Please, Boy. Stay.

till alive in a world like this. He carried a serrated knife disproportionate to the rest of his body. She imagined if he swung it he would fall with it. She stared at him in awe. Was he a hallucination? Was the putrid stench of the surrounding Creeps finally getting to her? His eyes jumped from Creep to Creep, taking in their ugliness. His eyes caught hers and he lit up. He raised a hand and started waving frantically at her. She froze in place. What the hell is this kid thinking?!? One rustle of his sweater and these beasts are all over him. A Creep bumped its boney structure up against her coat and she started moving again. She looked away from the boy for a second to regain her feet and not alarm the hoard.

She heard light noise from where the boy was standing and saw him holding up a flare gun. Her eyes widened in fear of what she was about to witness if this boy released his loaded flare. Her throat swelled as she wanted to scream for him to stop, but a move like that would be suicide. She couldn’t move her eyes off of this impending train wreck. The boy turned away from the hoard, cringed and pulled the trigger. The flare flew away with a high buzz and much to her surprise, exploded a few dozen yards away, at the edge of the field. In one fell swoop, the collection of mutilated Creeps turned slowly towards the tiny rave the little boy had just begun. As if on queue, the boy dove behind a large stone and the entire hoard tore off towards the sound. Boney bodies slammed past the girl, nearly knocking her over. She kept one hand sturdy on her locket, never to remove it. The dust and screams from the Creeps was overwhelming. She stayed as quiet as possible while being rag-dolled around by the mosh pit of newly enraged beasts. As the last few bodies flung past in a blind rage, she regained her ground and looked towards the rock of which the boy was hiding behind. With fists victoriously high up in the air the boy reappeared with a bounce.

“Holy hell, did you see that? I never thought it would work!” He hollered at the girl. She felt her heart fall into her stomach as she realized the boy's fate. She saw the boy's hand slam over his mouth after processing what he had just done. His excitement got the best of him and doom was pending.

She looked past the boy and to the edge of the field where the mass of disgust turned and creaked and snarled towards their prey. Her breathing hitched when the hoard tore off towards the boy. By instinct, she sprinted forward with as much speed as she could possibly manage, throwing off her coat to lighten her weight. The hoard was inhumanely fast. Their body's contorted and twitched as they stumbled at high speeds towards the two humans. She reached the boy with seconds to spare, tearing off her necklace, pressing it open and throwing it as far as she possibly could to the right. A soft melody began playing from the small locket and the hoard redirected, following the noise. They piled on top of one another in an attempt to get to the sweet-songed locket. With this new chance, the girl threw the boy over her shoulder and ran to the left.

She doesn’t remember how long or how far she had been running, but she did not stop until she got back to her tree house. The boy was silent and unmoving the entire time. When she arrived back at her base, she dropped the boy and motioned for him to climb. She followed close behind. They entered the treehouse and she locked the door behind her. She spun around and faced the boy.

“Were you trying to kill us? That was a multi-dozen Congo you just decided to toy with. Is this a game to you? Do you think this is a game, boy?” She unsheathed her machete and was wielding it around in anger. The boy was sitting wide eyed in front of her. After a few seconds of silence, the boy whispers, “How are you talking without them… you know...?”

“This treehouse is soundproof and I check perimeters daily to clear enough area that they can't hear me. Now answer this: what was your plan? To kill me?” She held the machete towards the boy, who seemed unbothered by the new threat.

“I thought you were hurt,” He pointed to her neck. “I saw your hand at your throat and thought you needed help. I was going to get the Creeps away from you and then try to help you,” He looked down at his feet. “Obviously I got excited, messed up and almost got both of us killed.”

The girl shakes her head. “You made me lose my necklace. You ruined my daily plans. You now burden me with feeding and caring for you.”

Without another word, the boy heads for the door.

“What are you doing?”

“Leaving. I don’t want to be a burden. I’ll leave you to yourself and we can forget this ever happened.” He turns to the door.

“Please.” The girl whispers. He stops with his hand on the door's lock. “You’re the first live human I've seen in months. Please, boy. Stay.” He turns around to face her. After a few seconds of contemplation the boy spoke.

“I’ll stay.”

For the next few hours, they spent time talking and eating.

“The necklace. It’s important to you, yes?” He asked.

“Yes. It was my little sisters. She was attacked when the locket broke open and played its music by accident. It was a family heirloom. I had to keep it for my family’s sake.”

There was a long silence between them.

‘I had to take it from her. I had to take it from what was left of her. I haven’t taken it off since.”

“Why did you risk it for me?”

‘You remind me of her.”

After another brief pause the girl rose from her spot on the floor and walked to her bed. She laid down and told the boy to sleep where he wanted. She was exhausted from all the running, so she quickly fell into a dream state.

When she awoke, she found that the boy was gone. She checked to make sure he didn’t steal anything and got ready to scout. Her day went by as if the boy had never showed up. She kept remembering her sister and that boy. Their commonalities. It made her shudder.

Later that day, she returned to her loft. She found the boy again. He was standing at the base of the treehouse, looking up the ladder. She crunched a leaf as she walked towards him to get his attention. When he spun around, a ball of terrible heat flared in the depths of her torso.

The stomach of his shirt had been torn open and there were large gagged gashes in his abdomen. His skin was pale and warping. The most noticeable feature was his already swelling eyes and weight loss. He was barely the boy she had met the day before. This already tiny child was half the size he once was. She slowly gripped her weapon while looking at his wheezing and twitchy figure. He looked up at her through puffy eyelids and what she assumed was a smile pulled on his distorted face. His growing, mangled, blood ridden hands dug aimlessly into his pant pocket. The girl’s hand tightened around the hilt of her machete as his shaky hand rose to eye level. His hand opened and the heart shaped locket bounced around on its chain.

“I’m… Sorry.” He rasped.

With tears in her eyes, the girl stepped forward and took the rusty (and now blood-soaked) locket and chain and placed it around her neck. She nodded to him as a thank you, hand still clasped over the locket.

“I’m. S-sorry…” He muttered once again before slowly shuffling away. After a few long minutes, he was out of sight. The girl, with blurry vision, began to climb into her treehouse. As she reached the door, she heard the distorted curdled scream of the boy and the returned calls of the Creeps he now calls family.

“I’m sorry,” She whispered to herself, listening to the stomach-turning howls. She entered her home and played the locket's slow song as the baying quietly continued outside. ‘I’m so sorry, boy.”