《The Broken Age》


 Migration season

    In this world you only need to worry about yourself. That''s how my family saw this world and considering the human species¡¯ violent tendencies, it¡¯s best to abide by those rules. All that''s left from us is rubble, junk, and bits of rotten food ''That''s all you deserve though.''


    I smack at my head as my mind focuses again and continue walking past the rundown crumbling apartments, holding a wet plastic bag with some wild glowing mushrooms and a few cans of half-eaten soup. ''You better have wings under that shirt because the horde is coming sooner or later.'' "I know that, but I need to grab all my stuff before we leave, I should have a few hours before the horde moves south." I whisper.


    Stopping by my building I climb up the thick vines surrounding it and climb into my building.


    I drop my stuff and grab my old bag, stuffing it with whatever food I''ve found. Then look at the large pile of random objects I found around the city. I decide to grab a few books, and a sharp piece of black metal I found. Then I grab Cactus from his blanket as he greets me with a hissy fit. ''Why do you keep that thing, it''s just leaves you open for vulnerability.''


    "Hey, buddy we got to move, winter''s coming and the horde is going to move south. I wish we could take your blanket but, it''s too dirty, and I don''t want to make the food dirty."


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    Cactus licks his nose in response and nudges my thumb above his head. I put him on my head and go to the window climbing down, back onto the streets.


    Walking south by the border I notice an old school and decide it would be worth looking through it. As I opened the doors all there was the silence of an empty hall, greeting me with my echoing footsteps ''Late for class I see. You better run.''


    I find the cafeteria and look through finding large packages full of plastic-wrapped food Dated thirty-two years ago. "The apocalypse started like, twenty years ago. You''d think they would have brain food in a place for learning." I whisper to myself


    "I think I''d rather starve... Probably healthier than eating this stuff" I grab a few cartons of milk, that were, sure enough, twenty years past their best, and continue south.


    Opening the door at the exit I hear the sound of objects falling down, making me jump and take cover behind the half-opened door.


    I peek my head through, and amongst the wet boxes, and plastic waste was a black cat, that looked as if it was passing by, looking directly at me.


    It knew I was there.


    I step out further, staring back at the cat, for several seconds, in this silent battle to see who will act first.


    Eventually, the cat loses interest and turns its head back to where it was facing and continues its walk to wherever it was heading.


    By the edge of the state''s border, I notice a thin makeshift wall lined across the border. Most of it had fallen on the ground so I step over the rubble and move on.

 All but lost

    Why was war considered a solution to conflict? If were meant to be a logical species, why was this the best solution. All humanity ever sees in itself is self-pride. Believe what you want and argue relentlessly that your belief is correct. To feel better about its flaws? To deny uselessness? We never grow when we¡¯re stuck arguing over a pointless opinion. We¡¯re always causing problems and ignoring solutions. ''It''s fun, and you know you would do the same. You hypocrite.''


    I shake my head focusing on the dark surroundings nearby ''Lost in the dark are we now.'' "I''m not lost, were heading south-east through that glowing city then looking for somewhere to get out of the storm." I say pointing at the small city crawling with a glowing mass on the buildings.


    ''There''s no storm, weatherman, just your deranged mind playing tricks on you.'' "No, those dark clouds are moving our way." I whisper reaching one of the buildings. Growing on its side was a strange moss growing down from the top of the building, giving a strange warm glow. "Must be glowing to catch food!" I say reaching out for it ''Then, it found it.'' "No, I''m talking about bug-"


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    I pull back my hand feeling a burning on its palm. The palm of my hand was covered in blood now, along with my fingers. There''s a hand shaped splatter of blood where my hand was touching the moss slowly getting absorbed into the moss.


    "Guess i was the prey." I say looking at the blood on my hand continuously flowing out, dripping to the ground. I turn back and start walking again, keeping my hand away from my clothes so the blood can dry.


    By the edge of the small city there was a newspaper stand, with newspapers scattered all around it. Government shutdown causes uprising of snake people "Wonder what happened to the people they took?" The papers all discussed the same thing. "We were stupid not to notice it for so long." I say dropping the papers and walking on, they were stupid not invading when they first arrived.

 Child of the night

    Even though this world¡¯s society collapsed because of the snake people, there probably... misunderstood. ''No there not.'' We consider ourselves as good, but that''s some stupid definition we gave to things. To some prey animal we could be considered evil, and we consider killing some other species as, fine. A species on its own can''t be one thing. Even though we deny it, most of the human population is bad, with that small deformity of the good. What makes them different. If we see their flaws and ignore our own. If we consider them evil for what they do. What''s stopping them to think the same about us? What''s stopping them from being like us? ''There ugly piles of flesh with scales, and people are ugly piles of flesh without scales.''


    The sun was starting to set, it had started to drizzle. The rain was acidic, it stung my skin, fizzing away when it reached a surface "There''s a cave!" I whisper heading toward the small opening in the earth.


    I drop my backpack on the ground and lay down by the side of the cave. Cactuses nose sticks out of my bag, sniffing at the air.


    He shyly makes his way out of the bag, before continuing to wiggle his nose in the air. I reach out for him, as he hides his head and throws a hissy fit, when he figures out its me, he lowers his quills and lets me grab him. "What about you Cactus, are you evil? ''Yes.''


    If some animal saw some moving thing with spikes would it consider it evil?" ''Yes.'' Cactus looks at me, blankly then looks at my other hand, covered in drying blood. "What about that weird moss, is it evil for eating blood?"


    I hear movement echo from deeper in the cave, so I grab my bag and put Cactus in my pocket. But he falls out and runs in deeper in the cave. I go after him, but the cave gets darker with each step.


    I grab the sharp piece of metal, from my bag cutting my finger in the process.


    My free hand was guiding me through the dark cave, as I let my hand drag along the stone walls. Through the darkness was a small light.


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    It was an electric glow stick, near an open crate with old looking blankets, and clothing in it and scattered around the floor. There was an awful smell coming from them. ''Lost in the lion¡¯s den now, aren''t we.'' There were footsteps coming from behind me, and something grabs my shoulder.


    Out of reflex I stab the hand and a scream is let out from the victim.


    I spring over to the light stick and shine it on my victim, it was a pale teenage girl with messy brown hair covering her face.


    Her wound heals in seconds. She pushes her hair away revealing her shining red eyes "I''m sorry you just startled me" She speaks in a somewhat deep voice revealing a set of enlarged sharp fangs.


    ''Better run little lamb, the lion is here.'' She was staring at my bleeding hands. "What are you?" I ask clenching the piece of metal.


    "What do you mean, I''m a person, like you" She stutters nervously.


    "People¡¯s hands don¡¯t do that, and they would definitely leave a scar after being stabbed. So, what are you really?" I say again.


    "I''m a person, I swear!" she repeats. The horrible smell from the blankets, get me curious, so I lift some of them up while keeping an eye on the girl.


    Under the blanket were chunks of flesh and blood splatters above more, stained blankets. "So, you''re a cannibal?" I say dropping the blanket back down.


    "No, no, it''s not what it looks like, I just... drink blood" She looks at me with a nervous look "So you''re a vampire" I say in a louder tone.


    "I don-" she begins.


    "Look, I don''t care, I don''t want trouble. I''m looking for a hedgehog, and I''ll leave when the rain stops" I interrupt her. ''You love the trouble. You know you¡¯re happy to see someone else, especially a girl around your age.'' Then we both hear a tiny hissing, at my feet that gets louder from the echoing of the cave. I glance down and there he was. Throwing another hissy fit.


    I scoop him up with my free hand and, put him back in my pocket. Then I start walking out backwards keeping an eye on the girl.


    "Wait, can I come with you? I haven''t seen anyone in months. And there''s nothing left for me here... Just things I want to forget." She begs.


    "I don''t trust you people anymore. You¡¯re the ones that made this mess." I respond, as I back away, my foot hits a rock and I trip backwards, falling on my back.


    There''s another short hiss coming from my pockets as cactus whines. Then I look up to see my makeshift weapon, now in the girls hands. She gives it a quick glance, then tosses it to the floor next to my feet. "I don''t want to be alone, anymore." she says crouching down and giving me her hand.


    I grab my sharp piece of metal, then grab her hand "Don''t expect me to feed you." I groan, getting back on my feet.

 Easier to forget

    Why do some people think animals don''t have a soul? Is it because they don''t talk like us? Don''t think like us. Everything is technically alive to some aspect. A rock could have enough bacteria to the point that you could consider it alive... To some extent. Animals aren''t people and we don''t understand their mindset. That doesn''t make them smaller than us. They don''t understand what we do, and we don''t understand what they do. They still feel what we can, see what we can and can''t, dream, and want love and understanding. ''But unlike us there weak, and stupid.''


    I snap my head up, realizing id dozed off. Then my head starts hurting so i grab my forehead.


    Cactus starts hissing in my pocket, from the movement. The rain outside had stopped but there was still a storm. The vampire girl was next to me sleeping. ''Just leave it.'' I nudged her to wake up. She starts breathing heavy, her head shoots up and she looks at me with horror. Then she starts calming down "Sorry I... wake up like this, sometimes." She says, ''it''s hiding something.''


    I get up and grab my bag "Let''s get going." I say reaching out my hand. She grabs it and we start moving again.


    The weathers getting colder every hour, were not far from winter and thus the horde. ''Be prepared for your rending, it should be fun.'' Cactus is still asleep in my pocket, with his occasional fits.


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    "So, I never got your name." I ask trying to make conversation.


    "I don''t have one." The vampire girl cheerfully responds.


    "How do you not have a name? Everyone has to have one." I chuckle, ''Then what''s mine.''


    I smack my head in frustration, as the girl just watches me.


    "I don''t think I have one, I can never remember much of... anything." she says


    "Well, I''m Zack, and the prickly fluff ball in my pocket is Cactus." I introduce.


    We''ve walked about three miles, the girl doesn''t say much but she really likes looking around, her head''s constantly looking around anywhere that isn''t in front of her, she doesn''t seem like she remembers anything, ''Or she''s hiding everything.'' not the invasion, not her family, or age. ''So lucky to forget the pain and hide away.''


    We walk to a small hatch, in the middle of nowhere. It''s around five miles away from the cave, and you can see the sun rising from the horizon.


    The vampire girl looks very irritated, continuously looking around her. The horde isn''t too far off either, I take a breath and put my hands on the edge of the hatch, "Help me with this." I say she looks at me, with fear and anger.


    "I''m... I''m not going in there." she says, as she looks away again. ''Maybe she doesn''t like looking at hatches... From five minus miles away?''


    From where we were going, we headed straight for here is that why? "Look, the horde''s not far off, and the suns almost up, I imagine you don''t want to be around for either of those things, so help me out here." I say frustratingly pulling at the rusted hatch.


    She shakily grabs the other side of the hatch and easily lifts the latch, revealing a ladder going down. She looks at me again, this time with more anger than fear, "I''m only staying by the ladder."

 Harder to remember

    It''s always better to improve yourself. That''s what life is about, isn''t it? Improving, being a better person, doing the right thing ''Is that why we left them?''


    The awful smell of rotting food lingered around this place. A narrow cave leading into a glass door.


    I face the vampire girl, holding her arms together. She looks back at me like she was about to cry, "Why are you acting like this?" I whisper, my voice giving a slight echo.


    She only shakes her head in response. ''She''s quieter than you.'' I roll my eyes and turn back, walking towards the glass door.


    Looking through I can see a room with a trail of blood staining the floor leading to another room. A flipped table with scattered paper around it, cupboards left open holding, various drugs, and liquids.


    I grip for the edges of the sliding door pulling the two edges apart, as they give a grinding sound. The lights inside give a quick flicker, as i squeeze through the narrow opening i made ''They still got power!'' Looking through the cupboards the only thing useful I could recognize was a mostly used up medical bandage. The next room has to have something better.


    As I opened the metal door the stench of rotting meat flooded in.


    I peak through seeing the trail of blood leading to three dead bodies piled on each other ''What''s wrong with their necks!'' I look closer at the pile, they were all missing a large chunk of their necks, one of the bodies arms was stretched over a metal table, the table looks like it used to have someone strapped down on it.


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    There were jars full of colorful liquids that fed into an old, used looking iv, next to the table.


    There was another door, inside was a small room with a desk and another dead body, same torn neck, but with a needle lodged in his head.


    On his desk was a colorful framed crayon drawing poking out from the pile of papers.


    I grab it. An old drawing of the man and a small girl with curly brown hair. The picture was labeled dad and me pointing to each of the people in the drawing. Looking at the man''s desk was a name plate Michael Spae What is this place? ''The lions den.''


    Looking more around the torn and stained papers on the desk I find another frame with an even more detailed drawing of the man again, with a small message on the bottom See you soon dad -Alice Spae I grab the frame, Is this the same girl?


    Walking back, I''m greeted to the anxious vampire desperate to leave. I pull out the framed drawing of the dead man and his daughter, showing it to her "Did you draw this?" I ask, there was a glimpse of horror in her face, but it quickly vanishes into confusion.


    "No, what is this?" she asks.


    "I assumed it was you, or someone called Alice Spae" I say putting the picture in my bag


    "No... Not me" she shakes her head. ''She''s totally lying.''


    Everything she''s done so far makes me think she''s been lying "Well since you''re going to need a name, I say it should be Alice Spae."


    She thinks for a moment. "Thanks, but I don''t like that name." She says.


    "Well, I never chose the name Zack but that''s what I was named... So too bad." I reply She doesn''t answer instead we both wait in silence hearing subtle footsteps above us.

 Hidden in fear

    If no one ever listens, then why ever bother to talk? ''Because it''s what distracts you from the voices echoing in your head.'' There''s no reason to talk to people who won''t listen... Might as well talk to the voices, they''d pretend to listen more than anyone else, cause there''s stuck with you ''And you¡¯re stuck with them.''


    "Hey are you ok?"


    I open my eyes as my vision focuses "Yeah I just dozed off." I say getting up from my back. Alice was still standing holding herself. There was no more sound coming from the surface. Only the dripping sounds of water.


    "I''ll go check if its night yet." I say grabbing on the ladder and climbing up to the hatch. I put a hand on the hatch and push up, the rusted metal slowly creaks open to bring the night sky into view. "It¡¯s night, let''s go." Alice grabs the bars and quickly starts climbing as I exit the hatch.


    The night was cold, and there were too many clouds covering the sky to see anything, besides the white glow of the moon passing by the green tint of the clouds.


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    The smell of rot was lingering around the area. "Let''s keep moving south." I say Alice walks behind me keeping quiet, she looked excited to be out of the bunker.


    A few minutes later Alice breaks the silence "Where are we going?" She asks.


    "South." I shrug, ¡®Didn¡¯t we tell her this already?¡¯


    "Then where are we now?" She says.


    I take off my backpack and pull out a map "I think were somewhere between New York and Pennsylvania." I say putting the map back in my backpack.


    A few hours later we find a small city, Scranton "Let''s find somewhere to hide you during the day." I say.


    Nearby there was a small pet shop with a broken window, ''Looks familiar doesn''t it.'' "How about there." I say pointing to the store. Alice shrugs in response. And we both enter the abandoned store as our footsteps echo along the buildings.


    All the shelves were cleared out, or knocked over, and there were traces of spray paint on the floor and an empty aquarium, with a plastic pineapple in it.


    "So why am I hiding from the sun?" Alice asks, lifting herself up and sitting on one of the metal shelves.


    "So, you don''t die." I sit on another shelf near the window, wondering. Then I finally ask, "The sun hurts you, doesn''t it?" She thinks for a moment, then shrugs. ''Evolution at its finest.''


    There was nothing else to talk about, or nothing Alice wanted to talk about, so I just watched the sun rise, as a squeaking noise kept coming from a tube above us.

 Live and learn

    I keep coming back to the same question every day. Why am I supposed to be in this world ''To suffer.'' Everything is so... boring, it''s hard to feel anything besides anger and frustration. Because that''s what life throws at you everyday. And when you¡¯re overwhelmed by anything. All you can do is laugh and smile like a maniac, cause the only other option is to cry ''Then just kill yourself and leave everyone alone already.''


    There''s a light squeaking in the pipes above us, accompanied by the pitter patter of small feet. Alice keeps looking at the pipes, her head following whatever direction the sound goes.


    Every now and then there''s a distant loud bang. coming from outside. With every bang I heard I got more and more curious. "I''m going to look outside." I say looking at Alice. She didn''t answer, just followed the sound in the pipes, So I exit through the front door and look around for the sound.


    There was nothing outside besides the run-down buildings. But the sound was still coming from somewhere. So, I walked throughout the town, looking for something that could make the sound.


    In the center of the town, the sound kept getting louder, but I still couldn''t find it, it kept echoing. Then I heard something, movement, and talking.


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    I follow the sound to around the back of a building, crouching down to hide. There was a line of people tied together with bags over their heads.


    It was them. The snake people!


    They were in the front of the line next to a yellow reflective arch. Some kind of door? They inspected the next person in line, cut the rope tying them to the others, and pushed them through the arch.


    Then, Bang, this was the sound. Echoing through the town, when someone passed through the arch. Everyone else whimpered and moaned at the sound as the next person was pulled forward ''Your next.''


    I get up, for the back of my head to touch something cold. A strange voice spoke behind me. But I didn''t understand them. They nudged the cold device to my head again, it was some kind of weapon. I slowly raise my arms, and he speaks again, this time in a way I could understand "Move Forward." The voice was harsh and low, ''RUN.'' I slowly turn my head, trying to see my captor, but he pushes me to the ground, holds my arms together, and takes off my bag and throws it aside. Then he lifts me by the arms with one hand and walks to the others speaking again in that foreign language.


    I kick my legs around, the back of my shoes just barely hitting my captor. But he easily grabs my feet together and pulls them back, holding them with my hands, The others look at me, strangely one of them kneels down, his slit eyes looking directly at mine.


    Observing me.


    They talk, not breaking their gaze with me, and pull out a bag to pull it over my head.

 Those we leave behind

    What is the point of anything... Am I the only actual person... Kill, everyone and then yourself... Everyone keeps staring... Unpleasant thoughts, and a shattered mind... Pain. That''s what you feel, you can act like its fine. But it''s still lingering... ''cry.'' ''hide.'' ''kill.''


    Why is it so cold already? I grab both sides of my arms and rub them up and down. "Why is it this cold inside a damn pet store?" I ask aloud.


    Alice just shrugs.


    All a sudden, my head aches.


    It feels like my brain just cracked open.


    My ears start ringing.


    I rub my head hoping it stops, but it doesn''t. I get up and look at Alice "I''m going for a walk." I say trying to distract myself from my own head.


    She just stares at me... Blankly. I slowly open the door and walk out watching her as she stared back.


    Outside was like a desert, just cracked concrete put into this dead empty place, but it was just as cold, my head was still aching and there was the low ringing in my ears. So, I started walking.


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    Nothing changed I walked around the barren, nothing that''s this one building and my headache was still there, but the ringing had gotten better.


    I collapse down on the front of the door holding my head with my hands. I reach for Cactus in my pocket, trying to cling to any form of comfort i could get.


    He wasn''t there.


    I start to panic, I couldn''t breathe.


    It''s not enough air, I just kept breathing out faster than I could breathe in.


    I rush to open the door "Where''s Cactus?" I yell in a barely understandable blurt.


    Alice turns her head to face me "Maybe he left. Just like you did."


    The ringing comes back, a wave of nausea hits me, and my knees hit the floor as I bend down expecting to vomit. But nothing came out.


    "Why did you leave them." Her voice piercing through the ringin.


    "Who?" I yell. Wanting the sounds to go away


    "You know who. They could have cared. They could have died trying to look for you." she yells back.


    It was like my head was about to crack open and leak out of itself.


    I open my eyes, but everything was waving around "You act like your so much better. Like you don''t need anyone. Like they abandoned you. But you abandoned them. You''re acting the same as you think they would."


    Every word she said got louder. Everything was so painful.


    I couldn''t see, Cactus was missing, all these headaches, all this stress. All throughout her talking everything kept getting worse, until she said one last and clear thing.


    "You''re the one causing your own pain." And then it was over.


    No more pain, no more ringing, just black. A grunting sound, and a blow of warm air in my face.

 Break the mind, cage the body

    Why is there nothing?... Am I dreaming? Or is this real and everything else fake?... Keep it together, if you freak out in front of them, they''ll judge you... Everything I hear, everything I see, in every situation. It all feels like it keeps repeating... Under all this pressure. How do you cope healthily.... Please just fix yourself. Why won''t things click back into place? Why is it all so broken?


    It''s been a few days now! They''d probably be surprised I even made it this long. ''...'' My stomach gives off a gurgle, ''...'' My bag was empty, so I continue walking, through the desolate town.


    Most of the buildings looked fine, they hadn''t rusted or broken down. The most damage was from the broken windows near the ground. But there was one building that looked completely normal.


    A small pet store. I go up to the glass doors and pry them open. The inside was still filled with stock. But there wasn''t any trace of food on the shelves. I walk to the back, looking in the cabinets. and find a partially rusted can of tuna, in the far back ''...'' "Look its better than nothing, just scoop out the molding bits." I whisper.


    I grab the can and walk out the back accidentally bumping the register and knocking off a small fishbowl. It smashes and scatters across the floor. Then there was a sound, a weird... Angry? Sound, like a small broken motor.


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    I follow it to a small tank. Hedgehogs $300.99 ''...'' I pull out the tank and grab the animal in the hiding hut. He kept puffing on my hand and making that sound, but the spikes didn''t hurt. It was like gently holding a cactus, it didn''t hurt so long as I didn''t press against it.


    I look at its cage again. Empty food, empty water, really small tank. "You''re a little ball of anger." I say to the puffing hedgehog, I put him on my other hand and push him into my pocket, as bits of his quills stick out through the fabric.


    "Let''s find you some food." I say looking at my pocket.


    There was that ringing again. Then it felt like my brain just stopped.


    My senses changed immediately, there wasn''t a pet store, or anything. Everything was dark... I was on a cold surface, with my eyes closed.


    My head was throbbing, and each throb gave me more pain. Was I dreaming? Why was I dreaming?... Wait what was I dreaming about?


    Then I hear a familiar sound. A grunt?


    But why is it familiar?


    I open my eyes and see a dark blue smooth metal ceiling, and wall. I slowly push myself up, as the throbbing worsens. Then I notice it.


    Some thing sitting at the opposite side of the room, on the metal shelve attached to the wall, with its hands on its knees. Facing directly at me.


    It knew I was there. I could feel it.


    It was very thin, and pale. You could see its ribs through its torn white shirt. its nails were long and yellow extending well past its fingers. It looked humanoid, but clearly wasn''t. Because it had no eyes. Where its eyes should have been were long... ears? Not human ears, more like bat wings, but the closest thing that I could compare to ears.


    It just faced me emotionless. I stared back, trying to hold back my fear. Then it let out a grunt.

 To the limit

    You¡¯re supposed to give people the benefit of the doubt, right? ''No.'' It''s not about how they look it''s about how they act, right? ''No one does this they just say they do.'' Don''t judge a book by its cover ''Stop it already.'' Why is it so hard not to judge the dam book? Why is it so hard not to be afraid when its three feet away, facing directly at you? ''Flight or fight. I suggest the former.''


    I didn''t want to move.


    I didn''t know what this thing would do. I didn''t even know where I was.


    It lets out another grunt, a deep scary sound. Almost like growling. But it didn''t move.


    It clearly knew I was there, was it waiting for me to do something?


    I slowly raise my hand and open my mouth. It does nothing. I keep my hand raised not sure what to do next, it tilts its head slightly and raises its hand up mirroring me. I put my hand back down and it does the same.


    Why is it copying me?


    I reach my arm out to it with caution, it does the same and our hands touch. I flinch expecting something to happen. But it does nothing. Does it think this is a game?


    I pull back my arm and slowly stand up taking a step closer to it. It raises its head to face mine. And lets out a grunt. I give a slight smile and imitate its grunt. It jumps in response trying to kick itself back.


    I let out a small chuckle. Its left ear twitches and it faces the door. There were the muffled sounds of footsteps.


    Another one of them. The snake people.


    I throw myself at the door banging it as hard as I could, but it doesn''t budge, you could see the snake''s chest from the small window. I bang at the door, as my head starts aching again.


    The air around me felt heavy.  Then... I started to feel heavy. It felt like I was numb. Like I was being pulled to the ground. Until I did fall down, unable to raise myself up.


    The creature next to me didn''t seem as bothered, but it did look limp, its ears were down along with its head. Our door slides open and the snake outside walks in with someone else.


    I look at their clothing, grey, skintight suits with a metallic sheet around their waist. The same as the ones that caught me before. One of them grabs me by my arms and legs, and the other grabs my prison mate by the back of its shirt, escorting it out along with me.


    "Do something, why are you letting them take you?" I attempt to yell, but it comes out as more of a groan.


    It doesn''t answer.


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    Why was it letting them take it? It''s not even restrained. Its escort takes it to a room with a large glass wall. Leaving me with my escort as he takes me past other rooms with a similar design.


    My body wasn''t numb anymore, but I wasn''t strong enough to get away. The other rooms that weren''t empty either had other snake people alone, or with another small kid.


    All scared, staring at me like they knew I had just come in. But only a few of the rooms had actual humans, and all of them were children, some had a large wound on their foreheads with a yellow gel surrounding it, those being the ones more scared and panicked than the others. All of them were doing some kind of activity, mostly physical. I''m taken to my room with two other snakes watching us enter.


    My captor drops me down in a glass room in the center of the room and closes the door.


    I immediately get up and touch my forehead. A sharp pain goes across my head as I pull my finger away and look. The same yellow gel ''They tagged you?''


    One of the snakes works at his panel and the other just watches me with the one that brought me in. The floor in my glass cage starts to move backwards. I move along with it, it keeps getting faster to the point where I was sprinting to keep in the center.


    I try to grab the wall but, it gives out a panful jolt enough to hurt but not enough to make me scream, so I keep running, but I was running out of energy. After a while my legs give up and I trip, the floor takes me to the glass wall shocking me as, I keep trying to get up, the floor scraping my skin as it dragged me back. Then the shocking and the floor stopped. The door opens and the snake that brought me here grabs me again and takes me out of the room.


    My captor takes me back the same way.


    I see my cell mate through the glass. He was going through the same thing, running, and panting aggressively against the moving floor as his ears flapped up and down along with him.


    I''m taken back to my cell. And dropped there alone.


    I felt sick, Nauseous, and sore. I look at my hands. They were chafed from scraping against the floor.


    Sometime later the door opens, and my cell mate comes back escorted by another one of the snakes. It collapses as soon as it enters the pulling weight of the room and drags itself to its side of the room when the feeling goes away.


    A panel on the wall opens on both sides of the room squirting out a brown chunky liquid. My cell mates ear twitches, and it gets up, like it hadn''t been crawling a few moments ago, scooping the substance with its hands and eating it. I go to my sides panel scoop a bit of the liquid with my finger tasting it. It tasted oily and meaty, my stomach rumbles, at the thought of food. I keep fingering at my portion of food until i realized the liquid is gone.


    I still felt so hungry. So... Empty.


    Sometime later the panels closed, and water started raining from the roof of the cell.


    My cell mate opens his mouth showing his sharp teeth as it drank the water raining on us. I do the same, until i realize the water was backing up and filling the room up.


    But once it reached my shoulders it starts draining from the floor. When the water is gone and the room was soaked, it becomes warm, letting us dry off.


    "Hey idiot, get your ass over here, were moving again." A familiar voice echoed. I jump, waking up on the metal shelf letting out a gasp.


    My cell mate lets out an upset grunt. The lights were dim, and there were faint voices outside the cell.


    I look out the window glass and see two of the snakes talk in there strange language, one much taller than the other, speaking in an annoyed tone, the other speaking back angerly. They looked female. The taller one responds again leaving the smaller one looking ashamed "I know how that feels." I speak outload, much to the annoyance of my cell mate.


    She faces my cell, and I flinch as her yellow slit eyes stare directly into mine.


    That look again, the same look all of them gave to me, like she was probing me, judging every part of my being, with disapproval.


    She continues staring, walking away as she kept her eyes locked with mine.

 Repetition

    Everything repeats. You wake up do something then sleep, and the lucky ones are the ones that don''t wake up. It¡¯s repetitive, sad, there''s nothing special about it. ''Even when you die there''s the awful chance that you come back.'' So why do I still cling to life? I don''t want to be here. I feel embarrassed being what I am ''your too much of a coward to do it.''


    I''ve been here for days. Every day were taken for another task in the same room. When were at the point of collapse were thrown back in our cell, until the next day.


    I can''t escape since the people here are stronger, and taller. I can''t break out cause there''s nowhere to get out from and the metal floor won''t break open.


    My cell mate doesn''t seem to mind.  I guess he¡¯s used to it.


    I''m not much closer to understanding it than I was before.


    It doesn''t seem bothered by me, but whenever I try to talk to it, its ears twitch or flap, it never attempts to talk but makes weird grunting sounds every so often. I''m not sure what exactly it is, there''s so many humanoid looking things here. And every actual human here is young like me, why?


    I touch my forehead. The wound and yellow gel were gone, I couldn''t even feel a scar.


    "Were you human before?" I ask, its ears twitch, but it doesn''t respond. "I''m assuming you''re at least a boy, right?" He still doesn''t answer. "Do you even understand me?" I ask as he stands still.


    He looks to face the door, and a familiar heavy feeling comes over me, the doors slide open and were escorted out again.


    In my test room, was a small room filled with multiple pipes in its glass walls, and other discarded pipes, on the floor.


    The snakes outside my room speak to the one at the panel, and the pipes start shaking, releasing water into the room.


    I grab one of the pipes, and use it like a straw, gulping large mouthfuls of the water, as the snakes watch with curiosity. Once I stopped feeling thirsty, I swing the pipe at the glass walls.


    The pipe bounces off with a thud, throwing me to the floor from the force, with it. I get up looking at my soaked clothes, the water was starting to reach my knees, I look at my pipe, and the ones on the floor, all different shapes, and sizes now submerged in water and contorting in shape as the water ripples.


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    I grab a few of the pipes, that seemed similar to the ones releasing water, and attach them together, to connect to one of the pipes that aren''t spilling water. Once the water stopped leaking into the room, the snakes look to the one at the panel again and the tiles on the floor open to show small holes, draining the remaining water.


    The one that takes me to my cell heads for the door to grab me, and as he does, I grab another pipe from the ground and swing it at him as he opens the door. He catches the pipe with one hand and drags me out of the room, dropping my pipe back in the room.


    They always knew how to stop me.


    Always stuck to a schedule.


    And always had me and my cell mate take the same test.


    I saw him on the way back, he wasn''t doing as well, the water in his room was too high, to the point he couldn''t stand on the floor, but he didn''t seem to be good at swimming either. I''m dropped back into my cell, and locked back in.


    All I could do was wait.


    After a bit that numb feeling came back and the door opened. I was a little more used to the feeling, so I could just about keep myself from falling over.


    My cell mate was there with his escort, he was soaked, and still dripping water. He takes a step forward and does something unexpected.


    He lets out a growling sound, as he showed his teeth. A deep, scary sound, you can''t mistake it for anything other than anger.


    He quickly turns to his escort and pushes him back, the snake grabs him, and my cell mate spins and knocks him off.


    Then he pushes him again, this time into our cage, I just stare, wondering why? Why now?


    He grabs me and forces my limp body to follow him.


    He takes me through multiple corridors. Everywhere looked the same, rows of cells with who knows what in them.


    By this time a strange vibrating alarm was going off, but I wasn''t numb either so I could properly run. I didn''t know where we were running to, but my cell mate seemed to. He made quick precise turns and ran like he''d done this before.


    Then we reach something familiar, a golden arch at the end of a corridor, like the one that I found, but much shorter. My cell mate drops me in front of one of the panels connected to the arch, I look at the panel, but I didn''t know what any of it was saying. It was filled with scrolling symbols that were moving faster than my eyes could focus on them.


    A door next to the arch opens, as we both flinch facing what came out.


    Another snake, with a familiar stare. She looked at my cell mate then quickly focused to me. Giving that judging stare again.


    I remember her!


    The one I saw on my first night, giving me the same probing look.


    I back away as she walks to me keeping her gaze locked on me. My cell mate stood his ground, he was hesitant but didn''t seem like he wanted to hurt her.


    She faces the panel I was looking at, and presses down on the symbols that scrolled by. The arch gives off a light hum and starts lighting up. And as my cell mate grabs me and runs through the arch. By instinct I grab onto her and force her with us.

 Back into place

    We fall on the rough ground on the other side of the arch.


    I look up at the yellow, evening sky.


    My cell mate pulls himself up and rushes back to the arch, puts his hands on the sides of the panel, and pulls.


    I roll myself around and lift myself up, looking at the snake I''d forced along with us. She was frozen. She looked like she was in distress, but also blank. Like she''s trapped in her head, trying to solve the solution to her problem. ''Grab a weapon.''


    The sharp sound of tearing metal gains our attention. We both face it.


    My cell mate was still pulling at the panel, bits of the metal had torn off the sides, and he pulls harder. Yanking the panel out of the arch, and throwing himself to the ground in the process.


    The arch stops its hum, and the glow around it vanishes, the torn side letting out small sparks.


    I face back at the snake next to me. She does the same, the fear was gone, replaced with the normal probing stare, but more tense. She looked ready to take action, ready to choke me.


    I take a step back, my shoes scratching the earth, giving a loud grind. "W-why did you help us?" I ask.


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    She just stares, then she opens her mouth, "It will not take long for them to find you." She gets up from the ground, keeping her eyes locked on mine before walking off ''She''s going to snitch.''


    "Where are you going?" I shout. She doesn''t answer.


    My cellmate was facing me, I go up to him and look down ''He''s dumb, and you could use him for muscle.'' "Do you want to come with us?" His ears give a flap, and he gets up.


    My bag was where it was taken off, I look inside. There was only one thing left ''The emergency food. The definition of a prick? A substitute brick?'' Cactus! How long has he been here, I take him out, as he throws his usual fit. How could I forget him?


    Why take everything else but leave the bag? I put Cactus on my head and put my backpack on, holding on tight to the straps. We walk again trying to find the pet shop.


    The outside of the old store looked the same, but the inside was messier.


    More shelves had dropped to the floor there were small bones and blood stains on the floor. And the vent running through the roof had been torn open.


    "Alice? You still here?" Someone looks up from under the shelves. It was her.


    "You look familiar." she gets up showing the dried blood splattered on her cheeks, "Oh, your- you''re that kid, who were you?" she jumps up, carefully steps over the dropped shelves until she was in front of me "Where did you go?"


    I look at my clothes, partially damp, then I look at my hands, thinking of everything that happened. The tests, the pain, that stare. "I-I went for a walk." I give out, looking up at her again.


    It was over, I didn''t need to remember. I couldn''t, it didn''t matter, it just needed to stop.


    She looks at me, with a sad face, or a disappointed one. Then it switches to a sympathetic one, "I forgot too."

 Fires in the sky

    I guess were a group of three now. A vampire, whatever the other one is and-''an idiot.'' How did I let this happen again? How can I ditch them without hurting myself? ''You don''t, you live with your mistakes.'' I don''t want this, people aren''t nice. I was going to keep away and watch as they fought each other. Now I''m stuck with two of them. ''Then. Just. Leav-''


    There''s the sound of a growl. I flinch as I turn around, Alice and the other one both looking at their stomachs "Sorry." Alice tries to cover her stomach with her arms.


    "You see that white building?" I point behind me. "If we''re lucky it will have something to eat, but keep your fangs away from me."


    I turn back, and start walking again ''If we''re lucky she''ll eat the other one, and we''ll have one less problem.''


    We make it to the entrance, I walk through the broken sliding doors ''were closed, come back in the morning'' The smell of rot was here too. Maybe the horde got stuck here for a while, I look back at the others.


    "Why are the lights following us?" Alice asks, looking at the stars.


    "They don''t." I poke my head out looking where she was, there was a large light shining, bigger and brighter than any star in the sky.


    "No, that one''s definitely been following us." She points at the same light.


    "Just get in." I mumble, going back in.


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    They crawl inside, avoiding the edges of the glass.


    The inside was dark. There was no power but a little bit of light shining through the skylight windows.


    "Split up and find something useful." they don''t move. "Get on with it." I swing my arm behind me and point. Alice walks off but the other one doesn''t. I ignore him and head for the other isles.


    ''So, you think they followed us? They totally followed us-'' ''what else would that be-'' ''why do they want us?''


    I Couldn''t shake the thought from my head as I looked at the shelves. A rusted can of soup, I''ll take it. How did they find us though? How long have they found us? Another shelf, a small stack of papers, a pair of gloves without the fingers, a lot of old yellow stained paper, and some pens. I put on the gloves and put the rest in my bag.


    ''Why haven''t they come in after us yet?'' Most of the shelves were empty. The most interesting thing I found was a small black key thing, attached to a metal cylinder.


    I walk to the next row of shelves, my stomach gave a growl. Startling my cell mate, he swings his arms around and falls to the ground. Giving a loud thud.


    I pull him back up and as I do we hear a moan echo through the building causing both of us to freeze.


    Then another growl, one way louder and longer than my stomach, then a scream, like a wild animal. We shake as the sounds become louder, and screaming and struggle can be heard echoing throughout the whole building.


    Finally, my cell mate stops shaking and just grabs me and starts running, but immediately runs into a pillar. Falling to the floor and forcing me down with him.


    Seconds later the activity stops, I jump up dusting off the back of my pants, then we freeze again hearing something dragging across the floor.


    "I found food." A voice yells. I peek out the side of the shelf and see Alice dragging a dead body.


    The body had chunks of it missing, and there was a lot more blood on Alice''s face than before. "We can''t eat that." I say walking out.


    "Why not, it''s dead." She whines dropping the corpses leg. ''she''s a psycho.''


    "Let''s just set camp." I groan.

 Show, dont tell

    I put my hand at the door and peek out. The stars were shining, it was beautiful. But one star shone brighter than the rest.


    It was still there.


    I pull my head back and look at the others "Anyone know how to start a fire?"


    So, fire happens when something dry gets touched by other fire ''correct.'' Well, we got lost of old papers, I remember we mostly used wood and sticks from when my si-my... ''say it.'' From... someone. All we have is paper, so it''ll probably last us the night. But how do you start a fire, when you don''t have one? ''Go back and ask the someone.''


    I look at the scattered pile of old papers on the floor, and think "can you, go find more of these, or just anything burnable."


    Alice looks at the body she had brought, then walks off. My cell mate just stood next to me, breathing down my neck. I take my bag off, crouch and roll one of the papers into a tube, then blow warm air into it.


    Maybe if I make it hot it will turn into fire.


    It doesn''t work, then I try rubbing the papers together.


    Still nothing.


    My cell mate grunts, I look at him reaching into my bag, he pulls out the key thing I found. "What are you-" he drags the key on the cylinder, and sparks come off.


    Then he crouches and does it again on the tube I made, and a bit of smoke comes from the paper, and a red line was on the edge of it. He blows on it and it gets brighter. He makes another spark on it and it turns into a small flame.


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    I look at him wondering how he knew what to do.


    "How did you do that?" He gives another grunt, grabbing the burning paper and putting it near the rest.


    I warm my hands on the small fire, my cell mate grabs the can I found and squeezes it, with his hands until the lid tears open and the soup inside bursts out, smearing on his face. He wipes it off and pulls the lid open, placing the can next to the fire.


    A little later Alice came back with some more paper and a dismembered arm that had bet bitten into multiple times.


    "Where did you find that?" I mumble, tired from having to ask this.


    She drops the papers "There were more bodies in the back." She gets ready to take another bite, before I intervene.


    "Stop eating it." I scream, my voice echoes making myself jump.


    "I''m bored, and hungry. What should I do then?" She throws the arm behind her and looks at me.


    I look in my bag and take out a pen from the stack of pens and give it to her. "We have paper, why not draw?"


    I look at her draw, smiling happily laying on her stomach and waving her feet back and forth.


    Her drawing was of a guy with his throat bleeding. It was really well drawn. Every line she drew was precise and steady, like she was printing it out from her mind, without even needing to think about it. "Alice." She doesn''t answer "Hey!" I snap my fingers and she looks at me "What are you drawing?"


    She looks back at her work then at me and shrugs.


    "What are you not telling me, Alice?" I ask with worry.


    "I don''t like that name." She says continuing to draw.


    "You''ve told me that before." I say.


    She stops and looks around, focusing on my cell mate drinking from the soup can. "That thing looks weird. What is it?" She asks with curiosity.


    "I can''t remember. I think he''s a boy... We-we were stuck somewhere together." I couldn''t remember, it''s so foggy. Every time I get close, I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. But it keeps slipping away.


    "I think he helped get me out." I look at her pictures again, that man, his clothes. He looked like one of the guys in the bunker we were in.

 Scopophobia

    Why is it so cold? Why are there footsteps? This is weird, I feel like I''m awake, but I can''t control my body!


    And then I was back. My eyes snap open and I raise my back to look around.


    The fire was out, all that was left was ash, and charred paper ''you seriously thought that would go the whole night?'' There were footsteps outside, I could hear the familiar grinding of dirt and stone among the sound of the crickets, and a strange hum. ''run.''


    My cell mate was awake facing the same direction. He didn''t seem bothered though. I shuffle back, in caution, until my arm made contact with Alices knee. She raises her head looking at me, to quickly change her focus of the sound outside. A figure approaches the door, ''run already!''


    I couldn''t make out their face, it was too bright outside, but their shape was familiar. Then the light immediately vanishes. Like with the flick of a switch, everything was dark again, except for the moonlight outside.


    The figure was gone, it was quiet, no unnatural sounds besides insect calls and wind.


    I look at Alice, she looks back at me, I crawl to the door, looking outside. Nothing, there was nothing, clear skies, and abandoned streets, ''where''d the light go?''


    I Crawl back to the others, "Anything?" Alice asks with worry.


    I shake my head, Cactus throws a fit letting out a long hiss. We all flinch at the sound. "We should leave, before it turns to day."


    I grab my bag, and a still hissing Cactus, and put him in my pocket. The others get up and follow. I just really wanted to leave. It was cold, and I felt like something was watching me.


    It was still cold. And I still feel like I''m being watched. I thought the feeling would stay with the building but it followed, everywhere we went I kept feeling it. Like something was just staring at me.


    The night was... Uneventful, for the most part. Every time We found something flammable, we just gave it to my cellmate. There were some old dirty blankets and towels in the laundry chute of a building. And some peanut butter, and beef jerky, stashed inside the cupboards of another building. Every now a then I would see my cellmate looking back, and facing where we''re going again.


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    When the sun started to rise, we camp down in the nearest building.


    It was just an open empty room.


    My cellmate drops everything he carried for the fire and starts setting it up. I take the blankets and food out of my bag, and lay them on the cold wood floor.


    After the fire is set, we pass the food around. Alice didn''t like the peanut butter, and my cellmate kept making clicking sounds as he ate it. I take a small bit of the peanut butter and some jerky for cactus and eat the rest.


    The fire was nice and warm. We had some food. But I''m still so afraid. I still feel like something is with us. Alice was talking to my cell mate, but I didn''t pay attention. I just wanted to hide. Go somewhere I''m not being watched. "You, okay?"


    I look up to Alice and my cellmate staring at me "I keep feeling like something¡¯s watching me." I shake my head, she could probably see, that I wasn''t doing well.


    My cellmate faces me putting his hand on my shoulder, like he knew how I felt. He kept in that position for a solid minute. Then his head springs into action, facing a wall, and gives a deep growl showing his teeth in the process.


    He stands up staring at that wall. Then runs to it.


    We both watch in shock as something moves, an invisible figure, blended into its background, blurring it as it moves away. Like a distorted background, in the shape of a person.


    He grabs onto the figure pinning it to the ground only for it to lift itself and him up, my cellmate grabs at its head and pulls, until there was a tearing sound. They both stop struggling and the figure puts him down. Its camouflage disappears showing a completely grey figure, very tall, and very unsettling. It lifts its arms, pulling on its suit revealing something metallic and shiny around its waist and takes the grey suit off its face as the stretchy fabric shrinks to fit the rest of the body.


    It reveals its green face, and piercing slit eyes. My ears start to ring as I panic and crawl back.


    That face.


    That stare.


    I could see it in my head. The abduction, the tests, our escape. It was her again!


    "Hello!" Alice waves cheerfully at her. "Do you know her Zen?" She asks, looking back to me. ''Did she just call you Zen?''


    I couldn''t speak, I felt paralyzed. After a minute of awkward silence, I force myself to speak "W-Why are you back?" I stutter, she doesn''t respond, but comes to sit by our fire.


    My cellmate follows, sitting next to us again. Alice just looks at her, as she gave her probing stare to me. Then looks at me, fearing, and cowering back at the sight I was witnessing.


    "Who are you?" She asks. The snake turns its head to face her, but she wasn''t afraid, unlike the kids she was watching. Just curious.


    "That is of no importance to you." She responds in her dull tone.


    "Why-why were you watching us?" I force out. She faces me again


    "To observe."

 Alices wander

    They never left us alone. There still watching, but why? What do they want with us? And why her again? Why is it that you keep having to see the things you don''t want to the most. It¡¯s like their haunting you. Your life. Your memories. They never leave.


    No one really spoke after what she had said, except for Alice who was whispering to my old cell mate.


    I couldn''t sleep, definitely not now. Now that we have one of the snake people watching us. I want to ask so many questions, but I''m not sure how many answers I''ll get, or how honest they will even be.


    She was still staring at me, with that same look.


    A sort of glare. Something she hasn''t given to anyone else. Not to the same degree as with me anyway.


    "Hey, lady. Um are you a lady?" Alice asks the snake.


    "What is your question." The snake responds.


    "Why do you keep staring at Zen, like that?" she says. ''Zen?''


    The snake doesn''t answer. So, Alice turns to me and asks if I know "She-she let me and him out... Out of that prison" I say pointing to my cell mate, but keeping my gaze on the snake.


    Alice turns to her again excitedly "Can we please know his name?" She asks with excitement, leaning closer to the fire. ''Yeah, so little she cares about us.''


    "You don''t even believe your own name, you''re asking an evil alien the name of someone else?" I mumble.


    "you said she helped you. How does that make her bad?" She responds, ''she''s right, you''re the one saying everyone of a group isn''t the same.''


    She was right, but I still can''t trust that snake, even after letting us go.


    "He was, Silah Vani." The snake finally responds.


    "And how do we know you''re telling the truth?" I accuse.


    Alice looks at me with confusion "Why would she lie about a name?" The snake just gives a smirk, a look of amusement.


    "Well, it''s nice to finally know your name Silah." Alice says, anxiously shaking his hand. He grunts in response.


    So, the snakes came here, and did what? Why did they invade us? Why take so long? Space is supposed to be empty, so life is probably not common, but if it is. And one life has more power than the other, why overpower it? Is that why space is empty? Have they done this to other planets? ''Why don''t you ask her.'' What!


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    I open my eyes.


    It¡¯s day.


    I fell asleep! I get up looking around. Where''s Alice? Where was the snake? Only Silah was here, "Where did they go?" He doesn''t answer, then i noticed that feeling again. I''m being watched again.


    I get up and grab my bag "We know you''re still here, so there''s no point in hiding." Nothing happened. "You know where the snake is right?" he lets out a grunt, "Ill assume that''s a yes. So, let''s go find Alice." I gesture.


    The sun was out. There couldn''t be a way for her to still be alive, could it? "Split up and see if you can find her." ''now''s our chance to leave them.'' He doesn''t respond.


    I walk a few steps and he follows. I let out a sigh "Hey Alice." I yell, startling Silah. There''s no answer, my voice just echoes, in the abandoned streets. "Guess she''s gone, so I''m leaving." Silah lets out something similar to my sigh and grabs my arm dragging me, along as he goes somewhere.


    Ten minutes later, we find a figure in the distance, covered in blood again. It was Alice!


    She''s out in the sun!


    "Alice!" I yell Silah squeezing my arm in frustration. Alice notices us and runs over.


    "Hey... Guys I got bored, and then... I got lost, sorry." she says scratching behind her head.


    "How are you in the sun?" I say pulling on my arm to be let go.


    "Was i not supposed to be in it?" I feel a small headache and rub my forehead in frustration.


    "Just, what are you, Alice. You won''t tell us anything, but you always talk. You keep eating... People. And now you¡¯re just out in the sun!"


    She looks down, hiding her face, i thought she wouldn''t answer me, but after a minute she did "i don''t know."


    There wasn''t any need to keep traveling at night anymore, I guess. But I was still tired, so we went back to carry on the tradition, at least for one more night. Alice didn''t talk for most of the trip, she seemed sad, but started talking with Silah a bit later.


    We were sitting by the burnt-out fire again she was drawing again with a half-burnt piece of paper. "Hey Zen w-" I interrupt her before she could finish.


    "It¡¯s Zack." She lost her cheery attitude again.


    "Where did the lady go?" She asks in a low volume.


    "She''s still following us. But she''s just hiding like a coward again." I say raising my voice to emphasize the ''coward''.


    "Lady why don''t you sit with us?" She asks looking at a random wall There''s no answer "I''m sure you have lots to say, and talk about." She starts getting cheerier.


    There was a delay "I would much rather probe your mind than to converse, children." She was close. Very close.


    "Then how about we probe your mind, and you can probe ours." I wanted to know what''s happening, but I don''t know how else to ask. Even though I''m afraid, I want to know. She shows herself. She was sitting next to the fire this whole time, staring at me.


    "I know what I need to from you. I''m referring to her." ''Excuse me?''


    "You don''t know me." I growl, does she? She smirks, ''what does she know!''


    "Well, what is there to ask about me?" Alice asks.


    "What has brought about your change?" The snake turns to Alice.


    Alice looks back in confusion "Come again?"


    The snake clarifies "You do not express normal human behavior, why is this?" It didn''t clear anything up for her.


    "She won''t tell you. Hasn''t even told me. She can''t remember." I bud into the slow-moving conversation.


    The snake looks at Alice''s drawings, "What do your drawing depict?" Alice just shrugs. The same as when I asked her. The snake leans closer to her "Can you tell a story with the picture you have drawn?" She says in a strange tone, like she was trying to sound human, something oddly soothing and soft, but disturbing when you know what''s speaking in the tone.


    Alice looks at the drawing, she looked lost. Lost in thought? Confused? Upset? It was hard for me to tell ¡®it¡¯s always hard to tell.¡¯ "A man... Died from a monster" That''s all she could force out. I felt bad. I don''t know why, I wanted to know what she was hiding too. But I know how it feels to remember things you don''t want to.

 Ill intent

    The days kept going on. Now that we knew Alice wouldn''t die in the sun, we could actually walk during the day. Every day it got a little colder and a bit shorter.


    We would wake up in the morning and the snake wouldn''t show itself. We''d scrap together whatever food we could find and make a fire at night. Alice would talk about anything she saw in the day, sometimes to me, sometimes to the snake. And mostly to Silah who, much like the rest of us, wouldn''t really talk back.


    We''d eventually go to sleep, hungry and tired, then wake up to do it again.


    But this morning was a bit different, we saw a deer. And we were all excited for something new.


    I had made a makeshift bow with some branches and any long blades of grass yet to be affected from the weather.


    The others crept in the bushes, trying to get closer. I peek my head out, seeing the deer nibbling at the cold dead grass. I pull on the string with a pointed stick, hoping this would work, but then the stick snaps.


    The deer''s head shoots up. It knew we were there, and it was about to run.


    Then, Alice and Silah jump out of the bushes, as the deer starts to run, Alice grabs one of its legs, getting dragged by the deer until it fell to the ground.


    She bites into the still alive animals'' leg, as it lets out a horrifying screech. Then Silah jumps onto the deer grabbing its antlers and making a sharp twist.


    There was a crack, and it was dead.


    Silent, except for Silahs panting.


    At dusk we take shelter at another building, Silah collapses on the floor.


    We were all tired. Silah had been carrying the deer all day, so I had to carry any firewood we''d find. We start settling, Alice works on making a fire, she had seen me and Silah do it enough times that she knew how to repeat it, when we hear a sound upstairs.


    Something had fallen.


    "What was that?" She asks. I slowly put down the rest of the wood.


    "Keep quiet, I''ll go see." I go upstairs, everything looked normal. If there were zombies, they would have heard us by now, but there was nothing around.


    A few moments later I found what had dropped, it was a long lamp that had hit the floor. ''Shouldn''t we be using this time to leave?'' No i kinda need the help, I couldn''t even catch the deer by myself. There was a sound downstairs, a growl. It sounded similar to Silah. I look back at the way to the stairs. But stop, hearing another sound.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    A sort of cough, followed by a shushing. Was it in the next room? "Anyone here?" i say. A little girl peeks through the door.


    I kneel down to her height, but I didn''t really know what to say. She looks up, to something else then looks back at me "My sister¡¯s sick. Can you help" She looked very worried.


    "Um, we have food, but no medicine.¡± I say. There was talking coming from downstairs, and then more growling this time it was loud. I run downstairs. There was a man dragging Alice with him, who was holding the deer, she pushes back but couldn''t hold on well "Hey!" I shout.


    They all look at me, Alice almost dropping the deer, the man pushes her to the ground, and grabs the deer. Alice gets up giving a disturbing growl, something inhuman, and jumps onto the man. He tries to push her off, but she bites his arm, tearing out a chunk of it.


    The man screams letting go of the deer, and punches her in the face, getting her off. "Fucking freaks!" He shouts running away.


    I go to help Alice but stop, and step back in disgust, as she rushes to shove the flesh into her mouth and swallow. She was like an animal! After she was done, she looks at herself in horror, shaking.


    She wouldn''t talk, she wouldn''t tell me anything. No matter what I asked, Silah wasn''t much help, but i brought them both upstairs to meet the little girl. She peeks out the door again and comes out with her sister.


    I take a step back as the slender long creature slithers out. There were no whites in her eyes, no legs, she was taller than the doorway itself. Like a giant pale snake, the rest of her tail wasn''t even in the same room we were in.


    But all things considered our group was pretty weird, so a little girl and her giant white snake isent much weirder. I invite them to eat with us, and start making the fire. The little girl had a pocketknife with her, and we used it to carve out chunks of the deer, to set by the fire.


    It was really quiet. Alice still wouldn''t speak. The snake woman didn''t show herself, and the little girl sat next to her sister eating the cooked meat.


    Me and Silah were the only ones eating, besides her. "So um, I''m Zack, that''s Silah, and Alice. She''s the one that usually talks, so, um sorry." I point to the others when mentioning them. "There''s someone else too, but she hasn''t shown herself." I was expecting for the snake to respond. But she kept quiet.


    What did everyone see? The worst thing i saw was Alice eating someone''s arm.


    "My names Sam." She points to her sister "This is Maggie." She says offering her some of the meat, but her sister wouldn''t eat it.


    "So why is your sister like this Sam?" I ask trying to engage in conversation.


    She looks at her sister, then to us "She-" then Sam looks specifically at Silah tearing apart the meat he had cooked, as his ears flapped around from his loud chewing. "She- got taken away from me, then came back, like this. Is that what happened to him too?" she points to Silah.


    "We don''t know, he doesn''t really talk" I say as he carelessly continues chewing his food. ''Sounds kinda familiar.'' There was a moment of silence. "Do you know who took her away?" I finally ask.


    She looks down at her food, upset. ¡°Would you believe it was, lizard people?" She says in a saddened tone.


    I think I knew how she felt.


    "Would you believe that there still watching us?" I respond. But she didn''t seem to believe me.

 Slow decay

    The night was calm.


    We cooked as much of the deer we could by the fire. In the morning Sam asked if we knew anywhere to find help for her sister, but I couldn''t help. I didn''t have my map anymore, and I didn''t know what could help them. She then asked if she and her sister could stay with us, and I said they could. ¡®Great, more weight.¡¯


    There''s not much left of humanity is there, it''s kinda weird. We built all of this, and when the world ended, we tore it all down. All this stuff we wrote down or made for the future generation. Is gone or missing a lot of itself. It''s all just small pieces of what the world used to be like. I guess the future generation never mattered as much as the current one. ''It''s their problem to deal with it cause we''ll soon be dead.''


    It''s been two days. And Alice still won''t talk, the snake still hasn''t shown herself, and our cooked deer is gone. The grass has started turning white, it''s a lot colder, and cloudy outside. But we didn''t have anything to wear.


    "So where are we going?" Sam asks.


    I shrug "Hopefully south." ''Were going north.''


    Sam''s sister couldn''t travel fast, she kept stopping to catch her breath, so we had to slow down to her speed.


    "Can we stop, I think Maggie''s tired." Sam whines, holding her sister. Maggie''s stomach gives off a small rumbling, and she lets out a whine, covering her stomach. She hadn''t eaten in the two days she''s been with us. What does she even eat? ''souls'' We haven''t traveled far in these few days, because of Maggie, but none of us know where we''re going anyway. It didn''t seem to matter, as long as we found food, and shelter.


    Silah drops the wood to the floor and starts lighting it, I grab a can of soup from my bag and get it open. I could see Maggie panting, shaking, as Sam kept trying to comfort her. Why does it feel like it''s my fault? ''Because it is'' I didn''t do anything. Or is that why. Should I be doing more? ''we''re lazy''


    I look at Alice trying to distract myself, she''s just staring off into space. I go to tap her on the shoulder to catch her attention, but her stomach rumbles. A loud, and disturbing sound. She runs away "Hey!" I reach out "Where are you going?"


    The fire was roaring, it was dark, and quiet around us. There wasn''t any shelter around us, so we were stuck to camp outside.


    It felt really cold, but warm too from the fire, it''s a weird feeling, having your front warm but your back cold. It felt interesting yet strangely unnerving for some reason. Maggie was wrapped around herself like a large hose, she barely even had clothes on, just a really torn white shirt. Kinda like Silah, except she couldn''t wear shorts. I have my jacket and Sam has her sweater, I can''t even imagine how cold the others are feeling.


    "Where did Alice go?" Sam asks.


    "I don''t know." It was dark, we couldn''t even find her if we tried. But none of us actually did try. Sam has her sister to watch, Silah didn''t seem to care, the snake lady still hasn''t shown herself, and I don''t know how to help her. ¡®Nor do you want to.¡¯


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    No one wanted to talk, all we could hear was a faint grinding sound. in the dark abyss of the night.


    Sam looked miserable, and her sister looked... dead, pretty much passed out. ''Ask already'' I really wanted to know. What happened to them? How did they escape? ''Then ask,'' I shuffle closer to the fire, "Um Sam." She looks at me "I know it''s dumb to ask but, what happened to you two?"


    She looks back down to the fire, I don''t think she wanted to answer. Maybe she didn¡¯t want to remember ¡®Like you?¡¯


    "I got taken a few weeks ago. Then I met Silah." I mumble, my chest shakes as I start remembering "After he broke me out, I really forgot everything. There were tests every day. It was like a prison. And the snakes, they just kept staring at me. I wanted to forget all that." I could feel a lump in my throat, closing it up. Silah gives a grunt, but it seemed like he was more annoyed than anything. "I''m just worried if we were the only ones." I mumble.


    She slowly shakes her head "Din was nice to me. I wish he could help me with Maggie." She says.


    Is Din one of the snakes? How does she know its name?


    "I did tell you, one of them is watching us." We both realize the grinding had stopped, there was a dark figure standing just outside the light of the fire, It walks towards us, grinding its feet to the floor, like a zombie.


    It was Alice, covered in blood, again.


    She sits down next to the fire, trying to hide her face between her legs. There were dried tears across her cheeks. No one said anything, until she did "I keep remembering it again."


    "Remember what?" She didn¡¯t want to show her face. Hiding any bit of it she could, if not with the dark than with her own limbs.


    "When I woke up." Her voice was coarse.


    "Do you want to tell us?" I ask. She looks at me, but doesn''t say anything, "What happened?" I look her in what little of her eyes I could make out, as she looks into mine scared.


    "I woke up, in a table. I felt terrible, there were these scary people around me, and when I saw them... I lost myself. I attacked them. And ate them. I couldn''t do anything but watch." There was a pause in her sentence.


    "I keep forgetting, then I lose myself again. Why?" She moans. "Do you remember anything before that?" I ask


    "No." She shakes her head.


    "You sound like a zombie" Sam comments.


    "She''s eaten other people before. But if she was a zombie we wouldn''t be here now." I say to her. Then an idea sparks, out of nowhere. I get up, and bring my hands up to my mouth "Hey. Snake lady. You wanted to know more about Alice, now return the favor. Tell us what''s wrong with Sam''s sister." I shout.


    Sam looks at me disappointed. I still don''t think she believes me. It made me feel so¡­ Sour? Inside. Like I want to prove something, to show that I¡¯m right, but the opportunity doesn¡¯t want to show itself when I need it to. But to my surprise, out of desperation, or maybe just to humor me, she gets up and does the same "Please! help my sister, she''s sick." There was still no response.


    "Please." Sam begs.


    There was a long pause, then a whisper "I am not your ''Din'' little one. Why do you believe I would help?" She spoke in a calm soothing, yet creepy voice.


    Sam flinches, but quickly gathers herself again "I''m not afraid, I know you can help... I trust you." Sam says with confidence.


    There was more silence than she shows herself again, kneed down to Sam. Unwrapping the material from her face. "Care to help me inspect her?" She says in the same tone, Sam nods, nudging Maggie. She looks up letting out strange, distressed sound before trying to back away, Sam stops her by hugging her tight, and rubbing her arm. She calms down, holding onto Sam.


    She looked at her arms, the small slits in her head that I assume are her ears, and inside her mouth. "There is little that can be done for her, here. Though I would suggest keeping her warm and fed." The snake concludes.


    Sam looks at her, both sad and happy, then hugs the snake lady "Thank you."

 Night monster

    We had a plan now. Or I guess a priority.


    Find clothes and get something for Sam''s sister to eat. I was the only one left awake, except for the snake lady. Just the two of us staring at each other.


    I wanted to ask so much, ''Then ask'' I wanted to know why she keeps hiding. ''Then ask'' Why she keeps staring at me. ''Maybe it''s because you''re not listening'' My eyes were so heavy, it was getting harder to focus. She smirks at me. I couldn''t stand it anymore, I had to ask ''don''t ask. you''ll embarrass yourself.''


    "Wh-" Silah''s head shoots up, startling me. He gives an annoyed grunt and puts his head back down.


    "Why do you keep staring at me?" I whisper, my eye twitches as I speak, her smirk widens but she doesn''t answer " Why won''t you tell me anything" I force out.


    "you need rest" She says.


    "I need answers" i reply. I force myself to keep awake, staring back at her, as her stare becomes more curious by the minute. My head starts tilting to the side, as I realize I''m falling asleep, but I was too tired to stop myself.


    "We will speak in the morning." She whispers.


    "Why are you so stubborn, runt? Your just like dad."


    There was a nudge, and my eyes snap open.


    I turn to face what it was. Silah was knelt down nudging me. Everyone else was ready, looking at me. "What?" I ask.


    "We have to get Maggie stuff." Sam says.


    I force myself up as my head starts aching, and we start moving again.


    Why does my head have such a hard time focusing? ''Because you don''t care¡¯ I feel like I''m slipping away. just constantly hazily watching what''s happening in front of me. Nothing gets through. Why? I want to listen ''No you don''t'' why can''t i listen? Why can¡¯t I talk? Why do I feel like I''m trapped in myself just watching a movie. ''Because you are'' I''m not paying attention now either, am i. ''Nope.''


    There were a few buildings nearby, along the road we were following. Sam rushed to find food in them, but I stayed back to watch the others.


    I felt so out of it. We will speak in the morning. The words started to echo in my head. Is she still watching us? ''Yeah.''


    "Are you still watching us?" I whisper. There was no answer, but Sam exits the building with my bag, and we head to the next one. "Can I at least get a sign, that you are?" I whisper again. Cactus throws a fit, on top of my head, pricking it with his quills, i jump at the response and grab him as he throws another fit, from me moving him.


    "Why do you hide in the day?" I whisper, putting the hissing hedgehog in my pocket.


    "The experiment cannot be compromised further." A whisper returns. It was right next to my ear. Giving me chills as I felt the cold breath of every word hit my ear. I try to think on what I should ask next. What''s important to ask?


    "Why?" ''That''s your question!'' We stop at the next building, and Sam runs inside. There was no answer to the question. Did she stop? ''No, she died.¡¯


    "Why do you keep staring at me?" I ask. Still no answer. Maybe this is too personal. What''s something important, maybe something not personal. What would that be?


    Then the perfect question came to mind. One I never got a good answer to, when asking any adult.


    "Why did the snake people invade our world?" I ask, hoping for an answer.


    "This was never your world."


    Why wasn''t this our world. I wanted to ask but the others kept looking at me, maybe they think I''m talking to myself ''You always do.'' But i don''t want them to know that! I can''t ask anything else. Hopefully I can tonight though.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    There was a small town ahead, And on the way a few travelers. A man, woman, and a small boy.


    They looked scratched up but didn''t say anything, they just stared as they walked in the opposite direction from us, until we stared back, then they kept their heads down and started walking faster.


    In the town we start walking much slower.


    Maggie had started limping so Alice and I had to help her move along, she felt so cold. Colder than how everything else felt.


    At a corner of a crossroad, we bump into someone else. A boy putting on a fuzzy hat.


    He jumps and gives a yelp at the five of us making us do the same. He takes a step back as his shoes give a grinding sound on the ground.


    He didn''t look as old as the two we saw earlier, but he definitely wasn''t a kid, he looked just as banged up as them though.


    Sam notices his hat "Where did you find that?" She yells, pointing at his hat, making everyone else jump again. The boy shakingly points to a store behind him, Sam runs to the building and the boy cautiously starts moving around us, keeping eye contact as he went.


    We start walking to the inside of the building.


    The building was filled with clothes, we rush over and start looking at the options as Silah and Maggie just watch. A lot of the clothes were too big or too small for us. Sam finds a single shoe that fits herself and puts it on her one bare foot. Alice finds a fuzzy yellow hat, a weird yellow and black sort of jacket and pajama pants with stars on one side.


    In one of the rows i find a blue hoodie, some grey sweatpants and size eleven boots. So, i give them to Silah who immediately drops them to the ground. "You need something for winter." I say picking up the clothes.


    He just stands there, unresponsive. So, I ask for help, as we hold him down, forcing the clothes on him as he whines, but when they go on him, he doesn''t bother taking them off, he just stands like nothing happened.


    I put his hoodie up, but he immediately drops it again as his ears flap around.


    There wasn''t anything That actually fit Maggie though, and none that she would willingly wear, so we gave her a pink towel that was dwarfed compared to her size, and a few more wrapped and tied around her.


    I already had my jacket and didn''t really like any of the clothes here, everyone else had something new to wear, so we exit the store, to find more people now running by.


    "Where are they all going?" Alice asks, pausing to think. "Where are we going?" she adds in a more confused tone.


    "Were going south." I say.


    The buildings here were mostly filled with things we didn''t know how to use, not much food, just weird pieces of decoration, and furniture. We settle in another building, where someone''s camped, in before.


    There''s left over firewood here. They must have ran off, too. Why else would they leave firewood when it''s so cold? It was a nice spot too. Well insulated, sturdy, and plenty of space. The only downside was the one busted down wall. Alice re-arranges the wood and Silah starts lighting it.


    Sam opens my bag, pulling out a can of soup, and piece of sealed meat. "Eat your soup, Maggie." She says opening the can. Maggie takes the opened can, and flicks her long snake tongue out, at the can. Then gives it back to Sam.


    "What do snakes eat?" i ask. She doesn''t answer. Alice opens the sealed meat and puts it next to the fire. "Maybe we should catch mice!" I ask.


    "She''s scared of mice." Sam answers.


    We sit by the fire. Silah and Alice eat the meat and Sam takes small sips of the soup, desperately trying to give it her sister after, who wouldn''t drink it.


    I think for a moment, then finally speak "What''s the last thing she ate?" Sam stares at her soup, sad, and afraid.


    "The food they gave us." She mumbles. And then i remember about the snakes again. Why not ask them!


    "Hey, um can you tell us what Sam''s sister eats?" i yell. There was no response.


    She''s gone again! ''No, she died.''


    "Thanks for trying, guys." Sam says. I think for a moment again.


    "Can you tell us what happened to you two?" I ask. Everyone else looks at me.


    Sam opens her mouth to speak. "We-" Then there was a sound that catches all our attention. We all turn our heads. Something ran by.


    Then another sound, again this time closer and in the opposite direction. Then the sound of footsteps running past, there was a small giggle that echoes around us.


    And a figure jumps out, with a gust of wind dimming our fire.


    Everyone screams by reflex, facing the creature, and Silah covers his ears. This figure, something humanoid, with horns. A giant bat? With wings spread out wide, you could see the moonlight shining slightly through the outside of them.


    All you could make out from the dark figure was its large fangs.


    Smiling.


    I thought Alice was a vampire, her teeth were short and dull compared to these!


    This, was the true vampire.


    We all scream louder,, as the figure, gets more joy out of our screams, its smile grows larger.


    Sam starts crying causing Maggie to start whining.


    Then in the chaos of noises, Silah gives his own scream making the rest of us stop. But it wasn''t a scream of fear it was an angry, violent, scream. Like a roaring and raged beast. He was clenching his ears tight from all the sound we had made.


    The vampire¡¯s smile was gone, it quickly turns and runs out the hole in the wall ahead of us. There was a laugh in the distance.


    We were all shaking from this.


    Silah was still growling as he kept rubbing his ears. And Maggie had her long noodle arms coiled around Sam, hugging her as Sam sobbed.


    Alice and I were the only ones least affected. I was more afraid of Silah from this. That scream scared off a vampire. Who knows what he would have done if we screamed even louder.


    He looks ready to tear something apart.


    None of us wanted to sleep that night.

 Snake man, and little girl

    It was late. But none of us wanted to sleep.


    I don''t think we could.


    I reignite the fire, to keep us warm. Everyone was quiet.


    Scared.


    It was going to be a long night "So... You still owe us a story Sam." I say trying to lighten the mood.


    Sam breaks her gaze with the cinders of the soon to be fire, and looks at me tired "Why is our story so interesting? You never told us anything about you." She speaks.


    "I just thought a story would be nice." I mumble. ''She''s lying. She''s a snake in disguise'' She just gives a sigh. "How about this you tell us a story, and next time I''ll tell a story." I say, hoping that the day doesn''t come.


    Do I really want to remember what happened? ''Can you remember?'' All that stress, where did it come from?


    Sam looks back at her sister, whose long arms were still coiled around her, her sister stared back with her emotionless face. She then turned back to face us "We got taken."


    "I found a big door, with the snake guys near it. They picked me up, Maggie tried to get me back. But they took her too. We were there for a long time. Then one day Maggie didn''t come back." She starts to tear up.


    "Where did you go?" Alice asks.


    "Someplace with other things. Some kids, and some other ''things''." She mumbles.


    "What are the ''things''?" Alice says. Sam points to her sister. "I don''t know. I never got to talk to anyone besides Din, and Maggie for a little while." There was a scream in the distance, and the sound of worried shouting, but we didn''t pay much attention to it. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "Who''s Din?" I ask.


    "He would take me and Maggie out of our rooms... He was nice to me." She says.


    "I don''t understand any of this!" Alice says "What happened? Why were you even there?" She adds.


    "We just... Got taken, somewhere. Then we woke up with gross cuts on our foreheads and everyday Din would take us to a room with a sort of... Puzzle. Then one day Din didn''t bring Maggie back¡­ When she did come back, she was like this." She stops again.


    "How do you know this is her?" I ask


    "This is my sister. I know my sister" She says in a more frustrated tone, Maggie gives a weak smile at the answer "After a few more days... Din... He let us out. And we met you guys a few days after that." She says.


    "H-how was Din so nice to you! It felt like... Like a prison for me." I ask.


    "I don''t know what a prison is." She answers.


    "Somewhere bad, where people keep you trapped in." I respond keeping my head lowered. ''We''ve been there twice. We¡¯re there now too.''


    Sam thinks. She kept trying to speak but didn''t quite know what to say. Until she finally spoke "We couldn''t leave. We just had to follow along with them the whole time. So, I guess it was a prison. But they still kept us safe there. Din would play with me, or bring me to a room with toys to play with... Sometimes he brought me a cold sweet thing to eat. He would have brought Maggie too, but they didn''t... Get along." She said. Her voice felt detached.


    Like she couldn¡¯t understand how she felt at the time, and was just remembering what happened, rather than how she felt when it happened. Maybe she cant remember much either.


    You could see the sky beginning to turn orange in the distance. The sun was going to rise.


    We really didn''t sleep this night!


    I could feel myself wanting to yawn, but I clench my jaw together until it passes. "Why did Din let you go? We had to escape." I ask.


    She shrugs "I think it was secret. Cause he hurried us out and wanted us to keep quiet."


    You could see the sun starting to rise, catching our attention.


    It was nice.


    A pretty sight, that we often slept through.

 Scream

    Everything in life is a mystery. Adults never really give you any details. There''s so much to wonder about and question. An infinite sea of questions, but only a shallow puddle of answers. You just have to piece it together yourself, and hope your answer is the right one. ''It never is.''


    The sun had risen, and we had started moving again. But something was different today.


    We were all very tired. Going at a snail''s pace, walking like aimless zombies, and separating from one another. It wasn''t on purpose, everyone was drowsy, barely able to keep themselves together. But we all had that one command running through our minds... To keep moving.


    The pieces I''ve gotten so far. Life is not worth anything, people are terrible selfish monsters. The snake people may have taken our planet, but we never deserved the planet to begi-


    A pause.


    Everything just blacks out, and then a jolt, snapping me back. I look around, i was on the ground. My hands and face were burning. I look at them, scratched and scraped, I had fallen asleep mid walk!


    I look around. It''s still day, i can''t remember the way back, or where i went. No one else was with me, does this mean I lost them? ''Were finally free of them.'' There was a figure walking around in the distance. I squint at the distant figure, but there was little i could make out. They were wearing a mostly grey hooded cloak and carrying something in their hands.


    I lift myself up, and start moving to the nearest building, to settle in. ''We need to keep going. Or they''re going to find us again.'' The building was barren and dusty, but inside was a stained crusty couch. I head for the couch ready to collapse again, i was too tired to care about anything else.


    All I wanted was sleep.


    It was so cold but so warm too and the more I breathed the warmer it got. I couldn''t see anything besides the moving lights shining through the threads of the bag over my head. Every other sound was muffled by my heavy breathing and fast heartbeat, all i could make out was movement, and a rhythmic sort of jump on whatever was moving. I was being moved with something. The bag is sharply lifted from my head, letting the cold air rush in, I look in horror at the faces. Holding their tools in their bright room. I couldn''t move, I felt limp, I don''t know why. What did they do to me? What WILL they do to me? There were sharp but quick pains around my body, as they poked my skin with sharp metallic instruments, and attached small tubes that would dig into my arms. As they probed me, there was a long, slim, sharp, mechanical needle approaching my head. It pierces my skull making me let out a silent scream of pain. But then it stops. And instead, the room starts spinning, and they grab me to face them, and start screaming something. It felt very personal, like it really meant something that I was supposed to listen to "I''m not a doctor. Please get help."


    I wake up in a cold sweat and to my horror as I gaze around the dark room, i see faces staring and screaming at me. Only there was no sound, yet their mouths moved as if they were screaming, or biting the air. I watched them in horror but I couldn''t scream, it felt like if i made a sound everything would actually start coming after me.


    My hands were clenched on to the couch cushions as I scan the rest of the room and through the darkness i spot another frightening face. But this one was attached to a body. It was Silah standing by the arm of the couch facing me. And that was enough for me to reach my limit. I screamed as loud as i could, only to have my mouth covered by Silah who was digging his nails into my cheek the longer i tried to scream. When I couldn''t scream any further he let go, giving an exhausted sigh, and grabbing me by the arm dragging me off the couch.


    I look around struggling to get my bearings, as i begin to follow Silah to where he''s taking me. The other faces were gone! Where did they go? ''They were all in your head.''


    Outside was a little bit brighter, but everything had a green glow to it.


    It was very cold out... Why is that familiar?


    Am I forgetting something?


    A few turns later we find a dim fire outside where the others were. Maggie was passed out and Sam was teaching Alice a game with her hands. Alice''s face brightens up as she sees me "Hey, I''ve seen you!" She says exited ''She forgot again!''


    "How did everyone find each other. I say sitting down next to the fire.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    "He found me." She points to Silah.


    "He found us too." Sam responds after.


    How did he find all of us?


    It was quiet tonight. No screaming, Alice was cheery again, drawing the same sort of pictures again. Something still felt so off though. Was it that everything was green?


    I look at the cloudy sky, even it had a green hue. Or was it from the cold. Somehow it felt more familiar now that it''s a little bit warm from the fire. "So... I think you were going to tell us a story, Zack." Sam says before my mind could start wondering.


    "I... I" What do i say to this? ''That you don''t remember.'' I thought they would forget.


    I didn''t want to remember. Not again.


    "I never, said i would." I spit out.


    "Yeah, you did." Alice cheerfully joins the conversation ''Are you kidding me!''


    "You can''t even remember your life. How can you remember this?" I say in a sarcastic tone. Alice''s cheery attitude goes away. She didn''t look mad, but more confused than anything else.


    Sam looked more upset than she did though "You said you would tell us a story Zack." She whines. Maggie gives off her own sort of whine, almost like she was trying to imitate her sister.


    I felt like I had everyone''s attention. But I didn''t like it, I didn''t like being watched. I shuffle back slightly hiding my face partially with my legs and trying not to make any eye contact


    "I don''t want to talk about this i just-" I stop, noticing Alice and Sam staring with worry. Sam more worried than Alice. I didn''t like this attention, it felt so unnatural to be noticed. I shuffle back further only for my back to hit something. Something warm.


    That''s when I realized they weren''t looking at me.


    They were looking at what was above me.


    I froze, I didn''t want to move. The way Sam looked at it didn''t help. Whatever it was, grabbed my arms and squeezed my side shoulders, lifting me up with ease, leaving my legs hanging in the air. The others were now focused on me again except for Silah, who was clenching his ears, ready for when we scream. I feel a gust of warm air next to my neck, sending shivers down my spine. Then there was a voice


    "You said you would tell them a story, Zack." The feminine voice lets out.


    The way it spoke was strange, it was English, but spoken... strangely. Like the way it sounded its words were, off. There was a moment of silence. Until Alice raises her hand slightly and speaks with her cheerful attitude "Hi."


    There was another pause then the figure starts to laugh, dropping me. The shock gives me enough will to turn myself and face what everyone else has been watching, then I saw it.


    The figure from last night. A large bat like creature laughing in the green darkness around us. The creature gives a sigh of relief as it stops and comes forward into the dim light. "You kids are either dumber or braver than most people who pass by."


    She wasn''t a bat. But she clearly wasn''t human either. She had two fangs poking from underneath her top lip, and strange ears. Something similar to Silah, except she had eyes. She could even speak. She was very underdressed for the weather though. No shoes, no hat to cover her strange hair, with its two edges rising up, giving the resemblance of horns. Only a dark red shirt, torn jeans and some kind of a grey thin cloak, that gave her the appearance of bat wings. ''We need new pieces!''


    "We saw you last night!" Alice points at her exited.


    "Yeah! And most people run off the second they do." She folds her arms letting her cloak cover her and sits down next to our dimming fire. ''Truly like a bat.'' Then the realization hit me.


    "Yo-you''re the one making everyone leave." i force out. She gives a wide smile in response Those same large white fangs. She seemed so confident in everything she did and said.


    "So, here''s what''s still got me stumped. Why are you kids outside, with very little supplies, when there''s going to be a huge storm in a couple of hours?" She says scratching her chin. What I noticed from the movement were her hands, and then her feet. The fingers, and toes were webbed, like they had been joined together, but not all the way.


    None of us actually answered her question. I didn''t even know there was a storm coming "Do you know where we can hide from it?" I ask.


    "Unless you have lots of food, and something to keep you warm you''re going to freeze or starve, before anything else." She laughs


    "Can we stay with you?" Alice asks, both me and Sam glare at her for asking.


    The woman has a look of distraction and suspicion, but it is quickly covered up by her normal confidence. "You know what!" She leans forward. "Sure. I have plenty of food an-"


    She is quickly interrupted by Sam who pushes herself forward and yells "Do you have food for snakes?" Everyone is surprised by her exited yell.


    "No, but there is a river nearby, if your ''snake'' eats fish. There isn''t much time left to catch anything though." She says.


    "Then let¡¯s hurry." Sam jumps up and pulls on Maggie''s arm to encourage her up. Allice steps up after her. Silahs stomach growls so he stands up too. I was the only one left sitting, I wasn''t prepared for the winter. I thought there was more time. So, there wasn''t much choice anyway.


    I stand up like the others, facing the lady, as she led the way.