Rohan Behl
Wednesday, April 20th, 2022 (29 days after the Shutdown)
Silence fell as the world held its breath.
The female soldier tentatively moved her outstretched arm away from the bottle of rubbing alcohol. With a meaningful look, she put a finger to her lips.
Lowering her hand to her hip holster, she waited for any indication of an enemy. On cue, a soft wailing stirred through the camp, wind sailing around the tent’s canvas, making it sway wildly to expose the outside for a fleeting moment before it fell back into a whisper. Yet the wailing persisted.
Taking measured steps to not make a noise, Corporal Anneliese made her way to the tent flaps. Grabbing both sides she sealed the front, cautiously pulling the zipper down to the bottom.
The wailing grew closer.
Her movements grew urgent in response. Snatching handfuls of supplies at a time, she filled the box of medical supplies to the brim and sealed it shut.
The wind returned, battering the steel frame of the tent till it became dangerously lopsided, exposing a large gap at the back of the tent. Catching sight of it she threw caution to the wind and flipped the table onto its side, sealing the breach.
The wailing was only a few meters away.
Her breath was coming out in strangled whimpers. Eyes darting around to see if there was anything else, they both realized there was nothing for them to do but wait. Wait and pray that Anneliese had done enough. Time ground to a halt while his terror mounted, every passing second making him regret the conditions that brought him here. Covering his mouth, he held his breath.
The wailing stopped in front of the tent.
With her eyes fixated on the entrance, Anneliese edged closer to him. With controlled breaths, her hands were steady on her pistol.
“Whatever happens, don’t make a sound,” she mouthed, sparing a glance at Rohan’s frail body.
The spokes of his wheelchair creaked as his body quivered in it, his pupils dilating as his heart pounded in his chest. His nails dug into his cheeks as he clutched his mouth, desperate not to let a single sound leak out.
Unable to do anything he felt helplessly vulnerable. Heck, he barely had the strength to feed himself an hour ago, much less protect himself.
Dark gray wisps swept under the tent canvas, catching their attention. As if in a trance, the two gaped at it curl around the tent's edges like smoke, swirling in hypnotic patterns.
“What the… ?” Anneliese whispered, momentarily forgetting her warning. “Are they setting fire to the tents?”
Her index finger twitched on the trigger, and she shuffled closer toward the smoke in the silence left behind by the wailing. Rohan only stared at her, refusing to release his hands from his mouth. She was a foot away from the smoke when guttural screams retook the soundscape.
Stumbling away from the edge, they whipped their heads around to witness another fume of smoke growing on the other side of the tent. A chorus of howls ravaged their tent as the wind mounted, weakening the braces of the tent.
Fwooosh!
The top of the tent was ripped off of its hinges, flying off into the sky to reveal thunderclouds, staining the sky a pale gray.
The smoke grew more chaotic, seeping over the tables, gradually limiting their mobility. Despite this, Anneliese hadn’t fired a single shot. Making eye contact with each other, a moment of understanding passed between them.
There were two options. The first one was to fire the gun, and hope that it hit their aggressors. But they might as well have set off a flare announcing their location if she missed. The second was to do nothing.
They had no clue what was out there. Nothing human could make the wind cry like that and the smoke, despite fanning out, didn’t spread. Something else was responsible for the attack, something almost… supernatural.
Though Anneliese chose the latter, it wasn’t her rationale that drove her. It was the fear and uncertainty of the unknown. She was just like him in that sense – terrified. The brief mastery she had over her nerves faltered and her body locked up as the wailing returned.
The sound of footsteps in the distance caused the howls to subside for a moment. As if drawn toward it, the wailing moved away, leaving them watching in pin-drop silence as the wisps of smoke suddenly disappeared.
… the fuck?!
Corporal Anneliese must’ve had the same thoughts because she stared with her eyes widening in disbelief.
But it only left her bewildered for a second before she jumped into action. Grabbing the medical supplies that had scattered from the freak windstorms, she shoved them back into the box and rushed towards the entrance. Putting her ear to the tent, she waited for a count of five to see if there was anything nearby. The wails and howls of the wind could still be heard in the distance.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath in and opened the tent flaps. Aside from the sight of twisted tents and rubbish swept around, there wasn’t anything around.
Looking over her shoulder at him, Rohan could see the gears turning in her head, her expression betraying her thoughts. Pity.
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“I’ll be back in a minute, just wait until then,” she promised through pursed lips.
His tongue felt heavy in his mouth as he struggled to form his words.
“... P-Please… d-don’t — cough — leave me…” he pleaded, trying to prey on her guilt.
Biting her lip, she avoided eye contact. “I’m sorry. If I have to carry both the supplies and you back, I won’t be able to protect either. And… if we have to move quickly, I can’t take you with me.”
A tempest of ideas clouded his mind and in desperation, he pulled one at random.
“My wheels can help you. I-If you give me the box and push me, it’ll be easier than… than carrying that box all the way back to the school by yourself.”
Studying to box in her arms, she muttered a curse under her breath and unceremoniously dumped it onto Rohan’s lap. Wincing at the weight on his legs, he carefully held onto the box.
“Get ready and whatever you do, keep your head down and hold onto that box like your life depends on it,” she warned him, grabbing the handles of his wheelchair.
Her heavy breaths tickled the back of his neck.
“Ready? And… go!” she said, pushing them out them the tent.
His bones rattled as his wheelchair was pushed over the uneven terrain. Passing the goalposts of the football field, they were able to hasten their pace as they moved from dirt to gravel. But as they traveled further toward the school, Rohan noticed a growing trend.
The only tent that had been battered was theirs and the longer he studied it, the clearer the pattern of damage was. A distinguishable trail of torn grass and litter leading towards the school – like a dust devil had blown through.
“Eyes ahead of you,” Corporal Anneliese whispered from behind him.
Only a few rows of tents were left until they reached the back entrance of the school. Seeing no smoke or fire nearby, they moved quicker, ignoring caution in favor of speed. The balloon of anxiety in his throat started to deflate as they neared the destination.
He’d thrown in the towel too early.
Rolling through another row of tents, Anneliese abruptly stopped. Inches away from Rohan’s face a block of granite stood in his path.
Where did this come from?
Turning to face Anneliese, the same confusion was written on her face. It wasn’t just the one. There must have been dozens of rock pillars, creating a maze separating them and the high school.
Scanning it from head to toe, his eyes settled on the base, looking for a clue to explain their sudden appearance. Scrutinizing it for a few seconds, cold sweat started dripping down his forehead.
“Ma’am…”
“Yeah… I see it,” she replied, her voice barely audible.
He thought it was weird that massive rocks had appeared out of thin air… until he saw what appeared to be boots carved onto the bottom. In light of their situation, his dog-tired body was ready to dismiss it but as his eyes moved up the pillar, he saw more distinguishing details.
Thick block hands were hanging beside their waist and even though it wasn’t as clear, the statue had preserved their hairstyle. But the crux of it was the uniform. The insignia and patches were those of the soldiers who’d escorted him outside, the same as Corporal Anneliese was wearing behind him. It was no coincidence. Something had turned the soldiers who were stationed in the backfields into statues.
A howl broke them out of his revelry. Caught up in the mystery of the statues, Rohan hadn’t noticed that the endless wailing had stopped.
“Shit, it's back!”
His wheelchair became a battering ram. Toppling statues as they bulldozed through, he could hear them shatter behind him.
“We’re almost there,” Anneliese huffed from behind him.
By how fast she was pushing him, Rohan was worried that they would break through the glass doors but she pulled back at the last second, grinding the wheels to a halt.
Pushing on the door, it withstood Anneliese’s attempts of entry. Someone had locked it from the inside. As she banged on the doors, out of the corner of his eye, Rohan glimpsed a gray vortex like a miniature hurricane approaching them.
Dark-gray winds tore themselves apart, a storm with no concrete form. Despite the chaotic gales of wind that formed its body, it was contained within some invisible sphere.
It made a beeline for him and Anneliese, passing through the statues and shrubbery like they didn’t exist.
F-f-f-fuck FUCK!
Screaming as he joined Anneliese in slamming the glass, a small girl in her freshman year cautiously approached them.
“OPEN THE DOOR!” Anneliese yelled, saliva flying out of her mouth.
The girl ran towards them. Snapping around to see how close the wind creature was, his grip on the medical chest slackened when he saw it was only a dozen yards out. Turning back to the girl, her eyes widened upon noticing the wind monster and her hand hesitated by the latch. She helplessly stared at them, overwhelmed by the sight of the vortex.
No… please just open it, Rohan wanted to plead but the words wouldn’t come out of his mouth. His body had already accepted his fate.
Jake burst into the hallway. Seeing the two of them outside, he shoved the girl aside and opened the door.
“Get in! Behind you!” he yelled, reaching out to pull in Rohan’s wheelchair.
It started to shriek, its echoes reverberating into the surrounding environment. In response, shrieks in the distance pierced the troubled morning air.
It’s calling for more.
The wind creature was a meter away, its smokey exterior stretching in their direction.
“Move!” Anneliese yelled at the two of them.
Pulled inside, Jake reached past them to close the door but he was knocked over as Rohan’s wheelchair caught him in the knee.
“Shit! GET THE DOOR!” Jake yelled at them from the floor.
Corporal Anneliese was on her feet by the time the last word left his mouth. With his skeletal body stuck under his wheelchair, Rohan couldn’t make out what happened next but seconds later, the reassuring click of the door closing cut off the bloodcurdling screams of the monster. They all let out a sigh of relief.
“I thought we were going to die,” Jake laughed, looking over at him.
Managing to grin back, the pain from having fallen on his injured left arm made it difficult to maintain.
“Y-yeah, that was cutting it too close.”
The monster continued to batter the glass door outside but as long as he was safe, he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about it. Getting ready to give out, a statement made him freeze.
“... fuck… I-I think it got me…”