Rohan Behl

Wednesday, April 20th, 2022 (29 days after the Shutdown)

“... What?!”

“I-I think… it g-got me,” Anneliese repeated in a quiet voice, hysteria starting to leak into it.

Toiling to pull himself free from under his wheelchair, he finally understood what she meant. Her right leg had started to transform. Gray particles like sand swept over her boots and camo gear, solidifying everything in its path until in the blink of an eye, her right leg had turned to stone.

“H-Help me!” she pleaded, tears starting to swell in her eyes. The rough and assured exterior she’d shown shattered as the petrification spread past her neck.

Seconds later it was all over. Helplessly watching her harrowing last moments, Corporal Anneliese, who’d gone out of her way to save him, had joined the growing legion of statues outside.

No one said anything as fear and confusion spread like a heavy fog through the hallway. All they could do is stare in horror at where a breathing human once stood.

Why? How did that happen? Did it touch her before we could close the door?

Sniffling broke the silence. Gazing over at the far end of the hallway where the freshman sat cradling her knees, his breathing became uneven.

It’s all her fault.

The thought immediately took root in his mind and grew like a tumor until all his attention was focused on it.

Her sniveling devolved into wet sobs.

“Oi… shut the FUCK UP!” he screamed, startling himself with his outburst.

The two of them stared at him like he’d gone mad.

“Yo, calm down. What’s your problem, dude? She’s scared and your yelling isn’t helping,” Jake badgered him.

Blinking, anger poured out from deep within him making him tremble as he futilely tried to tame his tongue before it was too late.

“That” — he pointed to the statue of Corporal Anneliese — “is all her fault. And don’t bring up some bullshit and say it wasn’t. If she hadn’t hesitated and opened the door sooner the soldier would still be alive. So no… I’m not going to care if she’s scared. I’M FUCKING TERRIFIED TOO! Who wouldn’t be?! But I was the one out there getting chased by whatever witchcraft that was.”

On the last word, he turned to the glass door where the vortex of grey smoke was still trying to get in.

“I almost died because of her and the person who pushed me all this way is now rock. I feel like… I-I can’t put it in words but it’s making me nauseous. Someone died Jake and you’re telling me not to be mad?!”

He’d pushed his fatigued body to his limit with his verbal assault. Heavily gasping, he glared at Jake daring him to rebut his statement. To his surprise, Jake only sighed.

“C’mon… let’s get away from the door. We have to tell someone what happened,” he said, his voice drained of life.

Gradually getting to his feet, Jake picked up his wheelchair and the chest of medical supplies Anneliese had brought back. Accepting a hand from him, Rohan managed to settle back into the wheelchair and they made their way down the hallway, leaving behind a statue and a sad tale.

Passing by the freshman girl who was still on the floor, Rohan heard her mutter under her breath, “Bald freak.”

His body stiffened at the comment but he looked straight ahead, refusing to engage her. Going down the southeastern wing, past the gym and the cafeteria, they entered the foyer which had experienced an explosion in recent activity.

There must’ve been around forty of them, soldiers running around to report to superiors or setting up barricades for the large floor-to-ceiling windows and the main entrance to the school. A soldier caught sight of them and rushed over.

“Why are you guys out here? Students and civilians are supposed to be in lockdown in the library,” he said dubiously. “Come on, I’ll take you there.”

“Wait, we just came from outside. We have something to report to Colonel Ridges,” Jake said.

“The colonel? If you came from outside then you should know we’re in a state of emergency and he has no time for anyone right now,” he bluntly stated.

Nodding at someone calling his name, the soldier turned back to the two of them. Maybe seeing a kid shriveled to skin and bones played on his heartstrings because the soldier relented.

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“Alright, I’ll tell you what. Tell me what you have to report and I’ll pass it on when I get the chance.”

“I guess that works,” Jake replied.

Looking at him expectantly, Jake took a while to form his words. “Corporal Anneliese… is dead.”

By his expression, it didn’t seem like he was expecting to hear that. “Oh… well I’ll let him know. Was she touched by the creatures outside?”

“... Yeah, how did you know?” Jake asked.

Nodding towards a darkened corner of the building, he sighed. “We saw most of it happen through the windows. At first, we thought it was some altercation between civilians not getting but we… we saw them…”

A haunted look possessed his eyes. Rohan could only imagine the trauma he’d experienced stuck behind panes of glass while helplessly watching the rest of his unit killed.

“... monsters start to swallow people and turn them to stone… a few survivors that we were able to rescue turned seconds after they entered the building so it sort of makes sense.”

“Sorry for asking.”

The soldier only stared at the corner, lost in thought.

“Let’s head to the library. Your friends are waiting for you,” he said after a prolonged silence, taking the box of medical supplies from Rohan’s lap. “Thank you for bringing this back.”

Wheeled across the foyer, he glanced over his shoulder half-expecting the freshman girl to be tailing along. Grimacing when he saw she wasn’t there, he turned back around.

Fuck… I shouldn’t have snapped at her.

Leaving the foyer and the chaos of the soldiers behind, the noise dimmed until only the squeaks of his wheelchair accompanied them the rest of the way. The windows at the end of the northwestern wing were blacked out and barricaded with desks forcing them to rely on the few rays of light that passed through.

“I’ll leave you guys here,” the soldier said, nodding to them before returning to the foyer.

He stared at the soldier’s retreating back and closed his eyes. Sitting in front of the library doors, he wanted to have one moment of peace yet the world couldn’t even gift him that. Even now, surrounded by concrete walls, the wailing still could be heard.

“… thank you for saving me,” Rohan murmured awkwardly.

“No problem man, I’m sure you would do the same… I mean… when you could still reach the door handle on your own.”

Chortling at the jest, he murmured, “Jackass.”

He couldn’t see his friend’s expression but felt like he was smiling as well.

“Let’s go inside.”

Wary eyes scrutinized them as they entered the darkened library. The 30 students and teachers were joined by the civilians who managed to escape.

Realizing that it was just another pair of civilians, most of them returned to the conversations though there were a few lingering eyes. It was Serena and a few of the students in his Youth Excellence Club who gaped at him like he was a stranger.

They probably haven’t seen me in this form.

But the longer they stared, it became apparent that curiosity didn’t drive them. He remembered it from the cafeteria, before going outside and living through that whole shitshow. The animosity at having a cripple to care for, someone… no, something that was deadweight was clearly visible in their facial features.

“Hey… Jake, could you drop me off over by that bookshelf?” he requested, raising a trembling finger to a section of the library where there was an unfinished book waiting for him.

The prying eyes were cut off when he entered the secluded area of the library. Scanning the shelves, he tried to remember the title that Mrs. Crouch had recommended before his arm splintered and his month-long coma.

“Native Plants of North America” was sticking out of a nearby shelf. Taking his time to get it, he found a stray sunbeam and sat down. After all this time, his convictions still stayed the same. If there ever came a time that he had to escape, he needed the knowledge to survive in the wild.

Ignoring the buzz around him, he immersed himself in the book, devoting each picture to memory.

***

Dinner was a somber affair. With the extra civilians that hadn’t been able to return back to their homes, rations were cut again until all 200 people including military personnel only ate a pack of mushy peas.

With the introduction of the monsters, they couldn’t rely on getting any help from the government so their only option was to stretch out their food even though a third of their population hadn’t survived.

“Devils’ pets.” Is this what the snake wanted to warn me about? I should’ve been on guard.

Struggling to lift his spoon because of his atrophied muscles, Rohan resorted to bending down a licking making people at his table snicker. Paying no heed to their attitude, he continued to lick the plate until with a sound of disgust, they withdrew to their plates.

Lanterns had been set up around the cafeteria but they did little to alleviate the bleak atmosphere. As people returned to the gym and the classrooms to sleep, he noticed they purposely avoided the shadows. The thought occurred to him as well. Without knowing the full extent of the creatures’ abilities, who was to say they couldn’t materialize from the shadows?

Though if that was possible, why wait to use it? It would make sense for them to use it when we’re asleep but if they’re able to do that, that would mean they have intelligence.

“ — how long do you think it’ll last?” someone from a neighboring table asked.

It was a group of younger soldiers, likely a few years older than him. With no one else in the cafeteria aside from a cripple, they must’ve lowered their guard.

“You think that those creatures will ever disappear? Dream on pal. They seem intent on devouring humans and I doubt they’ll stop at killing a couple of us.”

“They’re like zombies… Wasn’t the shipment drop tomorrow? How are we supposed to get—”

“Andrei!”

Rohan could feel their eyes boring into his back.

“They’re not zombies though, are they? The ones who get turned to stone don’t come back. Considering their behavior especially that maddening wailing that they do, wouldn’t a better name be—”

“Sorrows,” Rohan whispered to himself, but his voice was carried throughout the cafeteria. The soldiers stopped and turned to him. “They should be called the Sorrows.”