I suppose the worst thing about all of this is not knowing how long I have been doing this. It feels like weeks, but the sun does not appear to have moved one single inch in the sky, and the needle on the car's gas gauge has not gone down.
No, I take it back. The worst thing about this is the loneliness. I think I might be losing my mind a little bit here. The only people I've seen since this all began have been zombies. At least I think the others were zombies; I did not get out to say hi to them or anything.
I could shoot the zombies, I still have my gun, but I don't want to waste it. Maybe it's like the sun and the car's gas, never ending, never failing, but maybe it's not. I don't want to be in a situation where I need a gun only to find out that I wasted it all on shambling ghouls that I could easily have driven away from. I should try and find a crowbar or something for the zombies; if I see anymore of them I mean.
The scenery keeps changing, but the road continues straight on. I've gone through cities and suburbs, farmland and forest; it's all very dream-like actually. It seems like I do time traveling too; like when I found that spaceship, or when I saw those futuristic looking cars in “San Francisco”.
The road stays the same though, two lanes or gray cement with a yellow line painted down the middle, but now it seems to be running through a renaissance faire. Except it's a little too convincing to be a renaissance faire; there are no flags hanging from things, and everything seems a little too grimy; a little too permanent.
While the sun bathes the road, the tall trees around the village cast long shadows over it. The idea of leaving the sunlight makes me feel uneasy, but I have an overwhelming urge to check this out. Maybe I can at least figure out if this is a real village or some sort of recreation.
I stop the car; I don't bother pulling off of the road, I feel like I should keep it in the sunlight. I grab my gun and torch from the passenger seat, and leave the car. I can smell the moist earth, and the trees, but also the smell of burned wood and the metallic scent of blood.
It looks like I am near the center of this village; there is a large circle of small stones on the ground surrounding a blackened area that looks like it was used for a bonfire not too long ago. All of the building here seem to face that circle.
Some of the doors of the buildings stand open, while others appear to have been broken through; there is splintered wood littering the ground, some of it smeared with what is almost certainly blood..
I see movement inside one of the buildings; something flickering. I hold my gun and torch together like I have seen in movies. I feel stupid, but it's not like there's anyone here to see me.
Slowly I move across the village center, I can feel the twigs snapping under shoes, and the smell of burnt wood and blood is much stronger here than it was by the car. If this is a dream, it's a bloody realistic one.
Looking through the open doorway of the... hut seems wrong, but building seems like too grand a term for it, I see a pair of glowing orange eyes looking back at me. I bring my torch and gun up, and it is more by luck than restraint that I do not pull the trigger.
The light reveals that what I thought were eyes were merely the dying embers of a fire in some sort of furnace. Relieved, I swing the light back and forth around the interior of the building. I see an anvil near the furnace, a trough of water, a rough wooden table with hammers, pliers, and other tools scattered over it. On the walls I see a couple swords, a peg with horse shoes hanging from it, and another peg with some large metal hoops on it. This must be a blacksmith's shop.
What I don't see is fire sprinklers, or emergency lights, or an empty bottle of water, or anything that betrays this village's modern origins. Aside from myself, the road, and the car, this looks like it might legitimately be some medieval village, or at least a much more convincing fake than I would expect.
I continue to scope out the room with my light. It takes me a few more seconds to realize that I'm not just looking to look; I'm looking for the words. I'm so intent on looking for the words, that my light passes right over something odd before I notice that it was something odd.
The light swings back, but the odd thing is gone. All I am illuminating now is a chair that looks like it has seen better days, but there was something else there a moment ago. Something big; not as big as a person, but maybe a large dog, or a wolf. It was black, and slightly shiny. I search the room for it again, but it does not reappear.
Any other time I would assume that I just imagined it, but seeing a crashed spaceship and real live... unlive zombies has pretty much convinced me that nothing should be taken for granted. Frankly, reality could trot out a unicorn for me right now, and I do not think it would shock me terribly.
I decide to check out some more of the village. It's only now that I am really paying attention that I notice the other signs of a fight. It's not just the broken doors, but there are arrows sticking out of the walls of some of the buildings.
A short distance away I can see a small building that was probably a house. I cannot be completely sure of what it was, but it looks as if someone set a bomb off in it. The wall facing me is gone, and the roof is sagging inwards. I want to go take a closer look at it, but I don't really want to let the car out of my line of sight.
I am so transfixed on the signs of battle around me that I nearly trip over something on the ground. I look down to see a sword lying in the dirt in a dark puddle. The handle of the sword looks to be coated with drying blood, but the blade really gets my attention. It looks like someone dipped it into a pot of matte black paint, and the puddle that the sword is lying in looks to be the same substance.
Kneeling down, I dip a finger into a puddle. It's drying along the edges, like it has been here for awhile. The stuff is thick; almost like black ketchup. It doesn't smell like ketchup though; it doesn't smell like anything I have ever smelled, but the word that comes to mind when I smell it is “evil”.
Something moved inside one of the buildings; I heard it. I wipe my finger on the ground to try and get the black sludge off, and I'm up and moving towards the noise; gun ready. I'm probably going to be disappointed, but the prospect of having someone to talk to is too much to pass up.
The building smells like burnt toast. I would guess that the occupants were cooking something when they were attacked. I think I see the glowing orange of another dying fire in there, and point the light at it to see if this is perhaps another blacksmith's shop.
It's not a fire.
It's eyes.
The eyes are attached to something that looks like a horror-show cross between a bear and a wolf that has been dipped in used motor oil. If it's the same thing I caught a glimpse of in the other building then I horribly misjudged its size. This one is probably as big as I am.
The thing snarls, flinching its face away from my light, and I take that as a chance to run. If I had a proper gun I'd try shooting it in the air to scare the thing off, but this thing, while cool, does not make any sort of imposing noise.
It's behind me; I can hear it's claws digging into the ground as it runs. I don't dare look back. I don't want to know how close it is. I'm going to try and make it to the car, but I don't know if I'll be able to get around it and even get the door open before it's on me.
The road is close now. Ten yards; my shoes thump solidly against the ground. Five yards; I can still hear it behind me, and it sounds like it's almost close enough to get me. Two yards; I'm almost to the road!
My shoes hit pavement, and I almost lose my balance as I round the back of the car. I take my first glimpse back at the village, and see... nothing. I mean, the village is still there, but the wolf-bear that was following me is gone. It's not retreating into the woods, or back to the village, or scrambling up one of the trees, it's just gone.
Was that what was in that basement with me? Was one of those waiting in the pitch black to get me? If so, why didn't it?
I lean against the car to catch my breath, still looking all around for any signs of that beast, but it's nowhere to be seen. Something on the other side of the road does catch my attention though. There is something sticking out of a tree trunk right at the edge of the road
I walk over to the tree, looking around again before I step into the shadows under the tree's branches. The object is a knife; one that looks like it might have come out of the blacksmith's over in the village.
Someone has carved a message into the tree trunk above the knife. As I expect, it says, “DON'T TRUST THE DARKNESS” in rough letters, but below it is something new, “IT WILL CONSUME YOU”.
Well now that is food for thought, isn't it?
I pull the knife out of the tree, and head back to the car. Hopefully the next time I get the urge to stop it will be a brightly lit amusement park.