The last few meters to the church felt endless. Throwing all caution to the wind, Paulo and Patrícia ran like never before. Each step was a mix of relief for being farther from the creature and anguish for not reaching their destination fast enough. The sound of their footsteps echoed, muffled by their heavy, labored breathing.
“Damn it, why does it feel like we’ll never get to this church?” Patrícia grumbled, sweat streaming down her face.
“Maybe because we wasted half the day hiding and the other half running like hell,” Paulo replied, struggling to catch his breath while glancing over his shoulder.
They realized too late that all their previous caution had eaten away precious time. If the church wasn’t the refuge they hoped for, they wouldn’t have time to find another spot.
Finally, they spotted the semi-gothic structure, a sight that brought both relief and apprehension. The church loomed ominously against the darkened sky, its pointed towers, and gothic arches casting a foreboding silhouette. The stone walls, a blend of gray rock and moss, bore the marks of decades of weathering as if whispering through the cracks.
The stained-glass windows, though partially dust-covered, still reflected faint traces of light, casting colorful patches onto the cold stone floor. The intricate designs told stories of holiness and suffering—angelic and demonic figures fighting for space in the sacred narrative. There was a dark beauty in the way the light from the flames outside filtered through, bathing the scene in a deep red hue, reminiscent of blood and despair.
The church bells tolled like an exclamation point at the end of a bad joke, a sound that seemed to echo farther than expected as if the very structure was lamenting their arrival. Each chime felt like a warning, a subtle yet terrifying reminder that it was already 6 PM—the beginning of the night. This could very well be the last one they’d ever see.
Patrícia paused for a moment, staring at the entrance door. It was a massive wooden structure, adorned with wrought-iron fittings depicting grotesque figures that seemed to watch them with hungry eyes. The two angel statues flanking the doorway, with their stern expressions, looked more sinister than protective. They were worn figures, but still held a surreal effect.
"If they can help keep us alive, let them stay that way!" she thought, already moving towards the door.
They pushed the heavy door, which groaned ominously as it opened, revealing an interior almost swallowed by shadows. The light from the flames outside filtered through the stained glass, growing dimmer the farther they moved from the entrance. The air smelled of burnt wax and old incense, mixed with the dampness of mildew, as if the church had been asleep for a long time.
A long nave stretched ahead, with dark wooden pews aligned in neat rows. The altar, elevated at the far end, was adorned with melted candles. An imposing crucifix hung on the wall, Christ’s gaze empty and sorrowful, as if aware of the horrors unfolding outside.
“If there were ever a time for someone to be saved, it’d be now,” Paulo said, scanning the surroundings. “But I’m not sure this place is actually safe.”
“I’m not too sure either,” Patrícia replied, gripping her knife tightly. “Look around. This could be a perfect spot for those monsters to ambush us.”
They exchanged nervous glances, realizing that the church’s dark beauty wasn’t enough to calm them. With each toll of the bell, time seemed to slip through their fingers, and the approaching darkness was a constant reminder that safety was far from guaranteed.
As soon as they crossed the threshold, the feeling of desperation and urgency washed over them again. Night was falling, and with it, the fear that there might not be a dawn, no matter how dark the night became.
Without any mental or emotional room for more despair, they pressed on, fueled by a conviction born from fear, hunger, and thirst. The scene they had witnessed moments earlier—the three boys being slaughtered by the creature—had ignited a spark of desperate courage within them. Small, fragile, but now impossible to extinguish.
And they slammed the door shut as fast as possible. After all, courage was one thing; stupidity was another. They knew they weren’t ready to face a monster like that with just two knives in hand.
“At least we know they can be hurt,” Patrícia said, panting. “Fire and old pipes, yes. Bullets, no. Go figure…”
“Maybe these creatures have their own agenda. Like, ‘Today, I’ll only die if I’m incinerated; tomorrow, maybe I’ll accept bullets,’” Paulo replied, his voice tinged with exhausted irony as he barred the door with an improvised beam.
“This isn’t the place. Damn it, this isn’t it. What are we going to do now?” Patrícia said in frustration, breaking the suffocating silence. “And it looks like no one’s here either.”
“We’ll find the heaviest door we can and lock ourselves behind it,” Paulo answered without hesitation. “Pray there’s no window. Maybe where they keep the consecrated hosts—it’s usually one of the safest places.”
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“And how exactly do you know that?” Patrícia asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I go to Mass every Sunday,” Paulo answered automatically, already searching for that secure door.
— Seriously, you go to church? Okay, that explains a lot... but, focus here: let’s move! — Patricia rolled her eyes but followed Paulo as he pointed to a door next to the altar.
Without wasting any time, they stacked a few benches against the door, bracing them with the opposite wall. It wasn’t the best barricade in the world, but it was all they had.
Finally, after two exhausting days, they had a moment to breathe and try to organize their thoughts.
— What do you think happened, Paulo? There’s no way everything went to hell just because of these creatures... — Patricia started, drinking from a bottle of water Paulo had pulled from his backpack.
— Part of it must’ve been the comet and the meteor showers that followed — he replied, taking a bite out of a protein bar.
— What comet, what meteors? What the hell are you talking about?
Paulo stopped, surprised.
— How did you not see the comet? It was all over the internet for a week. Even the press was covering it!
— I’ve been off TV for a while. Can’t stand all the lies anymore — she sighed.
— Yeah, I know what you mean. I almost got expelled from college because of that. Bet you only heard the edited versions of that story, huh?
Patricia frowned.
— I heard you threw a chair at a professor or threatened the dean to change your grade...
Paulo almost jumped from the floor, anger visible.
— Those bastards! I just posted on the university’s network, criticizing this shitty dictatorship the media supports. That’s it. And the dean took it personally. I didn’t threaten anyone, and I sure as hell didn’t throw a chair at any professor. I’m not some brainless idiot!
— Shit... I didn’t know that — Patricia said, genuinely apologetic.
— No need to apologize. What matters is that all this madness probably put an end to their control. Now, with everything in chaos, let’s see them try to arrest anyone. — Paulo snorted.
— But back to the comet... when was this? I didn’t catch any of that.
— Sunday. It was supposed to be the "comet of the century." I was at Felix’s birthday on the beach and saw it all happening. They miscalculated and didn’t realize it wasn’t coming alone. Suddenly, meteors started raining down. The sky was ripped apart with so much noise it felt like the end of the world.
— I didn’t hear a thing. Slept like a rock...
— Well, I saw the sea get wild, looked like a tsunami was coming. But since I didn’t hear any sirens or get alerts on my phone, I stayed put.
Patricia still seemed perplexed.
I was at home, exhausted after a tough week. I just wanted to sleep and wake up early, hoping the next week would be better. Slept like a rock. When I finally woke up, everything was covered in darkness and there was no power.
“When I opened the window, all I saw was that black mist covering everything, even the sun. I could barely see the other side of the street. That feeling that something was very wrong hit me instantly. I decided to head to campus, but when I got there, all I found were security guards doing their rounds, just as confused as I was.”
“That’s when I decided to go back home and prepare for the exam I had on Wednesday—or was it today? I lit some candles and dove into the books I needed to read. Since there was still food in the fridge, I didn’t bother going out to get more.”
“It wasn’t until late in the day that I started hearing church bells, a sound that caught my attention and made me go out to see what was happening. That decision was what really saved me. If it weren’t for that, I would’ve stayed in the apartment, and those creatures would’ve definitely found me.”
Paulo nodded.
“I got lucky none of them tried to break into my apartment. And it wasn’t just here that had problems. Before everything went offline, I was watching a YouTuber’s channel that talks about this kind of stuff, and he showed meteors falling in different parts of the world. We were lucky none hit the city. If that had happened, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Some of those things looked massive.”
“These creatures... do you think they have something to do with the comet?” Patricia asked.
“Too much of a coincidence for them not to be related,” Paulo shrugged. “Now whether they hitched a ride on the comet or it woke them up, who knows. We know some living things can enter a suspended state, staying dormant until certain conditions are met. It’s like the zombie fish that only comes back to life under specific circumstances.” Paulo breathed deeply, exhaustion settling in as the adrenaline faded.
“That’s true, there were species that seemed like something out of a sci-fi movie. But these creatures, they looked like they crawled out of hell or another dimension. There’s no way they’re from Earth,” Patricia pondered.
“But if that were the case, wouldn’t someone have found fossils of them or something? It’s impossible that no one in our history has recorded their presence!”
Paulo, excited about the direction of the conversation, responded, “Not necessarily. Remember, until recently, we thought the coelacanth was just a fossil until Marjorie found a live one. Since then, a few more have been discovered. Everyone thought they’d been extinct for millions of years...”
“Even so, one of these creatures should’ve left a fossil behind, don’t you think?” Patricia insisted.
“Look, the truth is, I doubt anyone really knows what’s going on. What we need to do is find more people and a safe place.” The conversation flowed between them, alternating between theories and venting, until the church bells began to chime, marking seven o’clock.
“Well, no point in debating this now. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. All this running and stress has wiped me out. How about we take turns? One sleeps while the other keeps watch. I can take the first shift. What do you think, five hours each or something like that?”
“No, I’ll take the first shift. I won’t be able to sleep anytime soon, and I want to think a bit more about what we talked about.” After settling on the plan, Paulo curled up on a bench, using his backpack as a pillow, and within minutes, he was snoring like a chainsaw in full swing. Patricia couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
As the symphony of snores echoed through the room, she mused that with that noise, only two things could happen: either the creatures would be drawn to it like moths to a flame, or they’d be so terrified they’d wonder if something even more monstrous was lurking in the room.
“Maybe the real monster is his deep sleep,” Patricia thought, chuckling softly. If the creatures didn’t get scared, she herself might start worrying. After all, who could be more terrifying than a man who sleeps through the apocalypse, capable of turning calm into chaos just by the volume of his snoring? She leaned back, watching him with a mix of affection and amusement as the night continued to unfold around them.