I heard you

Chapter One

Lotticia

When the wars devastated the world, I wasn't even around. But I got a pretty good picture from the state of the small cities. everything was destroyed. I often visited libraries- public ones and read books whenever I could. I made a collection of my own, and after reading books on world history- on technology and engineering- I understood just how catastrophic this war had been. Though the cause of it- what triggered it- no one knew. I didn't know either. My father said my mother died while giving birth to me- so it was only me and him for the longest time. Until he too died and left me behind. food was scarce already- my mother was emaciated, and that was what killed her. I was born smaller than I should have been, I don't know if it was the hardships- the starvation, or the toxins that left me deaf. father had to live on the outskirts of town to take care of me- having a wailing baby that couldn't hear? It was a beacon for skrills in the vicinity.

18 years have passed since my mother died giving birth to me- 5 years passed since father joined her. I had learned sign language from my father- after he'd borrowed books from the library to learn himself. I picked it up quickly, not being able to hear in this world- well it left room for paranoia. Being deaf didn't mean I couldn't hear sound at all. In fact- for deaf people- if you clapped hard enough, or shouted loud enough- we could feel the vibrations. like a constant buzzing.

but when there was no noise- it would be silent. even on the radios, I could hear the sharp frequencies. I was heading for haven- the refugee camp. People say it was an oasis- a paradise that even took in the unfortunate.

people like me. I adjusted the strap on my back before I clambered up the fence. The fields up until now were stark naked- nothing beyond the eye can see. not a single animal in site- nor people. I heaved myself over, and stumbled to the ground.

Just like the radios- I could also hear the frequency skrills screeched on. the clicking noise they made- I heard it clearly, though I learned no one else could hear that ultrasonic clicking noise they made to alert other skrills to prey. the same clicking noise I picked up, and my dark eyes swiped across the field but saw no sign of skrills. Not yet at least.

Skrills didn't travel this far outside the cities, I thought with a frown. The furry sensation of Lassie, My border collie slipping through the fence made me glance down at her brown furry face that met my gaze.

I placed a finger to my lips and made a circular motion. Meaning for now- we both needed to be quiet. I had found Lassie when she was a small puppy, I raised her, and trained her with sign language. she was a quiet dog and seemed to understand I couldn't hear.

I patted my hip, and she latched to my thigh, looking around- her white ears perked.

I adjusted my grip on my club, and we began our trek down the grassy field.

I continued to hear the clicking noise, but still not a single black figure in sight.

I finally made it to the top of the hill, thinning my lips at the slope before us. At the very end- was a barn- or what was left of the barn. it had been burned to the ground- and before it at the foot of the hill was a sea of skrills. either rotting into the ground, or making those same clicking noises while mutilated on the ground. I had never seen so many skrills in a single place. Lassie beside me started to shift- alarmed just as much as me. Placing a soothing hand on her back, I started down the hillside. we weaved and stepped over limbs, and dismembered body parts, my boots picking up sticky bowels and fluids as we went. I kept a hand on Lassie's handle, not wanting her to sniff or lick any of the infected bodies. I knew she was hungry- it's been two days since we both had a decent meal. We left the field of skrils behind us- and crossed the dirt path towards the blackened crushed barn. I slipped through the crisp black doors, seeing that the roof had collapsed and crushed a lot of supplies. I dug around- hoping there would be food, any kind of food.