Freedom of the Wild

Chapter 8 • Good night, sleep tight

The action came in all at once. Their leader shouted. "Smash them into pieces!" Yan Jun made the first move. He stepped forward, bent down, and planted a sharp kick right into one of the men's face. The man was knocked right onto the floor and his hand reached for the part of his face where he was assaulted. They were seething with rage now and charged at us with their mallets. I drew the kris from the side of my pants and brought it forward towards the closest man I could see. He grabbed my hand and I screamed in pain. Instinctively, the darkness came into me and I kicked and tugged at his leg, causing him to trip over and release his grip on me.

Darkness surged through me. I felt it again. That inescapable feeling to kill. But I restricted myself to using it only for defence purposes. I stabbed at his left hand and the helpless man cried out in agony. Then I twisted my wrist and withdrew it, causing the man to go open-mouthed as he made out a silent cry in his unbearable torment. I brought it down through his chest with inhumane speed and felt a crunch beneath. He was dead. "Nick, duck!" I bent down at that, and turned around to see a man swinging his hammer at where my head was a second before. Yan Jun stood behind and gave the enemy a vicious blow right at the head with a baseball bat. He saved me. I nodded at him out of gratitude but when he saw the savagery in my eyes, he stepped back. God. I wouldn't hurt him! In a split second, I noticed that one of the men was holding a hammer tightly and walking towards him. I held my kris up, ready to throw it. Yan Jun misunderstood and put his hands up. He was such a silly boy! I gestured for him to move aside, as I flung the knife right at he man who was a metre behind. The knife was dead accurate as it struck "bulls-eye". It lodged in between both eyes, in the middle of his forehead. I didn't expect my aim to be that good. The man lost his balance and fell backwards, hitting the floor with a thump. The last of them was juked by Amber, as she dodged all of the man's strikes, miraculously leading him to injure himself. Then she bit down on the man's arm and as he howled in fury, Amber kicked him right in the "sticking-place". Ouch! The man gave a strangled cry as he toppled to the ground. We piled up the unconscious men outside the house after making sure none of them still breathed. It was a close call. I noticed Evelyn trembling in one corner while Strange Boy stood at the top of the staircase, emotionlessly watching us. Bloody coward! What was wrong with him? Did he just stare at us fight the whole time and not lend a helping hand? My anger was growing, but nobody seemed to notice.

"Yay, we did it! Teamwork!" Yan Jun shouted. That cleared the tense atmosphere. "Nice Taekwondo skills ya' got there, and Amber, you're just too swift!" I admired. Yan Jun and Amber chuckled at the praises. Evelyn came out of her hiding-place and hugged us one-by-one. When I looked up at the top of the staircase, Strange Boy had gone and his door was closed. They didn't notice, nor mention him even once. We were all worn-out after the fight, especially when it was so early in the morning that the sun hasn't even risen. We went back into our rooms to get some sleep, although it was rather risky considering that the inn was open to intruders now. I stared up at the ceiling and recalled the part when the men with hammers barged into the inn. It was a hysterical sight, thinking of it now. I yawned and closed my eyes.

I was standing in the middle of a grassland. As I looked around, all I saw was tall grass and dandelions. Where was I? The sun was blocked by many clouds and there was a constant icy breeze surrounding me. I ran towards one direction, hoping to find an exit. Continuously I ran and ran, never getting tired but it was still grass everywhere. Then I spotted a deer which appeared out of nowhere, staring at me, and a savage lust surged through me. I wanted to kill it, to tear it apart, to feast on its savoury meat. I realised my hands were claws now. My eyes twinkled as it found its target. Time to hunt. The next thing I knew, I was leaping towards the deer, who instantly ran in a criss-cross manner. Smart creature, trying to trip me with that momentum. I was closing the gap between us and when it was only one metre ahead of me, I pounced. Within seconds, I stuck my claws in it and tore it into many pieces. Bloody carcass lie on the innocent grass as I picked up some meat and stuffed it into my mouth. It tasted horrible. The taste was getting stronger and I swallowed it in a hurry. My mouth and throat started burning insanely... "Ahhh!!"

I found myself gasping for breath and feeling for my mouth as I woke. It was just a nightmare... I reassured myself. I looked at my watch. It was 8am. Had anyone woken yet? Yan Jun was snoring loudly beside me. I stretched out my arms and got out of bed. "Morning!" I was startled by Evelyn, who was also awake already. I smiled, wished her a good morning and climbed down the stairs. The bodies were producing a pungent rotting smell. We had to move to another place, where it was less dangerous. But there was danger everywhere. I wondered where everybody in the world was. Now that I think of it, the only people I saw were those intruders last night and a few more throughout the whole day. Furthermore, there were no bodies on the streets. Something fishy was going on.

It took us an hour to pack our bags and supplies. We gathered ourselves to discuss on where to move to. Somewhere with an abundant source of supplies. Somewhere deserted. Like the East Coast Park, like the Giant beside Ikea and Courts... "...the Giant at Tampines!" I thought aloud. "It has all the supplies we need and there's a Courts beside it, which means we can find useful electronics..." "Have you forgotten that everything using electricity is broken?" Strange Boy cut in. "Shut up!" I reacted indignantly. Who was he to lecture me? The one who played coward earlier? Everyone was surprised at my stinging words. "Woah, woah. Calm down. Nobody here's an enemy." I looked to the side in disgust. I didn't want to start a fight. Strange Boy just stared into blankness as if nothing just happened.

He was actually right. All electronics, including my phone, everything that used electricity, was affected by the Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) on that fateful day when The End started. I wasn't very sure what had caused it, or how Amos Yee predicted it. What if he was the one who created this technology, which not only destroyed machines, but also broke down the barriers guarding the darkness in man's heart? I don't know if I should regret ever wanting this. When everyone left me. It is only human nature that is holding you back with emotions. Cast them aside. Focus on survival. Sigh. Sometimes I wish I never existed in this world. I wouldn't have to suffer through society and humanity's bane.

We decided that Ikea was the best place to go right now, since we were getting low on resources. We really haven't been saving on food and water lately. The journey took us more than four hours on foot, because it was all the way to the East. Fortunately the sun was very forgiving and did not blaze up the day, which helped us a lot. On the way there, we heard many screams which echoed down the alleys we went past. Apart from that, it was creepily silent as usual. Once or twice, a car or van filled with a few people drove past, but didn't notice us. I wondered whether they were the Turned, or survivors. Still, we needn't accept any more into our group. Though we could use a form of quick transport like they did.

When we reached Ikea, the first thing we did was to check if there was anyone inside which lay in wait for us. Nope. We avoided splitting up, as that would make any of us easy prey. We went to the food and beverage section and scavenged the remaining few that we could get our hands on. Only 5 canned tuna and 6 bottles of desalinated water left. The rest were already taken by the early looters. Never mind, we just needed to make it last for a few days before we got new supplies. After that, we proceeded to the medical section to get some pills just in case we needed it. Luck was on our side, and the ones we needed weren't expired. I had a feeling that they would definitely be of use to us in the future.

After the looting of the store, we decided to set up our resting-place inside Courts. There were huge and comfortable luxury beds and we had a little fun jumping on them, knowing that no-one would come out and reprimand us. We timed a 1-hour night watch for each person, to look out for any Turned which might enter. I took the second last watch and Strange Boy having the last. As seconds ticked by, I sat on my springy bed and gazed out of the windows into the night. Starry, starry night, how beautiful... As the hour closed in, I turned around to wake Strange Boy who slept on a bed beside mine. But he was already up and staring at me. He fucking scared the crap out of me, what was wrong with him? Seeing that he was so prepared to guard the night, I made up my mind to turn in earlier. I closed my eyes and snuggled up comfortably against a pillow. I heard a shifting sound but decided not to look. Where was Strange Boy going? "Wake up, wake up!" Strange Boy was whispering to someone in a hurry. What in the world was happening? I didn't dare to turn around to take a peep, as I wanted Stange Boy and whoever he was waking up to think that I was fast asleep. Then the noises stopped for was seemed like minutes. Was it all my imagination? I was really confused, but I couldn't care about Strange Boy any longer.

"He's asleep. Let's go, Yan Jun. Wake her up too." Sounds echoed in my head as a daze covered my eyes, and slowly blackness took over and I drifted off...