Absence of Day

Deadly Surprises

Josh staggered next to Day, and a trickle of blood ran down his pale face. 

"Are you okay?" Day whispered urgently, and slid her arm under his shoulder. She was suddenly aware of an odd feeling of the trees that wove above her head watching her. The dead trees. She wrinkled her nose as a foul smell wove through the thick air. 

"Fine," Josh brushed her away gently and leaned heavily against an oak, his pants ringing heavily as his injuries caught up to him. He brushed off the blood, leaving a scarlet smear, and inclined his head. "Let's get back and see what supplies we have left. But please keep watch, because some of the Sunless might linger." 

She nodded and brushed a curl behind her ear, still trembling at the still, quiet woods that surrounded them. "Get a grip, Day." She told herself and leaned her back against the tree where Josh supported himself. 

The boy swiveled, his strange eyes peering into the shadows. "What was that?"

"Um..." Day assessed him. Did he hit his head? "Me whispering?" For the first time, she noticed his hat was missing. 

"Shaddup!" Josh snapped and hobbled forward, cupping his ears forward. A cackle, a thin, dry laugh. A murmur from parched lips. A tapping noise. 
Then a sob. 

Day felt a hand over her chest. "Don't, move." Josh's lips were the only part of him that did anything to utter the foreboding words. 

"Yeah, man, you got it." Day flashed him a confused look as he straightened, eyes glinting in the light of Day's flashlight. His hands worked over the tree trunk behind him, leaving clouds of dust in their wake, which faded off into the night like ash. Laying down, he pulled Day with him, who landed with a heavy thump. Her heart pounded as he pulled himself into a crouch and his fingernails dug into the slimy soil. The tapping noise became louder and the sob rang against the woods again. 

A man stumbled into the bright light of Day's wrist flashlight, ragged and beaten. Tears streamed from his eyes and his chin trembled, his hands clutching each other desperately like they were the only things he could count on anymore. Every time he bent his right leg, a soft tapping filled the clearing. Day could now see it was prosthetic. Made of metal and plastic, wires tangled around it. Clearly, it was unfinished. There were streaks of yellow in his eyes, and as he made it into the light, he sank to his knees and covered his face in his hands. 

Day forgot herself and ran forward, the agony of his appearance making her heart tear. Josh's shout followed her as she ran towards him and took up his bony hands in her own. 

"What happened?" She demanded, pausing awkwardly as she realized she didn't know how to comfort him. He was trembling. 

"After years of experimentation... years... they - "

"Go on," Day reassured him. 

"They - were finally giving me another leg, when-" The man paused, gulped. "The Sunless attacked." 

"Your okay now," Day outright lied through her teeth. 

"No, its worse." The man didn't seem to realize where he was anymore. His eyes were closed, but he still talked. "The creatures ripped out a chip embedded in my skin... for, for forgetting. And I remembered. Oh, I remembered." He looked up again. Day was lost in those eyes, lost in fear, terror. 

"I remembered my daughters. Sarah," She inhaled sharply, "And," the man sagged in her arms. "And... Daybreak." 

Her real father's eyes were red. 

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