Amid the Ruins
I. Bite
“I can’t get anymore... This will have to do.” My Mom said, stepping out of the pantry. Another loud knock made us jump. She didn’t sound so much disappointed that we couldn’t take more... She sounded disappointed that we now had to face what lurked on the other side of that door.
I was by no means excited, but I just wanted to get it over with. We whispered in hush voices how we’d do it, and we decided she’d get the door, and I’d tackle whatever it was. I didn’t like this idea at all... But like I said before, I was more physically equipped to handle it.
With shakey hands, she undid the lock, giving me a long, hard look before she pulled it open. I hesitated a second too long, hung up on the short child standing in the doorway. It’s head hung low, tendrils of greasy brown hair hanging in front of it’s facial features.
“Hello?” I whispered, the word getting stuck in my throat, wedged in with fear.
My Mother stared at the child in disbelief, we didn’t know what else to do and it didn’t seem to be responding.
“Hello?” I asked again, louder this time. Slowly it raised it’s head, and two chalky - almost glowing eyes stared at me. I half expected it to speak, but instead it reeled and stumbled forward quickly, taking us both off guard. It grabbed my Mom’s blouse sleeve greedily, trying to pull her towards it. She took a large step backwards, finding herself wedged between the island and the insane child. She raised her leg to kick it off, and before she could, it’s small head turned, and blackened, broken teeth tore into her upper thigh.
Her scream was nightmares, and it threw me into action. I grabbed a clump of it’s hair in my fit and hauled it backwards, almost throwing the kid into the pantry, slamming the door in it’s face.
“Are you okay?!” I cried in panic. She only stared down at her leg in shock, before blinking twice and looking up at me.
“Yes... Yes, I think so. Let’s get the hell out of this place.” She almost begged.
I didn’t have to be told twice. I grabbed the bag off the counter and slung it over my shoulder, and we made our way out. I looked to our left as we headed for the exit, noticing two more undead children, bumping into each other growling hungrily.
As soon as we reached the opening of the trail, we were running. Despite the pain in her leg, and the pounds of aluminum cans colliding with my spine with each step, we just wanted to put some distance down between us and that... Insane satan shit fest.
We ran so long we couldn’t breathe anymore, and even then the only reason we stopped is because we literally stumbled to our knees in exhaustion. Lying face down in the pine needles, breathing in the earthy smell of a fading summer... I knew my life would never be the same just because I had witnessed those horrors...
I rolled over halfheartedly before groaning. My muscles protested, unable to fully roll over, I just settled for looking at my Mom. She slowly pushed herself up into a sit, rolling up the cuff of her shorts just enough to see the purplish bruise surrounding the serrated teeth marks. Long, slender trails of blood twisted grotesquely down her leg and around her ankle, staining her sock and boot.
“I’m just relieved to be alive.” She mutters breathlessly, inspecting the bite before rolling the fabric back down over the wound. “Ugh...” She winces, grabbing her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” I ask in concern, forcing my muscles to work enough to get me into a sit. I watch her hold her head until the ache slowly passes. She bites her lip and shakes her head, taking a deep breath before looking me in the eye. “This heat and lack of water is bound to give you heatstroke.”
“Not to mention we’re running in it.” I mumble halfheartedly. “Here.”
I unzip the side pocket of the duffle bag and hand her the small bottle of Asperin. “This should help.”
She takes a few, and sighs, looking at the sky as we continue to catch our breaths and figure out our next move.
“We don’t have to run anymore,” She says slowly after a few more minutes, “But if we are a little more proactive with our hiking, we can make it back just before sun down.”
I look up to examine the sky, surprised to find the sun already at the halfway point. Time flies when you’re locked in a kitchen, I suppose...
“Sounds good.” I agree.
We share a few sips of water before climbing crippled to our feet. I feel the ache settling into my joints, promising a painful awaking tomorrow.
I sling the duffle up on my shoulder again and we head back up the slope we came down earlier, slowly retracing our steps through the forest...
We make it back an hour later, and they’re relieved to see us. Me and her exhange concerned looks before Mom takes Dad off to the side to tell him everything while I take Charlie and Lilly and distract them.
“Mommy!” Lilly exclaims, horrified.
“What, honey?”
“You’re bleeding!”
She looks down at the bite. “Yeah... One of those fuckers bit me. But I’m okay.” She tells my Dad in a lower voice so my siblings don’t hear. I look away and cringe in private. I catch a glimpse of broken purple vessels trailing away from the wound. As if this whole thing couldn’t get shittier... We didn’t have any antibiotics or anything to clean the wound with besides rinsing it with water.
Lilly was suspicious of what went on, and for only being seven, she asked a lot of questions. I dodged them as gracefully as I could, but it got to a point where it started to really bother me.
Dad began making dinner, and I’d glance at Mom again to see her gripping her head or wiping at the sweat on her forehead. She took more pills, and then excused herself from the campfire to go lie down in the tent.
It wasn’t her behavior that had me worried, but her appearance. She was growing pale despite it being a hot and humid day. She drug her feet and looked exhausted as she went to lie down. For that, I can’t really blame her... But it almost felt like too much. I convinced myself this wasn’t enough evidence to bring it up to my Dad just yet, so with that, I clasped my hands together and proceeded to stare into the flames, with Sam sitting faithfully beside me.
I was by no means excited, but I just wanted to get it over with. We whispered in hush voices how we’d do it, and we decided she’d get the door, and I’d tackle whatever it was. I didn’t like this idea at all... But like I said before, I was more physically equipped to handle it.
With shakey hands, she undid the lock, giving me a long, hard look before she pulled it open. I hesitated a second too long, hung up on the short child standing in the doorway. It’s head hung low, tendrils of greasy brown hair hanging in front of it’s facial features.
“Hello?” I whispered, the word getting stuck in my throat, wedged in with fear.
My Mother stared at the child in disbelief, we didn’t know what else to do and it didn’t seem to be responding.
“Hello?” I asked again, louder this time. Slowly it raised it’s head, and two chalky - almost glowing eyes stared at me. I half expected it to speak, but instead it reeled and stumbled forward quickly, taking us both off guard. It grabbed my Mom’s blouse sleeve greedily, trying to pull her towards it. She took a large step backwards, finding herself wedged between the island and the insane child. She raised her leg to kick it off, and before she could, it’s small head turned, and blackened, broken teeth tore into her upper thigh.
Her scream was nightmares, and it threw me into action. I grabbed a clump of it’s hair in my fit and hauled it backwards, almost throwing the kid into the pantry, slamming the door in it’s face.
“Are you okay?!” I cried in panic. She only stared down at her leg in shock, before blinking twice and looking up at me.
“Yes... Yes, I think so. Let’s get the hell out of this place.” She almost begged.
I didn’t have to be told twice. I grabbed the bag off the counter and slung it over my shoulder, and we made our way out. I looked to our left as we headed for the exit, noticing two more undead children, bumping into each other growling hungrily.
As soon as we reached the opening of the trail, we were running. Despite the pain in her leg, and the pounds of aluminum cans colliding with my spine with each step, we just wanted to put some distance down between us and that... Insane satan shit fest.
We ran so long we couldn’t breathe anymore, and even then the only reason we stopped is because we literally stumbled to our knees in exhaustion. Lying face down in the pine needles, breathing in the earthy smell of a fading summer... I knew my life would never be the same just because I had witnessed those horrors...
I rolled over halfheartedly before groaning. My muscles protested, unable to fully roll over, I just settled for looking at my Mom. She slowly pushed herself up into a sit, rolling up the cuff of her shorts just enough to see the purplish bruise surrounding the serrated teeth marks. Long, slender trails of blood twisted grotesquely down her leg and around her ankle, staining her sock and boot.
“I’m just relieved to be alive.” She mutters breathlessly, inspecting the bite before rolling the fabric back down over the wound. “Ugh...” She winces, grabbing her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” I ask in concern, forcing my muscles to work enough to get me into a sit. I watch her hold her head until the ache slowly passes. She bites her lip and shakes her head, taking a deep breath before looking me in the eye. “This heat and lack of water is bound to give you heatstroke.”
“Not to mention we’re running in it.” I mumble halfheartedly. “Here.”
I unzip the side pocket of the duffle bag and hand her the small bottle of Asperin. “This should help.”
She takes a few, and sighs, looking at the sky as we continue to catch our breaths and figure out our next move.
“We don’t have to run anymore,” She says slowly after a few more minutes, “But if we are a little more proactive with our hiking, we can make it back just before sun down.”
I look up to examine the sky, surprised to find the sun already at the halfway point. Time flies when you’re locked in a kitchen, I suppose...
“Sounds good.” I agree.
We share a few sips of water before climbing crippled to our feet. I feel the ache settling into my joints, promising a painful awaking tomorrow.
I sling the duffle up on my shoulder again and we head back up the slope we came down earlier, slowly retracing our steps through the forest...
We make it back an hour later, and they’re relieved to see us. Me and her exhange concerned looks before Mom takes Dad off to the side to tell him everything while I take Charlie and Lilly and distract them.
“Mommy!” Lilly exclaims, horrified.
“What, honey?”
“You’re bleeding!”
She looks down at the bite. “Yeah... One of those fuckers bit me. But I’m okay.” She tells my Dad in a lower voice so my siblings don’t hear. I look away and cringe in private. I catch a glimpse of broken purple vessels trailing away from the wound. As if this whole thing couldn’t get shittier... We didn’t have any antibiotics or anything to clean the wound with besides rinsing it with water.
Lilly was suspicious of what went on, and for only being seven, she asked a lot of questions. I dodged them as gracefully as I could, but it got to a point where it started to really bother me.
Dad began making dinner, and I’d glance at Mom again to see her gripping her head or wiping at the sweat on her forehead. She took more pills, and then excused herself from the campfire to go lie down in the tent.
It wasn’t her behavior that had me worried, but her appearance. She was growing pale despite it being a hot and humid day. She drug her feet and looked exhausted as she went to lie down. For that, I can’t really blame her... But it almost felt like too much. I convinced myself this wasn’t enough evidence to bring it up to my Dad just yet, so with that, I clasped my hands together and proceeded to stare into the flames, with Sam sitting faithfully beside me.