Shattered Horizon

01 Liam

8 years laters, 2029

"Hey, Liam! Wake up!" My grandpa knocks on my door, reminding me that there are chores to be done. I groan and throw a pillow at the door, telling him to wait a second. Today is my 16th birthday, but instead of celebrating, I'm stuck doing chores. As I put on my sister's locket, a gift from her, I head out of my room.
Suddenly, there's a loud noise outside and my grandpa returns to the house. He teases me for finally getting out of bed and wishes me a happy birthday while handing me a small gift. After setting aside my present and giving him a hug, I ask what's happening outside. He informs me that there are more and more Vrykolakas appearing every day.
We both sit down as he tells me that today I need to work on improving my reading skills by hitting at least 1000 words and practicing consistent counting. You see, I struggle with dyslexia, which affects my ability to read and mix up numbers. It's nothing to worry about, according to grandpa, but it will take time for me to do math and reading correctly.
Before leaving for town to get supplies, grandpa reminds me of the rules we've established over the years for our safety in this decaying city. He emphasizes that if we see someone coming towards us or spot a Vrykolakas, we should run inside, lock the doors, and grab the gun. We also need to make sure we're indoors before it gets dark and board up the windows. Oh yeah, no going near the lake either. It may sound repetitive, but these rules could save your life.
I head back to my room and plop down on my bed. It's my birthday! I reckon I should just chill out and take a nap. At least I'll be able to finish up before he comes back.
Couple of hours pass by, I get up in a cold sweat and I look out the window. It was night time. How did I sleep that long! I quickly swear and scramble to switch off the lights before hastily boarding up the windows. I don't think anyone noticed the lights or the smoke coming from the chimney. According to my grandfather, this is the time when things start to hunt. It could be the dead or someone trying to survive and That's why we have to secure and barricade everything.
A few hours go by. I hear howling outside, but it could just be animals. The Vrys can change their voices to trick their prey; they quickly adapted when the zombie virus mutated and the dead got smarter, so I'm a bit on edge. I hold the gun tightly because I hate it when my grandfather leaves me alone like this. I stay up most of the night listening to the wind and the howlers of the Vrys.
A couple of weeks go by and grandfather is still not back but it has been pretty normal, no rain or clouds very hot though. I take a seat outside and open my sketch book because I see a deer and her baby eating grass and hanging out like there is no worry in the world. Drawing always came natural to me. My great aunt who lived with us when the outbreak happened taught me how to draw before a Vry got her one day when my pap was out getting supplies, she told me to go inside and I remember hearing the gun shot. I didn't open the door until my grandfather came back home, he asked me where my great aunt was and I told him he told me to stay put and he left. I never saw her again. Anyways it's been hard ever since.
It's been an hour or two and I get up from sitting outside, I go inside and lock the door, and I'll lock the other million a little later. I went into the kitchen, opened the cabinets and looked for some veggie cans. I sighed "Bean '' I hate them. The texture was wrong and my grandfather always made me eat them. I closed the cabinet and then went to the refrigerator and grabbed the food my grandfather prepared for me. I put the stuff in the oven and I went into the living room and started to read my book. I hear a loud bang outside, maybe a shotgun, but I'm not entirely sure. I get up and start pacing while glancing at the clock. It's already around 7 pm. I look out the window and don't see anything or anybody. Something pops into my head, who is up this way and why are they shooting, Vrys are nearly seen nowadays since there been less and less prey for them to kill. Trying to distract myself, I grab my book that I was reading earlier and turn off all the lights and lite a candle enough for me to see what I was reading. I look at the cover of the book "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. So far I liked it but I had a hard time understanding some of the words and lost concentration too fast.
Suddenly, there's a commotion outside with screaming and yelling and a gun firing. It sounds like a distressed child. I hear footsteps approaching and pounding on the door.
"Help! My sister has been shot!" he cries out.
"Sorry, but I can't help you," I responded.
"Please! She's only eight! I can't lose her!" he pleads desperately.
Anxiously pacing, I reluctantly reach for the gun on the table once again. I can't let them in that would go against all the rules that my grandfather has to keep me safe, ugh what do I do!
"There coming please," he whimpers softly begging.
Eventually, against my better judgment, I open the door and cautiously instruct him to bring her in slowly while reminding him that I am armed. He places her on the couch,
"Are you armed?" I said
"No, no im not", he said
I nodded at him and without wasting any time, I rushed over to secure the door once more.
"What happened?" I ask as I quickly grab medical supplies from the bathroom.
"Do you see an exit wound?" I inquire as I return in a hurry. My grandfather made sure I was up to date on how to patch someone up if they needed medical help. Especially on gun wounds.
His sister continues to scream in pain. "Hit the switch to the lights please" I ask him. He gets up and looks for the switch "sorry by the kitchen door" I pointed to it. The lights come on blazing.
I examine the wound and confirm that there is indeed an exit wound. However, we need to stop the bleeding before she loses too much blood. Remembering and following my grandfather's instructions , "is she allergic to anything penicillin? Or any other antibiotic?
"I'm not sure." He says.
"Okay, she will get an infection if we don't give her the antibiotic" I tell him
"Go head" he says.
I inject her with the pain medication and she starts to calm down and I begin packing the wound.
After a couple minutes pass by,
His sister falls asleep, but she was still alive. I'm so glad my grandfather scavenged the closest hospital. I'm not sure what he had to go through to get the medication but he came home that day all bloody and it wasn't his blood but someone else's.
"I'm not a doctor" I told him, "But, it seems like she is going to be okay if there is no infection caused by the bullet." I told him
As the boy moves around, something falls out of his pocket.
"Damn," I said underneath my breath. the bottle of peroxide fell and spilled everywhere.
"I'm sorry," he said.
He scampered through his pockets, "shit" I didn't check if he had a weapon on him. I asked him but didn't make him empty his pockets to really check.
"What did you take out of your pockets!" Anxiously questioning him, not moving in case he did have a gun.
Dumbass…… Dumbass….. what was i thinking, letting him in here, "liam what is one of the rules"? my grandfather asked
"Never, trust anyone!" I said to him before he left
"What….this?" he says
No, I said within my head, he seems to be distressed and worried about his sister to actually seem like a major threat. I finally stopped fighting with myself, it was already too late if something was going to happen he would have done it by now.
He hands me a silver cross and rag from his coat pocket. "My sister tore it off my neck when I picked her up and ran and found your cabin. I forgot I put it in my pocket. Plus I was trying to help you clean up what I spilled.. I'm sorry" he says with shaking hands.
I glance at him and nod, handing the cross back to him. I Took the rag and cleaned up the spill. After it was cleaned up.
We both sighed and sat down both facing each other.
"So what's your name?" He inquires curiously.
"I'm Liam," I introduce myself.
"Well thank you, Liam for helping me and Annalina," he expresses his gratitude.
"What's your name?" I ask him curiously.
"Bo," he reveals.
I nodded at him taking everything in at once not sure what to say next. I give another sigh and ask "Why were you and your sister in the woods at this time of night?
He looks down and clutches the cross in his hands. After hesitating for a moment, he begins sharing his story: "They killed our parents and my older brother and sister as well."
I remain silent, not knowing what to say next.
"My mother came into our house and told me and my sister to run and instructed me to keep my sister safe. It took a couple of days, and I'm guessing we didn't hide our tracks well enough. I had a feeling that we were being followed, we had to hide as best as we could only for them to ambush us when we got to the lake. He says
I keep listening intently, nodding in understanding.
"We finally made it to the lake, but they were waiting for us with my mother. And a deceased one. " he continues.
I maintain my silence, allowing him the space to finish his story.
"It attacked my mother, she screamed and urged us to run. We obeyed, but the leader commanded his followers to shoot and prevent our escape," he states.
"I think I can predict what happens next," I quietly exclaimed.
"So how do you have lights" he says
"My grandfather had this place for a long time. He had generators and water hooked up to it." I told him.
He nods his head, "we also have hot water, you can take a shower if you like too" I told him.
"Really" he said.
"Yeah of course" I said.
Before he gets up to go and take a shower. A loud bangs echo on the door, we both get up from the chairs and he starts to move around nervously. I get up and hurry to shut off the light.
"We know you're inside! Open up, we're not going to hurt you! We want to talk. Raja is not happy." Said someone from outside.
I was about to say something and he silently said "Liam don't".
I look at him and nod again obeying his word. He knew these people better than I did or he didn't and from what I knew they weren't good people.
He gets up and says "What if we climb out the window, maybe if we both take turns to hold annalina we will make it out alive"
"No I got a better idea", I told him
My grandfather designed this cabin to be nearly foolproof. I knew where we needed to go but I wasn't sure about moving his sister down there.
"Can you move your sister?" I ask in a hushed tone.
Bang...bang...bang. The knocking on the door grows more forceful.
"Yes, I think," he responds nervously, he picks her up gently
"Follow me." I guide him to my grandfather's room and close the door behind us. Then I open the closet.
"They're going to find us, Liam! We can hide in there! We have to leave!" he frustratedly whispers.
I disregard his comment and move aside some shirts, revealing a panel that leads to the basement.
He let out a sigh of relief and smiled at me.
I gesture for him to go down first, which he does obediently. Meanwhile, I return to the living room to retrieve antibiotics and my gun.