Apocalyptic Love

I awoke to darkness with a throbbing pain on the side of my head. The taste of dirt scratched at the back of my throat, forcing an unintentional cough to echo into the darkness. I held still, fearful that something might be lurking in the darkness with me, and knowing by the sound that resonated, that I was in some sort of tunnel.

Sensing that nothing else was near me, I carefully rolled to my feet, wincing in pain as the movement disagreed with the dizzying pain on my head. Man that fall had hurt, and as I knelt on the dirt floor I felt a queasy light-headedness take over. Waiting for the wooziness to subside, I peered lazily above me, noting the lack of light that signalled the depth I had fallen.

An assorted collection of curses filtered through my thoughts, unwilling to be voiced out loud. I’d really gotten myself in deep, unable to return to the surface the way I had come, and without any idea how the hell to get out. Pushing to my feet, I ground my teeth together at the pain screaming through my body, knowing that I was heavily bruised but fighting through the throbbing none-the-less.

Keeping a hand on the tunnel wall to steady myself, I reached back for my katana, desperate to feel some sort of control but my fingers only grazed an empty sheath. At the loss of my best line of defence, my gut churned. I didn’t know what creatures lived in these tunnels but I sure as hell didn’t want to find out, not when I was reduced to a pair of measly daggers.

Keeping my back to the tunnel wall, with a dagger in each hand, I slowly shuffled my way in a direction that felt as though it tilted upwards. My heart was pounding furiously in my ribcage, feeling completely indecisive about my decision and hoping I hadn’t gone the wrong way. These tunnels could go on for miles and I’d only keep walking in the hopes that the exit was right around the corner.

As I walked, the weariness of my wound was beginning to sink in, and though I could barely see anything, my vision was beginning to blur. Countless times I had come across a fork in the road – only noticeable because of the slight night vision I had managed to accumulate over time. Each time, I stopped; listening intently as I filtered out the best route to continue and deciding against the tunnels that breathed of movement. Faint scuffles were scratching through the dead air, setting me on edge as I became more desperate to escape.

Sweat was pouring down my face, and dripping of the ends of my hair the longer I remained underground. A layer of moisture and dirt caked my skin, running in beads off my fingertips. I’d already dampened my clothing a while back, the sweat seeping into the remaining dry patches quickly.

Standing between two foreboding entrances, I swiped at my forehead uselessly, stumbling slightly in the pressured air. Every step I took, the air was getting thicker, clogging my head with its relentless mass. I just wanted out. I couldn’t think. And an arrhythmic drumming was beginning to cloud my head, getting louder and louder until I was suddenly knocked to the ground.

“What the fuck?”

My eyes widened, seeing a vague outline in the darkness of a shadow hovering above me. Of course, it wasn’t a shadow. The weight of the human was heavy on my body, wrapping around me in a cocoon as his skin slid against mine. I didn’t think I’d ever been happier to see Jared in my life. Or not see.

“Harley?” Jared exclaimed. “Why are you all wet?”

Choking out a hysterical laugh, I leaned up, sliding my arms around his neck as I planted a firm his on his cheek. “What are you doing here?” I asked excitedly.

My question seemed to snap the shock from Jared as he suddenly tensed above me. In a singular swift movement, he had wrapped an arm around me, his breathing hitching as he pushed up off the floor and half carried me down the opposite tunnel.

“What’s wrong?” I frowned, suddenly realising that there was something bothering the man.

Hi breath was cool against the sweat on my cheeks as he seemed to habitually glance behind him. I knew he was running as fast as he could, though I had no idea what it was he ran from and still he was going too slow. He couldn’t juggle me at the same time.

“Spiders,” he gasped out, and I could hear the fear thickly lacing his tone.

I’d always known that Jared was afraid of spiders. He was a couple of years older than I was, and so remembered a little more than I did of the old world. Spiders were one of them, though like the rest of the species on the planet, they had been much smaller.

Since the end of the human domination, spiders had become one of the undeniably feared infestations of the world. Forget lions and wolves and bears. Their numbers were strong, and could easily hold their own species, but they weren’t our main threat. There were smaller, more dangers creatures to fear, with numbers far exceeding that of the larger beasts. Snakes were among them. Flies too. Even ants had struck fear into our souls.

So when Jared uttered out that single word, my heart plummeted, and I was yelling at the man to stop. Reluctantly, and with more than a light insistence, he did. I could feel his heart beating strongly as he chanced another glance in the darkness behind us.

“Here, take my hand,” I breathed, trying to appear calm for the frantic man. “We’ll be faster this way. Do you know how to get out?”

“Uh – yeah,” he mumbled. “Another – another two rights. No, three. Three rights.”

Linking my fingers through Jared’s, I ran, dragging the boy behind me. I was right, we were faster this way, because my eyes had adjusted to the darkness and the adrenaline of freedom was enticing my steps to go faster.

A light pounding beat against the hardened dirt tunnel as I ran and I knew that it was only a matter of time before the spiders caught us. Strings of sticky white threads had started appearing, blocking our exit and attaching to my dampened skin for only a moment before it slid off. Jared wasn’t so lucky, slowly mounding into a ball of white, but I didn’t let it deter us.

One more right. One more right. The three words chanted in my head as I ticked the turns to our exit and by the time we rounded the final corner, Jared had picked up his pace. A cold breeze was trickling in from the jungle outside, fighting the breathless heat in the tunnels.

“We’re almost there,” I breathed encouragingly. “There’s light up ahead.”

In a desperate bid to escape the darkness, we scrambled furiously towards the halo of light, fingers scratching at the dirt floor as we climbed the steep slope. Fresh air crashed into my lungs the closer we got to the surface. I could hear the frantic whimper escaping my lips as I pushed my legs harder and burst out into the open arms of Jimmy.

He clutched me tightly, throwing me over his shoulder roughly, but I barely felt the bruising pain from my body. I bounced against his back, the weariness of lack of sleep kicking in despite our predicament.

“Good thing he insisted,” Jimmy grumbled cheerily. “Don’t normally go back for people, but boss was awful keen to go down an’ get you. ‘Spite his fear of spiders, and all.” I smiled slightly as his chuckle rumbled against my cheek.

Relief was pouring into me at my lucky escape, thankful that these men had gotten me out of the mess even if they had technically gotten me into it. The expanse of my jungle tore into the sky, the trees mountainous and menacing, but as I gazed at the green canopies I sighed in content. This was my home. My world. And I was feeling better already.

Even now I could see that the spiders hadn’t followed. Their gleaming red eyes had remained ever watching at the entrance to their dark hole. We were safe for now.

Those were the thoughts echoing in my mind. We were safe. We had made it. There was nothing to be afraid of. But at a sudden jolt, Jimmy came to a stop, his body going rigid as he gripped me tightly. It wasn’t long before I could see exactly what had left the man frozen and in a flash I was thrown to the ground, a startled scream escaping my lips as Jared’s lean body covered my own protectively.

But no matter how much he tried to hide me from these creatures. No matter how far he took me. I would remember Jimmy. I would remember Jimmy’s eyes as the startling realisation hit him, and I would remember the determined roar as he attacked the beasts anyway.

Then in the blink of an eye, Jimmy was gone.