Am I Alone?

Chapter Three

With no idea how to find Lucinda, I once again began my repetitive task of finding out more about the desolate environment in which I found myself. I doubted I would find anything that would help me to find any answers, but it was something to do. I had to do something- anything- to distract me from the ever-growing sorrow that was building up inside of me.

The further I got away from the building I was curled up in last night, the less bodies there were. But they were still there, and there were far too many. Even worse, I saw more children than I did adults. I seemed to be continually stepping around smaller bodies, some only the size of babies.

Although nearly all of the bodies seemed to be from a long while ago, there was blood everywhere. The blood never seemed to dry unless it was on a body.

I stopped after an hour or so of walking, not bothering to look for shelter, and sitting down on the hard ground. I was in an open place (probably a field) that was unrecognisable because of the ground, which had been stained black. Something was strange about this place, but I couldnât put my finger on what it was⦠it almost felt like someone was watching me. But that was impossible. Wasnât it? I mean, all I was basing this on was my vague feeling that I was alone. But then how could I possibly believe that Lucinda was really here?

A shuffling to my left caught my attention. Looking round, I quickly realised there was nothing there, not even a tree or plant, that could have made that noise. Shrugging, I looked down towards the ground in from of me, trying to use my hand to get some of the dirt off of my feet.

Suddenly, the noise sounded again. It was louder this time, making it sound closer and more sinister.

I looked around again, but still there was no one there. I refused to panic, but found myself standing, planning to find a partly intact building to sleep in. I headed toward the edge of the meadow, seeing abandoned buildings stretching as far as I could see. Most of them looked as though they had been hit by bombs, as they were barely recognisable as buildings anymore.

I strolled slowly through the streets between the buildings, stepping around piles of bricks and burnt bodies. All the buildings I passed were uninhabitable. My stomach grumbled and I realised it had been nearly a day since I had last eaten. There had to be food around somewhere, I just had to find it. I made a point of going into every building I passed, raiding the dented fridges and navigating caved in pantries.

I slammed open a broken door, throwing up dust from the room behind it. I tiptoed through the open doorway, careful not to step on any of the fractured bits of wood that were littering the floor. The room was mostly empty; there was just a broken old sofa and an empty bookshelf, its books all over the faded wooden floorboards. I saw no other doors leading out of the room, but there was a mound of wood against the fall right wall, which immediately made me think there was an exit behind it. I began to pull away the wooden beams, but it was hard- I was weaker than I was when I had first woken up here.

All of a sudden, the front door slammed shut. Whipping my head around, I saw no one else here. But I had been outside all morning, and knew there was no wind to blow the door shut. A high, piercing scream sounded from behind me.

Turning again, I realised it had become from behind the boards. Ripping them off of the wall, I began to cry out.

âHello? Lucinda? Iâm coming!â

Three boards left. A splinter cut open the side of my hand but I ignored it, totally focused on my task. Two left. Blood was spilling from my wound, trailing down my raised arms as my stiff fingers clawed uselessly at the boards. Finally it became loose, and I was able to push it to the floor. Last one.

I could already see into the room behind it; there was a girl curled up on the floor, her face being held by a man's hands- but they were peeling. I could see little strips of skin that were close to falling from his thin, bony hands. Where skin had fallen off, a gory mess of blood and tissue was revealed. The last board fell to the floor, but I did not go into the room, as I had finally figured out what the man was doing.

The man was dragging a small knife across the girl's skin, drawing blood, painting a horrifying picture of bloody swirls around her eyes. The girl no longer made any noise. Her eyes were clamped tightly shut, bloody tears trailing silently down her cheeks.

I couldn't stand to watch any longer. I made my frozen legs move, and lunged forward, ripping the knife from his hand, pushing the girl away from him, towards the crumbling wall behind her. The man stepped forward, poised to attack, but, noticing the knife in my hand, he made no attempt to harm me.

I wasn't sure I could use this knife, even if using it meant the difference between life and death. But this man didn't know that, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let him know that.

I held the knife more securely in my hand, mentally cringing away from the sharp metal tip, which was still covered in the girlâ's blood. His eyes went between the knife and my face, considering his options, as I studied his face.

His face was like his hands, thin and bony, with strips of skin peeling off. His mouth was slightly lopsided, a scar dragging one side down, giving him a permanent frown. His eyes were a bright blue, reflecting the indecision which was written all over his face. I may have been right in saying I was the only person left here; this man was not a person. Not anymore.

He frowned in disappointment as he made his decision. He turned and ran, leaving his precious knife in a grimy sixteen-year-olds shaking hand.

Dropping the knife, I turned to look at the girl, who had turned to look at me at some point in the confrontation.

The bloody cuts on the left side of her face were marring her obvious beauty, but I could not help her, as I had not gotten here in time.

At first I refused to look her in the eyes, taking in her injuries first. Her face was a gory mess of blood and peeling skin, her only features left untouched were her eyeballs. Steeling myself, I looked up to meet her scared gaze. Her eyes were faded, pain making her look so much older than she was. I couldn't hold back my tears; I recognised this face. It was a face that had glared at me every morning for thirteen years; the face of my thirteen-year-old sister. My annoying, selfish, beautiful baby sister. And she was dying.

I couldn't help but cry for my sister, even though I had already believed her to be dead. Finding her alive had ignited a last spark of hope inside of me, a spark with was now being put out by the slowly dimming blue eyes in front of me. My little sister, who had barely had time to discover the world, and had felt so much pain and misery that I could not comprehend it, was lying in front of me, dying in this strange world, at the hands of a man who had lost all traces of his humanity.

As the tears fell from my eyes, she reached up a blood-splattered hand and opened it to reveal a note. She put it in her outstretched palm, closing my fingers securely around it. She opened her lips slightly, revealing a mouth with no tongue, as if to speak. But she had no breath for words, and no tongue with which to speak. Instead, she closed her mouth, reached down to the floor and wrote one word in deep red blood. 'David.'

With that, she reached up, caressed my face in her palm, and left this horrifying world. I closed her eyes gently.

"You're in a better place now, Evangeline. I'm sure I will be seeing you there soon."

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Hey Guys! Sorry it took so long to update, but I really struggled with this chapter... I wanted to make it better than the others, and I think it worked :) this chapter was a bit more 'horror.' I hope you enjoyed it, but I wont be updating again until I get at least 5 votes on this chapter. I'm sure no one will mind that much. Thanks for reading!

Sam x