The End Is Come.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck!”

Ian saw them coming, though they were still far away. They never made any attempts to remain hidden. He sat crouched behind a barren bush, staring longingly at the barn on the other side of the road. His tongue slid across his upper lip for a moment, as he mulled the possibilities in his head. He took a deep breath, but just as he wanted to make a dash for it he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.

He turned around in a blitz, and tightly gripped the metal pipe he was carrying.

“Chill, Ian,” came a deep voice, belonging to the hand.

“Fuck, Nick, almost gave me a goddamn heart attack!”

“That’s not going to help anyone. Keep your cool.”

Ian sighed as Nick slid out of the darkness. He was the strong and silent type, yet somehow the bastard was silent as the night if he wanted to be. Ian threw another longing glance over his shoulder, but they were too close now. He wouldn’t make it.

“Fuck man, I could’ve totally had that!”

“No you couldn’t. Besides, I found some cans in a supermarket a few miles over. We’ll make do.”

Ian spat on the ground, but he knew Nick was right. No getting away from the bastards once day broke; they’d best head home.

Home. Or, rather the old war bunker that they now called home. They’d gathered whom they could save, and now there were fifteen of them holed up in this hole in the ground. Better than perishing up there, still.

Nick knocked on the battered door three times, paused, and then twice more. A brittle voice came floating from behind. “Password?”

“On the Night’s Plutonian Shore. It’s us, Gramps.”

“Alrighty lads, lemme get the door.” Gramps wasn’t anyone’s actual grandfather; he was just really old. He had actually survived an encounter with them, too. Or most of him had, anyway.

“Leg’s looking good today!”

“Heh, I’ve been worse.” He said, as he tapped his wooden leg on the concrete. “But yer late, laddies! Quick, get yerselves in here, the sun’s already rising!”

They stepped inside, and Nick turned to Gramps, who was still peering into the landscape behind them.

“Oi, Gramps. We got everyone?”

Gramps’ face paled slightly. “N-… No. We’re still missing lil’ Mikey.”

Nick’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, but Ian could feel his voice clamping down. “Fuck. I knew we shouldn’t have let him out on his own. He wasn’t ready.”

“He wanted to go, Nick. We’ve got enough people sitting by doing nothing as is; Mikey wanted to help out. We had to respect that; we had no choice.” Although Nick was a full head taller, Ian’s frown was still enough to stare him down.

“Well, respect didn’t do him any good now, did it?” He averted his eyes and spat on the floor.

“It’s his first time, remember? He might’ve just gotten stuck, or whatever. Remember when you were gone for three days and we were all sure you were a goner?”

He grabbed Nick by the shoulder and shook him up best as he could.

“C’mon, let’s not assume the worst, eh? Who knows, he might just show up in couple of hours with some beer, of all things.” Ian grinned widely, and Nick’s face relaxed again.

“Let’s get some sleep, you know we need it!” Ian turned his back, and put his hand on the steel handle again. And with that his smile vanished.

He opened the door. “Hey guys, I’m home, found some more water today!”

As a reply, he got an inaudible quiver from the very darkest corner of the room, while Gina almost tackled him in her attempt to hug his legs.

“I missed you bro! Mommy was no fun today!”

He sighed, looking down at his sister. “Same as yesterday, huh?”

Gina pouted. “And the day before that, and the day before that!”

“I know, Geens, I know. Hey, did you do what I told you?”

“Yea-heah, I drank plenty of water, and made sure I ate at least one apple. But they’re totally gross!”

“Heh, proud of you, little tiger. So what’d you read today?”

“I finished the entire book with all the animals! Pretty great, huh?”

“Wow, really? High five little tiger!” They smacked their hands together, and he hugged her tightly. He froze when he heard the gurgling noise from the corner again. He let go of Gina and walked towards it; after a moment he could make out the shape of his mother in the darkness. He tossed her a bottle of water.

“Here. Drink. It’s clean.”

“Don’t fuckin’ want it. I want out.” Her voice was raspy like the bark of an old oak. He clenched his fists tightly. Behind him, he heard the door click as Gina snuck out.

“You’ve got to drink. And you know you can’t go out.”

She finally opened her eyes, and looked at him. Those green eyes that had once been so lively. Now they were empty.

“There’s nothing out there! I know-“ she coughed heavily. “I know you’re just fucking lying to me! They fucking can’t be out there! They don’t exist! They fucking don’t fucking exist! They don’t! Just ask your father, right Harold? Right?” She spoke into the darkness behind her. Ian started trembling.

“Mother, stop. Just drink your water and stop.”

“Harold, stop feigning sleep and answer your kid! Tell him, tell him we want out, we don’t believe it, we’ve never believed it!”

“Just fucking stop it and drink the fucking water!” She tumbled over backwards, and it took him a moment to realize he’d slapped her again.

“Dad’s fucking gone! They got him, remember! And now I’m stuck with you, so behave, goddammit!”

She cried out and crawled back into her darkness. He felt no pity for the snarling mess in the corner. His mother had died a long time ago, back when everything started, and they’d taken his dad.