Short break. Blog Post.

Hey guys I’m going to be taking a short break from posting, I’ll be back on Monday the 7th of May.

Pilgrimage. Short Story.

Sarah reached the top of the hill and unshouldered her pack. There it was, the locals called it the Tree of Life. It stood in the middle of a large clearing. The trees bark was a deep brown, it stretched up into the sky, at least three hundred feet tall, the base was wide, about forty feet across. She could see the opening in the bark from here, a long split that was about seven foot wide at the bottom and about ten foot tall. She sipped her water and just gazed at it, the canopy of leaves were a bright green, the locals said that it bloomed with hundreds of thousands of red flowers once a year, making it look almost as though the top of the tree was burning. Sarah rummaged through her bag and took out her camera, she snapped a few photos then put it away again. Then she sat down and rested, staring at the tree.

When she’d gotten her breath back Sarah stood and put on her backpack, the hill was less steep on this side and seemed like it would be easy to get down. The journey so far had been difficult but not impossible, a reasonably fit person wouldn’t have too much trouble doing it. She looked up at the tree again, though maybe it would be best if this tree remained a secret, hidden from the world. It was only luck that she herself had heard about it, overhearing two locals on the bus talking about a pilgrimage. She’d used that knowledge to glean more from people throughout her trip. She knew the locals didn’t like talking about it with her, even though she tried to pretend she knew all about it already. Sarah started to walk, the descent was easier than she had hoped and she found herself at the bottom in an hour, the hill was rocky and there were plenty of places to walk down without too much danger of slipping. At the bottom she paused and took another sip of water. She had to be careful and take her time, it wouldn’t do to become over excited, that was when mistakes happened and a mistake out here could kill her. Sure the locals visited, but it seemed that they only did so every few months to make offerings. God only knew how long she’d be out here before someone found her.

The walk was longer than she expected, from the top of the hill it looked as though it was only a short distance from the base, the lack of other, smaller trees helped with the illusion. As she walked she occasionally stopped and snapped some more pictures. There was something peaceful about the open field, almost reverential, like stepping inside a church. The wind blew but it was a quiet, soothing noise, she could hear a river somewhere in the distance, though she hadn’t spotted one from the hill.

Sarah stood at the base of the tree, she reached out and gently touched the trunk, it was surprisingly warm. The bark itself felt smooth underneath her hands. The opening looked natural, the bark either side of it was undamaged. Inside was dark and shadowy but she could make out the remains of previous offerings, flowers, some mostly rotted fruits. A faint scent of damp earthy decay emanated from it, but Sarah found it oddly comforting, it reminded her of digging through the rich soil of her grandmothers garden as a girl, when they would plant flowers together on sunny days. She realised that she had already decided to keep this place a secret, she’d share photos of it but she would make something up about its location. This was a place of peace and solitude, it wasn’t meant to be filled with hundreds of tourists milling about. There was something deeply spiritual about it, Sarah reached out and touched the bark again, it was though she could feel faint vibrations, like the slow, steady beat of a giant heart. Sarah closed her eyes and breathed deeply, feeling her heartbeat begin to sync with the vibration, she released her breath and felt completely content. She took her hand away from the bark and stumbled forward slightly, she reached out and steadied herself on the tree, her head felt a little fuzzy, the world seemed just a little skewed. She shook her head and then went to her bag to grab a snack, the journey must have been more tiring than she realised. As she ate she walked around the base of the tree, only truly grasping the size of it after completing a circuit. Back at the opening she stepped inside, shivering slightly at the dip in temperature. Inside the tree was cool and slightly damp, the deep smell of earth was stronger, almost uncomfortably so. Another wave of dizziness hit, Sarah reached out and steadied herself against the wall of the tree, instantly she felt better. That steady beat was stronger here, she could feel it through her whole body. She felt herself relaxing and then suddenly she was sitting on the cold ground, her legs were numb and her body was cold. The sun had shifted outside, the shadow of the tree stretched out from her. Part of her knew she should get moving, that she needed help but she couldn’t move. She felt a deep sense of relaxation through her body, her limbs were heavy and moved ever so slowly. She felt her head dip forwards and her eyes start to close. She tried to move herself and just collapsed forward. Sarah lay on the ground, eyes closed and her breathing slowing.

Outside the moon cast a bright, silver light on the tree as a gentle wind whispered through the leaves. One by one flowers began to grow, a deep purple in the silver light. When dawn stretched across the horizon the flowers opened, their deep red petals revealing a golden centre that seemed to glow in the morning light. Sarah’s bag lay to the side of the opening, there was nothing else to show she’d been there.

Escape. Flash Fiction.

Amanda sat down on the warm rocks, her legs were tired and shaky, her mouth was dry, she’d run out of water about an hour back and hadn’t come across any water out here so far. Her stomach rumbled lightly but she ignored it, she’d been hungrier before, there was still plenty of time for her to find food before she starved. As she caught her breath she surveyed the land, rolling green hills stretching out as far as she could see, gnarled, twisted trees dotted the landscape but there was little else. She glanced behind her and could see the large black plume of smoke rising in the distance, she looked ahead, it was better not to think about that. She still had a long way to go, sighing she stood from the rocks and started walking. The ground was slightly spongy, her feet sinking into it as she walked, it was almost like walking on cushions. The green grass wasn’t as soft as it looked, the blades felt waxy and sharp and occasionally they scratched her ankles as she went. She wasn’t dressed for cross country travel, wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, everything wasn’t supposed to kick off for another two weeks but it made no difference to her. She had planned on bringing nothing, she just wanted off this shit heap of a planet. There was still thirty years left on her sentence and that was thirty years too long.

Amanda could see people in the distance, ten in all, all moving towards the hidden building. Even though she knew it was there it was hard to distinguish, whoever had built it had done an excellent job of blending it into the landscape and it looked just like another low hill, the only difference was the thin green door on one side. She started walking faster, ignoring the ache in her legs, she didn’t want to be the last to arrive. Behind her came a dull roar, faded by distance. She spun around, heart thumping, there was nothing behind her, at least not that she could see. What the hell could make that kind of noise? Most of the planet had been catalogued and she could recall no animals larger than a small dog. What ever made that noise was big. She broke into a light jog. She’d heard rumours of the genetic labs creating Goliaths but she had never really believed them, they were just stories that the other prisoners whispered to each other in the dark.

The door opened before Amanda could knock on it, there was no one on the other side. She entered, turning sideways to squeeze through. Inside was lit by low light casting shadows around the small room. “Please take a seat. We will be departing shortly.” a spotlight lit a single chair, Amanda collapsed into it. It was soft and comfortable, as the restraints lowered over her shoulders she felt herself starting to doze off. The chair jerked backwards, startling her it went down a short corridor and joined a row of filled seats. One or two people were reading, most were sitting silently. Amanda let herself doze.

The rumbling woke her up, the countdown started a moment later. Light flooded the room revealing large windows. Amanda felt that familiar spike of adrenaline and started smiling. The room shook as the ship rose into the air. She watched as the landscape stretched out, giving her a larger view. She could see more plumes of smoke and moving through the haze were giant creatures, impossibly large. They were humanoid in shape, two legs, two arms, their bodies were naked, she could make out little else. Then the ship was too high and they were out of view, people were muttering to one another. Amanda closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath, she was finally free of that place. Everything else was secondary.

No short story today.

Hey guys, there won’t be a short story today, will be back on Monday as usual.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Reset. Flash Fiction.

The room was small, holding only a hospital bed and a chair beside it, a single bare bulb hung from the ceiling giving a weak and watery kind of light. Dana sat on the chair, the old man lay in the bed, she didn’t know his name, she didn’t bother learning them any more. He wore a thin hospital gown and was shivering with fever, his forehead was damp with perspiration and sweat stains were steadily growing under his arms. Dana didn’t speak, there were no offered words or reassurance, she just watched and waited. Every now and then she glanced at her watch to see how much time had passed, you could never tell in the room which was devoid of clocks and windows. The mans breathing was shallow and it rattled with each inhale and exhale, occasionally he would frown or groan, but beyond that he was silent. Dana reached out and gently took one of his wrists in her hand, she found his pulse, weak but steady, and gently lowered his hand to the bed. She wiped at the the sheets discretely, trying to get rid of the strange wet, greasy feel left on her hands. She wasn’t sure when he had last bathed, she couldn’t remember.

Dana’s stomach grumbled sullenly, she was hungry now, thirsty too. She had nothing to eat since breakfast and stupidly forget to grab snacks before coming in. She wasn’t allowed leave the room at all once her shift began, not until someone came to relieve her. She looked at her watch, another three hours to go.

An hour later and the old man gave one final coughing rasp before his chest lay still. Dana picked up his wrist again, ignoring the feeling of revulsion as her fingers slid along his skin. There was no heartbeat. The old man opened his eyes and breathed deeply, his plemmhy lungs rumbled then he started to cough, he spat up three globs of mucous onto the floor. When he stopped coughing he breathed deeply again and smiled. “Much better. I’m feeling a little hungry.”
Dana nodded, “We’ll get you some broth. You need to take it easy, build your strength.”
The old man shook his head, “I’ve spent far too long taking it easy. I’ve been given a second shot and I don’t intend to waste it!” Dana caught herself just before she rolled her eyes. She knew in a day or two he’d be talking about how God spared him, as if God had anything to do with it. Sometimes she wondered if he was pissed when they pulled someone from him, snatched what was rightfully his. There was also the other guy, assuming both existed, neither would be entirely pleased with what they were doing.

“I think I’ll need a bath too, I feel filthy, perhaps a sponge bath?” He grinned up at her, she left her face blank, showing none of the revulsion she felt. It wouldn’t have been the first time she’d given him one, but every other time he’d been unconscious or embarrassed and quiet. Now though he leered up at her, almost drooling. “I’ll get one someone in as soon as possible.”
his smiled dropped a little, “Oh. When’s the food getting here?”
Dana stood from the chair, “I’ll go check.”
She left the small room and entered a long, curving white corridor, she could leave now that the danger had passed. Windows lined the walls letting the sun stream in, it was almost painfully bright after the dimness of the room. Tony was doing his rounds, she stopped him and told him that 86 was recovering, he nodded and went to set things in motion. Dana slipped back into the room, “We should have food for you soon.”
“How should we amuse ourselves in the mean time?”
Dana bit her tongue, “You should rest, maybe try nap.”
He scowled at her then rolled over in the bed, his back towards her. Dana took a slow deep breath and counted to ten. This was her life now, an eternity with pervy, horny old men. There were other jobs out there, one’s she’d enjoy much more, but none offered the perk of immortality. There was something in the ground, she wasn’t high up enough to know what it was or even how it worked, she just knew that it would prevent the dead from dying. Over the course of two weeks you’d go from a skeletal husk to a happy, healthy twenty year old. Those who had enough money were more than welcome to take advantage. Dana on the other hand was killed every ten years to keep her young and beautiful, though she was nearing one hundred and ten years old she had yet to see what she would look like when she hit thirty five. She was snapped out of her thoughts as someone knocked on the door, a young woman entered carrying a tray with a bowl of broth and a glass of water. She placed the tray across the old mans lap after Dana helped him sit up. At least he could feel himself now, thank God for small mercies. The woman ducked out of the room quickly, Dana couldn’t remember her name, she was new, hadn’t been killed yet. She watched the man eat for a moment and happy that he would manage she sat down and waited for her shift to end.

The Storm. Short Story.

Tabitha looked out at the horizon and the huge boiling clouds that raced towards her. The dust storm would hit soon, the house was already creaking and groaning in the wind. She wrung her hands together, hoping she’d spot something in the vast plains in front of her, anything to suggest that Jeremy was still alive. He’d gone out the day before and hadn’t returned. She hadn’t slept well, her dreams had been filled with Jeremy falling and hurting himself, of him being found by some of the gangs. She caught of glimpse of something outside, a figure in the distance. It stumbled, then fell from view. A second later she saw the figure struggling to their feet. She knew it was Jeremy, it had to be, there was no one else who’d be walking alone out here, not with the storm coming. Tabitha ran to the door and threw it open before she dashed outside, the wind tugged at her clothes and the fine soil blew up into her eyes but she didn’t stop. Behind her she could hear the door to the house slam closed. Looking ahead she could make out more detail of the person, it was definitely a man, though beyond that it was difficult to say. He had light coloured hair and his clothes were dark, but whether that was their natural colour or if they were just stained with dirt Tabitha couldn’t tell. Ahead the man stumbled and fell, this time he didn’t get up.

Tabithas breath came in heavy gasps, there was a painful stitch in her side but still she kept running. He was so close, the dust storm was coming but if they were lucky, and she was fast, they might just make it back to the house. Tabitha fell to her knees beside the man who was lying face down, ignoring the sudden flair of pain on her kneecaps as she dropped, she rolled the man over fully and saw it wasn’t Jeremy. She didn’t know who this man was. He had old scars criss crossing his face, he had a black eye and there were fresh scratches on his face. Tabitha pushed the disappointment down, she could still help this man and he might have seen Jeremy somewhere out here. She glanced up at the looming storm, it looked as though the entire world was ending. If they were caught out here they were both dead, there just wasn’t time. She pulled her hand back and slapped the man across the face. His eyes flew open and he sat up, flailing about himself wildly. Tabitha jerked herself backwards out of the path of his fists. “Hey! HEY! Stop it. Your safe but we need to get moving”
His swings weakened then he stopped, collapsing backwards. “There isn’t time to rest, come on, we have to get back to the house.” Tabitha helped the man to his feet, she struggled under his weight but she managed, with one of his arms slung around her shoulders the two of them began to walk drunkenly towards the house. At first Tabitha kept glancing behind them, tracking the storm, every time she looked it seemed as though it was right on top of them. Grit and dust stung as it lashed across her cheeks and arms, she coughed as the dry dust coated her mouth and lungs. The storm would reach them when it reached them.

Between panting breaths, Tabitha gasped a question, “what happened to you? Why were you out here?”
the man was quiet for a few seconds, “we were looking for food, water, anything really. There’s nothing left out there.”
“There’s nothing left here either.” each word was punctuated by a gasp.
“Did you see anyone out here? I thought I saw someone”
The man looked around wildly, stumbling to his knees on a rock, he looked up at her, “What did they look like?”
“It was a man, about six foot, he had blondish hair and dark clothes. I couldn’t make out anything more.”
the man struggled to his feet, “we have to move, quickly. I ran into him while I was searching, he attacked me, he tried to kill me. I’m lucky I survived.”

Tabitha paused, that couldn’t be right, Jeremy wouldn’t have attacked someone, not unprovoked. They were struggling but they weren’t at that point yet. She glanced at the man, at his grime covered face, he had said we earlier. “How many were in your group?”
“There’s twelve of us. There were more but we lost some of them. We were attacked for the little food we had.”
“Why did that man attack you?”
“I don’t know, he was looking for food and water too, we all are. I had a water skin and maybe he was desperate for it. He took it and left me for dead.”
He stumbled again and this time there was a flash of silver, a necklace had worked its way free, a small silver cross that Jeremy refused to take off, even when he bathed. Even with her squinting eyes she knew that it was his necklace. The man had lied to her, she knew Jeremy wouldn’t attack someone. She glanced behind herself again, the storm was almost on top of them now, the house was still a good distance away. She with a cry she shoved the man to the side and started running. She was slow, already tired from his weight, but she was faster than him and that was what mattered. The man landed heavily with a groan, he called out to her but the wind stole his words and garbled them. She didn’t pause, she didn’t look back. Tabitha panted and gasped as she half ran, half stumbled over the hard dirt. Her mouth was impossibly dry and her legs felt as though they would just simply stop any second. She didn’t look back as she ran, she expected to feel the mans hands grasping at her every time she stumbled or slowed, expected to feel his hot weight on her again, but this time dragging her down to the ground.

Tabitha reached the porch just as the storm hit. She struggled to close the door against the wind but she managed. She collapsed against it, too tired to do anything but get her breath back. When she finally did she started to cry, the tears cutting streaks through the drying dirt on her face. She stood and shakily walked to the sink, her legs barely supported her. She turned on the tap and watched the murky water flow from the tap, she took handfuls of it and splashed it against her face, enjoying the cold. The water was no good for drinking or cooking, but she could bathe in it at least. Tabitha screamed as something slammed into the front door. Again and again the pounding came, there were words there, she could just make out the begging and pleading over the howl of the wind and the creaks and groans of the house. She looked out the window above the sink and saw nothing but the swirling dust. The banging turned into feeble knocks and a moment later there was silence.

The storm ended the next morning, Tabitha found him lying on the porch, huddled over. She had no sympathy, it was too good for him, he should have suffered more. She dragged the body from the porch, ignoring the pain in her legs and arms. Once he was a little bit away from the house she left him there before returning to the kitchen, there she found a sharp knife. It wasn’t ideal, but she would just have to make do, she was a survivor and she was going to survive, no matter what.

The Horde. Short Story.

The wind howled through the buildings carrying with it the thick, animalistic scent of fur and blood and filth. Every now and then Jacob could hear a scream carried by the wind, a snarl or a yelp, the horde was coming. A man had run into the town the day before, exhausted, near delirious, ranting about the monsters that were coming, half of his face had been covered in dried blood, the rest of him was coated in muck and grime. He had ranted for almost twenty minutes before he collapsed into unconsciousness, in that time they’d learned that his settlement had been attacked and he had been one of the survivors. He didn’t know if there were others, all he knew was that he ran as fast as he could and didn’t stop. A few people in the town wanted to throw him out, worried that the monsters were following him, but it was too late to make a difference. If the stories were true the creatures would be unstoppable. The size of the town offered some protection, made in the few stable tall buildings of old they could barricade themselves indoors, spread out into different buildings. Jacob knew that some had grouped together for protection while others like him retreated to higher ground. This place was his home, but his home could be rebuilt, he wouldn’t get another life. A flashing light in the distance caught his eye, that was Evie, up one one of the other buildings keeping watch. Four flashes, they were close.

Ten minutes later he heard them arrive, their shouts and screams echoing off the buildings accompanying the sound of smashing glass and the groaning shriek of tearing metal. Jacob scanned the streets below him, he was four stories up, high enough that hopefully they would miss him. Most of the taller buildings had already collapsed and any that hadn’t were too unstable. Jacobs breath caught in his throat when he saw the first one, it was nothing like he imagined. He had pictured giant fierce lions and panthers, like the kind he’d seen pictures of, instead he was looking at something twisted and sick. He could make out the face of a human, mouth stuck open in a permanent snarl. It had three muscular arms, two in the normal place and a third coming from its stomach, another, smaller arm jiggled loosely from it’s side. Its legs were thick and covered in criss crossing veins. Jacob threw himself back from the edge, praying it hadn’t seen him. The thing was climbing a building one street over. Heart beating wildly Jacob crept from the roof back towards the stairwell, earlier he’d blocked it with a metal pipe hoping it would help keep the things out. Now he slid the pipe free, wincing as it clanged and jangled against the door. He gripped the pipe tightly, feeling comforted by the weight of it in his hand. He pulled the door open and slipped into the darkness inside. He kept the door open a crack and peered through. He saw another one of those things leaping through the air, this one had long, twisted horns sprouting from all over its body, it carried with it a human head, swinging it by the hair as it let out a laughing shout. Jacob let the door close, he only had a glimpse but he was pretty sure the head had belonged to Evie.

Outside he could hear the screams and shouts, the rumbling of a building falling somewhere. Every now and then there would be a bang or crash against the building and each time he froze, barely able to breathe. Jacob slowly counted to ten after each one, gripping the pole tightly, only when he reached ten and there were no more sounds did he allow himself to relax.

Downstairs there was a loud crash, Jacob froze, he could hear something moving about on heavy feet. Below him the door to the stairwell opened. Jacob couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. There came a low chuckle from below, a gravelly voice called something out but it was difficult to understand, it took Jacob a second to decipher it. “I can smell your fear.” a small whimper escaped before he could stop it, below there came another chuckle. The door to the stairwell closed and then he was in the silent darkness again. He counted to ten, then released the breath he’d been holding. Then it moved. It’s heavy body plodded up the stairs slowly, as if it had all the time in the world. Jacob couldn’t move, he knew he had to but his body wouldn’t respond. He felt a warm wetness spread from his crotch and some part of him was dimly aware that he had just pissed himself. The chuckling started again, just the sound of it made Jacobs throat clench in sympathy. There was a scraping sound, just below him, the thing wasn’t far now. The thing called out from below, “Do you want to live, human?”
It sounded so close, he could almost feel the breath of it on his face.
“I asked you a question.”
“Yes.”
“Good. Tell me of the other towns.”
“There’s another nearby, it’s about two days journey from here. It’s small.”
“You will take us to it or you will die.”
“I-”
something heavy and wet landed in his lap, the stench of blood invaded his nostrils, his hands moved over it and he let out a shriek as he pushed the head from his lap, its long damp, sticky hair tangling in his fingers.
“you will take us or you will die.”
“Please, please I’ll take you, just don’t kill me.”
The creature chuckled, the sound of it hurt Jacobs ears, it was so close now he could feel the rumble of the words in his own chest, could smell the foetid rank stench of the creatures breath as it washed over him, “you’re all the same, anything to live just a little longer.”

Muddling Through. Flash Fiction.

Diana shifted uncomfortably, the line was moving slowly and she’d been standing for hours. She shuffled forward slightly as the person ahead of her moved up. The line snaked back and forth on itself, with stained and rusting metal barriers corralling the crowd, the people in line didn’t speak for the most part, they stood in silence, reading or listening to music. Guards stood around idly, one or two rested their hands on the butt of their guns but most just looked bored. Overhead a plane screamed past, Diana’s heart jumped, her body telling her to run, but she, like everyone else in the line, ignored it. There hadn’t been an attack in months, but still that noise got to her. The man in front of her pulled a thermos out of his bag and unscrewed it, pouring himself a cup of watery looking tea. He caught her glance,
“Would you like some?”
Diana smiled, “No, thank you though.” She didn’t like tea, never had, but the offer meant more to her than anything. It was these little moments of kindness that reminded her they were all in it together, the entire human race was just trying to muddle through the best they could.

The line shuffled forward.

Diana looked up at the large posters around the square, faded and tattered they gently undulated in the light breeze. She remembered when those posters had been put up, when the words “We Will Defend our Planet!” actually inspired hope, when they thought they had a chance to win. Now she wasn’t so sure, the war had been raging but it didn’t seem as though there was any end in sight. The broadcasts boasted about victories and how they were keeping the lines together, but Diana wasn’t convinced. Her sister had lived near the border until a few months ago and she said that every day the aliens were pushing just a little bit further. There were also the rumours of conscription, no one seemed to know if it would happen or not but the rumours said anyone between the ages of 18 and 35 would be conscripted.

Diana could see the doors of the warehouse ahead of her, if anything it made the waiting worse, she was so close she could just about hear the people at the front chatting. She felt a spike of annoyance, why couldn’t they just get their shit and move on quickly? From somewhere at the back there was a shout, then another, Diana looked around but couldn’t see anything, a second later there was a loud gunshot. Diana ducked, as did everyone else in the crowd, then the armed guards started shouting it had been taken care of. Diana straightened up, probably just a scuffle over food, she was just glad it wasn’t bad enough for them to clear the square, they wouldn’t let you save your place in line when that happened.

Finally she was at the front, she handed over her list and tokens. The man behind the counter grabbed out two boxes, stacked on top of each other, then he vanished into the warehouse to grab a few things for her. She always hated waiting like this, she always felt guilty, like she was doing something wrong, the guards all eyed her suspiciously as she waited. The man returned a moment later and threw a few things into the boxes, “we were out of some of the items you requested, I’ve marked them on the list, if you’re here a bit earlier next time we might still have them.”
Diana bit her tongue, it wouldn’t do her any good to get into an argument and it wasn’t like he’d care that she’d been in line since six A.M. She grabbed the boxes, “Thanks.” and with that she left.

The walk home was the worst part, she always had a nagging fear that someone was going to attack her and steal her food, it hadn’t happened to her, yet, but it was happening to others. She walked with the boxes gripped tightly, her head down and shoulders slightly hunched. She walked quickly and didn’t make eye contact. This was always the worst part of her week. Up ahead was her building, at the door she pressed her side against the card scanner, it beeped as it registered the card in her pocket and the door clicked open. She pulled it the rest of the way and stepped inside. The lobby was small and dimly lit in the afternoon sun, the lifts weren’t running, they only worked for two half hour periods a day to save electricity. As the door clicked closed behind her she felt ehrself relax. Diana ignored the lifts and went into the stair well, she had wanted an apartment as high as possible when she first moved to the city, she wanted an impressive view, now she was happy she could only afford a place on the second floor.

Final Job. Short Story.

“Are you sure about this?”
“Yes, completely. We’re not going to get caught, no one even knows this place exists, besides me and the owner and he’s dead now.”
“But a place like this has to have some security, its only defence can’t be that it’s out in the middle of fucking nowhere.”
“Nah, there’s a system outside, but I got all the access codes. Don’t worry about this. Just trust me OK?”
Sam scanned the horizon, there were nothing but a group of trees in the distance, behind him Ted worked on the lock. The door itself had been built right into the mountain face, if they hadn’t known where it was they’d have gone right past it. Even now knowing where it was Sam found it difficult to make out the seams of the door. It had been a four hour drive from the nearest town, though calling it a town was being generous. Population of only four hundred and as they drove through it seemed like every damned one of them was watching them. Behind him he heard a click, “we’re in!” Sam turned to see the door already open, the large slab of rock moved easily and Sam saw that he’d gotten the dimensions of the door wrong. Ted stepped inside the door and reached around for a second, “here it is.” he flicked the three switches in the correct order as he turned the last one a light came on above him revealing a metal staircase that lead downwards.

They stood at the bottom of the staircase, Sam didn’t like it, he could feel the weight of the mountain pressing down above them, just waiting to trap them down here forever. Ted was working on the second door, which was based on a coded question and answer system. It didn’t take him long to type in the answers and the door popped open revealing the vault.

The room consisted of a large sitting room, the walls were covered in fine art and artefacts, the floors were carpeted in thick, plush carpet. On one end of the sitting room there was a door that lead to the kitchen, a door to the right lead deeper into the vault. “This place is basically a bomb shelter and he said it was more than enough to house a few hundred people. We’re probably going to have to empty this place in multiple trips, there’s no way we’re gonna fit even a tenth of this stuff inside the car and we haven’t even gotten to the next rooms!” Ted went to the wall and slid his hand around a glass case, looking for the catch on it. Sam looked around, the room was well lit and spacious, but still it felt off, there were no windows, not even a hint of the outside world. “Can we just grab whatever and go?”
“No, I don’t think we can. We should stay for a bit, take inventory. There’s food and water in here to last for decades so we can camp out here if we need to. We’ll figure out what we want to sell and what we want to keep then go from there.”

There was a bright flash of light and an attractive young woman stood in the middle of the room. She had long blonde hair, bright red lips, smoky eyes and breasts that looked uncomfortably large.
“Hello, I am Vanessa. How may I serve you?”
“Guess old Jeremy was a bit of a perv. He didn’t mention the hologram program. Probably has a sex doll of her stashed away somewhere too.”
Vanessa looked at him blankly, “Maybe you can help, do you have an inventory list of all the items in the place?”
“Yes. I do.”
Sam and Ted looked at each other, Ted sighed, “Well, can I have a copy?”
“Do you have the password?”
“Password? No.”
“Well, I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you then. To use me you will have to provide the password.”
Behind them the door swung shut.
“As I have no record of you and you do not know the password you are assumed to be intruders. You cannot leave until Mr. Cochrane either releases you personally or gives me the password. I have alerted him to your presence.”
“Uhhh…What if Mr. Cochrane is dead?”
“I’m sorry I don’t understand the question.”
“What if Mr. Cochrane cannot respond?”
“He is currently the only authorized user. I cannot release you until he has been contacted.”
“What the fuck? What kind of stupid system is that? There has to be back ups, work arounds. What if he was here and was injured or unconscious?”
“I am sorry, you are not authorized to access that information. Please provide the password or ask a different question.”

Ted stood from the door, “It’s no good. We’re not getting through here, the door was like a foot thick and there’s no manual way for the door to be opened, least not that I can see.”
Sam looked at him from the couch, “we have to figure out a way through. No one else knows where here, Jeremy is dead. There’s no one coming for us, we’re on our own out here.”

Ted shook his head. “unless there’s power tools stashed away in here I don’t think we’ll have much luck.”
Sam stood “well you’d better figure something the fuck out because it’s your fault we’re out here in the first place and it’s your fault we’re locked in this fucking thing.”
“Look, just calm down OK. I’ll get us out of here. I’ve gotten us out of worse spots haven’t I?”
“Really? Name one time we were worse off than we are now…Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Sam left the sitting room and went into the kitchen, the place was supposed to be well stocked, at the very least there should be some booze squirrelled away somewhere. Probably some drugs too, rich people wouldn’t cut themselves off from their supply, it was just a matter of finding it. He quickly found a bottle of rum, he twisted off the cap and took three big swallows, feeling it burn his throat and stomach, before he started coughing. Eyes watering he took another swig. If he was going to end up dying here he wasn’t going to do that sober.

Always With You. Flash Fiction.

Eve looked down at her watch, there was still another twenty minutes left in the presentation and she’d checked out of it a few minutes in. She glanced around the room, going by the yawns and vacant stares she wasn’t the only one that was bored. Over head there was the hum of the projector which created a soothing background drone. Eve twirled her pen in her fingers, soon this bullshit would end and she could get back to work.

The heat was beginning to build, making the room stuffy and stifling, they’d been stuck in here for an hour already. She could feel the antsy energy in the room, people were starting to shuffle papers and put stuff away. The presenter was starting to wind down now and Eve felt a surge of relief as he clicked into his last slide. “OK, I think that about covers it, does anyone have any questions?”
The room stilled, “No? Well, if anyone walks to talk to me after they’re more than welcome.” a light smattering of applause cut across the last few words as people began to stand and leave the room. Eve stood, grabbed her doodle-filled notebook and joined the others in filing out of the room. The crowd shuffled through the doors before branching off, as Eve stepped outside the room she spotted him. Her feet slowed for a second, her heart thudded heavily. She let her eyes move over him without stopping, maybe he hadn’t spotted her, she moved to the left as discretely as she could, trying to stay with the bulk of the crowd. She didn’t look behind herself as she walked, she kept her eyes straight ahead. She couldn’t turn this into a big deal, it would reflect badly on her, she needed to find some building security to take care of it. She picked up the pace a little, trying to put some distance between them, she longed to look back, to make sure he wasn’t following but that would be a dead giveaway. She needed to keep things calm, controlled. Up ahead she spotted the door to the women’s bathroom, perfect, she could hide in there and call the building reception on her cell. She pushed open the door and walked in, sparing a quick look behind herself. There he was, not ten feet back, that familiar vacant smile on his face, his dead eyes boring into her soul. The door closed and broke her eye contact. Eve was trembling, she searched her pockets for her phone before pulling it out with shaking fingers. Eve checked the bathroom and saw it was empty, that meant he knew she was in here and if he came in they’d be all alone. She moved into one of the stalls and locked the door, then she sat down and started looking up the phone number for the building. As she was waiting for the webpage to load she heard the door open and close, the footsteps that followed were heavy and slow. Eve’s mouth dried up, it was hard to breathe, it was him, it had to be him. The footsteps were getting closer until they stopped outside her stall, she looked down and saw a pair of men’s leather shoes. There was a faint rapping on the door. “Are you in there?” there was a light chuckle but it sounded forced, “of course you are, I don’t peg you as someone who’d climb out a window. No, you’re too good for that kind of thing, aren’t you?” he slammed his fist into the door, Eve jumped, a small squeak escaping from her mouth. The webpage loaded and she quickly pressed the number, the phone started ringing. “Do you really think anyone is going to get here before I’m through with you?”
There was another bang on the door. “Just open the door and make it easier for us all, OK? I promise it won’t hurt.”
“Hello Jefferson Build-”
“I’m trapped in the women’s bathroom on the first floor there’s a man in here trying to hurt me send security.”
He banged on the door again, “What are you telling them? All your lies no doubt. Did they tell you security is on their way yet? I like a challenge.”
Eve whimpered, she couldn’t hear what the voice on the phone was saying over the s ound of her own heart, her harsh, gasping breaths. He had found her, how had he found her? there was another bang as the door rattled in its frame, there was a faint cracking sound this time. Eve moaned. The door flew open, slamming into the wall, Eve screamed as he lunged towards her.

When security arrived he was already gone, they found Eve still sitting in the stall, shaking and crying. She had a steadily growing bruise around her eye, there was no sign of the man, he was gone but his words as he’d stood over her would haunt her dreams for years to come, “I will always find you.”