They Called It The Apocalpse

Chapter 1

Stagnant water ran down the cinder block walls, pooling in the corners of the room. The place had an overall stink, a repulsive sulphuric smell that leaked from the walls and polluted the air. A bright white light hummed on the ceiling, swinging back and forth from the tremors of the earth below. More water dripped from a leaking tap in the grubby kitchen unit that had been shoddily installed.

Footsteps echoed throughout the drab room as a girl appeared around the corner of the kitchen unit. She held a brown satchel bag in one hand, filling it with necessary survival equipment with the other such as knives, non-perishables, fresh water. Her soft grey eyes searching for something else, she opened a drawer, ferreting around inside through the pile of junk. She furrowed her eyebrows, frowning as she tried to recall where she had put it, then crossed to the bed opposite the kitchen. She bent down and lifted the grey covers, digging underneath the bed, pushing through stuff to get to the one thing she wanted. A flurry of knotted, dirty hair fell forwards over her face and she brushed it back with slender, callous fingers. Her tongue poked between her lips as she concentrated, sifting through the junk, pushing aside scruffy teddy bears and broken toy trucks.  She found it at last, pulling a usb stick from beneath the bed. She held it for a second then brought it up to her lips, kissing it gently before tucking it into the satchel bag and securing the flap with a buckle. She stared round at her tiny apartment, at the grimy kitchen, the frayed bed covers and the exposed toilet in one corner. She felt a small pang of nostalgia, a feeling of loss as her eyes settled over the surroundings she'd been trapped with for the last few years. She ran a hand over the dusty kitchen surface with a certain care then patted it fondly and headed out of the door, slinging the satchel across her shoulders.

The wind blew through her hair as she stood on the doorstep of what she regarded as a holding cell. Strands of dirty blonde hair streaked across her face as her piercing eyes shot across the landscape. Fallen trees lay strewn across the rocky floor, pieces of jagged pavement had broken free and protruded upwards from the earth. Earthquakes of magnitude 8 had rocked the earth for a decade, ravaging civilian landscapes and polluting the earth. The leftover terrain was hard to traverse and filled with dangers. She bent down and adjusted the sock in her tatty boots, pulling it further up her ankle and feeling her toes slip through the holes that had tugged through the end.

She then moved onto her trousers, ensuring the rolls of fabric were secured tightly with a buckle. She clipped up the first then moved onto the second, folding the fabric with care and reaching for the second buckle when something hit her in the back with force, throwing her forwards against the concrete and clambering on top of her. She gritted her teeth and pushed back against the ground, writhing underneath the mass of weight pinning her down. A sharp pain spread across her shoulder as she propelled herself back up to her knees and reached back to grab the fabric shirt of her assailant. She yanked it forwards, pulling them from her back and kicking to her feet. Her breath hitched in and out as she gasped for air, staring down at the twisted grin on the face of the person squirming around on the ground before her. Their veins were brightly coloured, and neon yellow and protruding from underneath the skin. Blood dripped from their mouth as they sneered at her with broken teeth, clumps of hair hung in straggles across their scalp and their clothes were torn and dirty.

"Dammit!" She cried, staring back at the blood soaking through the shoulder of her shirt, she held it tightly with one hand and reached into her satchel with the other, producing a piece of gauze which she pushed down her shirt to cover the wound. "Fucking joyous!" She kicked at the floor beside it then set off in the other direction.

She braced herself against a larger chunk of the ground and volted over it, landing gracefully on a smoother bit of path on the other side. Her feet clicked quietly as she walked, taking in the broken world around her. It wasn't anything like she remembered, the once tall trees lay flat on their sides, some smoking from fire, others rotting away to hollow shells. The last time she'd been outside it had been better, significantly so. She remembered trees standing up in the sunlight, birds singing in the branches, leaves that seemed to stretch up towards the clouds. She felt a pang of regret, the world had been better once, a long time ago when humans didn't pollute the earth, but decades of smog and exhaust fumes caused a shift in the peace.

She found a patch of grass, some of it was shrivelled and brown but the majority was still a luscious green. She felt the urge to touch it, stretching out her palm to brush amongst the rough blades. She clutched them carefully, letting the dewey moisture coat her skin. A small smile tugged at her lips but it was a sad and disappointed smile. She was 21 and she barely remembered the feel of grass before this moment. A shriek echoed in the distance and she looked up sharply, scanning the distant horizon for any signs of life. Seeing nothing, but deciding to stay cautious, she stood and moved on, passing the patch of grass and heading up the centre of the cracked road.

She wandered along the white line, tightrope walking with one foot in front of the other. She walked the line all the way up to the entrance of the ginormous abandoned parking lot. Reaching the gate that stood guard, she took a second to psych herself up then braced her hands and leapt the gate, landing harshly on her ankles. She winced at the discomfort then brushed her hands together to rid them of the dirt from the gate. She set off across the empty parking spaces and lines of thin decommissioned lamp posts, weaving between them playfully as she made her way to the glass front doors. She stood outside, looking in through the dusty windows, squinting to get a better look. She pulled her head back, then rubbed the grime from the glass with her sleeve and repositioned her face to peer through into what lay beyond. From what she could see the rows of groceries still stood inside in neat lines and organised sections, however there were items scattered across the store floor and as she scanned the area she saw bloody footprints leading away from the door and into the isles.

"Ok then," she swallowed hard and dug around in her satchel, pulling out a thick flashlight and twisting it on, it flickered several times then burst into a bright spotlight, "Guess I'm going in." She leaned back and braced one of the thick soles of her boot against the glass then twisted her head behind her and closed her eyes, kicking her foot against it hard so that she broke the glass and the whole door shattered. She turned back to look inside, titling her torch up to cast a light over the isles, shadows lurked in the corners of the spotlight and she breathed out slowly. "Calm, you can do this, we just need groceries and then-" a loud bang followed by a rattle echoed out from the back of the store. "It's fine Cassie, you're fine, just avoid the joyous, no big deal." And with that she pushed forwards into the dark.

She perused the isles, picking up jars of medication to see what they were, before either putting them back or tucking them into her bag. She collected some extra gauze for her shoulder and a collection of anti-septic cream. In the collection of goods she found several packets of paracetamol, a few expired ibuprofen and a variety of other ointments. Once she had finished in the pharmacy, she headed further into the store to find whatever groceries hadn't yet expired. As she moved out of the pharmacy and into the enclosed isles she felt a sudden sense of dread overwhelm her. She froze amongst the crossroad of multiple isles and listened, something was crunching rhythmically. It cracked off of the walls and she turned slowly to find that the source of said noise was right down the aisle beside her. A woman stood over one of the freezers, her hair dangling down over her face. Her whole body was hunched over the freezer, like a cat about to pounce on prey only she wasn't waiting for the kill. She was feasting, gorging herself on the pile of rotten meat in the freezer and the crunching was her teeth as she tried to chew through the bones. She turned her head to show her bloody mouth, most of her teeth had been reduced to sharp stubs and she had a crazed smile.

She spotted Cassie and broke into a jagged sprint, lunging forwards down the isle as her eyes grew wide and she set off herself. The joyous gave chase, crashing through the shelves after her, she ran in a panic, throwing herself forwards with each step. She made it to the end of the isles of groceries only to discover she had been running in the wrong direction for the entrance. Back here food littered the floor, a tree had come through the back of the store and shattered glass lay broken down the final isle. She pushed forwards anyway, intending to do a quick dive and escape but her foot caught on a spilled can of corn and she slipped, hitting the floor hard.

The joyous growled behind her, reaching its taloned fingers for its next live meal. Cassie spun round, crawling backwards until her back hit the wall, she looked the woman in her yellow veined eyes that jittered crazily. She approached, standing over Cassie who drew her head to the side and held her breath. She closed her eyes, determined not to see the unhinged face of her killer anymore, when a gunshot sounded and suddenly, she didn't feel the presence of the joyous standing over her. Opening her eyes she discovered the body of the once cashier lying just feet away, splayed out on the floor with an exit wound in the side of her head, parts of her yellowed brain sprayed sideways across the tile floor. She looked up into the isle opposite the one with broken glass and discovered a figure.