Joseph awoke from yet another nightmare, his brow drenched in sweat as he grasped out for his lost love. his body shaking from the memory forever burnt inside his mind. His beloved pacing in front of him, not a care in the world,swinging one arm with her step while the other firmly gripped an ice cream cone. The sidewalk of their neighborhood is vacant, but peaceful. A small pine tree every ten feet, the concrete under each step aged and cracked, with tiny sunflowers poking out every so often.
He’d never quite understood how he had gotten so lucky. She was perfect in his eyes. Her curly hair bouncing as she stepped, her beautiful blue eyes that he would often get lost in. The way she would look at him while he blathered on about nonsense, as though all of her attention was directed at him and no matter what it was, she’d always smile at the end. But this memory was never a pleasant one.Joseph had re-lived it so frequently that he knew exactly how much time would pass before the next action would take place. She would tell him she loves him in five seconds, complain that her feet hurt in ten, She would then ask to sit down somewhere, they would go into the house they built together, small but lovely, and then exactly twenty seconds later he watches as she is torn apart by the razor sharp talons of several demons as they encircle her and drag her down the broken crack of the crust of the earth. The foul stench of sulfur and rotten skin rising up. Her arms shredded to ribbons, the blood lining her once beautiful floral dress. Her name fading from his lips as he sat and watched under the busted wall of their once beautiful house, unable to change any detail about the memory.
“ May.”
An explosion rattled his shack, his mind shifting thought, wondering what the military was trying to kill now. He’d grown numb to the sound. The once frightening eruption of the outside world now only seemed like an alarm clock to wake him from his never ending hell.
The air was stale, only faint rays of light peeked through the boarded up shack walls. He rose slowly, brushing the gray soot that lingered on his chest and chaotic beard,walking to the closest wall and reaching his eye to the crack.
The debris was beginning to settle a few hundred yards away.The outskirts of the old interstate shimmered from the heat. This once lucious field of green is now nothing more than a barren desert. Cars lined the road riddled with rust and broken glass, cracks all throughout the concrete.An abandoned gas station with a few neon letters missing from the sign
[DIE]
He’d often stare at the glowing letters, often sensing the irony, the one thing he can never experience, right in front of him in bright lights.
Joseph could still see the trail of smoke that came from the sky. He huffed
(Just another bomb run)
The military did them often, pinpointing the larger cracks on the earth and dropping as many bombs as they could into them, in hopes of keeping the demons down. It never worked. He believed that the military knew that too.
Joseph walked back to his makeshift bed,a pile of stuffing he’d pulled from many child toys left behind by the previous “tenants” or “squatters” . He didn’t care how it felt. There wasn’t much he did care about anymore . He rested his head back down, staring up at the trashy boarded roof, inconsistent lines of sunlight breaking through.Closing his eyes, he prayed that there would be nothing but darkness while he slumbered.
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The Nightmare started the same. He and May are walking down the sidewalk eating ice cream. It was the middle of winter and freezing, but they didn’t care. Joseph watched her, only two steps ahead of him, her hips swaying in the beautiful sundress with sunflowers sprinkled throughout it. Her smile lit up the whole road. She turned back to him, the two stacked strawberry cone only a quarter of the way through. “ I love you Joey “ she always called him that “ let’s find a place to sit, these sandals are really giving my footsies a beating” He smiled , the words she’d use in her sentences often made him truly see just how innocent she was. This woman carried herself with such confidence, but said the word “footsies”. “ The best seat in the house m’lady”
He said,gesturing as they walked up to an empty bench at the bus stop in front of their house. She brushed the hair away from her eyes, Joseph knew that in exactly three seconds she would sneeze and complain about how cold it was. Then the darkness would come.
“ AACHOO!” She blurted ,slight debris landing on the side of Joesph chocolate ice cream, he just sat there and smiled waiting for the remark and preparing for what followed.
“ Joseph, listen to me..”
She muttered
Joseph looked at her, scared that things had suddenly changed.
“ I don't have much time, I'm trapped in Vegas, they've taken it over.”
Tears began to stream from May’s sky blue eyes. She gripped his hand, it felt cold , but he actually felt it. He had no idea what was happening ,his heart began to race
The once peaceful sidewalk setting that always sat as the background to the horrid nightmare, now replaced with a small room with stained white walls, a floor of cold concrete, and a singular dim light hanging above . He gripped her shoulders feeling the silk fabric of her clothes . “ What's happening? MAY!? Where are you in Vegas ?Please, I need more!” He felt the shrillness in his voice, he hadn't actually spoken in so long that it felt like razor blades tearing at his vocal chords. She turned back to him, her face now a mangled and beaten mess coated in tints of red
“ I'm so scared, p..please help me my love.you still love me right?” She whispered.
He dropped his arms looking around for anything around her that stuck out. Nothing, the room was vacant except for her, the light, and a rusted steel door. The floor beneath them began to crack open revealing horrid, twisted red limbs reaching out and grabbing May’s legs . Joseph lunged out grabbing for her body before she could be pulled down.
Another explosion erupted, waking him instantly and sending him on his feet. This one was much closer. Wiping the fresh sweat from his brow, he moved back to the crack he used to look outside, only thinking about what had just happened to him. May was alive, and he knew what he must do. He began to turn away from the peephole when he saw something that sent a shudder through his spine. The smoke had finally cleared from the missile strike and standing in the center of the crater was a gargantuan beast, four legged and riddled with horns.It slammed its sharp claws into the dirt ahead. It’s eyes burned a fiery red, it’s head curved like that of a hound , teeth jagged and soaked in blood. Joseph couldn’t look away. He was frozen with fear, the beast hadn’t looked to have taken any damage, its monstrous head pointed up to the sky and without warning let out a painful screech that sent Joseph to his knees.His ears rang, , it had infested his mind and forced away any conscious thought, his feeble body began to curl as his inside screamed in pain. Then all at once the beast silenced.
Joseph started to rise, his body still in pain. It didn't help that he hadn't eaten in months.What little food he had left had spoiled. By all scientific reasoning he should be dead, but a lot about life has changed over the last four years.
He rose back to the hole looking once more at the monster in the distance only, it was getting closer. The beast stomped down the abandoned interstate, its feet shaking the gravel, the sharp spikes protruding from its underbelly scrapping the roofs of long abandoned cars. Joseph felt his heart drop as he came to a sudden realization. It was coming straight to him!