Infestation

I put this up ages ago and I thought it was terrible so I took it down, but I recently re-read it and decided it wasn’t that bad. It’s not the best and it’s really short, but hey. I’ve done a bit of editing since then as well, so it should be a bit better. :)

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You shouldn't have done this. Shouldn't have come.

You needed food, but was it really worth seeing the dead like that? Nothing but bones littering the abandoned streets… the bodies of your friends and family piled in the gutters like the leftovers they were.

It will all be over soon, you chide yourself. Death is coming for you just like it came for those before you. The smell of rotting flesh bombards your senses, it is so strong you can taste it, but you try not to think of what that might mean. About those lurking in the shadows, alerted of the presence of meat by the sickly sweet smell of decay.

If you just close your eyes, it will all go away. Nothing will be left of this vivid nightmare.

No blood, no glass... no scuttling creatures under the cover of inky darkness…

You and your friends will be back at Terry's. The ice-cream parlour just down the road from your house. Hayden will be joking around; Laurie will be rolling her eyes. This is nothing but a nightmare, when you open your eyes you will hear Kat laughing at you for nodding off in your sundae again.

You take a deep breath, trying not to gag.

Open your eyes.

But it isn't just a dream.

And you knew that really.

Straining your eyes to see in the black that surrounds you like a thick woollen blanket, you listen hard, for the tell-tale sound of claws on wood, the sound of your death racing towards you.

Your heart starts to race and your breathing becomes even more ragged as you strain you ears for the scratching swore you heard.

Could it be a survivor coming to rescue you?

To take your hand and lead you from this hell, this horror... this infestation.

Of course you know; there are no survivors, they were all destroyed, all killed, all eaten. Your friends and family. Everyone you knew and had once loved is gone. With nothing but the smell of raw meat left behind.

That's all they were to them really.

Fresh meat.

To feed their own young, to keep their own species going. It was nothing personal. Just survival.

Another sound. Another scream.

You keep your mouth shut tight, trying not to even breathe lest you alert them of your presence.

You can hear them coming, scurrying their way towards you.

Sharp little claws digging into the soft wood outside the walk-in pantry you are sheltering in.

Doors mean nothing. They will only slow them down.

And there it is.

A small nose.

Peeping through the coin sized hole in the corner of the door.

Starch whiskers twitching as it smells it's prey.

You.

It crawls through the hole, scrabbling and twisting. More filling up the hole behind it in their haste to get to their next meal.

You press yourself against the wall, knees drawn up to your chin, unable to stand from the terror that renders your knees as weak as jelly.

It is standing before you now, nose wriggling, tail twitching..

Teeth clacking.

The rat.

It's eyes seem to glow red in the gloomy light.

The last thing you'll ever see.

The rat crouches, muscles bunching.

It springs.

Another scream.

Another meal.

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Hope you liked it. :) Well, it’s a horror story, so I don’t hope you liked it exactly. I hope it creeped you out though. :P

Sorry, I have a tendency to ramble. If you didn’t get it and I wasn’t clear enough or something, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.