Left (n.h.)

2)

My eyes open only to the same darkness that lied behind my eyelids. The air humid and clammy, a drop of sweat drips down my temple.

A sweaty hand clasps over my mouth, and my body rests against the support of a being behind me.

Where the hell am I?

Small strips of the outside light pour into the tiny room I sit in, a closet of sorts, and I turn my head to face who may be holding their Palm over my open lips.

I can only make out a male figure with light hair in the corner of my vision, and he leans down closer to my head with his own.

A banging and clicking is to be heard outside of the door, and I wince away from it in fear. A creature, metallic or shiny as it glistens through the lines of the door.

"Shhhh." The man coos in my ear softly, his hand pressed against my mouth as the creature lurks outside.

The closet is small and humid, and I find myself sweating profusely through my hospital gown.

"We're okay. They only eat at night." He mumbles, the creature just outside of the closet door moaning and salivating hungrily. His voice is deep, but youthful, and he couldn't be older than his early twenties.

The slivers of light that enter the room continue to grow lighter every few minutes, and the sun will be up soon.

I shake under the boys grip and he holds me tighter, pressing his front against my back while the creature gains suspicion of us behind the door.

The first trickle of sunlight beams into the lower part of the door, and the monster on the other side of the door hisses loudly, making me shutter and squeeze my eyelids shut tightly together.

Several clicks from near and far scatter away into the distance, to where the sound faded away.

The boy behind me lets out a large huff of relief, and he releases his sweaty hand from my mouth, also allowing me to take a breather as well.

He gets up from behind me and twists the door knob open, reaching down two hands for me to follow his lead.

I exit the opened door, making myself aware of my surroundings, a ranch style kitchen with the ugliest wallpaper I've ever seen, and a few old paintings scattered around on it.

Turning around, I face my captor, the boy who basically held me hostage in a closet.

His light hair being a dyed blonde, and height standing quite taller than mine, a few beads of sweat fall down the side his temple, and his blue eyes that now stare back at me in correspondence.

"Where am I." I choke out, my voice scratchy and nearly gone, similar to when I woke up from my coma.

I've lost track of time now. Was it the day after I woke up? Hours even? Weeks?

"You're in my house." The boy responds in a thicker Irish accent than I'd heard as a whisper, walking past me and down a narrow hallway across from the old kitchen.

His long fingers motion for me to follow, and I do as I'm gestured.

"You wanna tell me why I found you lying like a melted puddle in the middle of the street, Holland?" I stop at his words, freezing like an ice cube in the hallway.

"You wanna tell me how you know my name?"

With this the boy turns to me at the end of the hallway, opening yet another door, and pointing to my chest before he enters the uncharted room.

I look down to where his finger lied on my chest, and a hospital name tag limply sticks to the cheap fabric; oh.

Following the suspicious boy into the new room, he digs in a wardrobe that sits on the opposite wall from where I stand.

"Let's get you changed into something a little more up to date." He rummages through the wooden wardrobe, and I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls out a Narnian within the second.

I say nothing but walk closer to him, waiting for his digging to come to an end.

He hands me a pair of jeans, a tank top, and he points to the right wall where an old pair of women's boots sit.

"These your girl friend's clothes?" I ask the boy as he looks to and from the clothes that now lay in my forearms.

"Sister-in-law's." He simply replies before heading toward the door.

"Can I ask what your name is now?" I manage to speak out as the boy reaches the doorway, and he drapes his hand over the doorknob and turns to me.

"Niall."

With this the door shuts and I'm left on my own in the morning light that seeps through yellow curtains even uglier than the kitchen wallpaper.

The tank top is an army green and clings to my chest, while the pants climb high up my waist and fit me around the ankles.

Exiting the yellow filtered room, a wonderful aroma fills my nostrils, and I realize that I haven't eaten in who knows how long.

Niall's eyes linger on me as I drift closer to the wonderful fragrance that cooks on the stove.

Baked beans lie boiling in a pot, and Niall removes them from the flame before setting the tin on the dinner table with an oven mitt.

"You should eat, you're severely fatigued." He speaks, and I sit in the creaky dining chair as he scoops me a plate.

I waste no time to dig into the food, and Niall stays quiet in the chair to my right.

"Mm" I mumble out in delight, nearly done with the whole plate of beans already.

"So, you never answered my question." Niall ticks the end of his spoon on his plate, and his eyes revert to me.

I bring a napkin up to the corner of my mouth and dab lightly before speaking.

"I woke up from a coma that day you found me in the street."

Niall nearly chokes on his food, then.

"A coma? I figured you were at the gynecologist or summat."

With this my cheeks flush a bright pink, gynecologist?

"No." I trail off, my cheeks gaining pigment as the seconds pass.

"I have a lot of explainin' to do then." I nod at his statement and he wipes his mouth with his napkin just as I did.

"I don't know what you woke up to, or what kind of life you lived before then, but it doesn't exist anymore."

I furrow my eyebrows and Niall continues to edge on.

"It's been two and a half years since the earth's last normal day. The end came in stages, several of them."

My heart beats out of my chest as Niall speeches, and I begin to feel the bile in my stomach rising.

"The first few stages were natural. Tornadoes, tsunamis and hurricanes, the next was radiation and acidic rain. Every world biome destroyed, every animal you knew before is an entire new creature, if it's not already extinct. The last stage was the worst, and still plagues us today. Those creatures we hid from this morning; they're called lurkers. Metallic alienated monsters that have invaded our planet and feast on human beings. Most people didn't survive, we're the lucky ones"

My mind swirls in a tumble of thoughts and I try to gulp down as much of the fear as I can before I throw up my breakfast right here and now.

"How long have I been here?"

"Three and a half weeks."