The Awakening

Chapter 1

(1)

    The rocky path stung Abe's bare feet. All his life, he had been told to stay off these paths, but that didn'tmatter anymore. Everyone he knew was dead. He was alone, with only his empty thoughts to keep him company. The path cut through the forest like a knife, straight ahead, until disappearing over a hill far off in the distance.All around, clumps of bushes and grass burst from the broken rubble of the path. Faded stretches of white lines along the edges, or broken yellow lines in the center, appeared here and there along the path. Abe did not know what these lines meant, but knew they had something to do with the rusted hunks of metal that littered the path. No one dared speak of the things Abe saw, they were from a world long forgotten. Scary stories were told about the path to keep children away. Even the scavengers feared it. 

Abe walked on. The path curved and winded this way and that. Up and down hills, driving him father away from his old life. Away from the scavengers. The hot sun passed overhead and crept towards the horizon. It would soon disappear and Abe would need to find shelter.

A strange feeling suddenly came over him. His eyes drifted up from the path, into the distance. He saw a black shadow approaching along the center of the path. He put his hand to his forehead to block the sun, straining his eyes for a closer look. Every bone in his body telling him to run and hide, to climb high up a tree and wait for it to pass, but he did not. He pushed on ahead, towards the shadow.

Closer now, the shadow took form. It was a person wearing strange, black cloth that made him appear as a shadow. In this heat, how could a man wear that? Abe thought. He only wore thin, leather pants, and the heat could still be unbearable at times.

The figure moved towards him, closer now, head down, face hidden. His arms interlocked across his chest, hiding his hands. The cloak dragged the ground behind him, hiding his feet.

"Hey!" Abe called, close enough now. "Who are you?" he asked.

The figure did not respond, nor did it stop or slow. It kept walking towards him.

"Are you a scavenger?" he cried. He knew it was not, but needed some sort of response.

The figure came closer. Close enough to hear the shuffling of feet beneath the cloak, to hear the raspy breath coming from somewhere underneath the black hood. It stopped in front of Abe. It did not move or speak.

Abe walked carefully around the figure, unsure of what to do next. He could not tell if there was even a man under the black cloth. "Who- "Abe began. The figure raised his head when Abe spoke, startling him.

"Abe." A man's voice spoke. "Abe," he said again, after a pause. His voice was soft and quiet, just above a whisper.

Abe walked around, facing the man. "Yes... I'm Abe." He was terrified now. How did it know my name? he thought.

"It is time, Abe," the man spoke. "It is time."

Abe stepped back. "Time for what?" he asked, perplexed.

The figure stepped closer. He unlocked one arm free from the other and reached out. A hand never emerged, but when it touched Abe's shoulder he felt a sudden sense of calm. The terror he once felt slipped away into the breeze and he felt warm, at peace. A feeling he never felt before.

"It is time," he whispered once more. In a blur, the man reached out with his other arm and pulled Abe close.

To anyone standing at a distance, they would have appeared to be two people in a loving embrace. A long, warm kiss on a sunny afternoon. Anyone standing closer would have seen the figure in black holding the other too close, the face and head of the young man deep inside the figure's hood.