Silver Lights

Chapter 1: Marcus

Hunger claws at my insides as I make my way outside. I step down from the abandoned cruise ship, it's once beautiful red and gold chrome paint peeling way like dead skin. The sun shone brightly in the California sky. My pale skin showing how long I had stayed hid away. I turned to see a reflection of someone in the hull of the ship. This guy didn't seem like me. This guy had lifeless green eyes, scruffy black hair, and medium sized patches of rotting flesh scattered across his body. Long fingernails grew on his hands. His grey Imagine Dragons T-shirt is torn, his blue jeans had holes, and the sneakers on his feet were caked with mud, dirt, and grime. His face looks like, in life, he was a handsome guy. High cheekbones, strong jawline, dimples. It doesn't seem like this dead corpse could be me. But, the reflection moves when I do. I ran my dirty fingers through my ruffled hair. "Wow." Even my voice had was different. It was rough and gravely from underuse. I cleared my throat and gave the reflection a short grin. "Marcus?" I turn to the sound of a voice. It's source was a small teenage girl. She looked quite a bit like me, but her hair was a light brown and long, her dead eyes were dark, and she wore a short, dirty, blue dress. I smiled. The dress wasn't practical, but it was probably all she could find. With all the abandoned fashion shops, thrift stores, and malls, you take what you can. Her patches were smaller than mine, meaning she was Changed later than I was. That's kind of how you tell the 'age' of someone. I still don't have a grip on how I was Changed. Or any memory of my life before. All I remember is waking up in the middle of Death Valley like this, with nothing but a name burning in my mind: Marcus. Whether it was my name before or not, it is now. "Hey Les. Nice dress." My throat seems better than it did before. More smooth. Les smiles back at me. "Yeah. I figured if I'm going out, I should do it in style. At least the last thing some human sees will be gorgeous!" At this I laugh. Les was very pretty, especially for a Carvor. However, I don't think she would be that appealing to a human. I had never been interested in her, we had always been close friends. I take a look up at the sun. It's just past dawn, the perfect time to hunt. "Are we meeting Jay and Scott here or on the way?" Les frowned and replied, "They said they'd meet us at the place. It's supposed to be a human hotspot." Doubt is on her face, clear as day. I nod. Les never really trusted Jay and Scott, but because of them, we're both still alive. They helped us when we were in tight jams before. We start heading to the place where we were supposed to meet the guys. We made small talk along the way, chatting about who just got Changed, who was killed, where the next attack would be. I know none of the people Les mentions but they seem important to her so I try to listen. However, my mind keeps wandering. The war between humans and Carvors started years ago, shortly after we were created. The humans tried everything they could to stop us; bombs, tanks, whole armies, even more diseases. However, most of them failed. Carvors have only one weakness; a good shot to the head. Because our bodies are kind of already dead, no other method could take us down. And to find this out, the humans have turned their precious home to ruins. The landscape is charred and destroyed. Buildings and cities blown to pieces because of conflict. The path we walk is littered with fallen trees, fragments of glass, and large metal poles. We keep our pace until we see the wall in the distance. My muscles tense as we walk past. That wall is a death trap in itself. Anyone who walks by it will be shot, no matter the reason. On top are human guards, armed with heavy duty machine guns, posted there day and night. On the inside is supposed to be a large city where the last of the world's population lives. The wall's purpose is to keep Carvors out and people in. However, some of the latter find ways out. I put a hand on Les's rotting shoulder and continued walking. As we pass, Les steps on a twig and the snap is heard in all directions. It echoes in the barren land. I catch the eye of one of the guards. He was younger, a short beard starting to grow. His green gaze locked into my own. We stare at each other for a moment. Les and I froze in place. I felt her shiver and, without moving, she looked up at me, terror in her eyes. I squeezed her shoulder and kept my gaze on the guard. He narrowed his eyes and, suddenly, shot a single bullet toward us. It sang as it flew across the broken landscape. However, it fell before it got to close. Les held her breath and I watched it stop close by, sinking into the dirt. It was most likely a warning shot. Les kept her eyes on me. I glared at the guard and continued walking. We stayed silent until the wall was out of sight. Right then, when it was only a dot in the empty landscape, Les said softly, "Oh. My. Gosh. We could have died!" That last part she didn't say softly. I finally breathed a sigh of relief. "It's okay. We're alive. That's what matters." Les nodded. We looked at each other and we burst out in laughter. The kind of laughter you get when you are extremely relieved. After a while, we managed to calm down. For the rest of the trip, we stayed quiet, looking out for any stray twigs. About an hour later, we spot two more Carvors sitting by a large pile of old tires, most likely left by some human. One had long black hair that covered his face, large patches all along his body, his skin dark, and was skinny. He was wearing a black leather jacket, skinny jeans, and black high heeled boots. The other was blonde with short hair, deep blue eyes, had pale skin, and a strong chin. His patches were about the same size as mine and he wore a yellow football jersey, shorts, and sandals. The pale Carvor noticed us, waved, and yelled, "Hey! You finally made it!" I smiled and waved in return. Les frowned. We ran over and stopped at the pile. "Good to see you Scott." I high five the guy who waved to us. I turn to the Carvor who had yet to speak. "Jay." The dark Carvor nods in acknowledgement. Scott turns to Les and gives her a smile. "And it's good to see you too, Leslie." Les narrows her eyes. Her real name is Leslie, but she hates it.  So she goes by Les. Only few people knew that and Scott and I are a couple of them. "So, where's this hotspot you two have been bragging about?" Jay smirked. "It's a short walk. Not to far from here. You in a hurry, pretty boy?" His voice was confident and deep. I frown. "I haven't eaten anything in five days, so yes." With our incredible strength, Carvors can go longer than humans can without food. However, it isn't by much. Jay was unmoved, his smile still spread across his face. Scott rolled his eyes while Les gave me a small smile. Jay slides down, smooth as a snake, from the pile of tires he was sitting on. "Come on. Shouldn't be wasting daylight," he says and starts to walk off. Les jogs to catch up, leaving Scott and I in the rear. Scott and I have known each other longer than my other friends. He and I were Changed at about the same time. He helped me find the abandoned cruise ship I live in now. The journey wasn't long, maybe ten minutes. Scott and I were chatting when we bumped into Jay and Les. "Yeah, just stop anytime, why don't you?" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. Jay shot me a glance and whispered, "Get down." We obeyed and followed Jay to a large pile of trash. Right by this disgusting pile, however, was a section of the wall. I gasped. I had never been this close to the wall before. It was solid steel, large bolts every so often on the way up. The only reason none of us were on the ground dead was because there was no guards in this section. However, there were two in other places, one on each side of us, that were to far away to notice. "They think they have this place under surveillance," Jay said with a grin. Les and I looked closer at the wall from our spot. There was a small hole, large enough for a person to crawl in or out. Les turns towards the guys. "So your plan is to crawl in and take the humans down from the inside?" Scott shook his head. "What do you think we are, idiots? No. Our plan is for the humans to come to us." This had me intrigued. "How so?" "We've watched this thing for months and every so often, some humans decide to take a risk and slip out," Jay replied. "Go on a little adventure." "So, we just wait?" Les asked. Scott nodded. Les and I glanced at each other. We were both thinking the same thing, "It's either this or starve." We settled down, ready for the long wait to come.