Into Darkness We Walk

Incomplete

A nuke siren rang in the distance. It was faint, but still audible, and it was the first thing Gavin heard when he woke up. Memory flying back into his mind, he sat up with a start. "Evan?" He called with fear at the edges of his voice.

Sure enough, Evan was there, sitting with his hand in Gavin's backpack. He lifted his head. "Heyyy, Gavin. Konichiwa."

Gavin frowned. Japanese? 'Chill out, everyone knows konichiwa.' The logical voice in his head told him. He nodded mentally, figuring that was a good point. "Afternoon,"

Shuffling over close to him, he asked, "Watcha doin'?"

Evan smiled, turning his head to face him. "Lunch. Those sandwiches you packed."

Rifling through Gavin's pack again, he added, "You sure packed a lot of food. Were you planning on going on a camping trip or something?"

Gavin shrugged. "Better safe than sorry."

"Well, this time you were safe."

Evan tossed the pack aside before turning back to Gavin with the sandwiches. Handing one to him, he dug into his own. Gavin slowly unwrapped his, but the memory of those burned people kept flashing onto the back of his eyelids, which made it impossible for him to eat.

Munching on his sandwich, Evan noticed his predicament and set his lunch down. "Not hungry?"

Shaking his head, Gavin answered, "No, it's just... all those people..."

Making an expression of understanding, Evan nodded slightly. "Okay, well, if you don't want to eat, I won't make you,"

As he put the food away, he implored: "Just promise me you'll try next time? Please?"

Gavin gave a half-shrug half-nod. "I promise."

Evan smiled again. "Great."

Picking up the pack and standing in one fluid motion, he offered Gavin his hand in helping him up. "Come on, let's hit it."

Something was following them; Gavin could feel it. He just wished he could see what it was... or who it was. Every time he turned around, no one was there. Just an empty road filled with burnt unidentifiable rubbish. Gavin tried to get his mind off of it, but it wouldn't leave.

Evan didn't seem to notice; of all people (or what's left of them), Gavin figured Evan would be the one who felt it.

He coughed a few times, wiping his hand on his jeans. "You alright back there?" Evan called back, turning his head slightly to the side so he could see. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little itch," Gavin answered, readjusting the backpack strap on his shoulder.

That tingling feeling on the back of his neck resurfaced, but no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, it grew increasingly stronger until-"Freaking son of a BITCH!"

Whipping around, he dropped the pack to the ground and yelled, "WHO the HELL is following us?! ANSWER ME!"

Nothing for a few seconds, other than Evan's attempt to inquire about what was going on (which was cut off by Gavin raising his hand and silencing him), but then a figure stepped out from behind a dead, thoroughly black tree. "Holy shit is that what I think it is?" Evan gasped, obviously trying to keep his voice steady.

Gavin nodded, not saying a word.

There, standing less than seventeen feet from them, was the scariest creature either of them had ever seen.

It stared at them, slowly walking their way without a word, stopping just inches from Gavin's nose. "Are you two Gavin and Evan?" It asked, wild expression one Gavin had only ever seen on Evan's face.

"Y-yes," Gavin answered, uncomfortable with the close space.

It somehow managed to smile. "Loved the fire. It was beautiful. Fantastic. Finally, everyone can sleep."

Half of its face began to morph. "Sleep-slee-slee-sleep everyone can sleep sleep-"

Its face jumped to one of it laughing, and then crying, and then back to normal. "Sleep."

Then it just disappeared.

Gavin and Evan just stood there, the most confused either of them had ever been. "What, in the Hell, just happened?" Evan questioned, unable to look away from where the thing had just been. "I have no idea... I think maybe we were hallucinating," Gavin suggested.

"The same thing, right? Isn't that impossible?"

"I don't know."

Honestly, Gavin didn't, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. "We should get moving, we're burnin' daylight here."

Without a glance back, the two pivoted on their heels and headed on down the road, words needing to come out but mouths not letting them.