•••
A suffocating silence fills the space where the warmth of light had once fluttered through the rooms, the shadows now more prevalent then they had once been.
My footsteps are light against the carpeted flooring as I edge my way out of my bosses office, gently shoving the two pairs of keys into my back pocket, attempting to stop the slight dinging of metal as I peek around the corner of the kitchen entrance. I grasp the hand of the gun that's wedged into the hem of my jeans, slightly flinching at the sheer weight of the weapon as I gently pull it out and grip it infront of me.
The shine of the benches come into view, and the hunched figure of a paled, pudgy man in his mid fifties sleeths forward, wispy strands of his course brown hair slip into his frantic, whitened gaze; his black gums seep through his crack lips as he bares his teeth.
It's Greg, my boss. The man who had employed me. He's one of them.
My attention swings toward the kitchen freezer that's now been left open, chilled mist seeping from the coldened area, as a box half filled with different food products lies on the floor. Just a few metres away pops out a head of fiery red curls as freckles turn my way and Eliana's frightened gaze meets mine. A silent plea swirls within the different shades of emeralds.
She's only mere metres away from me, yet it's as though she is miles, like I'm not close enough to protect her from the odour that is him.
His light blue, chequered shirt strains against his back as he leans down, his hand reaching into the tiny shelf below the bench, metals clanging together as he pushes the balls around, as though he knows he's searching for something.
Bracing my hand against the wall I slide down, now crouching on the floor, jestering my hand at her to come to me, and mouthing one word into the space between us.
Crawl.
So long as he doesn't hear us, he can't find us. The last one smelled us though, through the cracks, he knew where we were. Are they all the same, all with the same abilities, or do they vary between them?
Her movements are small and delicate, so much so that the stickiness of her sweaty palms against the black, grimy floors is not to be heard. I reach out to her grabbing her tensed upper arm and pull her the rest of the way to me, now trying to shove us both behind the wall that shielded me from him, but the clanging of metals halt suddenly and is replaced by air being sucked in.
My fingers grapple at Eliana's shirt as I pull her trembling figure closer.
A squeal rips from the kitchen, echoing throughout the store.
"Run."
I grunt as I shove her forward and up off the ground, her light violet sneakers squeak against the floors as she trips over her own feet trying to correct her footing from beneath her, now sprinting forward, her hands grabbing at the walls as she swings around the corner, strands of her bright hair slipping from the silky ribbon holding it all together.
My own steps slap against the hard flooring as I round the corner, my muscles aching in protest as I grab ahold of the top of one of the shelves, almost jumping from the ground just to reach it, and rip it downward, items slipping from the shelves with the sudden motion. A deafening crash of wood splinters into the ground as I hurtle my body past the counter and begin swerving through the randomly placed tables.
The bell dings as Eliana clashes through the door, and I'm just dodging out of the way of the last remaining tables that cluster before me as it shrieks behind us. It's so deafening that I can't even tell how far it is from us, and a fear has seeped so deep into me that the only way to go is forward. I don't want to know.
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Vines of Hunger | ONC 2024
Science FictionDeath was once something I feared, an illusion that brought darkness with it, but now I plead for its mercy in this time that survivors have come to call, The New Order. ••• It was only a cough to began with, something so simple, it had happened a t...
