I Have Been Chosen

Cody 24

Tuesday 3rd March

Cody had fallen in and out of consciousness. When he found himself awake, however, he could not move nor speak, unable to stop himself from joining in on the repeating chant. He was somewhat conscious when another person joined, at first trying to talk to everyone before panicking and screaming and attempting to run, only to join the end of the queue. Cody would sometimes wake and find that he had gotten closer to the monster, still quite a distance, but for how long until he was the one at the front?

"I have been chosen."

Another person was devoured.

"And I am going home."

Another step forward.

And so on.

And so on.

And so on.

How long had he been here? Surely he would have woken up by now? Woken up from this nightmare, and yet it was still going on. Maybe it would finally end when he reached the front? That would be the end of something for certain. And Cody was beginning to look forward to it, to want it over with, but he couldn't even do that, to demand he was next, to skip the queue. He had to wait for his turn; it was only polite. But it would eventually be him because he had been chosen and he was going home.

Yes, home...

"Cody?"

Please, take me home.

"Cody?"

I just want to go home.

"Cody?"

Please just choose me next.

Cody felt something on his wrist, it was the meagrest of touches, and yet he regained some semblance of consciousness from hearing that voice, the voice...

The voice was gone now.

No, he must have imagined it.

It couldn't be...

"Oliver?" Cody mumbled, barely able to open his lips.

There was a pause.

And then an answer, "Cody?"

"Is it really you?" Cody's voice cracked.

"Yes, it's me," Oliver's voice replied, barely audible.

Cody swallowed as his eyes began to water up. "I think I've gone crazy."

"If you've gone crazy, then I must have gone crazy too."

"Oliver?" Cody was about to turn, but Oliver stopped him.

"Don't turn now," Oliver hissed. "Wait until that thing is distracted. Keep facing forward."

"Right..." Cody watched the monster far away, however his vision began to go blurry again, his mind trying to go back to sleep as he mumbled along to a few of the words in the chant. He clutched onto Oliver's hand, but even that wasn't helping combat the lethargy attempting to overtake his body. "I'm... I'm losing it again," he managed to say with gritted teeth through lips that refused to open. "Can you please keep talking? I think that helped."

"Yes, yes, of course."

And just like that, from hearing Oliver's voice, Cody regained some clarity and control over his body. "How have you not lost your mind? How did you get behind me? Someone else was there, I swear."

"I almost did," Oliver whispered back. "But then I saw you in the distance, and well... I guess if you recognise someone, you break out of it, at least momentarily, if you concentrate on them."