The House Of Darkness

The First Step

Author's note:
This story contains violence, sexual content and explicit language. It also involved the main character doing anything and everything she can in order to survive her ordeal.
If you're uncomfortable with such things, please don't read on, and thank you for your time.

The first thing that people will discover after a world wide disaster, is that human nature reverts to a barbarian-like state.

Lola hefted the heavy backpack, sweat dribbling down the valley between her sun-tanned breasts. Her hair was grimy and greasy from lack of being washed as regularly as it used to be before the world became a place of Anarchy after the sun decided to have a hissy fit and blow out an EM pulse the size of Saturn straight at the Earth.

Overnight, law and order crumbled into dust as it became every man for himself, and fuck every other person who gets in the way. All power plants shut down, cars stopped in their tracks,  planes feel from the sky and all electronic devices died. The world went dark. It went very dark.

When the proverbial dust had cleared a week later, all forms of government lay in ruin. Communities had banded together behind fences made with cars rendered useless by the EM pulse and turned to their sides to protect the hapless people who huddled within.

Lola had stayed in the dormitory of her college for a few days  with her friends until she decided that she had to find out if her parents had survived. The problem was, they were clear across the other side of the country and it would take weeks, if not months to slog it over on foot.

She had no choice but to try.

She had packed as much food and bottled water as she could,  what little cash and jewelry she had with her and anything else that she might be able to trade for food shelter or protection in this new and brutal world.

She was stuck in one place for two months, while waiting for a group to form that was going her way. She finally heard talk, in a bar where the beer was served warm due to lack of refrigeration, that a man was setting up as an escort service for travelers, he was even hiring guards to protect their charges.

She had joined the group of desperate people who also wanted to trek along the nations highways to the other side of the country in search of loved ones and missing friends. With all forms of electronic equipment and communications destroyed by the EM pulse from the Sun, this was the only way to achieve their goals.

The world has descended from a modern era back to the dark ages.
The group of travelers left the city, walking for a couple of weeks until they came to another settlement where their guide left them high and dey one night.

Fortunately, they were able to find another guide with guards who was willing to take them through to the next state. It seemed that some places were more dangerous than others with militants defending newly claimed 'sovereign states'.

Lola had no intention of being conscripted into one of these militia,  she had to keep moving.

"Come on, miss. We'll be there soon." Their guide said, as he handed her a bottle of water.

"Where?" She asked him, cracking the lid's seal and sipping at the warm liquid.

"There's a farm nearby, we've had the pleasure of guesting with them before, good folk who take care of people."

Lola nodded. "Not many left like that nowadays." She said, screwing the lid back on her water bottle.

"Nope, not many at all." He said with a strange little grin that made Lola feel a little unsettled.

The group walked on, diverting off the highway onto a dirt road surrounded by farmland on one side and forest on the other.

"Be wary now, there's bears and wolves living in this forest." Their guide had cautioned. His guards seemed to be more alert as they marched the group along the dirt road.

They came to the drive of a pretty little farmhoise, a machinery shed and a large red barn sat in the large yard and two bloodhounds began to bay as the travelers arrived, weary and footsore.

"Well hello there folks! You all look damned tired, come on in, we'll get you all done food and water in no time." The voice carried over the yard, Lola slight it out. 

A ruggedly handsome young man, a few years older than her, by the looks of it, stepped down from the porch, hands in the pockets of his blue jeans and a red checkered shirt on his back, open to reveal a white undershirt.

His dark hair and blue eyes were attractive, and his grin was one of genuine joy at their arrival.

"I'm Harvey Whittaker," he said, taking and shaking the hands of the weary travelers. "welcome to my farm, you'll all be resting up in the barn tonight as we don't really have enough room for you all in the house." He came to Lola, shaking her hand and smiling at her. He seemed to hold her hand for a moment longer.

"Ma'am." He said with a smile that seemed especially for her.

"Let's get you all settled then we'll see about getting you some deserved rest."

Lola followed him and the others into the barn where a tabke was laid out with water and food.

She ate and drank, encouraged by Hank to eat what she wanted as he had plenty of food growing in his garden and he couldn't eat it all.
She found herself feeling drowsy, noticing that others in the group were also noding off.

She fought the leaden feeling of her body as her mind succumbed to whatever was in the water.

"Good girl..." Hank said soothingly as he cradled her head, heeling her to lay down.

"It'll all be over soon, but my aren't you a pretty thing. Such a pity..." his last words were lost to oblivion as darkness took over.