The Terror of Nowhere

The Terror of Nowehere

1.
The Everlasting Land

Rose and Tulip were standing in the middle of the road. Waiting. We were all waiting. Courtney, my wife, was standing at my side. I was in the middle of them. The red, hot sun was beating it's mighty fist on top of our backs. Blistering our bare flesh. I felt small piercing pains in the heels of my feet, while the sharpened edges of pebbles and other bits of concrete forced into me. It would hurt, immensely, wherever I walked. Around us, as it had been for the longest time we spent time together, was the same, flat terrain of dried dirt. For miles to come. We were lost. We'd been lost for countless hours, days. Christ, I had nightmares of possible years. My memory was wiped out, clean. None of us remember how we ended up here. In this horrid, wasteland. For food, there was none. For other existing life forms, there was still, none of it.
The tally marks were washed over by gusts of wind. It was day nine when I drew the twig into the ground, and dropped a line down. Then another after another. Everyday until the winds came and ruined it. I don't remember meeting Rose and Tulip. However, they'd claimed to be my children. Conjoined twin sisters. Courtney had shown great affection towards me. I was puzzled why, at first. Her sexual interests stayed relevant. But it made her into a brute, at some times. Most of the time, I enjoyed it all. I took every second for granted. We weren't going to live for much longer, I knew, well.
Her hand was wrapped around mine in the road. I looked at her face. Bright skin. Blonde hair. Curled perfectly. Blue eyes. And the body of a living, true, angel. She looked as if she was born straight from a painting. So magnificent. I couldn't believe she was real. But, indeed, she was!
The sky was a nice, fiery orange. Corners of the clouds glowed a bright purple. Nearly pinkish.
Courtney's fingers ran up my wrist. They grazed over my indents. They were only scabs, now. Some of it peeled off onto the floor. It hurt a bit. It bit my lip. She jerked back. I thought leaving the wasteland would fix everything. For me, at least. A tear was in her eye. I told her that I was fine; that we're all going to be fine. But the line came out wrong. So I sounded, how I felt, like I didn't even believe in my own words. I saw her frown. I sighed, and looked away from her.
My nine year olds, as they promised their ages were, had begun to giggle. Chuckle at one another. I'd asked them what they found so comedic.
"Car." the two said at the same time, pointing forward at the desolate road before us all. They spoke the truth. For in a distance, I spotted two glowing eyes in the shadows. Headlights. Bright, too. The car came closer and closer. But every second felt slower than it should. It took longer than it should've. I grew impatient. Tapping my bare foot. I squeezed Courtney's soft hand. Tightly. She groaned.
"Please." she begged me. I let go. Apologized. My legs wobbled. At this point, I didn't know if I was weak from anxiousness or starvation. The car came into clear view. I couldn't see the driver clear enough. It was dark.
I don't know what happened to me, after. I just blacked out. My legs, uncontrollably, started at the hood of the vehicle. Heart beating, so horribly quick. I could hear it, as clear as the day shined. I was sprinting. The car didn't stop. There was no hesitation. I don't know what I was doing. God, I don't know anymore. In the reflection, I saw that I was alone. Rose and a Tulip were gone. Courtney was gone. The road behind me was completely emptied of life. They'd both vanished out of thin air. There was no reason why. No logic to how. The drivers' face was still heavily shadowed. His eyes were bright. The color was contorted into an uncomfortable spiral of red and black. Turning round and round. It wasn't right to see something like that, I knew. The thing in the driver seat was not from this world. Even if I was still on Earth. At this point, I believed to be on any planet in the solar system. There was nothing in sight; it was barren.
When the hood struck my stomach, all I could recall was the immense agony I felt, afterwards. My ribs ached. My body rolled across the floor. Dirt caught into my eyes. My spine and chest scratched against the hard concrete. Hard lines of deep maroon were left in my skin. I got up after a while. My sides ached. Ankle throbbed. I searched for the car. It had been thrown off the road, and in the sand, nose first. The wheels were sunken into the ground. I was shivering at the sound of the horn. The noise was so, so loud. How could it be that loud? Had I been alone for so long that all sounds were ruined to my ears. So, I wondered.
I neared to the broken down car. I didn't recognize the type. It looked old. Maybe a Mercedes. I wasn't sure. The front window was shattered. The driver sat, lifelessly. The steering wheel and shards of glass were stained red. I removed his face off the wheel, sighing in relief when the sound of the horn had stopped. I took my hand from the mutilated face. The nose and lips had been caved in, completely. The front teeth were missing. But there was something inside me, a tiny, helpless voice, that told me I knew who he was. He smelled of rotted fish. I drew back because of the putrid stench. Scrunched up my nose. Pinched it. The smell was still strong. I started to gag. But I was more terrified that I thought I knew who he was. An old friend, perhaps? I didn't know.
"You know him?" Rose asked in her sweet, little voice.
"Was he bad or good?" Tulip asked. Her voice was higher. She sounded younger.
I turned to face them. Studied my girls. If they even were my girls. I liked to think they were. I stayed positive. "I don't know, girls." I said to them, both.
They both looked down at the floor.
"Where'd you go?" I asked them.
Tulip's Head was still down. Her cheeks were rosy red. How ironic. Rose had answered me, "What do you mean?"
"You and your mother just disappeared, earlier," I got scared. "Don't play dumb. Just tell me."
"I'm not playing dumb. I swear." Rose promised me. I could tell when she was lying and when she wasn't. She was telling the truth. I faced at Tulip. She kept her lips shut. Why?
"Tulip, you wanna say something?"
She started to cry. Mumbling.
"Sorry, what was that?"
Tulip shook her head at me. "You left us," she murmured. "We felt so lost without you." I took their word for it. Maybe I scared them, by accident. Maybe me running from them made them frightened. I wasn't sure of it, but it was a good prediction, I suppose.
Sometimes, I'd watch the mud move around on its own. The other three never believed my words when I told them how there was someone under there. I found myself getting to my knees, and trying my best to crawl for the life under our toes. There was always nothing. But i just couldn't take the chance. "You're being utterly ridiculous, dear." Courtney would tell me whitest I dug. I tried not to listen to her. I tried, so hard. My knees bruised against the dry dirt. And then, my stomach would growl. It would howl. It would unleash a cry for food and water that it oh so craved. My ribs still pained. I needed rest, but I couldn't close my eyes. I was lonely enough. Being in the dark would just ruin me more.
We decided to remove the body from the car. Left it in the dirt. I stared at it for a while. I thought, at first, I could try to remember the last time I saw life, other than Courtney and Rose and Tulip. I couldn't. My head was blank. I looked at the burning sun. Guessed the time. Five o'clock. Maybe. I second guessed myself, as usual. Four thirty. No, three. Damnit, I don't know. I rubbed my face of sweat. I was so dreadfully tired. I was done. So done. My hair blew into my eyes. It hurt. I tugged it away. My forehead was wet, drenched in layers of sweat. My chest burned. I couldn't stand up right. The terrain around me buzzed and swirled around. I kept tumbling down. The twins, and Courtney, did not bother to help. They just stood there. Staring down at my fallen corpse.
I heaved my hands on the back of the car, pushing it forward. The wheels, after some time of effort in sliding it up, finally let go of the dirt. It rolled out, and then slowly moved forward. The rubber tracked in the sand. Long lines. It grounded against it. My arms grew sore by the minutes. I had taken long breaks. Times of breathers. I'd asked the twins and wife several times for some assistance in moving the vehicle, and was granted nothing but eerie silence. Their eyes were wide, at an almost cartoonish state. It made me queasy, and had taken me longer to revive my strength to further relocate the car. I didn't want anyone else to find it, it was mine. Only mine. No one else shall own this. For it is my own trophy of utter victory.
The car was left where I remember camping the longest. I thought It'd be a great addition to the camp. The fire was still burning at the center. Even though it was daytime. The blazing sun was still out. Smiling down at me. I didn't feel the want to grin back at it. I stopped the car, and opened the door to sit in the leather seats. They were all warm. I found myself comfortable enough to sleep in the car. When night came, everyone left me alone. I hated it. How could anyone enjoy being alone, I thought. It appeared impossible. Inhumane. They were out there, without me. Their leader. Their man! The dominant! The native warrior. They are supposed to worship a man of my kind. I do not understand it. Why are they out there? What the hell are they doing without me at this hour? Could they be traders? Oh god, I have imagined this before, but never really thought it thoroughly. Am I a bad person? Perhaps I deserve it?
Morning came. The sun hurt my closed lids. I awoke. Left the car. My legs strained, but they were able to hold my body up right. It was better, now. My head ceased from pounding. Rose and Tulip were at the dinner table. Courtney was going to sit next to me. The seat was soft under my rump. I held her hand. She blushed, brightly. I wasn't lonely, then. I was with my family.
Courtney had wheezed and suddenly coughed. Covered her mouth, and as she did, so did I. My throat sizzled. I tasted the back of my tongue. Sour and rotted. Saliva dropped onto the white plates, the twins began to cough as well. At the same time. I thought they'd soon pass out. The coughing stopped so oddly weird. Like as if the audio was cut off by some greater power. We sat at the table in dead silence. Awkward silence. They hadn't eaten their food. Plain chunk of white bread, water, and a cream brûlée. I stared at their plates. Then looked down at mine. It was empty. Had I already eaten it? I didn't feel full. My stomach was still a cavern of nothingness. I gripped it. My ribs felt bumpy. Had I really cracked one?
Courtney looked at me. "You OK, hun?"
"My stomach," I told her. "It's killing me."
She just stared into my eyes. Not smiling. Not frowning. Staring. I stared back. Her eyes seemed, hypnotic. I don't remember much that happened, after.