Why are you expecting it to happen?

I thought Cindy would break down, but it surprised me when she didn’t. She simply stared at the wall, with that long-reach gaze… It was getting difficult to see any emotion inside those eyes. All you could see was tiredness… and wish for everything to be quiet.

The radio was on, even when I thought I had turned it off. There was a horrible noise… followed by another… followed by noises of short duration… and finally a voice.

“This warning is sent on behalf of the British government.”

The broadcast wasn’t only heard on our radio. It could be heard outside too. In fact, all the other sounds died, so the only thing you could hear was the female pre-recorded voice through loudspeakers.

“Warning! There been reports of a chemical attack, involving the spiking of many sleeping aids with a powerful hallucinogen, as well as the tainting of water sources with an unknown compound. It is of knowledge that the cities of London, Bristol, Plymouth and Birmingham are under severe attack at the hands of these terrorist actions. Security protocols are being enacted in those cities. If you happen to live in one of those, contact your local authorities in order to receive assessment and instructions.”

There was a pause, silence overtook the streets.  We were all left speechless. Even the man stopped talking. However, the transmission wasn’t over. A male voice was heard, seemingly recording live.

“This is a message from the British Army. Any attempt at violence will be met with arrest and restraint. Should the aggression continue, the Army is in capacity of employing fatal force to subdue the instigator. Citizens of the aforementioned cities, designated safety spots are being prepared by special personnel; information about them is being distributed. Report to these spots immediately, once you receive the information. ”

The transmission ended. And suddenly, silence was broken by a thousand of ringtones. The store was filled with the noisy party theme in Cindy’s cellphone. We checked… it was one of those instructions mentioned earlier.

“Hartmann Road. A convoy is waiting survivors there.”

I looked at Cindy. Her face told me that she didn’t want to leave the store. I tried talking to her… Tried to convince her otherwise…

“It’s our only chance to stay alive!”

“Hartmann Road is miles from here! And we don’t have a car! How do you expect us to make it?”

My eyes fell to the floor. Cindy just sighted while shaking her head in disapproval. But then, the noisy party song reappeared. Someone was calling.

Why are you running?

After seeing him, alive and fine… Well, I got too happy. I just… Seeing Anderson alive… Seeing other people alive… It wasn’t over, as we thought… Maybe things could go back to the way they were before…

So Cindy and I ran to the plaza. Last time we checked, the countdown was at two minutes. When we arrived, there was a complete carnival… thousands of small stands offering popcorn and candyfloss, performers doing their acts… And a huge tent in the middle of the plaza, from where faint remnants of laughter and applause could be heard.

“That’s weird…. I heard a party, not a carnival.” I said, looking around in confusion

Cindy barely acknowledged my question. She always liked carnivals. “Maybe the countdown was the time they would take in setting this! Let’s enter the tent!”

She dragged me inside, so excited to see a carnival after so much time… Once inside, we noticed that the seats were empty. But that didn’t stop the artists from performing. Stilt walkers were dancing with their enormous stilted shoes, the jugglers were performing all kinds of tricks with their… knives… And the clowns were… The clowns….

“Ooh… You are so late! Late! Late! LATE!” The main clown said, in Joey’s unmistakable voice, before bursting into maniacal laughter.

Beneath the heavy makeup of the performers, I saw all the people I knew… All my other coworkers, my friends, my family… They all were there. They joined Joey in his insane laughter, and then they lunged at us. We ran outside the tent… but they were already outside.

They came menacingly slow, savouring the moment… Joey the Clown still laughed like crazy, often honking his big red nose.

“It’ll be the best meal I had in ages!” He said, barely containing his laughter. “Afraid of sleeping again, little fella? You will soon be!”

The clown and his group were closing on us. They were pushing us back to the tent, now decorated as a dining room, with a table and chairs… But then, we saw something… A little light… A light in the sky, shaped like an arrow.

The clown saw it, and went ballistic. “No! No! NO!!! HE’S MINE! I got him first!!”

The arrow was pointing back to the chemist store.  While the clown was distracted, shouting at the sky, we made a run for it. He noticed our intentions, and gave chase. He was fast, and very angry, shouting loud curses while trying to catch us.

With the chemist’s store just inches away of us… The clown appeared just in front. He didn’t look like a clown anymore… he looked like a beast. Horned, covered in black fur and with the tattered remains of its clown outfit.

“You aren’t going anywhere!” It hissed at us as it approached.

The creature grabbed Cindy by the arm and pulled her close to it. His hand then turned into a big scythe, and he put it at her throat. She screamed, she tried to kick it, but the creature wasn’t affected by any of it. It was laughing the whole time, like if was told the funniest joke ever.

“This is your worst nightmare, am I right?”

The creature was simply delighted, licking his lips with its inhuman tongue, and licking Cindy’s face with it, as she reeled back in horror. I was frozen, I… I didn’t know what to do. I was too scared to do anything… He was going to hurt her… He was going to hurt me… I just wanted to scream. I closed my eyes for a minute… as he drew the scythe closer to Cindy’s neck…

For a brief minute, when I opened my eyes, I found myself back in the chemist store… A blink of my eyes took me back outside the street with the creature. It kept alternating… It was like if the two scenes were superimposed… One blink, I was inside… Another blink, it was with the monster… But after a minute, I found myself inside the store, with the goat monster inside… fading away…

Noticing the change in scenery, and its fading condition, the goat-beast lost it all. “NO! NO! INTERLOPER! INTERLOPER! HE IS MINE! MINE!”

He was distracted enough that Cindy slipped out of his grasp. She ran to me, and we both huddled in the corner. The monster let out agonizing yelps, as it brought down shelves and stomped the ground, as it slowly vanished. I looked at us one last time before fully disappearing, its face now hideous and frightening than ever, its crimson eyes staring deep into us… It let out such a growl. A growl so horrifying… The blood in our faces fled, I think that for a minute... Our hearts stopped….

And we suddenly woke up. We were all sweaty and fighting for breath… The sounds of looting and screaming and the man’s mad speeches resonated in the air, bringing us back to the reality we knew…

We threw all of the bottle of tranquilizers and smashed all the pills…

We took some moments to catch our breaths… It… was impossible. In… In our dreams too? Was there someplace safe?

Why are you going?

Not only was this street deserted. Everything was deserted… Buildings, cars, shops… It was all empty. No food, no water… Not even sound.

Cindy came out of the store, I scolded her for doing so, but the only reaction I got was a shrug. I was happy; she seemingly regained her old personality… So we set out to see what happened. No matter where we went, all was empty. Our little neighbourhood was completely barred of life; even the obnoxious birds that nested in the trees were gone…

Given that we were in the area, we went to our house. It was the same as we left it. No sight of forced entry or ransack. Everything was in order… including our pantry and our refrigerator, which curiously, were still full of food. It struck us as odd, that no one entered our house…

It was also interesting that when checking our belongings, the clothes we took with were still in the closet. It was very creepy… Someone entered our house… and made it habitable? Even with all the destruction around?

While I was busy trying to make sense out of this, Cindy went to the living room. We had a little telly there. She turned it on, in order to see if there was any news or anything. There was static… but there was also sound… A whisper, too faint to be heard among the static…

“Come…plaza… surprise…”

Cindy stood there, confused by the message she apparently heard. But then, images appeared in the screen… There was the neighbourhoods’ small plaza, alongside a countdown to the “surprise.” She told me about it…

“Should we go?” She said, looking very confused.

I really didn’t offer any answer to that… I was also afflicted… If there was a transmission, it means that there are more people out there. And probably, they want to gather people… But why doing it in such way? Shouldn’t it be in a way to incite people to gather?

“There are five minutes left in the countdown. Do you think we should go?”

I was really going to say no… But something on the TV screen caught my attention. There was a man waving at the camera…

“Hey pal! Hope you been taking your nutrients!” Said the man, his voice being very familiar to me…

“Is that… Joey? Joey Anderson?” Cindy said.

“You should really come over, dude!  Hey, you can bring Cindy too! We are having a blast here!"

My Rule

Before my arrival, the whole world descended into horrifying anarchy.

Men were afraid of even the most insignificant sound. Women started displaying horrifying looks because they could not embellish themselves. Children grew without the joy of a toy or the love of a parent.

They were not evolving… they were regressing. Their so called attempts to survive, were just putting them straight in their line of sight… No one wanted to be alone, no one wanted to lose another loved one... they all were shining beacons for them...

The Children, the prince and his unnamed bride, they were atop of the hunt. They never had that amount of power… But clearly, they were enjoying it. Their torture was even more painful than that of the others, because it was not oriented towards the physical senses… but the spiritual ones. They had this game, this contest, to see how many families they could break before night. The childish joy they expressed, the smile they had while making mothers and fathers do heinous acts…

I could not stand any of that. Not anymore.

So I intervened. I steeped in. I brought order. Golden fists of justice battled against their talons, their flames, and their ravenous appetite… They put on a surprising fight, they were not wishing for their entertainment to be over. But I prevailed.  Weak, with short breath and gashing wounds, but victorious nonetheless.

I claimed a sizeable land, with still a fragment of fertility. Pure and uncorrupted, so they could harvest their food. And they did… they harvested their food and tried to bring their animals. Nations less affected were chivalrous enough to send supplies, which arrived without problems under my vigilant watch.

 Soon, this little part of land slowly became alive… Never achieving the same glory it had, but at least they were making progress. The children were very active, and I, their father, was always looking upon them. Their well-being nourished me, their pleas and prayers gave me strength… And they wished for me… so I provided upon them…

 

Some of them still did stupid things, but I always rectified them so they did not make the same mistake. Some were very stupid with their rations, so I corrected them. Some were incredibly retarded with the administration of law... So I stepped in.

Are you crying?

The shouting, the gunfire... The man's commanding voice... All resounded in the air, despair and insanity in tangible form. Cindy tried to block the sound, like an scared child.  

I felt really disgusted to see her like that. The man that swore to protect her and be with her was unable to do anything but stand motionless... I feel so useless....

We didn’t hear the voice for a good period of time, so we assumed it just disappeared. Or we were going mad… John contracted the botulism after seeing the vision. And there’s nothing to disprove that maybe you can get other illnesses as well… I don’t know… I just wanted to die in that moment.

All I just wanted was to be free. I was an idiot. My suffering before this was nothing! I was just being a whiny bitch back then. I really understood what real pain is…

While we huddled in a corner, trying to drown out the noises, we heard a broadcast. It came from a small radio, sitting over the counter of the shop.

“Can anyone hear me? My name is Richard Clarke… I’m from Richmond. It is hell out here. I’m transmitting from an abandoned mall. God, I’m the only one left. This thing, it killed all of my platoon. Please… If you happen hear this… Send help. Please… any help. I don’t know how long I can resist. Communication with the army has been cut-off… Please… Help me…”

I turned off the radio. We didn’t need any of that… Cindy was in shock, looking at the barricaded door with a stoic face, like if she could see beyond it, beyond many yards…

Looking through the shelves of the store, I found a bottle of tranquilizers… Without thinking, I downed a few… Cindy too… We just wanted the pain to go away…

We were still scared, even with all the sedatives we took, huddled in a corner inside the shop. The screaming and roaring sounds from the looting haven’t stopped, the moron with the megaphone kept condemning everyone who didn’t follow his word.

Eventually, the stress and weariness took hold of us. We quickly fell asleep, the noise outside trying its best to keep us awake but to no avail… Before falling asleep, I checked the clock in the store… 2:00 AM.

It was a deep slumber… When we woke up, we could feel perfect. Refreshed… And we woke up on our own. The clock said 2:00 PM; there was no noise or screams… It was all quiet. We peeked through one of the shops windows… there was nothing on the street. Sure it was devastated, but there were no traces of life on it.

“Is it over?”  Cindy murmured, trying to find someone.

“Stay here. I’ll check it out.”

What are you thinking?

We weren’t supposed to stop… But we were forced to. A huge fight erupted in the area, all led by the man from before who, along with others, was hurling Molotovs to the opposing Army officers. 

We hid inside a deserted newsagent. There was a fresh batch of newspapers resting on the counter. The front page was filled with all sort of horrible stuff.

“Mysterious attacks in scrapyard, two killed. Savage attacks in Richmond, ten women dead, three missing. Stratford’s water system contaminated, unknown substance causes illness never seen before.”

Both, Cindy and I, were stunned by seeing the news. We were aghast at the events. This wasn’t a terrorist attack… Not even Al-Qaeda could pull something like this. We watched the paper… The attacks at the scrapyard were horrific, all seemingly done by the machinery found on it… The poor women, all had their hearts torn out, their corpses stuffed with flowers until they poured from their wounds…

We were speechless. This was going out of control. Nobody was going to make it if this continues. Hell, it has to continue… No one can stop it now.

I felt something inside me die…I was tired of looking at the streets, the gaping holes, the burning trees… The smell of burning in the air… The groaning and screaming of people, as a huge riot forms and they march down the street… They were burning down the streets, burning down huge flags depicting some sort of face…

No...

....

....

I immediately looked at Cindy. The sheer terror on her face told me everything I needed to know.

When we blinked, it was gone. All the devastation… All the disaster… It was simply gone.

Cindy broke down crying. I would too, but I couldn’t… Someone had to be brave. Someone had to be tough. Someone had to show the other that it wasn’t Armageddon. But I just looked at myself... Seeing how pathetic I am...

“We just have to keep moving! Hartmann Road isn’t too far from here! We can make it!”

“No… you should not.” A voice ringed in my ears… it was a small whisper, hoarse, like if the speaker has been screaming a lot. “Fleeing is not an option.”

I was looking for the source of that voice, demanding it to show itself. Cindy saw me, and began crying even harder… She thought I lost it. But then, she raised her head… tears flowing on her cheeks, and her eyes full of horror.

“Do not let them.”  The voice said, this time even stronger. “That just feeds them. They want madness, chaos… They are all mad. And they now want to bring their madness to you.”

What are they hearing?

It was a good thing that those men were able to leave. Many persons were swarming a small store... And I think I saw one policemen brandishing a gun...

When I got inside, I found my wife, curled near a wall. She was a mess. She couldn’t stop crying. My beautiful darling… all wrecked. I tried my best to comfort her, but nothing I said could calm her. She hugged me tightly, words trying to stand out from all the bawling.

“We have to get out of here. I don’t know how, but we must leave!”

Just as we were talking, we heard this enormous sound. Like an explosion… followed by broken glass. There was a lot of screaming. People cursing loudly…

My wife and I peered into the window. There was a big group of policemen and an even bigger group of protesters… The uniformed people were standing in front of a supermarket, impeding people from entering. The man with he gun was lowering his arm, blowing the cannon of the gun.

“There was a suspected biological attack on this area, do not attempt to enter!" One of the policemen said with an amplifier.

“Yeah?!  And why are you carrying away all that food?! What’s next? Start reducing our services?” A big, boorish man was yelling. “You are just abusing your power!”

The commotion outside was growing bigger. The man was doing a good job in rallying people against the police forces. The people were roaring with rage, all seemingly agreeing with the words of that brute.

“We have to get out of here. I’m giving ten minutes before a riot begins” Cindy said, looking at how the man brought an officer to the ground.

We managed to fill three backpacks. Right now, I’m completely remorseful I haven't anything to defend myself with.

Once we had everything, we ran. We picked as many quiet routes as possible. Everybody was out of control… All convenience stores in the vicinity were looted. All places were food was stored were being looted actually. People were running away with big bags full of food or clothes, the people were locking down their buildings as to not let the officers in.

“What the hell is happening?” Cindy asked. I wished to come up with an answer, but none came.

As we ran through alleys and mostly empty streets, we could hear a voice through a loudspeaker. It was loud and booming, even for such a device…

“Don’t let them oppress you! You must fight back! They are using this opportunity to exert the control they never had, using the fears and dread of people! Get up, go out to the street! Tell them that it isn’t working! Stand up… Be brave.”

Motivational speaker, great… Like if we need more of that shit. We tried to ignore the guy; our goal was to reach the airport. We had enough money in our credit cards to get us out of here. All we had to do was get to the place unscathed…