In the village she could outrun every boy and girl, even the guild apprentices and acolytes and they were almost 17.
But this, this was hopeless.
The Gnashers were gaining on her, she couldn't hear them but she KNEW they were closing in.
Once driven to blood frenzy they would never let go of again and chase until their hearts burst.
Her tears could not be stopped as she felt the cramps returning, forcing her to slow down.
As her pace got slower she was unable to maintain it and ended up standing still, her breathing and heartbeat being her whole universe.
Just standing, slightly bent over with hands on her hips she dared to open her eyes and get her bearings.
No Gnashers yet but she could start to hear them: Twigs and branches breaking where the silent runners kept on her trail.
She was too tired to be afraid, just a deep sadness came over her. Dying so far away from everyone she ever knew and loved seemed worse than everything else. She wished she had not ran and stayed to die along with the others when the trek to the neighbor village was ran down by the monsters.
The sight of the house filled her with horror as she got aware of her surroundings. The forbidden place! The Make Sicke place! The elders said that a rest of the old ones death lights where still alive in that building that was not made of brick, wood or straw.
She took a step backward and turned, just to see 5 Gnashers standing in a line behind her. Their chests not even heaving from the run, their eyes rolling back under their white lids as is their way shortly before biting. They stood still and widemouthed, exposing rows of sharp teeth, and did not move a muscle under that rough, gray skin.
They weren't coming any closer. Could it be that the monsters knew about the death light? The thught of the death lights made her take a step away from the structure and closer to the Gnashers. Finally making them move towards her.
Acting on impulse she turned on the heel of the ancient mechanic boots, which were several sizes to big for her, and ran straight towards the structure containing the ancient horror the elders only spoke in low voices: From when man broke the law of nature and brought monsters like the Gnashers to life.
She flew in to the broad doorway and let herself fall into a dark corner. She could see the Gnashers trying to follow her on instinct, but they seemed to be unable to cross an invisible line.
She noticed a narrow staircase, unlike any she ever seen before, leading up. She climbed the stairs and found herself in a dim room, only illuminated by that sparse light coming in from narrow horizontal slits in the buildings 4 sides..
The slits were high up for a post-fall 14 year old, but she managed to gain purchase with her feet and chin herself up just enough to get a good view of the surroundings.
The Gnashers were still out there, trailing that invisible line that kept them from coming closer. She noticed metal posts dotting that same line.
She let herself but lost footing and fell.
Her fall was softened by something that felt like a bundle of rotten twigs that gave away under hear with sad, low cracks.
She turned around to stare directly into the grinning face of a bearded skull.
Around it`s neck something glowed sickeningly green.
Death lights!
She scrambled away from the corpse as fast as she could, filled with ancient terror.
Her back pushed so hard against the opposite wall as if she tried to push herself through it she starred at the corpse.
She noticed that the death light did not engulf the entire body but just something around its neck.
After a minute she crawled closer to see what the glowing object was.
It was ball shaped and appeared to be a long line wrapped around something heavy inside.
There were plants growing close, so the glow could not have been death lights.
She looked at the skulls eyes and prayed for forgiveness as she yanked the glowing object, its lanyard cut jerked the skull from the rest of its body and fell into several pieces with a dull sound.....
STOP!
Okay, okay...I went a bit far with this one:
Since this is the season (and orders from friends and family are piling up) for indoors projects I had the chance to make a Survival Monkey`s Fist with fluorescent, glow-in-the-dark rope I bought earlier this year. This project was ordered by post-apo art aficionado SALADYN and this is why I wrote this sad attempt at a post-apocalyptic short story. :-)
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