The Invaders

Chapter Five

She knew the dangers of the outside but people are dying every minute including her mother if she didn't try to find a cure. She didn't even want to think about what would happen to her dear mother.

The sky was gray, the pale sun sank beneath the horizon. Arriving at the top of a hill she could see the city was covered with smoke creating a veil that looked like pure destruction underneath, shuddering at the sight she walked down the hill walking into what could be her grave.

She stumbled upon a market, it roared with rage like it was awake from its peaceful slumber. The shops were stuffed but no vendors, which was weird. Shops of all different species stood on either side of the street obediently. None of them had doors. Large tattered wagons decorated with a collage of vegetables were parked beside the street but no owners stood beside them screaming prices like auctioneers, but instead of a fly catcher ,  a carrot was pointlessly dancing around the vegetables to wade away files. Helen's mouth watered at the fresh vegetables before her eyes. It was like she had won the lottery. She looked to her left then her right. All she saw was a calm breeze swept over the market and the crumpled papers lying around swept along the street. She took a deep breath then went to  one of the stall, upon picking up an apple she heard the sound of paper crunching under pressure. Spinning around she almost had a whiplash. She saw a crunched-over shadow at the far end of the road. Squinting her eye to get a better view of the shadow, a harshed wind blew around her causing the dust to create a small whirlwind. Coughing and covering her eyes she slowly opened her eyes and let out a piercing scream when she saw a humped elderly woman fumbling through the scores of bags she carried and trying to tick on a list with a pen clenched between her teeth. Her skin was paled and appeared cold like she had not one ounce of blood coursing through her veins. Helen tried to get her attention but it was like the woman was in a trance. The closer Helen got to the woman a pungent odor filled her nostrils. It's an overwhelming scent it seemed to have mixed with a whiff of stale tobacco that shriveled her taste buds. Glancing in the woman's bag Helen gasped and stepped back, inside her bag was what looked like a pile of rubbish resembling rotting animal carcasses onto which thousands of flies were drawn, like a beacon of light. Helen's mind was turning over like a book page, she had so many questions like where were the robots, where were the humans that got left behind, and what was that walking carcass of a woman? 

She had lost her appetite by now. She stood there looking around the place and was isolated. It was just the two of them but that was what Helen thought. Someone stares on from the shadows.