THE REQUIEM
[Aednat]
My eyes fluttered as the world seemed to open up. It was still dark out, and the moon was still bright in the sky. I had hoped for a brief moment that I would wake up in my old bed. Hopefully da had come to rescue me in my time of need. He had missed his beloved daughter wanting to continue the fight for the cause side by side again. However there was a different fight that I was in. There was no higher cause or purpose, then a fight for survival. At this moment, I hoped that the cause would keep the fight in me. I placed my hands on the ground and began to lift myself up. I shook my head to try and shake my senses back. I rose off the ground to find myself in the corner of the room. I saw that Nikki was lying in a crumpled bloody heap. It took me a minute to gain my balance and composure. Soon the room righted itself, and I made my way to her.
I knelt down and shook her. She looked battered lying half naked. Yakov had raped her again, and this time completed the task. She was unable to fight him off the second time. I saw her pink pistol lying feet from her. “Nikki,” I shook her again. I saw her beginning to stir. Her bruised eyes fluttered open, and her words seemed garbled in a mouth full of stale blood. “Vha..vhat’s…oing, on,” I began to pick her up slowly. “Yakov jot e gain,” I replied quickly, “I know Nikki. I need you to get dressed can you do that?” Nikki nodded her head, “vhere es e, I’m oing to cill em.” I began to scan the room, “I don’t know?” Picking up my rifle off the ground I moved towards the door frame, “I think I hear him?” There was a strange sound that seemed to fi ll the corridor. It was a squishing sound with a hard tearing. The corridor was dark, and the moon was barely able to penetrate it. I scanned around it and found the source of the sound.
It wasn’t Yakov like I thought it would be. Terror filled my body when my eyes fell upon the source. I would have given anything for it to have been Yakov. The shadowed figure was directly down the opposite end of the corridor. The shadow was large, and the door frame had burst from the size of the figure. Through the faint moonlight I saw thick hair that seemed clumped together in blood. The creature had not responded, nor even acknowledged my presence in the corridor. It was slightly hunched over holding half a torso in its paws. It seemed to be eating something or somebody. This could only mean one thing to me, Kiyoshi was dead. How many others were dead? Where was Raska or Anton? Their rooms were right next to Kiyoshi’s. Where was Jacob or the sign? Had I missed it?
I gazed into the room across from our campsite, which was supposed to contain Chris. I peered into it not trying to take my eyes of f the creature. I whispered as loud as I thought I could, “Chris, Chris, you there?” It was an almost humorous situation. We were all trying to survive or kill each other, but when the creature came we became a team. Maybe that was the point of all this? To use all our strengths and fight against a common enemy, so we can reach a common goal of survival. However according to their rules there was no survival at the end. I didn’t have time to think of all of that now. My mind began to speak, “let me survive this and then I can worry about surviving tomorrow.”
“I rish, vhat’s oing,” I turned to see Nikki trying to stand up. The room was cold since Jacob put out our fire. “Shh,” I whispered to Nikki who stared at me through swollen eyes. “Vell, vhere es e,” “shut up Nikki!” I turned back and felt my heart skip several beats. It would have been hard to tell if the creature was staring at me, if it hadn’t have been for that red eye. The mangled corpse became more visible in the light, and I could see through the moonlight a sliver of white fabric. The creature stared at me, and I in return stared back at it. The minutes seemed to pass, and the stare down continued. I saw pieces of Kiyoshi’s body slipping through the creature’s paws and falling on the floor. “Nikki,” I whispered as she wobbled on her feet, “it’s…it’s here!” Nikki’s head shot up, “now?” I nodded, “its...staring at me…watching me.” I began to raise my rifle slowly and slide back the bolt to chamber a round. The creature could see my actions as its breath curled like thick smoke. I watched the last of Kiyoshi’s mangled carcass fall from the creature’s paws. Slowly turning towards me the creature stretched its arms. Its jaw extended snarling softly but loud enough to make the air freeze slightly. The creature began to make its way towards me.
“No, no, no, no,” I took aim at the creature and fired, POW…POW… POW ! The creature stopped after the third shot which clipped it in the neck. “Shit,” I yelled there was no stopping it. “CHRIS, JACOB,” I shouted but nobody responded. The creature was almost halfway passing by Jacob’s room. I raised my rifle again when something astonishing happened. A mysterious person emerged from the top of the stairs and hopped onto the creature. It snarled and threw the man off easily. I didn’t recognize this man, nor the several others that seemed to fight the creature. I realized that they were the same people from before. They were the undead. They were attacking the creature clawing at its stomach and biting into its back. This was the opportunity to escape. I sprinted back to Nikki grabbing her panic stricken, “Nikki we got to go, now’s our chance!” Nikki was still uneasy on her feet as I ran over to the makeshift rope that Jacob had made. It was a thick band of hospital sheets tied together and secured around one of the crumbling pillars. I tossed the rope over the side. “Vhat bout Yakov,” “he’s dead,” “jood…” I watched the rope fall but only reach the first floor meaning we would have to jump the rest. “Vat bout de oderz,” “we have to assume there dead too.” I ran over to the pillar and removed from the pouch on my back my last item. An item that I knew quite well, I pulled out the large nail bomb and placed it into a large crack in the pillar. It sat comfortably as I took out the large pin on the side. I pulled a small piano like cord from it, the trip wire. I pulled it tighter and stretched it across to the other pillar. I wrapped it around the base before tying it off. “Vat are vou oing?” “Nikki you better get climbing! The whole ceiling is going to collapse on top of the creature!”
I hopped over the line and made my way to the crumbling wall. I grabbed the rope and placed a foot on it, “just follow me down ok?” “Vait, Vait,” I was about to hop down when Nikki took several steps backwards yelling, “VAIT, I KAN’T…VAIT!” I stopped and turned to her just with enough time to see the back wall give out. Three undead figures were reaching inside the room and pulling her towards them. The undead had broken through the wall and began eating Nikki in her shoulders and head. I took my rifle from off my shoulder and raised it firing at them. They were like locusts eating anything and everything in their path. I fired once, twice, three times, but the creatures continued to eat her. I took aim again my screaming words were garbled. My crosshairs locked on her forehead and I eased her passing. From out of nowhere something gray came flying at me and hit my rifle. Screaming in pain I felt my arm slightly breaking. I watched in horror as my rifle twirled in the air and then sailed outside. I saw my only salvation from this horror disappear in the darkness.
I clenched my arm and turned to see the creature standing outside the door frame. It had smacked it claws into the wall sending large chunks of concrete to shower all over the room. The door frame was too small to fit its large figure. The creature started thrashing at the door frame wildly trying to get at me. I tried to grab the makeshift rope with my other hand. Concrete was still raining over the room. One chunk hit me in the shoulder and another smashed into the side of my head. I toppled to the back wall and fell with my back to it. “FUCK,” I yelled as I saw the creature slamming its body through the door frame. I watched it squeeze through as I tried to grasp the rope again. The ceiling was shaking dangerously. The rope was mere inches away, but I couldn’t reach it. The creature was almost through the door now. I tried to move, but my arm was throbbing in pain again, “FUCK…oh shit!” I saw one of the undead already descending upon me. I reached to my breast pocket and unsheathed a hunting knife. The undead had caught me off guard. I raised my arm up to it and felt its teeth sink into me. I screamed loudly as I felt its cold saliva soaking through my shirt. My blood poured over my pants. “GET OFF ME,” I screamed. I took the knife feeling the undead’s hands trying to pin me down. “Bite this fucker,” I stuck the hunting knife through the undead’s gullet sending it straight upwards. The undead’s eyes bulged, and its teeth released from my arm. It collapsed next to me as I saw the creature had already made a crater size hole in the wall.
The creature stepped through only needing three more steps to kill me. Both arms injured I tried to grab my last weapon tucked in my boot. I pulled out the mini-crossbow and pushed the button on the side watching the wings pop open. One arrow already good to fire, I pointed it at the creature who towered over me. The creature knew that my end had come, and it licked its bloody lips. It stared down in-between the pillars and saw to my horror the trip wire that traced across them. “Come on,” I screamed at it, but the creature seemed puzzled by the trip wire. I was surprised it had even noticed it. “Come on, come get me! I’m right here!” The creature gazed at the pillars and then up at the ceiling. I took aim with the crossbow and fired. I aimed directly for the beast’s nose. It connected and sent the creature backwards. The creature swiped at it angrily and broke the arrow in half. My hand shook as I reached into my side pocket and pulled out another arrow. Blood covered my hands as I tried to slip the arrow into the firing track.
The creature’s eye burned with a fury, and I knew that it was coming. I slid the bow string behind the arrow, “that’s it, come and get me!” I watched the creature take one step towards me, “that’s it just one more, just one more.” I put the bow pistol under my jaw and pointed it up. I placed my hand down knowing the end had come. I felt something and realized that I had accidentally laid it upon the scrape piece of paper that I had been writing on. I smiled and then flipped it over. The words were faint to me and as I turned back I saw the creature take its final step towards me. The trip wire was being pulled in front of its hairy leg. They say your life flashes before your eyes moments before you die.
In the mist and haze of everything there was only one memory that came to my head. It was a song. A song that my father, and I used to sing. We only sang it before suicide missions. I could feel his hand on my back and his Irish brogue singing in my ear. I watched the roof collapse. Wood, concrete, and stone fell on the creature smothering it underneath the weight. All while our song played in my head.
“Deep in the heart is the home we love…our star will gleam, every wish on a dream. Dead the day, blackened the sun…Charon’s laugh, legends last…the hero’s gone until we meet in Tir Na Nog.”
I pulled the trigger of the bow and gripped my poem just as the arrow tore through my head. I went out the way I wanted to go out, taking the creature with me. I was truly a martyr dying for a cause.
(The Getaway)
The room was filled with cheers and angry scowls. It was an eruption as loud as a football game. Smoke curled in the room and some men even threw their brandy in one of the many fireplaces. It took a minute for the lights to flash several times before everyone grew quiet. A pudgy man made his way to the stage near the bar. A spotlight fell upon him as he tapped the microphone, “testing…yes…hello, can everybody hear me?” The room responded with light applause and some men lifting up their glasses in a mocking toast. The pudgy man continued, “Yes, thank you…well as you already know or should know I dare say,” a light girlish giggle filled the room as eyes landed on the source, Lord Otto. “I have been your speaker for this year’s hunt, and I am most honored to be in this position again. I have just spoken with the Elites who have officially declared this season’s hunt officially over. The next ten sponsors are being chosen as we speak and the official winner with Elite approval is…Christopher Wentworth!”
“Christopher,” Joseph yelled loudly as Lord Otto spit his brandy in shock loosing his superior composure. “What the hell do you mean Christopher? The winner is Aednat, Aednat!” The whole room seemed upset and many checked the monitors as Pascal pointed his hand and said softly, “no Joseph don’t you see? Chris’s trackers are still registering a heartbeat?” “Is this some kind of game from you Elites? What the hell is going on,” Ivan’s cheeks shook violently as he stood with his pudgy face red as a tomato.
[Chris]
I felt something grab my shoulders as the world seemed to spin in circles. Fingers gripped me, and I immediately thrashed wildly. I was throwing off whatever seemed to be clinging onto me. I twirled around wildly as I felt the porcelain tank top fall from hands. I saw demons tearing at the lifeless body of Anton, and one had grabbed my shoulder. It stretched its decaying hands up at me. I screamed loudly and stumbled backwards to avoid it. I tripped over Yakov’s lifeless body and fell backwards next to the gapping hole in the wall. I stared through it and then back towards the advancing undead. I decided to take my chance and climb through it. I felt the dirt, tile, and dry wall falling over me. Pushing through the wall, I felt a hand grip my leg. A loud moan escaped the undead’s mouth. Screaming loudly, I kicked the man square in the mouth, but he didn’t budge. He continued to advance as I scrambled through the wall pulling my body through. “Aaaagggggg,” cried the man as I felt the last of my legs sliding through the hole. Hands grabbed my ankles as I saw its eyes light up like two bright flashlights. Its mouth opened and a burst of light came from the depths of the man’s body. The Devil’s Breath had a grip on my reality.
“Get off me,” I yelled, but the undead man’s hands dug into me pulling its way up my body. I kicked it square in the face to no avail. I watched its head move towards my ankle. I kicked it repeatedly, but still the creature tried to take a bite of me. I struggled with all my might, but it was never good enough. The teeth moved to my leg, but with a quick pull of it the undead man made contact with the bracelet. “No, no,” I felt the creature biting at the bracelet. It pulled at the fabric of my outfit and I heard a quick, SNAP! BOOM! The explosion was loud, and I felt my leg shred under the explosion. My scream was deafening as I clenched my leg rolling on the floor. I swore so loud I felt my lungs were going to explode.
I heard more moaning as I saw to my horror more of the undead making their way towards the hole. The pain was excruciating as I dragged myself away. I pulled my leg away from the undead corpse that had collapsed over it. The blast must have been mostly absorbed by the undead man. I pulled myself away as I saw three figures scrambling through the hole. I reached into my prison uniform to find my pistol. Struggling with pulling it out, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to gather it from around my back. I tried to ignore the blood soaking my pant leg as I felt something else in my jumpsuit. I pulled out the bottle filled with gasoline and covered the hole drenching it until it sprayed air.
Throwing the bottle, I pulled out the small box of strike anywhere matches from my pocket. I fumbled with it and to my horror the matches scattered in the air falling to the ground. I watched as one of the undead began licking the blood from the floor. Another was clamoring over that one, and the last one was trying to grasp my other leg. My hand grabbed at the matches trying desperately to find one, which seemed impossible. All I needed was one. Their dead faces made my hands shake as it was like finding a needle in a haystack. I kicked at an advancing undead as I felt the adrenaline pumping through my body. I found a match and gave a loud, “A HA!” I showed the undead man as it reached for me. Striking the match, it burst into flames just as one of them was halfway through the hole. “Fuck you,” I yelled and then threw the match. The hole turned into a fireball as I heard the undead moan again. The undead pulled themselves back unhurt or seemingly unaware that they were burning alive. I laid my head onto the floor, “thank god!” I gripped my leg and pulled back the pant leg. I grimaced at the sight seeing to my horror that my leg had indeed been shredded like ground beef. I gritted my teeth and lowered the pant leg. I couldn’t stay here forever. I knew that eventually the fire would die and the undead would again make their way through the hole.
I began to crawl, crawl towards anything. I had to get away. I had to find a safe place, and I had no idea who was still alive. “Help,” I yelled as I continued to crawl towards the desk. I pushed some of the toys to the side as I crawled faster using my one good arm. I saw a trail of blood following me. I reached the leg of the large desk and pulled myself up as fast as I could. “Fuck,” I screamed as the pain rushed through my entire body. I looked up to see to my upmost horror an undead running towards me. It moaned wildly as it crashed into my body sending me flying backwards. I felt my dead leg give out as we were thrown backwards. We crashed through the window that previously brought me so much solace. The glass shattered, and the undead fell from me. I watched it disappear as I crashed through a tree. Branches caught me, and I smacked against everyone until SLAM! My back had hit something metal, and the light had gone out in my head.
I was back in prison. The noise was loud as the inmates all seemed to shout at once. I entered the room to find a DMI member that we called Spine Shank. “What’s up Dawg,” I said as I entered the cell. Spine Shank barked at me and slapped my hand greeting me. “What seems to be the problem?” Spine Shank was a man much older than me but still positioned under my rank. He pointed to the other man in the cell. Shaved head and gray eyes he glared at me nervously as Spine Shank said, “he claims to be a DMI member from the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center. The only problem is ain’t nobody heard of him back there.” I nodded not even acknowledging the intruder, “you contacted John Shank?” Spine Shank nodded, “sure did, I told him to double check, but he was sure.”
I nodded with a certain smugness as I rubbed my chin in thought. I made my way to him and extended my hand, “flesh of my flesh.” He shook my hand and brought me into a small shoulder bump, “ain’t shit changed dawg!” I nodded and simply but firmly said, “spit the whisper!” The man looked at me and then at Spine Shank, who handed me a shank made from a thin bed spring. I saw the man twitch, “I pledge…I pledge my allegiance to this unit…for…for life to assist my brother in st…strife and if I should fail, then I should fail, fa…fall under the knife…” That was all that it took, the first word he messed up at. I rushed towards him and immediately began to stab him in the stomach. I repeatedly stabbed him over and over as his body slammed against the wall. I felt warm blood pouring over my hand as he tried fighting me off. I kept repeatedly stabbing until he ceased to move. All of the intruder’s blood spilled, all of it over our creed, our code that every DMI member lived by all of it over a whisper.
Reality seemed to set back in. I heard bird’s chirping, and a gray sky was above me blocked by broken branches. A pain shot up leg and down my broken arm. I gave a little moan. It took me several minutes to remember where I was. I thought for a second that I had blacked out in the yard. A soft moaning could be heard close by, but I remembered everything that had happened to me. The hunt, the creature, the booby traps, the undead, and realized this was not prison anymore. I flicked my eyes a couple times and pain seemed to wrap my body like a blanket. How did I get down here? I rubbed my head as I felt like I had been drinking heavily last night. A feeling of nausea was pitted deep within my stomach. I tried to get up but slipped and fell again. I turned my head to see to my horror an undead. It was on its back with its arms waving wildly in the air. Something was protruding through its chest. It seemed that it was the corner of an old a/c unit. It seemed to have blown out its entire middle section. The undead was snarling at the sky desperate to remove itself.
I began to raise myself up but couldn’t with my leg now completely useless. I gazed at my surroundings and realized I had fallen into a hospital trash pile. There were mattresses, machines, sheets, trash, and other equipment. I tried to turn over but paused when I realized what I had landed on, an old school bus. I dragged myself to the edge of the bus continually scanning the area. I found something to make my escape a bit easier. A crutch lay sticking out between an old dirt pile and moldy sheets. This would help me make my escape to a safe location. Hopefully it would help me find a place to treat my wounds and get the last bracelet off of my leg. It took me a lifetime to make my way down the bus. I finally made it to the crutch when the sun had broken through the gray clouds. Undamaged but barely holding together the crutch provided me with the stability I would need to become mobile.
I pulled myself up and pulled out my pistol from behind my outfit. My back was bruised from where I had landed on it. Thankfully my bulletproof vest kept my back from breaking. I pulled out the magazine and realized that I only had 12 shots left. The rest of my magazines must have fallen out during my fall. I had no time to go searching for them. I pointed the pistol at the undead’s head as it reached for me snarling ferociously. My finger inched towards the trigger until a strange noise caught my ear. It wasn’t the snarling of the undead or its eerie moaning. It was something else, something different. I lowered the pistol and listened intently. My forehead furrowed in confusion as I moved towards the sound. It seemed to be coming from around the hospital. I moved softly trying to identify the sound. However my eyes could not be prepared for the horror that I had stumbled upon.
Over a dozen undead were kneeling on the ground and all partaking of a new meal. What the meal was or used to be was unidentifiable. I saw an undead in a muddy lab coat tearing into a large furry arm. I saw other bits and pieces of fur scattered between the undead figures. My mouth opened wide as I realized what they were feasting on. “The creature,” I muttered. The undead paid no attention to me or seemed to notice me at all. I backed away around the corner stunned by the image. I even passed by the trapped undead still reaching for me. It snarled loudly as it didn’t take me long to pass by it. I hardly even paid attention to it as I began trekking away from the hospital. To where, I had no idea. My mind just continued to wrap around the picture I had seen. The creature, the creature that I had battled for two whole days was dead. What did that mean though? Was the creature really dead? Was anybody from the group still alive?
The sun began to appear over the large hill that I decided to walk around. I could see the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in the distance. I moved through the grass and into a little junkyard. Random items were scattered below me as the crutch seemed to creak under my weight. My leg and arm had grown numb. I needed something to help with treating them. I paused and turned back to the hospital. Do I risk it? Do I dare take a chance and head back? I stared down at my pistol, “twelve shots.” That’s all I had twelve shots, would that be enough?
The sun rose over the hill and the rays seemed to break the gray. I turned towards it and saw to my astonishment a figure standing at the top. I felt my mouth drop open in shock. I wasn’t alone after all. One of the group members had actually made it. I couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief. I raised my arm trying to wave at the figure, but I froze midway. There was something odd about it. The way the sun blackened the figure and made his features almost distorted. I lowered my hand and stared at it. I watched in horror as more figures appeared on top of the hill. I even tried to lie to myself and think that all the members of the group had made it. However, when they continued to pop up like gophers out of their holes. I knew that I was only lying to myself. I had to make an escape.
I felt the crutch wobble underneath me as I moved as fast as I could. I turned and saw to my horror that the figures were coming after me. They moved as fast as they could too. Some waved their arms and moved forward like moving through deep water. They were chasing me, and I had nowhere to go. The direction that I was heading was away from the city. “I gotta get back,” I began to turn my body towards the city when I realized my mistake. More of the undead were chasing me, and they were gaining on me too. I saw the skin missing from their faces, and their empty eye sockets. They were yards from me. Soon they would be descending upon me like ravenous dogs. I stopped and raised my gun high, POW...POW…POW ! I had never been a really good shot, but I managed to drop the closet one. Its head popped like a pimple. I kept moving as the undead drew closer towards me. They were advancing at an incredible speed. I didn’t have enough time to count them. It seemed like it was about twenty more. This brought the total number of undead chasing me up to around forty. I had no idea where I was going, but time was growing rapidly short. I stopped and glanced around at my surroundings. A small forest lay to the right of me, a small pile of trash to the left of me, and a small shack in front.
I turned back and saw to my surprise that the undead were mere feet from me. Raising my gun I fired at the closest one, “fuck,” I yelled. It dropped to its knees and then fell over. I moved towards the shed as quickly as I could. It was rusty and provided nothing more then a shelter from the elements. Maybe I should move on and try my luck somewhere else? I heard a snarl behind me and an undead was about to tackle me. I reached my gun up and blew the back of its head away. “Fuck,” I yelled again and opened the door shutting it behind me just as three undead were about to hug me. I heard their bodies slam against the aluminum door. With no lock on it, I kept it shut with my other leg as I collapsed on the floor. I screamed in pain as I tore open the skin to my wounded leg.
I gripped it with my hand as I felt the blood rushing over it. Gritting my teeth I watched the door bulge from the amount of bodies pressing against it. The aluminum walls began to rock. It was only a matter of time before they came down. I glanced around the shed to see what items my prison contained. I saw that it had nothing but junk in it. An old fashioned lawn mower, hedge trimmers, piles of dead leaves, four metal gas cans, three rusty propane tanks, and other lawn equipment. “Damn it,” I realized that I had ended up in a sort of makeshift garden shed. I saw dead fingers beginning to poke around the door. They were trying to pull the door off the hinges. Although they possessed no strength to do so. The rusty metal began to crumble to the ground. I bit my lip and knew that the time had come, “You’re not going to take me though!” I frantically gazed around the shed again. My eyes fell upon the propane tanks and gas cans. I reached over and grabbed a tank. “Damn it,” I tossed the empty one and grabbed another one, which was only a quarter filled. I pointed the pistol point black at the tank. I looked up and saw a dead eye staring through the growing hole in the door. “It ends like this fucker,” I pulled the trigger and saw the hammer click down…BOOM!
(The Getaway)
A bellow of a horn marked the arrival of the large luxury liner, The Getaway. People were clamoring on deck waiting for the ship to come to a stop. Several seagulls squawked in the sunlight as the trip had come to an end. Men began to shake hands as a large man began to walk down the gallows. “Well, I guess I’ll see you next year Lord Otto,” giggling slightly Lord Otto extended his hand, “guess you will Ivan. Where is everybody else?” “What a wonderful day my friends! The great country of Italy is blessed with the presence of Ron Reid for a week!” “Oh you’re staying Ron,” Ron nodded at Ivan, “yes my friend! I know of a lovely restaurant in town and am asking for all the sponsors to get together for a fi nal drink, will you come?” Lord Otto and Ivan looked at each other disgust clear in their faces. “My friends, my friends, you will have the distinct pleasure of having a fabulous lunch with Ron Reid! I dare say many men would kill for that privilege.” Ivan mumbled, “I can’t say I know anybody.” Ron laughed as he put his arms around Ivan and Lord Otto, “Please my friends, the others are meeting us there come with me! I’ll see to the limos personally.” Ron began to drag the two away from the ship. They both followed in disbelief at Ron’s boldness, “I can’t wait until next year my friends…until next year!”
The End?