Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-33904527-20180423211749

“We’ve got to go!” Tracy yelled at Julian, tugging on his sleeve as he watched his beloved mother fall victim to the terrible illness that had already claimed half of the world around him. They stood at the front of his apartment, where Noah, Tracy, and Kendra were urging their friend to escape the clutches of death before it consumed them all.

With teary eyes, Julian whispered one last goodbye to his collapsed parent, her golden hair flowing across the carpet in the strong gusts that had swept his home town. He raced side-by-side with Tracy across the wonky pavement, trying to ignore the dozens of screaming voices that seemed to emanate from every direction. People were attempting to do exactly as they were, leave the town and flee to the countryside, where there were less people to spread the disease. Many didn’t make it. Already, bodies had been distributed across the road, halfway to their vehicles, luggage sprawled beside them.

Noah and Kendra were sitting in the back of the polished pick-up truck, fearing for their lives as they huddled in a tense, sibling embrace. Tracy leaped into the front seat, as Julian ran around to the steering wheel and shoved the keys into the ignition, slamming his foot down onto the acceleration amidst the chaos that surrounded them.

Within a few minutes, they had made it a considerable distance from the insanity. Everyone relaxed slightly as Julian slowed the car down and let out a large sigh, still a little shaken from the experience. It seemed as if time had slowed down during those first few minutes of panic, but looking at it from hindsight, it all seemed a blur. The reality of what had happened still hadn’t quite hit them, but it would settle in soon, like a parasite digging into their brain.

Tracy tried to cut the silence between them by turning on the radio, but all the channels just produced static. Kendra kept a firm grip on her 10-year-old brother, as he struggled to keep himself awake, passing out for a few seconds, then waking up again. She was wary of the late night he had before, and the sudden awakening he was unpleasantly greeted to an hour ago. Looking into his starry, blue eyes, she felt a strong urge to protect him above all else. She would do anything to get him through this nightmare. Even if it meant sacrificing herself. She begged God to have mercy on him.

Tracy sat patiently, mumbling some prayers and shakily holding a Bible in her pale hands. She was the most devout out of all of them, always having faith in the toughest of times. And now was no different. Julian could see her visibly relax out of the corner of his eye as she slowly turned the pages.

How he loved her. Julian had adored Tracy the moment he met her, with her small, thin-lipped smile and her long locks of chestnut brown, along with those large, sparkly eyes that would lose you in a sea of comfort. She was so delicate, with no intention of evil, or wrongdoing. Tracy would read the same books as him, listen to the same music, enjoy the same genres of film. She was his dream girl. And yet, she never understood his feelings for her. One day, he would decide regularly, he was going to confess to his love, but Julian wondered if there was much time left to do this, after the recent events.

Noah was still being introduced to Christianity. He was sceptical and quite often had lots of questions about what he had been taught, just like everyone else when they were being raised Christian. Slowly, but surely, Noah was learning more and more, and asking less and less questions. Soon, he would have sufficient education, and fully accept Christianity as his faith. This bothered Julian slightly.

Julian found his trust in the Lord dwindling at the worst of times. He hid this from the group, but after the ordeal of the illness, he just didn’t know if he could really believe in God anymore. No longer was he comforted by the alleged “will” of God, for what God would allow such a vile curse to be put upon his own creation? Julian thought about this as he gripped the steering wheel, wary of his surroundings, trying to find a petrol station or abandoned building to stop at. Besides, should Noah really be forced into their way of life? Or should he be taught to choose for himself?

Together, they travelled over bumpy hills, and across grass-filled meadows while the sun beat heavily through the day.

“Where are we going? What’s going on?” Noah asked with a quiver of emotion in his tone of voice. Everyone glanced around uneasily, before Kendra spoke up. “Never mind that now. Just…try and get some sleep. If you’re scared, just think of Jesus, and he will guide you.”

Kendra whispered soft lullabies to Noah, as he shifted slightly and closed his eyes. They were all glad that Noah’s mind had been put to rest, but the truth would surely break him, when he inevitably found out. His child-like innocence would snap, and he would have to accept their likely fate. It scared Julian, who was more than a decade older, just to think about it himself.

Later, an old barn came into view over the hilltops. It was weathered, but mostly undamaged, reeking with the stench of manure. Julian parked on the dry, afternoon grass and went to investigate the area. The barn was empty of life, and there was no furniture, or traces of life, just endless cubes of hay littering the floor. Over a few hours, most of the excess hay was cleared, and used to form a makeshift obstacle course by Noah. As he jumped from bale to bale, Kendra worked on arranging their bedroom.

There was an upstairs section of the barn, but it was broken and inaccessible. Julian thought he could see something up there covered by a few stray pieces of wood, but he dismissed it, and continued touring around their sanctuary. There were a set of mighty barn doors at the front that required at least two people to open and close effectively, and a well full of clean water tucked away near the truck, as well as an outhouse located near the woods behind the barn. “Isn’t this place perfect?” Tracy mentioned to Julian as she neatly scattered some hay for them to sleep on.

“We should thank God for leading us to this haven, away from that catastrophe earlier.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Julian mumbled quietly, staring at his shoes. Thoughts were swirling around his head and he could barely make sense of any of them.

Suddenly, Kendra walked over. She had her hair tied back, and sweat on her brow, which she wiped away with a swift flick of her hand. It was the evening now, and the newly-appeared stars illuminated the depressed, inky black sky impressively.

“Well, I think that’s all we can do tonight. Let’s go to sleep, and we’ll look for some food in the morning.” She yawned dramatically and called Noah over. Noah jumped off the slender tower of hay he had assembled, and ran over to the barn, where Kendra tucked him into his makeshift bed and sat by him, singing more sweetly-worded, Christian songs until he finally closed his weary eyes. Kendra lay down next to him.

“Kendra’s right, we’ll get more done tomorrow. But a nice rest will do us good.” Tracy added.

“Ok, I’ll be right with you, I just forgot to check if there was anything left in the car that we could need.”

“That’s fine, I’ll be here if you need anything.”

Julian smiled weakly at Tracy as she ambled next to her friends and snuggled into the hay. It would be nice to join them, but first he had to quickly see if there was something they could use hidden away in their truck.

The night was cold, and Julian shivered as he rummaged down the back of their seats. Nothing. Disappointing, but at least he could finally relax and end the night.

Halfway back to the barn, Julian saw a shape move speedily downwards from the barn, then heard a soft thud. His heart skipped a beat, then rocketed up to his throat. He quickened his pace and began sprinting when a shrill scream erupted from the confines of the barn, which now seemed to shift from warm and safe to the likeness of a prison.

Julian burst through a stack of hay, chilled from a lethal combination of temperature and fear. For a few seconds, reality slowed to a halt as his eyes scanned the scenario like a robot.

Noah was huddled behind more hay against the back wall, quietly sobbing and whimpering next to Kendra, who had a death stare locked onto something in the centre of the barn. She noticed Julian and mouthed something, but Julian couldn’t make it out in the rush of adrenaline and panic. Something was wrong, but what? Then he saw it. The upstairs section of the bar had collapsed completely, and something and fallen onto Tracy, who was screaming like a banshee while flailing around right in front of him.

But as Julian got closer, he noticed a few more things. The mysterious object hadn’t just fallen onto Tracy, it had latched onto her like a backpack. And it certainly wasn’t an object.

“KENDRA! IT’S A PERSON! IT’S INFECTED! IT’S ALIVE! HELP!” Julian screeched as he wrestled with the empty shell of what once was a human being, now lost to the virus. It let out small mutterings and groans as it held Tracy in place with remarkable strength. It ignored Julian’s feeble attempts to dislodge or harm it, as Tracy lay helpless, slowly moving less and less as she succumbed to the infection.

Julian flashed a look of desperation to Kendra, as she stood there, slack-jawed contemplating the scenario. Noah tugged on her arm.

“We’ve got to help Tracy!” Noah shouted through tearful sniffs.

“No,” Kendra replied. “We’re getting out of here.”

Without a moment to spare, she hoisted Noah up on her shoulder, and ran for the car. She nearly made it out of the barn, but a bony, infected hand grabbed her ankle, sending her tumbling to the ground. Noah hit the floor hard, losing consciousness instantly.

The anonymous infected man stood up, his eyes dead, yet glowing. He was a skeleton, and so was Tracy, who was now battling with Kendra. He approached Julian, who responded with a powerful kick to the knee. The skeleton’s leg snapped backwards like a bird’s, but it did not faze him in the slightest. Meanwhile, Kendra was being dragged through the carnage by what was left of Tracy, wriggling like a fish on dry land. Julian wanted to help her, but the reminder of her betrayal to him and Tracy held him back. Instead he dashed for a loose plank of wood to wield as a weapon. Only when he checked for escape routes was he reminded about Noah, who was still passed out. But already, he was too late.

The skeleton of Kendra picked him up over her shoulder and kept him there as he too slowly transformed. Julian was the last one left, and he was cornered. He knew he couldn’t take them all on with just a flimsy plank of cheap wood, so he jumped up towards the broken 2nd floor. The skeletons were not very nimble, but they soon figured out a way to climb up towards him. There was another hole in the roof, just big enough so that Julian could squeeze through it. On the roof, he heard the thumping of his friends attempting to reach him. It wouldn’t be long before they got to him.

There was no ladder leading off the roof. There was no hay to jump onto. The early morning wind whistled through Julian’s hair as he realised his fate. He was going to die. Die and become what his friends and everyone that he knew had become. There was no escape, no secret exit. So, he sat on the weathered barn, with stinging tears in his eyes, and thought. He thought about his friends. And if there was anything else he could’ve done to save them. And what must have become of his mother. And if he could’ve saved her, too. And most importantly, he thought about God. About his doubt and fear and lack of trust in him. Undecided, he labelled himself. Agnostic. At least he would find out if all his sacrifice paid off.

Julian stared down at the earth as the first bones poked themselves up through the opening. The anonymous man came through first, then Kendra, then Tracy. They limped towards him, mockingly. Julian stood up and walked himself closer to the edge of the barn. He whispered the lyrics of Hallelujah to himself. Growing up, it was his favourite song. His friends moved closer. He moved further. Closer. Further. Closer. Further. Closer.

Julian let himself fall backwards off the barn. Julian Coney died that night. He fell to his death off a barn to avoid being killed by his friends. Kendra, Tracy and Noah all fell victim to the virus, but instead of being aware of their current state, they lived out the remainder of their “life” in a nightmarish dream-like experience, each hallucinating, unaware of their current state.

Kendra dreamt she was trapped in an endless forest, forever looking for Noah while the skeleton army hunted her down.

Tracy dreamt she was stuck in hell, being forced to worship the devil, who resembled a giant skeleton. Noah dreamt he was held captive in a prison run by skeletons, isolated and eternally bored.

And finally, Julian, who was re-animated by the virus, dreamt he was the last man on Earth, who went to the hospital where the disease started to learn the truth about the illness. He met a scientist there, who explained what effects the illness had, but committed suicide to escape the infection, as skeletons ravaged through the hospital, killing Julian for the second time. 