Until The Sun Rises

The small farmhouse sat far from the road, surrounded by a tall grove of trees that stretched high into the dark, cloudy sky.

A variety of maples and oaks, their branches shifted and swayed in the breeze. A storm was quickly rolling in but from the inside the house the lone occupant couldn’t tell. He couldn’t smell the scent of rain that was carried on the wind. As it brushed across the open field that stretched between the house and the old, cracked road.

The only thing that he could smell was the sawdust that coated floors and the old mildew smell that clung to the sheets he was wrapped in.

He hadn't chosen the room based on its cozy furnishings that the rest of the house had. A woodsy charm that gently reminded him of the memories spent at his grandparent’s cabin by the lake every summer. No, he chose this room because of its large bay window that he currently stared out of. 

It was high enough off the ground that he was sure nothing could break through the glass and get in… at least not easily. Yet, it also offered the best view of the front yard and easiest possible escape if needed. 

The fifteen-year-old boy's name was Everette and he hadn’t heard his name spoken aloud in almost three months. Nearly as long as he had been alone, completely and utterly alone. 

He laid on his side on the hard cushion, his curly blonde hair falling over his forehead. Sleep still weighed down his eyes. He untucked his hand from the quilt and rubbed at them, unsure of what had woken him. 

He tried to ignore the unease that set in bone-deep within him. Tried to ignore the shadows that stretched across the room. Tried to ignore the silence that only came without the buzz of electricity to fill the space. 

Through the tiny crack in the curtain he watched as a small opening revealed the glow of the half moon that sat low in the sky, before it disappeared again behind a blanket of clouds. Swallowed by the dark, a shadow fell across the yard, which made the feeling of anxiety begin to crawl up his throat. 

He rotated his hips a bit trying to find a comfortable position but the shift in the blankets sounded loud in the still room.

He wondered again what had woken him and tried to recall the nightmare he was having but it drifted away from him before he could grasp it. It left behind a feeling of dread, maybe that was enough to have woken him. 

Then suddenly a thump sounded across the house and he began to tremble as he sat up, listening. He couldn’t tell if it had come from inside the house or outside. His breathing became rapid and he covered his mouth to try to stifle the sound. 

He jolted when he heard another thump and then the sound of something rolling across the hardwood floor. Everette whipped the blankets off and jumped to his feet before the object had even stopped rolling. Tears prickled his eyes as he gripped the cold metal of the gun that rested beneath his pillow. Even after months of always carrying it, always inches away from his fingertips… it still felt heavy in his hands. 

“A raccoon... please, please be a raccoon” his words bounced around his skull. It wouldn’t be the first time natural wildlife had brought this reaction out of him. But it never got easier and it would never get easier. He would always be drowning in fear for as long as he lived. That’s the way things are now. 

In the hall, he heard a floorboard creak and that was all he needed to dash to the window and frantically rip the curtain down with his free hand. His time for being quiet had come and gone. It must have known he was there, did he scream out in his sleep without knowing it? Something had attracted it and now it was hunting him. Drawn to Everette’s scent that filled the room, it would find him soon.

Everette’s shaking hands fumbled with the locks on the window as the sound of feet pounded down the hall, closing the distance. A heavy body slammed against the door hard enough to shake the walls but the door held. 

A whimper escaped Everette’s lips as he yanked the window open as wide as it would go. Swinging one leg out as another slam sounded against the door, splintering the wood. 

Naturally, his eyes scanned the yard, even being as adjusted as they are he struggled against the darkness. But he froze when he saw it, only for a moment… a fraction of a second. Enough that his heart sank at the sight of a silhouette standing across the field, motionless. The creature on the other side of the door was not alone, they usually weren’t. Where there was one, there were always more close by. 

Behind him the door finally caved and the grunting force burst into the room, its head snapping in each direction as it searched for the boy. Its odor filled the room smelling of rotting flesh and Everette fought the urge to vomit. He only caught a glance, enough to tell that it must have been enormous. A terrifyingly large man before the infection reached his mind driving him into madness. 

Everette shoved himself through the window, feeling a jolt of pain that raced up his leg at the impact. He began tracing the edge of the house while scanning the field for the figure he had seen. He couldn’t see where it had gone which made his panic rise. The dread at not being able to see it was overwhelming, almost too much to bear. He tried to swallow the sob that burned his throat as he turned the corner behind the house.  Every muscle in him strained to resist what he knew he had to do. When the daylight slipped away the woods became something sinister and unknown. Even on a clear night the moonlight never reached past the canopy of trees. However, right now he didn’t have a choice as he sprinted into its smothering darkness. 

His feet found every twig, crunching every leaf as he tore through the underbrush. Finally, his sob broke free as he heard the sound of crashing feet behind him. He could no longer think rationally, his hysteria reaching its limit within him. 

He knew what would happen if they caught him, he had seen it happen. He urged his legs to move faster, but the foliage around him was becoming more thick. He couldn’t see anything before him but could feel the thorns cutting at his shins and snagging on his clothes. 

His foot got caught on a vine and he fell before he could catch himself, his head slammed against a tree root sticking out of the ground. Despite the jarring pain, he was up and running again but he could hear them gaining on him. They sounded like a pack of wild beasts hunting him. Grunting as they sprinted, their stench mocking him as they closed the distance. 

He swayed, catching his balance on a tree, the bark rough against his palm. He wondered how many were behind him. At least three from the sound of it, he couldn’t outrun them. 

He pressed his back to the tree and held the gun before him. Not able to process the shock that he was able to hold on to it. 

They were getting closer and closer, the fear was overwhelming. A screech erupted from one of them, too mad to sound human. Every nerve screamed at him to run, climb, or to do anything besides just stand there. 

The first body came into view, homing in on him like it just knew exactly where he had stood before it even had time to spot him. He waited one second… two. 

It came uncomfortably close as the second burst into sight, then the third… a fourth. He had to wait until they were close enough that he was sure to get a clean kill. His gun only held six bullets and he couldn’t risk missing any of them. He fired once, gasping out breath he didn’t realize he was holding as the thin body of a woman dropped to the ground. Next, he recognized the man from inside the house. He aimed again, his eyes fighting against the dark as he fired. 

The bullet ripped through the man's chest causing him to momentarily stumble but still he kept coming, unphased. Everette lifted his gun, aiming higher before shooting and finally the man crumpled on top of the woman. 

Everette fired the gun twice more and when he finished, he was surrounded by the four bodies. Blood pounded in his ears. He stood silently trying to process anything beyond the uncontrollable fear.

Around him the woods had fallen still, he stood there until the bugs began chirping and the frogs resumed their croaking. He stood there until his legs became numb. He was sure he was alone, but he still couldn’t bring himself to move except to back away further from the bodies. 

Everette couldn’t push himself to return to the house, couldn’t push himself to do anything but find a low branch and pull himself up. Climbing until the branches were too thin to hold him. 

There he clung to the tree as the rain began, slow drops at first then into a full rainstorm. It soaked his clothes, chilling his skin until the trembling from fear turned to shivering from cold. 

The rain continued until the sun broke through the clouds. He sat there longer until all that was left was the remaining drops falling from the leaves. 

Everette refused to look at the bodies below, refused to acknowledge the morphed creatures that used to be humans. People with families and friends, lives that were more than just savage death. 

And finally his numb hands released the trunk he was wrapped around. His stiff limbs eased him down until his feet reached the ground. 

Then, he walked. Not towards the farmhouse that had become his refuge but beyond. Past the old, worn road and the trees beyond. He didn’t really know where he was going. He just tried to be grateful for another day alive. But every day was just another filled with fear… overwhelming fear. 

He was tired of feeling scared and of being alone. He would find more to this life. He refused to stop searching until he did. An ache as old as time, the inability to accept death that ran deep within him.  

Then, a rabid scream filled the air close by. It was joined by another deeper, more guttural. The sound sent a chill up his spine, the only sign of unease he revealed. And with only one bullet left, he did what he did best… he ran.