Bryn
08-27-2013, 08:27 AM
London was in ruin. Its streets empty and houses deserted. All signs of life vanished in what seemed like a heartbeat, the virus spread ferociously and without mercy, like wildfire it consumed all in its path. Grass began to grow between the cracks of the blood stained pavement, buildings left to rot and decay and everything that we once knew about our world was gone.
We had been walking almost for nearly an hour or so, as far as I could tell. You never knew these days, the clocks stopped working months ago. There were seven of us today, all wearing thick jackets and woollen hats. Winter was coming and the days grew cold and icy. A shout from the front of the group got my attention, and I jogged to the forward to see what had happened. A car lay in the middle of the road in flames, next to it a woman, no older than twenty with dark menacing eyes and sallow reptilian skin. Her hair was matted and stuck to the side of her face. “First one we’ve seen in weeks” said the man to my left, he was tall and intimidating, with little hair and a large crooked nose bent forward like a beak. He held a baseball bat casually over his right shoulder, and spat in disgust. He turned to look at me and spoke again, “What’s your name son?” I stood silent for a minute. “Jac” I lied, as he turned to me offering his bat, “You wanna do her in?” I grimaced; I hated how the gangs that now roamed the streets killed for pleasure, it’s as if they have forgotten they are people, sick people who need our help and medicine. We could have easily avoid the woman by taking a sharp left turn, but that wasn’t going to happen and I knew better than to decline his offer; these gangs feed on fear, that’s how they have survived for so long. Nobody opposes them. No mercy. No weakness.
I took the bat, and started walking slowly towards the woman. She let out a loud high pitched scream which sent shudders up my spine, followed by a low, feral snarl. I was within ten metres or so, her eyes were bloodshot and she was frothing from the mouth. She let out another scream and began battering her arms against the burning car, causing her rotted skin to blister and singe in the flames. It turned to me once more and broke into a sprint, she closed the distance quickly, her bare feet making little noise on the ragged pavement. Four metres, three metres. I held the bat low, gripping it tightly with both hands, and as she propelled herself at me I took a step forward, raising the bat in an upward motion. It connected with her chin, and she fell to the ground. I heard a series of laughs and cheers from behind me. “Finnish her off kid!” the tall man shouted as I lowered the bat. The woman lay helpless, the bottom half of her face was completely shattered. Her tongue flapping about like a fish out of water. She rolled onto her front and looked directly at me, it was a long, desperate look, and for a second all sense of anger and rage completely left her face, and lying there before me was a woman, her ruined face streaked with tears.
“I’m so sorry” I whispered, and I brought the bat down on her head with all of my strength. A shooting pain ran through my arms on impact and I dropped the bat. The woman lay motionless, I fell back staring at her limp body. The crowd soon caught up with me, and the tall man grabbed me by the shoulder and picked me up as if I were a rag doll. “That’s how you do it son, right in the head!” he winked at me and walked off to catch the others who had already began making their way past the burning car, shouting and cursing. I was left, forgotten. As quickly as I had killed the woman. I felt a fool as I began to weep uncontrollably, but my sobs went unheard, and I was left alone in the dark.
We had been walking almost for nearly an hour or so, as far as I could tell. You never knew these days, the clocks stopped working months ago. There were seven of us today, all wearing thick jackets and woollen hats. Winter was coming and the days grew cold and icy. A shout from the front of the group got my attention, and I jogged to the forward to see what had happened. A car lay in the middle of the road in flames, next to it a woman, no older than twenty with dark menacing eyes and sallow reptilian skin. Her hair was matted and stuck to the side of her face. “First one we’ve seen in weeks” said the man to my left, he was tall and intimidating, with little hair and a large crooked nose bent forward like a beak. He held a baseball bat casually over his right shoulder, and spat in disgust. He turned to look at me and spoke again, “What’s your name son?” I stood silent for a minute. “Jac” I lied, as he turned to me offering his bat, “You wanna do her in?” I grimaced; I hated how the gangs that now roamed the streets killed for pleasure, it’s as if they have forgotten they are people, sick people who need our help and medicine. We could have easily avoid the woman by taking a sharp left turn, but that wasn’t going to happen and I knew better than to decline his offer; these gangs feed on fear, that’s how they have survived for so long. Nobody opposes them. No mercy. No weakness.
I took the bat, and started walking slowly towards the woman. She let out a loud high pitched scream which sent shudders up my spine, followed by a low, feral snarl. I was within ten metres or so, her eyes were bloodshot and she was frothing from the mouth. She let out another scream and began battering her arms against the burning car, causing her rotted skin to blister and singe in the flames. It turned to me once more and broke into a sprint, she closed the distance quickly, her bare feet making little noise on the ragged pavement. Four metres, three metres. I held the bat low, gripping it tightly with both hands, and as she propelled herself at me I took a step forward, raising the bat in an upward motion. It connected with her chin, and she fell to the ground. I heard a series of laughs and cheers from behind me. “Finnish her off kid!” the tall man shouted as I lowered the bat. The woman lay helpless, the bottom half of her face was completely shattered. Her tongue flapping about like a fish out of water. She rolled onto her front and looked directly at me, it was a long, desperate look, and for a second all sense of anger and rage completely left her face, and lying there before me was a woman, her ruined face streaked with tears.
“I’m so sorry” I whispered, and I brought the bat down on her head with all of my strength. A shooting pain ran through my arms on impact and I dropped the bat. The woman lay motionless, I fell back staring at her limp body. The crowd soon caught up with me, and the tall man grabbed me by the shoulder and picked me up as if I were a rag doll. “That’s how you do it son, right in the head!” he winked at me and walked off to catch the others who had already began making their way past the burning car, shouting and cursing. I was left, forgotten. As quickly as I had killed the woman. I felt a fool as I began to weep uncontrollably, but my sobs went unheard, and I was left alone in the dark.