burned. I push through the crowd the best I can as I come to realize more and more that the explosion was in fact in that very factory. "Back away, back away, we're setting a perimeter!" I hear in front of me as I see a man waving people off in the opposite direction as the factory.

"Mum, dad!" I call out as I stop by the perimeter at first. I can't find them. I even climb on top of a box, and I still can't see them. My heart-rate is increasing as I jump down and try to make my way through the blockage, but the man stops me. "Son! Son, you can't go in there, it's not secure!" He says. "I have to go! I have to get my family!" I protest as I try to twirl my way out of his grasp, but he fastens his grip.

"The only ones left in the factory are more than likely dead." He pretty much slaps in my face, but I refuse to believe it. "No, they're still alive! I have to go and find them!" I try to move past him, but then he picks me up. I protest violently as he walks us over to a box where he sits me down. "Listen, kid, if your family was in there, they're not alive! Anyone who was in that factory, are dead!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My eyes jolt open as I notice that I've managed to fall asleep while keeping watch. I take a deep breath to calm down from the reminder of what happened that day, and I look over at my allies fast asleep for now. We were unlucky to lose three allies just on the first day. Two of the ones I considered strong enough to help me carry the group, and the third one was the boy-sibling. The sister, the girl from 11 hasn't stopped crying about it since it happened. For now, she's asleep, but I wonder how asleep she really is. At least we got two new allies, two strong ones.

I volunteered to take the first watch, which ultimately means I'm just gonna take the whole night. Whenever my eyes close, I always remember that day when I lost my family and even though I can physically never feel the pain, emotional pain is far worse. It sneaks up on me like a snake and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

The temperature is considerably lower than earlier in the day, but the humidity is still present and the lack food and water is still weighing us down. It makes it all the more easier to fall asleep on the watch, like I sense I'm doing again as my eye-lids slide together again and I feel like I'm drifting off to sleep as I'm starting to hear some sort of melody playing. At first it's just a fading melody that I think I'm hearing inside my head because I'm too dehydrated to think anything else. However, when I hear movement next to me and I see my other allies waking up to something, I consider the possibility that it's not a dream...it's real.

I put my ears to the task as the melody becomes stronger and stronger. I recognize it right away - 'The Hanging Tree'. It's just the melody on its own, but I remember the lyrics as I sense them replay themselves inside my head. The theme of the song isn't exactly one you sing for your children, but my mother would sing it to me because it was the only thing to calm me down when I woke up from a nightmare. I look at my other allies, all just as much in question as me.