Shadows Of Days Gone By

That old house… Part of me had hoped it would still be standing and everyone I loved would be inside and alright, huddled together around what little warmth they could create and sharing what few morsels they could gather. I should’ve known better. Instead, when I returned, I found the house collapsed in the front, and leaning up against a nearly dead, hollow tree just barely clinging to life in the back.

I swallowed hard and steeled myself, climbing the porch steps before entering through a shattered window frame that was just barely holding its shape. The place was filled with dust, debris and rubble, fallen pieces of the house I’d grown up in now littering the floor, breaking free of the walls and ceiling and obstructing any possible path. I needed to clear some rubble to make it up to my brother’s room, taking care not to get stuck by rusty nails or pointed wood.

Luckily, it proved a simple task -and although the upstairs hallway creaked and groaned under my feet, it felt stable enough to walk around and there was little in the way once I got up there. I decided to poke my head into my old room, unsurprised but quite disheartened to find the entire floor had fallen through. I found myself glad I’d been away when the bombs dropped, but immediately felt a tinge of guilt creep up the back of my neck.

I shook my head, trying to remove the thought from my mind. I’d been where I needed to be and I had hope everyone else was alright. I heard rubble shuffle downstairs and immediately drew my 9mm, aiming down the staircase as I stared down the iron-sights, daring anything to move. I waited several seconds, but after I didn’t hear anything else, I calmed myself and holstered my weapon. I turned back and continued down to the next door along the hallway, opening it and finding myself extremely glad the room had remained in tact.

I needed to sweep the entire place from top to bottom to locate it, but eventually I found it. It was in the shoebox he said it’d be in, along with an assortment of other jewelry and trinkets, but there in the little blue shoebox, I found a silver heart-shaped locket that hung from a piece of gnarled twine. It was engraved with the markings JG on the back and SV on the front. I tried to open it, but the latch was stuck. I pointed to the latch, hoping to undo it, but then I remembered I no longer had such an ability.

I sighed with frustration as I stood up, turning the locket over in my fingers once again. I put the locket in my coat pocket before pulling out the note Jason had left me. “What was her name again?” I asked myself.

I skimmed the note before spotting the detail I was looking for. “Serenity, right,” I recalled. With that, I knew what I needed to do next. Jason and many others had taken refuge in the mountains, but with these demon-like abominations swarming around, it was unsafe for anyone to go outside, practically ever.

I was one of the few unafraid of the creatures, just as my father had taught me to be. I made my way back outside and was immediately buffeted by a huge gust of dusty wind. The once bustling city now seemed more like a ghost-town, even in the full light of mid-afternoon. I walked through empty, dusty streets alone, taking note of which buildings no longer stood tall and proud in my hometown.

I made my way to my grandpa’s former shop, the growling of my stomach starting to grow unbearable. I needed to step over the fallen sign that had once hung over the doorway, but I was glad to find the store largely in tact, though heavily looted. Most of what remained seemed to be rotten fruit and vegetables that were so long expired that they were black, gooey and oozing something vile that dripped onto the floor. The entire place smelled of death, dust and despair.

I realized there would be little in terms of food here so I made my way back around the counter and into the attached house I’d been in so many times before. I followed my memory to the kitchen and let myself into the pantry, pleased to find it stocked up nicely with canned foods of a wide variety. I immediately grabbed some canned ham and a can of sliced peaches before heading over to the kitchen counter.

I needed to look through the drawers but eventually found myself a can opener, using it to unseal my prizes. I grabbed a fork and ate the pork straight from the can, finding myself more hungry than I’d allowed myself to realize.

“Hey! Put your hands where I can see ‘em!” a gruff man’s voice said. I nearly choked from the surprise but put my hands up as I was instructed. I turned to see an old man with a bald head approaching, his shotgun drawn on me. He was wearing tattered clothing that was falling apart, he was covered in dust and he had a patchy white and silver beard. “You just hungry?” he asked, eyeing me strongly. I nodded. “Alright… well eat whatcha got there, take a few rations and git on outta here. I don’t want anymore trouble…”

“Alright… Thanks so much…” I said carefully. He eyed me warily.

“So, what’s a pretty young thang like you doin’ a’mosey’n ‘round these parts? Mighty dangerous for someone so young…” he said, relaxing and pointing his gun down to the floor.

“I’m older than you and I can handle myself. You’re the one in danger here…” I replied, turning back to my can.

“Older’n me? Girly, you must be outta your damn mind… You don’t look a day over twenty,” he said.

“Think what you want. Thanks for the food,” I returned coldly. He seemed a little surprised when I kept eating.

“Yeah, well… yer welcome, Red……. Are ya stayin’ ‘round here somewhere?”

“Not too far. Do you have any more people with you?” I asked. He seemed nervous but nodded. “You should all come with me to the mountains. It’s safe there.”

“I don’t think so, you take what I offered and get outta here…” he said, pointing his gun up to my chest again.

“If you really want me to, then fine… but I can’t help but worry about your family…” I explained.

“Don’t worry ‘bout us… we got a shelter and plenty’a food. I was just comin’ up to move summore’a this here…”

“We’ve got a shelter that’s a lot more than a big metal door… are you sure you wont reconsider?” I asked.

“You seem pretty hungry… y’all got enough food up there?” he asked in response.

“Yes and no… we have a farm, but we only just planted it a few weeks ago. It’ll be at least another few until we have enough food for everyone…” I explained.

“I see… Well… lemme just go speak with the missus. I’ll see what she has to say,” he said. I felt glad he decided to consider changing his mind. I felt even gladder when he returned a few minutes later with his wife and daughter in tow, all carrying bags of clothes and personal items. His wife seemed a bit younger than him but still quite old, and their daughter looked about in her late twenties. They were both wearing rather torn clothing and the daughter was wild eyed and highly alert.

“Alright, you’re all coming?” I asked, putting my fork in the can. They nodded. “Then let’s go. Here’s the plan,” I said before laying it all out to them. It was supposed to be nice and simple. I was going to take all their stuff but their personal items and put them in the trunk of my car, then watch over them from the driver’s seat as they quickly made their way through the buildings before coming and sitting down inside one-by-one.

I helped them gather everything up before leading them through several allies, nooks and crannies, until we made it to the northern end of the city. Then I took the stuff and put it in the trunk as quietly as I could before closing it and going to open the car door. I stood in the open and looked around in all directions, taking careful note of any shadows the creatures could be lurking in or corners they could be behind. It was all going to plan as the mother started making her way toward my car… until… it wasn’t…

When she started walking over, we started hearing the sound of a helicopter in the distance. I panicked, knowing that amount of noise would rile up those freaks. I pulled my gun as I looked to the family and shouted “Come on! We have to go now!” All three were greatly spooked but ran over as quickly as they could muster, frightened by my sudden change in demeanor.

They were three quarters of the way over to me when the helicopter swooped overhead and I heard the growling hiss of those monsters. Five blackened, oozing, man-like creatures came crawling from the darkest corners of the city and lunged at the family with incredible speed. I took aim and managed to shoot down one, saving the daughter. The husband and wife fell to the attack. Eaten alive and turned into those creatures like the others. I got the girl into the car and we took cover together as more of the creatures swarmed the area.

When I heard them open fire from the helicopter, I knew it was going to be alright. They sent one agent down on a rope ladder to speak with us and I got out of the car and smirked up at her. She immediately grabbed her communicator. “Bravo, I’ve identified the target. It’s that girl again…” I was surprised when she climbed back up the ladder. Their helicopter was marked with the insignia for those anti-bio-weapon specialist assholes. They took off after circling a few times so and I took the girl and brought her straight back here.

Her name’s Sandy…

That’s awesome Babe… I mean, not for her family, but still… I’m glad you keep helping people every chance you get. But, what was in that old locket Jason asked you to get?

It was… just an old picture

A picture of who?…

His son… you remember Jackson, don’t you?