I wake up to the siren buzzing all around the town as far as I can tell. It was a loud wee woo wee woo noise and it was hard to sleep hearing all the commotion from outside. There was a loud sound coming from speakers outside, they were warning us all again and again to not come outside for today whatever the case maybe. Shut all the windows tight, pull all the curtains up and only leave when there is utmost emergency, for which we need to dial 333 and call the emergency services to escort us out.
I hurried up worriedly as to what has befallen this God forsaken place, completely forgetting about Max, who was staying with me for a night over. We were old time besties and he was the only person I could speak properly with for hours and hours. Yet I completely forgot that he was here just because of all the sound which had waken me up. I finally noticed him, he was there at the corner of bed seeping his tea and calm as hell like nothing was going on outside. I finally lost it. “Hey Max, what the hell is going on outside. Is there something dangerous out there?” My voice came out like a tiny whisper with a crisp of fear in it. “Oh hey J, tis is a night morning, ain’t it? Do you want some coffee with this chocolate syrup in it, I swear it tastes so good. Would definitely make your morning up.”
“Cmon dude, this is not the right time for that”
“Nah, this is definitely the right time. I can’t see you worried 24/7. Don’t be afraid, I am here with you and it would be over by today as far as I know. Now do you want some coffee”
“Fine but can you tell me what’s happening after that? “
“Yup, for sure. But before that, just call your sister. She ringed to you for like 3 times.”
I shouted at him, “why didn’t you pick it up?”
Max shrugged, “who said that I didn’t pick it up, your sister was worried about you because she knows how much of a chicken you are. It’s good for you that I was having a night over or else you would be here all alone”
After that I took the coffee he made for me and dialed to my sister, who lived in the other side of the town with her husband and 2 kids who were absolute cuties. I took a large sip and then from the other end my sister picked up, she was mostly worried about me and I hated it. Like I am not a small kid, sure I had many incidents and was nearly afraid of many things but that didn’t mean she has to be this worried about me. Anyways I was relieved to have received her call as I was also a bit worried about her and her sweet voice melted my fears over. She told me to take care of myself and not to leave the house for anything which I have already heard many times before from that loud speaker and ended the call with saying “take care”.
“Soo, you better tell me what you know as fast as you can Max” I shoot up my glance towards him.
He smirked, “Alright alright, I won’t delay further. So I was up 2 hours before you and I saw armed forces outside surrounding every niche of area. There were also many ambulances running at full speed and the road was surprisingly clear. After an hour, they told me and all those other people from the balconies to retire in their house and shut all of our doors down”
“So, you just stayed there for like one hour and never thought to wake me up once?”
“I decided against it thinking how much scared you would be to witness all that”
“Alright no I am not that much of a scar-“ My voice was suddenly interrupted by a loud thump from the front door. It looked like the front door was going to break down soon. We rushed to check it but I suddenly stopped frozen like ice. The window was open and there was a large red eye looking at me. I turned to Max who was barricading the door with everything he could and decided to help him for the eye was there no more.
There were shrieks from outside the house. I dialled up some neighbours but there seemed to be no connection as all. It looked like that we were stuck here isolated from the rest of the world.
“J, did you notice that?” Max said pointing up towards the ceiling. I stared there for like some minutes trying to see what was wrong and then I noticed it, the ceiling of the second floor was coming down. With it all of my house was shrinking little by little. Everything except for us. I felt my clothes tight around my skin and then it hit me, even my clothes were shrinking fuck.
“Max what do we do, what do we do, I I I-“
“J, calm down. We need to get out of here soon”
“But but, they saii- not to get ouut.”
“I know but we got no choice, this house would be upon us if we don’t do anything. Let’s run away from the backdoor. Maybe the thing is only at the front for now”
We rushed to the backdoor but it was locked and the key was upstairs. Max hurried upstairs and returned shortly, but the lock became so small that it was hard to insert the key in it. Not to mention the key was very very tiny compared to it as well, so it kept getting thrown on the floor. Now it was time for Max to be panicked, I never saw this dude panicking and never thought that would happen even if the world would be ending soon, but there he was sitting with his hands on the top of his head.
I was there looking around me, not giving hope. Then it struck me that the things more at the top were shrinking much faster. That explains why our clothes weren’t torned apart yet. I can’t die now, for I don’t know what’s happening to my sister. Maybe it’s the same story there at her place and I must go there fast. That were my thoughts through and through, but death was just around the corner. It’s pace was accelerating from the top. With a sudden burst of adrenaline I knocked down the door with my feet and then we ran out to the streets.
It was pitch black, like I could see the Sun up there and it looked hot af but still it was very dark if that makes any sense. I noticed that at the ground there were several corpses lying around and many vehicles were squashed flat. There were even tanks but they were as flat as they could get, it must be work of some devilish monster. That’s all I could think and then suddenly Max grabbed me and put me into running motion.
“J, where are you going you idiot. We must go to the other side, if we need to survive”
“Max, that’s the exit of the town but I must see my sister. You coming with me or we part ways here?”
“Jay, I can’t leave you alone. I promised that I would keep you safe, go along with me.”
“No, first of all I am not a kid, I don’t need you to keep me safe.”
“I know but-“
“Shut up” I yelled at him, “this is no time for that. You can join me if you want or else we part ways”
“Fine then but let’s promise if one of us dies, we would not forget about each other”
“That’s something I can do”, with that I hurried over the road. Not daring to go to the side of the front door of my house, I took a long route. It was easy to tell where danger eas lurking and where it was safe, as the buildings were shrinking down at the dangerous places.
After some time I was tired and slipped inside the road, no that’s not right. This seems like an underground bunker and I somehow was in it accidentally. It had several rooms inside arranged like a long narrow passaeway and was a bit curvy. I couldn’t climb to the top, so I got with the path of this bunker as I knew very well to stop was to die.
There at the end I saw a small kid, not more than 8, behind some metallic bars. Blood was dripping down his head. I could not unsee that, I must help him somehow. That little boy looked very sorrow and I got a bit closer to him. He looked up at me and then suddenly screamed, “no, don’t come any closer”. I stopped midway in my tracks, his voice was very dark. Like I couldn’t imagine it to be a human voice.
After some time I recollected myself, “ Hey, what happened to you my little friend? “
He looked up at me and it looked like he was fighting something. After some hard try, he said, “I could tell everything that happened but we don’t have the time. Just kill me and do it fast enough. I am the source behind all those things happening at town.”
“I can’t kill you” I admitted and then added, “don’t be so harsh on yourself. Its not your fault really.”
“It is, I was cursed from the beginning. Bad things happened to those who even talked with me. I was contained in a facility, stuck inside for years but then one day my body rebelled, my cage was destroyed and I ran away. With that whole of this town was destroyed and I don’t like how I cause harm to others” Then with pleading look, he continued, “Just please kill me, just do it, it would be better that way for all of us.”
I swallowed hard, this boy whose age was to play around, study and get very excited for stuff like Christmas was here pleading me to end his life. Of course I couldn’t do it whatever he said but then I saw that the ceiling of the bunker was coming down and there were wild howls from behind. I took a quick peak and saw two big red eyes from behind, standing at two legs and having a dog like mouth.
I ran and found that the jail behind which that boy was staying was open. I took him out and carried him with me as I ran. I couldn’t abandon him, however he might protest. After some time I halted, I was paralysed and couldn’t move an inch. There was something dripping on my head, it looked like a green substance and somehow it was going directly inside me, to my brain. I can feel it and that felt very torturous. There was a monster infront of me, grinning like a wild maniac and with everything I had, I stabbed him with a knife lying near me. I stabbed him as he kept grinning and standing wide open near me and then everything stopped. I fainted after that.
I just wake up, sometimes before now. Everything seems to have stopped and I saw blood all over my clothes with the body of that little kid lying near me. I suddenly remembered what I did before I fainted and then it strikes me, I had killed this boy. I was a murderer and now I am recording this tale. So that it reaches out to everyone as it seems like I don’t have much long to live. I can feel my body dying bit by bit.
No one who ever talks with that kid lives after all.