Day 002: The seductive flicker (Challenge100)

The fire was getting closer, licking away at the fuse, creeping closer to the stores of explosives bottled nearby.

The crowd rallied, they had been waiting for the moment of explosion for months. They had rallied and screamed, and they had organised everything, all we practically did was turn up.

Some members panicked last minute and hadn’t stayed to see it through, giving one excuse or another why they didn’t want to be here.

Of course it was a big thing but that’s what we wanted really, something big… something to remember.

Seconds passed, the damp autumnal air had slowed the fuse; the usual fast flick of light now crawled along the line, seducing the damp concrete as it danced towards the dirt.

The flame disappeared; a breath was all we had to wait until the sound of the drum-splitting explosion escaped through the clinging air. We watched.

Partners grabbed each other’s arms.

Parents held their children close.

A chorus of gasps, orchestrated by the dance of the colours overhead.

Once the colours stopped, the crowd erupted for more.

A bonfire night to remember.

DAY 001: Mr Lego

Hiding behind some of the rust covered machinery, the pain didn’t appear for a minute at least; it was the swell of oozing warmth that drew his attention to the hole which had formed in his stomach. How did he get here?

They came in the middle of the night, all in black, professional and hired.

Answer phone was all he received after glancing at the blood covered images of his Abbey that now filled his phone. It had to be a joke he begged myself.

His house phone rang with clarity.

“You want her alive yes.” The voice was cloaked with the familiar hum of a voice changer; he could almost make out the brand.

“Of course.” Hands shaking but his voice remained calm.

“Bring the drive.” What the hell was he on about? What drive?

“Is she okay?” She was kidnapped by psychotic monsters, of course she wasn’t okay.

Abbey’s voice echoed through the phone. “Mr Lego, McGee.” Her voice muffled against the sound of restraint once more.

“Where?” They rung off the address of some warehouse where they’d both be shortly killed. 

He toyed with the Lego key-ring before realising which key it held. The key to the gun box hidden in the wardrobe, only Abbey new it was there. Now he knew.

He was expected, so of course they didn’t lock anything. Sneaking in through a back window McGee could see everything, everything except Abbey. The glock fit his hand well, only Abbey knew that he had taken a lesson or two on how to use it.

He didn’t want to kill any of them, but he wasn’t about to let them kill Abbey, his Abbey. One at a time they fell, kicking their semi-automatics out of reach before moving on to the next; years of playing spy games were finally making themselves useful. Pausing only to reload. Often. Apparently his aim was better in the game, but still.

So now he stood, with a hole in his stomach staring at the man who took his Abbey; his face rougher than his voice sounded. Nothing about him looked like a hit-man, he wanted to be professional but he knew this was a game for bigger fish and was regretting every move.

“Braver than I thought.” He started, going on about his stupidity, McGee couldn’t focus on a word he said as the moment sank in, Abbey was tied to a chair but the gun pointed at her temple wasn’t. He talked for too long. As he turned his back, McGee fired.

As McGee reached his Abbey, stumbling and bloody; without even untying her, he grabbed her face between his hands and planted his lips on hers. Her shaking stopped, and even with her hands bound behind her, she reached for him. Now she really was his Abbey.

Mr Lego wasn’t even the drive.

Running shoes

No one suspected that the bees would leave, well that’s a lie really; the really smart people noticed that they were leaving, but they were the people everyone else ignored because it wasn’t cool to listen to them. I mean since when is a high school jock going to listen to a scientist locked in a chemistry lab surrounded by books, nope they would be out drinking, partying and generally ruining their lives with horrendous one-night stands, that’s exactly what I was like… ‘was’ being the operative word.

I was dumb, you have to admit it from time to time or you just get arrogant, and trust me when I say that an arrogant jock isn’t exactly a pleasant experience for anyone. My dad once told me that I had one of two choices, work hard in class and get into an ivy league college, or be exceptional at football and get a free pass… okay it wasn’t the best advice in the world but let’s face it, I’m crap at math. So football became my life, training, pep rallies and all the cool stuff that comes from being scouted. After each great performance on the field was the after party, after the after party, well that’s when I would have my head in a toilet and coach would scream something along the lines of “Your ruining your god damn life!” or “Get yourself together or I swear you’ll never kick another football!” Excellent motivation right there…

Okay, I admit that when the world started to die I didn’t notice; I mean it was all over the T.V. but since when did I have time to sit and watch something that wasn’t football? Apparently it started with the flowers, crops started to fail and generally nature was screwed; ironic really, vegans were always preaching about one thing or another, saying they were going to save the world… and they were the first to starve. Man, I have a screwed up mind sometimes.

Well you can imagine the uproar when supermarkets couldn’t get stock because… well the stock was dead. People were panic buying left right and centre; even the church… that reminds me… no maybe another time… right now I’m being chased… why can I not focus today?

I had to get out of the high street, I should know better than to gather here anyway; too many hunters, too dangerous and the others needed me. There were a few shops left and then I could take a sharp right and scale the alley to higher ground, they couldn’t scale like I could.

Their footsteps were a few paces behind me, stumbling left and right carelessly as they tried to keep up. The sound of bare feet hitting the floor wasn’t the nicest sound, the rough pavement ate at the feet worse than the hunters do.

That reminds me, I need new shoes; if the gang expect me to run for the last scraps of food they need to provide better gear. Oh maybe now is a good time to mention the problem? Your probably wondering what they hell is chasing me bare-foot through this ghost town. Yeah sounds about good right here, I’ll scale this, and you catch up with what happened to this god-forsaken world.

See people change when they are hungry, a friend becomes an enemy and a loved one becomes your next meal. Everyone was talking about it at school, we all knew that cannibals existed but there were like four across the whole of the United States, right? But somewhere in Texas a farmer killed his wife; apparently he went a bit crazy and ate her because the last of his cattle died. The teachers said he was a one off, but then more people started doing it; people were too weak to fight them off and soon they were hunting each other. Wonderful.

Well, then everyone started getting the idea, but the hunters were changing; they were like wild animals. One came into the school on the last day they let us in; he went from room to room tearing people to pieces. Running came in useful that day, I climbed out of the window as he came crashing through our classroom door; I managed to get four more people out of the room. I only looked at him once that day, the colour of his eyes were weird; like they had leaked into the white.

From the roof of Maccies I recognised all of the eyes staring up at me, swirls of green and blue blurring in with the white; their mouths frothing and snapping at me, wild dogs had a more pleasant appearance. None of them could climb, I had ran into these twats before; they’ve been hunters’ for a while now and each time they got a little slower, their eyes lost a little more white… they lost a little bit of human each day… and we get a little bit closer to being able to kill em.

Cryptic musings of a wanna be writer

Holding my breath seemed to sap the life from my muscles, each second getting closer to the burn building in my chest and the sudden gasp that will inevitability follow... but I must hold still... they must think I'm dead... so I hold still; deadly still.

Their smoky essence drifted over me as they searched my body, thinking im a victim of an ever raging war they loot the little money from my pockets and begin to move towards the others; only they weren't holding their breaths anymore.

Their footsteps faded, the muscles in my chest and throat relaxed but the first tears reached my cheek before my lungs were full of air once more. Screams filled my mind but could never reach my lips, they were frozen together knowing they... whatever they are, would hear me... I had to be silent.

My eyes scanned the body-littered alley before my legs would dare to work, memories of my childhood flashing before me as I look into the sparkless eyes of my best friends. My knees cracked as I knelt by Joe's side, his skin was still warm but the blood pooling on his chest was seeping the warmth from him... he was the first person to ever hug me and mean it... first person to love me and mean it... the bottom of my world shattered as the first sobs escaped my lips.

It was hours until they found us...