"Metro 2033 - Voices of the survivors" a post apocalyptic Anthology

The Exodus

(written by Astjate)

Chapter I - Open door

The clawing and scratching had gone on for days. Sometimes near the bulkhead and sometimes along the walls, moving about. They were looking for a way in. A scruffy, grease-covered man sat, working over the top of a wooden bench.

"Come on, come on," he said, voice scratchy with disuse. "Just a little longer," his lips were chapped as he uttered a quiet prayer. He glanced over at the bulkhead, the scratching had grown louder over the past few days he had been trapped within the service room. He went back to work on the nozzle in his shaky hands. He was twisting on a fresh nozzle orifice attached to some steel tubes coiled around a steel pipe that had been attached to a tank.

"Please work, please work," he said as he twisted the steel valve. A soft hissing could be heard in the gloomy, dank space. He raised a lighter up, struck the wheel and the end of the nozzle ignited into a blue cone of flame at the end of the pipe.

"YES!" He shouted, voice echoing amongst the sounds of dripping water and scratching. Like an answering chorus, shrieking and growling came through the walls and door. The man twisted the valve shut, cutting off the flame and casting gloom back into the chamber.

The turned toward the blanket-covered body resting in the corner of the cot. "I'm sorry Paul," the man said. "I'll tell Claudia. I'll make sure she's okay. Thanks for everything," his voice hitched. He then turned, grabbed his heavy pack and hoisted the rickety flame-thrower onto his back.

The growling and scratching stopped as soon as he began turning the locking wheel. His hands shook and his face was pale in the light cast off from the nozzle.

"Come on you sonofabitches," he shouted. "I'm not dying down here," he said as he swung the nozzle in front of him and pushed the door open.

They surged toward him in silence only the sounds of their claws tapping on the steel grating. The were large, hairless, muscular and quadrupedal. They lacked eyes, but had a large nose with tendrils that waved in the air. He pulled the trigger and a gout of bright flame leapt out, searing a few of the beasts. He turned and sent another burst of flame toward another group. He could smell their burning skin as they shrieked, turned and ran off, a few of them still aflame.

The man turned toward the opposite direction and broke into a job in the gloomy subway tunnel. He was headed home, to New Seattle. The trick would be getting there in one piece.

to be continued...