Shelter

C1 : The Awakening

Behind my eyelids I saw a world full of happy, living people. There were many colours such as blue, pink, orange and green. My family and friends stood in the large, beautiful meadow which was full of life. The grass was green and stood tall, the flowers were all different shades of colour. People talked, laughed and even smiled to one another.  The meadow was full of life. In my eyes, this was paradise.

Then all of a sudden, the meadow split in half. Colour drained and everything turned black, white and red. People dropped to the ground with a loud thud. My eyelids opened to see nothing but black. The world was black. It was a ball of death. Life wasn't all sunshine and happiness. The sound of rain echoed over my den.

"My den" was basically a tree house in the tall trees of the woods. There were many tree houses in the woods, if you looked carefully you could find them. They were made to be camouflaged into the wood. Approximately, only 8 were still standing and empty. I checked each one and found nothing but empty floorboards and sometimes dirty magazines. Before it happened, the tree houses were always occupied.

The tree house I was currently situated in had my stuff spiralled around me. My stuff consisted of a sleeping bag, a bottle of water, a large knife, and my rucksack which held cans of already made food. On my wrist was my watch which told me it was 3am on the 12th of October, 1997. I yawned and stretched by standing up. Hearing my bones click into place, I thought of the rain. None of it got into the tree house because of the solid roof.

Lifting up the carpet in the right corner, my eyes adjusted to the darkness of outside. Every treehouse had the small, squared plastic window in the right corner. It was like they were made for this. Outside I could see the wet ground covered in lots of brown, dead leaves and sticks. It was always best to move in the rain. Nothing else did. Looking at the time once more, I decided against going outside today. It was too dark and wet. I didn't need to go out anywhere today, at least not yet.

My breath lodged in my throat. It wasn't impossible, it was just very unlikely. The human below me moved slow. They wore a pair of baggy jeans and a red jacket. They carried no luggage which was what made my legs stay where they were. Slowly, I pushed the carpet down a little bit more. Squinting my eyes, I saw there was a rip in the jeans. A tear in the soaked jacket. The hood lay flat making me see the white flesh of the neck. The purple veins stuck out at every angle under the solid skin. Behind him, there were trails. The leaves pushed to the side from where he dragged his feet from the limping.

I'd seen it before. Nothing scared me more. He shook. His body dropped to the ground. I took a sharp breath. It was happening. The Awakening. On the floor, his chest started to lift higher making his back arch. His mouth opened widely and I saw the sharp teeth glisten. The face held no colour. The eye lids showed no movement. Gently, I pushed the carpet fully down until I could only see through the slit. The eye lids flew open to reveal pale eyes and red irises. His pupils almost filled the entire iris. I held my breath as it jumped up. He was no longer a man. He was a monster. He was now a dead man walking. The term people use for those people would be zombies. I call them The Colourless.

Once they bite you, your infected. It takes a week to change. First, your body gets rid off anything in your system. Then you go bone thin. You start to loose your mind. You loose all your colour. Then the thirst drives you insane. All you want is to rip somebody's head off.

Or that's what I think happens. I've seen it. It's not a pleasant thing to witness. It's scary as hell. Over the rain there was a loud noise that rattled through the air. The screams of the thirsty colourless. The newborns always had thick veins. It was those that were dangerous. They could kill you in seconds. I've seen how they have no control. The older ones that have been around a lot longer seem to make the new ones. They don't eat as much. They leave blood in their victims. They leave skin that can be contaminated.

For the next three hours I lay perfectly still. My breathing was calm and my heart rate was slowly returning to normal. It had been two hours and thirty three minutes since the newborn ran far enough away that I could no longer hear it's screaming. I know I can't stay here much longer, I definitely need to move today. My eyelids shut and I let the darkness take over me.

My family stood around me. My lips twitched up in a smile. They were all here. The meadow was full of children and adults, all happy. Everything was full of life. Only the sun filled the blue sky. My hand was tugged and I looked down at the little girl that just reached my knees. She grinned at me before running off into the flower patch. On my other side, I saw him. He had fair blonde hair and the same coloured eyes as me. He smiled widely. We stood side by side looking out at the meadow. Just by the water, I saw my parents sit with the little girl who tugged my hand. They were happy. Just like the meadow, they were full of life.

A sharp pain in my thigh woke me from my dream. My hands clutched my padded thigh and I lifted myself up to check it. Scanning the tree house, I noticed it was just the same as it was before I went to sleep. Lifting my trouser pants up, I peeled the bandage away and saw the bruises. My thigh had eight stitches running along it. I applied them myself four months ago. Sometimes they ripped and I had to mend them. This time it was the bandages pulling against it. Biting my cheeks, I tugged and held in my scream.

Then I fixed it up again. My watch said it was now 8:53am. It was almost time to move. Silently, I gathered all my things together. Pulling out my diary, I held the pen and began to write. I wrote in it every day for the past year and a half.

12th October 1997.

Another year passes. Today is my birthday. I made it to the age of 17. I miss my parents, I wish they were here to celebrate the day they brought me into this messed up world. I also miss him. I keep telling myself to forget about him; if I don't I'll go out of my mind worrying if he is okay. It's best to think of him dead. I've learnt not to say or think of his name now. I couldn't bear myself to forget his face, how can I when its in every dream I have? The dream was the same last night. The meadow. Just like the night before and the one before that and so on.

I saw an awakening again today. It brought the fear back. This time it was a boy. It didn't make a difference that he was a boy because I still thought of her. Robyn would of tackled me into a hug if she was here. No. Not if she was here. If we were there, in the past. When life was simple. Our only matter was the maths teachers stinky breath first period on a Monday morning.

What does it matter now? Robyn was gone along with my parents and him. They were all gone. A billion people were dead or now apart of the colourless. I planned on never becoming one of them. I need to start moving soon or it will be dark and I'll end up wasting my time here.

If I don't write soon then I'll be dead.

I slammed the diary shut and placed it at the very bottom of my bag under the tons of food and blanket. Whilst eating, I zipped up my jackets and fastened my laces tightly. Quickly, I looked to see if it was clear and then got my weapons ready.