Tears of Sane

“It's almost time Kouza.” Mace watched the snakes slither up toward the sky, slowly at first. The clouds would soon eat away their sky, “You told us we would be safe, you think that little tent will keep us alive in the rain?”

“No,” Kouza pointed at a well hidden house covered in a dense line of trees, “That will.. Well it'll do it's job as long as you can do yours.” Kouza walked toward the house, “The tent is for Elena to say safe.”

“Doc?” Elena caught up to Kouza, “Wh-What do you mean? How did you know there was a house here?”

“I got my memories back too you know.. This was once my house.”

“Oh.. I'm sorry Doc,”

“Don't worry about it, come on. I want to set up before the clouds come. Mace,” Kouza stopped a few yards away from the old broken house. The paint was chipping, a few windows were broken and cracked, “Make sure the house is safe.”

Mace nodded and walked to the door, rifle stock on his shoulder. As soon as he twisted the nob and pushed the door open, he brought his rifle up and surveyed the house. It didn't take long before he came back out, “Clear.”

Kouza quickly stepped in, “Good, we'll set up in the bed room, less windows so less places for them to come in through,” He walked through the house.

Elena and Mace both followed him in in a hurry; Elena nervously whimpered, “Them? Who's them?”

Kouza shrugged his head, “Hell if I know.” He made his way to a room, only one window on the opposite wall, “Those people that walked out into the rain were killed by something no?”

Mace paced past Elena, “He has a point. We don't know what kills the people, but at least we have the guns to fight, that's all that matters. Kouza, what do we need to do to get ready?”

“We need to set the tent up,” He dropped the duffel bag to the floor, “Perhaps in this corner, away from the window and the door. Let's get to it.” Kouza turned to Elena, who was actually at the window, “Child what are you doing?”

“Look.” She slightly tilted her head toward the sky, “The clouds are coming out, I don't think anyone has ever seen this.”

Mace quickly hurried to the window and gazed out toward the snakes, Kouza joined them. The three watched as the whirling clouds lifted toward the sky, countless of black snakes, violet snakes, black snakes, blood red snakes all rushed up. As soon as the got high enough, the clouds began to scatter, webbing, slithering, crossing, twisting, swirling around, and eventually swallowed up the entire sky. The world was painted a faint purple once again as the rain began to trickle. They watched the clouds tangle around themselves as the rain began it's down pour.

“Very well then,” Kouza clapped his hands as he walked back to the duffel bag, “Elena, you need some sleep, we've been walking all day, you must be tired too.” He began to pull out the tent package and a small can of food, “Please eat. Take this pill to sleep easy too.”

The princes nodded and slowly walked away from the window. She remembered how much she always wanted to confront the rain, now that she was of the bunkers, she realized how Mace felt. She just wanted to be inside those think walls where she was safe. She sighed and walked over to the doctor and slowly took the food and pill, “Thanks.” She tugged on the can's lid and peeled its lid off, “Peaches, my favorite.” Elena flashed Kouza a smile, a sweet, but nervous one. Then she slowly ate.

***

Hours past, the rain pattered on the window, and Elena slept like a baby inside the zipped up and well lit tent. She was the safest person in the house. Mace and Kouza were in the room, open and exposed to the rain with all the holes and cracks the house had. They could hear the rain punching at the roof, wanting to slip into the house. And for the first time, Mace could hear whispers, howls, growls; sounds that the rain made besides the pattering rain. He became nervous as he held the rifle trained at the window. The whispers didn't sound like the winds he could remember in his dreams, no they sounded like actual people, whispering in his ear. Howls and roars of people screaming outside, “K-Kouza? What's going on?” he asked under his trembling breath.

“Shhh...Elena is asleep.”

“Kouza.. Are those people outside?”

“Sounds like it..”

“What do you think is causing that?”

“I don't know”

The screams and whispers began to blend, replacing the sound of the pattering rain.

“I've never heard this in the bunker Kouza.”

“In the bunker you were safe, here you are exposed. Just stay calm.”

“How the hell are you calm with those sounds?” Just then, Mace caught sight of something moving, just outside of the window, “Shit!” He lifted the rifle slightly, his iron sights trained on the dead center of the dripping window. He didn't shoot, but he was ready to.

“Wait boy! Don't shoot...” Kouza held the Revolver firmly aimed at the door.

“I saw something out there..”

“Wait... only a few more minutes before dawn.”

The two men watched the window. The screams began to grow louder all around them the longer they watched the window. Mace glanced around the room, constantly thinking someone had gotten in and was screaming right behind him, or next to him, or to his right, or above, all over him the screams came; bodiless voices of pain and fear screeching all over him. Then just as he was about to snap and blast away at the empty walls, the screams stopped.. Silence..All that was heard was their breathing..A faint whisper, then another, then one more. Mace couldn't make out what the faint whispers muttered. More of them began to chant away as the seconds past by, each one whimpering from a different angle. His breathing became unsteady, each murmur pushing him one step closer to insanity. He couldn't handle it anymore.. he could feel the whispers on him, more than just chants he could understand, he could feel their breath as the mutter on his neck, his ears, his cheeks; the voices WERE all around him, touching him. He should his head and closed his eyes as he whimpered to himself, “Focus, focus, focus, focus, focus, focus...”

A cold bitter voice cringed and echoed in his ears, “Good bye..”

Mace gasped and opened his eyes, there, just out side of the window, he could see countless of pale white, wrinkled, dead faces! No bodies, no movement, just dozens of white faces in a sheet of black; the black even swallowed their eyes and wide open mouths! His finger squeezed the trigger; the whispers were shattered by the explosive bangs the rifle exhaled! Pieces of glass flew out of the frame as the rifle's two barrels spit out swirling sparks of burning gunpowder and an instantly vanishing flames. He released the trigger after four bangs echoed the room, small metallic clings of the smoking shells was all that Mace could hear besides the ringing in his ears.

The glass was completely shatter by the slugs that pushed it with crippling force. There was another small moment of silence before Kouza mutter, “You fool..”

Mace's throbbing ears were filled by a harmony of inhuman and unnatural screams as the pail faces came flowing in through the shattered window; this time pale withered bodies came in with the faces. Before Mace knew it, three bodies stumbled in, the first one pounced to his feet, only to be shot down by Mace's first two shots! Both round landed in the face's right temple, tearing two small holes in the front and blowing the back of the head completely off! A mist of muddy red mist spewed from the shattered skull. Chunks of pain meet, gray brain matter, followed the mist and body to the ground, landing with a disgusting wet splat as the torn head hit the floor.

The second body fumbled over the falling body, but recovered in time to turn to Mace. Another squeeze of the trigger sent two rounds toward this body. Both of the slugs punched straight into the lower jaw. The head swung with the force of the slugs, making it seem as if it was punched right in the chin. The slugs exploded the lower jaw into pieces before completely tearing it right off! Bloody teeth, meat, and bone all burst with a small chunky miss of red matter. The body dropped to its knees just as pieces of the lower jaw rained down on the floor. The blood tongue dangled along with the loose flaps and threads of meat that was once its cheeks; then it dropped face first.

The third body rushed Mace before the second body had the chance to slam onto the floor with the same gory splatter. Mace instantly reacted to the rushing monster. He hadn't remembered how to fight like he was, but memories that the cure had unlocked did the work for him. As the body screamed and reached for him; Mace stepped to his right, letting the arms graze his shirt; then he swung the stock of the rifle straight into the monster's left temple. A crunch was heard as Mace heard the skull give way to the force and the thrash, he could even feel the bone break and crumble under the stocks force.

More bodies fumbled in through the window.. But Mace wasn't done with third monster. When the force caused the head to twist, the rest of the body followed the head's swing; causing the body to expose its back to Mace. He quickly aimed the rifle down to the back of the monster's right knee, before blasting one round straight through. The slug punched cleaning into the knee, but the brute force slammed right into the knee cap and pulled it right out of the body's flesh. Muscles and meat splattered all around as the knee cap shot straight out of the body. There was nothing connection the monster's thigh to its lower knee, only a few tender nerves and veins; which had no chance to hold. The lower leg flopped as soon as the monster put weight on the leg. The monster tumbled and fell to its knee and exposed right femur bone with the lower leg just behind it; blood and meat splashed on the floor. The monster now howled on its remaining knee before Mace lifted the rifle to the back of the monster's head; one more shot blasted out! This slug pierced right into the skull, forming a think read hole in the entrance. The slug traveled through the skull and brain, shredding it before it ripped out. The nose was the center of the explosion, the entire face flapped and tore off the head, leaving only the lower jaw, forehead, and flaps of dangling skin. The rest of the face sprayed out with a heavy down pour of brain matter, bone, teeth, meet, and even torn pieces of its eyes all showered the floor along with the blood. The body slammed down on its side, letting the hollowed out skull make an empty thud as it hit the blood stained floor.

Mace tried to turn to the others, he was too late. They were already on him. He managed to squeeze a few more rounds that pierced into the advancing body. Both slugs stabbed into and out of the monster's chest with little effect to its charge. The monster tackled into Mace and slammed him into the wall behind his back; the rifle fell to the floor! The two monsters pinned Mace to the wall, the pale white faces growled and screamed at him as the tried to pull themselves closer to him. Their mouths were wide open and only showed a black hole behind the ridged uneven wall of teeth! Mace gasped and grunted as the monsters inched closer; snapping and slobbering as the came closer to his face, “Ahhh!”

Suddenly they gave up, Mace pushed them away with little restraint before he fell down against the wall. His body was tired and weak, he couldn't stand anymore. He though he was as good as dead. He closed his eyes and waited for the teeth, but they never came.. He slowly opened his eyes, they were gone. The monsters were nowhere in sight, not even the ones that he had killed remained. Only blood stains of the floor and walls. Warm morning sun light pushed through the window. Mace sighed heavily as he rested his head against the wall, “Thank the maker.. Kouza..” Mace slumped his head down and glanced around, “Kouza?” The doctor was gone, “Of gad damn it!” He slammed his head against the wall and yelled in anger; just then Elena stirred in the tent! He gasped as he turned to it, glad to see it was still intact.

Elena flopped out of the tent as she yawned, “What did I miss?”

Mace sighed as he rested his eyes, “Kouza is gone..”

“What!?” Elena hoped out of the tent, “What do you mean!?”

“Those things took him..”

“Well get the hell up! We need him! We need to get to the clouds, lets go!”

Mace laughed weakly, “Alright.. Let's go.” No rest for the weary yet.