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Astrid feels herself waking up.
She’s always been a long sleeper, and as she opens her eyes, she expects the sun to be shining.
To her surprise, she is hit by a wall of darkness.
Her vision is a solid mass of black and a bit of red. Slowly, the red highlights begin to fade in some areas while intensifying in others.
Four red shapes mark the presence of four other people in the room with her. They are all still asleep.
Astrid is surprised. On weekends, she was always the last in her family to wake up. Usually, by the time she managed to drag herself downstairs, her brother was coming back from his morning jog.
Since everyone else is asleep, Astrid tries to just close her eyes again. As a human, when she’d wake up early, usually from her phone’s alarm clock, she would have difficulty not falling asleep again.
Now it’s the exact opposite.
Her body refuses to relax. The more she tries to stay still, the more a weird tingling spreads through her body, urging her to move. Her brain is no better. Even though she tries to clear her mind and relax, all her brain wants to do is focus.
She fights against herself with a variety of techniques, but the weird need to do something only intensifies the more she tries to resist it.
Finally, she gives up.
The red highlights in her vision give her a general idea of where everything is, allowing her to navigate the dark with little difficulty. She tries to look outside through the living room windows, but sees that her red sight doesn’t penetrate the glass. Instead, it looks like a mirror that only reflects the red part of her vision. The rest is a near-solid wall of black.
She sits up and removes her blanket as quietly as she can.
Waking up in normal clothes instead of pajamas feels weird and she doesn’t even want to know what she smells like. Then again, she has bigger problems than worrying about her probably suboptimal hygiene. Like somehow acquiring breakfast.
‘God. I could really use some bacon and pancakes right now...’ She shakes her breakfast fantasy out of her head as fast as possible, but the damage is already done.
Her stomach immediately makes it known that he would indeed like to be filled with bacon and pancakes – and sooner rather than later. To make sure she knows he’s serious, he grumbles and cramps up. Astrid clenches her teeth and waits for the burning to pass before she takes another look around the room.
Reaching the door to the garden would require stepping over several people, which leaves the front door as the only way out.
She finds it locked, but the keys are in the hole. A slow turn unlocks the door with nothing but a quiet clack.
Before Astrid leaves, she makes sure to flick a small lever in the doorframe. It will prevent the lock from snapping shut. Then she closes the door as quietly as she can.
She doesn’t notice just how thick the air inside the house is until she steps outside. A cool wind washes over her as she takes a deep breath of fresh air.
For a few seconds, Astrid just stands there. Breathing and listening. The darkness surrounding her seems almost unnatural. The street lamps that would normally keep the night at bay, are black. Even the moon is hiding behind clouds.
She listens until she hears footsteps. A red shape comes into view across the street. Before she can say anything, Astrid is bathed in light. Her eyes burn from the sudden brightness and she is forced to look away.
“What are you doing out here?” the Sheriff asks as she lowers both her flashlight and her gun. Unlike yesterday, she’s now dressed in a full police uniform. It fits her surprisingly well considering her new body. As far as Astrid can tell, everything, except for the Sheriff's jeans, is part of the original uniform.
“Couldn’t sleep anymore.”
The Sheriff asks, “A nightmare?”
Astrid shakes her head. “No. I just feel really restless and awake.”
“It seems to be an elf thing. Come.” The Sheriff waves for her to follow. “Do you have that reddish night vision too?”
“Mm-hmmm.” Astrid nods.
The Sheriff turns off the flashlight, plunging everything back into darkness. With the light gone, all color and features on the Sheriff's body disappear and she becomes little more than a red shape.
She leads Astrid across the street and into the backyard of her house. There’s another person sitting at a small table. A candle in front of him casts a mixture of normal and red light. It’s barely enough to illuminate the table, and the person remains shrouded in darkness.
The shape looks up as they approach. “So that was what you heard. I guess we’ll have to find something other than chess to do now.”
“Don’t let me stop you two,” Astrid says as she sits down next to the man.
The Sheriff drops into the chair opposite him. “Nah. It’s fine. Let’s see… we can’t play cards in the dark… Ludo, maybe?”
The others just shrug, so she grabs the box containing the board game and sets it on the table.
“Smoke?” the Sheriff asks, offering Astrid a pack of cigarettes. Astrid shakes her head and rolls the dice. The Sheriff shrugs and stows the cigarettes in her pocket. “You know what, I probably shouldn’t ruin my new lungs either.”
“So what’s the plan for tomorrow?” Astrid asks once she’s made her move.
The Sheriff grabs the dice and throws them next. “We need to find other people and figure out what the hell is going on. I’ll set up a group of volunteers and then we’ll head to High Rock as soon as the sun rises. Speaking of which, are either of you interested in being part of said group of volunteers?”
The male elf bites his lip. “I would, but I can’t leave my family alone. If the house is attacked by one of those monsters while we’re gone…”
The Sheriff scoffs. “Come on. We have twelve armed hunters guarding these two houses. Eleven won’t make a difference. Besides, it's just a short trip. We’ll be back before nightfall.”
The man pauses. Astrid watches him, but the red glow doesn’t reveal his expression. “Fine. I'll come with you.”
“Excellent.” The Sheriff pauses for a moment, then nods at Astrid. “What about you?”
Astrid hesitates a moment. She’s not too keen on getting eaten alive by whatever’s stalking the road out there. On the other hand, she and her new body are probably best suited for surviving, and if they find any supplies, the volunteers will probably get to have an early bite. With that thought, she says, “I guess, but wouldn’t the armed hunters be a bit better qualified?”
“They would be, but an extra pair of eyes can’t hurt, and you don’t seem like the blind or stupid kind. What was your name again?”
Astrid smiles as she throws her dice. “Astrid.”
“Nice to meet you, Astrid. I’m… You know what, just call me Sheriff Winkler. Or just Sheriff for short.”
Astrid leans towards the Sheriff like she’s about to tell her a secret. “Say, you wouldn’t have something to eat, would you?”
She shakes her head. “We never expected this many people to come here…” The Sheriff pauses and looks around the small table, before she adds, “You know what, we’ll need our energy tomorrow. Food's only for people who do stuff. Let’s go raid the kitchen.” The elf stands up.
“Now THAT is a good idea if I’ve ever heard one,” the male elf says as he jumps out of his chair.
The three elves creep through the quiet house and enter the kitchen. The Sheriff goes straight for the fridge. “Astrid. Grab the bread over there. We’ll eat outside.”
Astrid quietly grabs the baguette, while the Sheriff and the male elf gather sausage and spread.
The Sheriff whispers, “Here. We still have some lasagna from yesterday…” She trails off as she sees someone standing in the doorway.
The kitchen is suddenly illuminated by a flashlight. Astrid is forced to shield her eyes from the sudden light.
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A female voice asks, “What are you doing?” It’s the Sheriff’s wife.
“Getting an early breakfast,” the Sheriff whispers back.
“You know we don’t have much to eat and you’re plundering what’s left before anyone else is even awake?!”
In the light of the flashlight, Astrid can see the Sheriff glare at her wife. She sounds angry. “I am hungry. This is my house and if I feel like I’m starving, I will eat.”
“You know, you could also take a second to think about everyone else. Other people will be hungry tomorrow too.”
The Sheriff’s voice rapidly rises in volume. “Other people are not opening their houses to others. Other people are not going on a hike through a monster-infested forest tomorrow.”
Another red shape appears in the doorway. “What’s going on?” Astrid hears Noah whisper.
The Sheriff snaps, “Nothing. Let’s go outside. Noah, you want something to eat?”
“I’m tired so I’m going to go back to bed now. It would be great if you could all be a little quieter.”
Before the Sheriff walks out of the kitchen, she grabs several bottles from the fridge. “I also feel like having a beer.” She pushes past her wife.
Astrid and the male elf quietly follow.
“You want one too?” The Sheriff offers Astrid one of the bottles. When she hesitates, the Sheriff adds, “It’s got a lot of calories. Helps quash the hunger.”
Astrid shrugs and grabs the bottle.
By sunrise, the three elves have consumed everything they took. When the bread ran out, they just ate the spreads as they were. Then the Sheriff threw everything out, even the bottles, leaving little evidence of what they’d done in the early-morning hours.
Even though it was quite a massive early breakfast, Astrid still feels hungry. If she could, she would eat another baguette, but after a few minutes, the hunger subsides. She still has an appetite, but at least the burning is gone. To her surprise, Astrid notices that she’s not tired at all. Even though she woke up hours before sunrise, she feels completely awake. Almost like she’s downed several cans of energy drink.
Everyone gathers in the street between the two houses.
“Good morning, everyone,” the Sheriff begins. “Today, a team is going to head for the nearest town to get supplies and find out how our mayor and other authorities plan on dealing with the situation at hand. From what we’ve heard, the event that occurred yesterday created many extremely dangerous creatures. Going alone would be foolish, so I’m going to need a team of volunteers. This is obviously going to be dangerous, but it needs to be done. Who is willing to accompany me on this mission?”
Just like she promised, Astrid immediately steps forward and raises her hand. The male elf quickly follows.
The Sheriff smiles as she waves them over. “Who else?”
A few more hands slowly rise and two more people step forward: Lukas and Fynn. Before he joins the group, Lukas quickly kisses his wife goodbye. Astrid notices that his rifle is still slung over his shoulder and immediately feels better about the trip they are about to embark on.
Fynn has slung his rifle over his back too and finally gotten rid of his brown warning vest. Astrid is glad he’s taken it off. Now he looks a lot less like a forest clown and more like someone who could shoot a monster before it can jump on top of Astrid and stab her with its claws. She quickly shakes that weird and sudden fantasy out of her head as Fynn joins the group of volunteers.
The Sheriff looks over the crowd once more. When it’s obvious that no one else is going to raise their hands, she leads the group into her house.
While they follow the Sheriff to the living room, Astrid asks Fynn, “Why were you wearing that weird brown vest yesterday?”
He looks puzzled. “What brown vest?”
“You know. The one you were wearing yesterday when we talked?”
“I was wearing this and my orange warning vest, but I wasn’t wearing anything brown,” Fynn says.
Astrid shrugs, but doesn’t have time to say anything else before the Sheriff leads them into her living room. Unlike yesterday evening, it's now empty and flooded with sunlight.
The Sheriff sits down on the couch and waits for the group to enter the room. “All right. Thank you all again for volunteering. I can see that those who aren't cops are hunters, so we're all armed with weapons designed to kill things as quickly as possible. Noah already told me about a creature that was apparently resistant to smaller calibers. Lukas also told me that he managed to repel one of these things with his rifle. I can't tell how effective our guns will be against monsters, but unless they're magical, bullets ought to do the job. From what I can tell, all these new creatures are still just animals.” She looks them all over and notices that Astrid isn’t armed. “You don’t have a weapon. Have you ever used a gun before?”
“I shot my brother's airsoft pistol a few times.”
“Aha.” The elf looks unimpressed. “Well, at least you're brave. This little group is small enough as it is, and surprisingly few of these…” she stops herself from saying something extremely rude, then continues, “these heavily armed men are willing to take a one-hour walk through the forest they normally hunt in, just because the wildlife has become a bit more feisty than usual. Do any of you have a sidearm you could give this woman?”
“Sheriff, isn’t that like… illegal?” Noah asks his superior.
She scowls at him. “Protocol kicked the bucket when that weird fog enveloped the world. Besides, as I said, too few people volunteered anyway. Now, can one of you spare a sidearm?”
Fynn shifts uncomfortably, then takes off the holster holding a silver revolver at his side. “You’re lucky I even brought this today. Please be gentle with it. I want it back.”
He slowly places the weapon in Astrid’s hands. She stares at the revolver. It feels surprisingly heavy. Holding such a deadly instrument causes her heart to race. Her hands quiver a bit as she secures the holster around her waist. They all watch as she pulls the revolver out and raises it.
“Careful!” the Sheriff says, causing Astrid to jump and close both hands around the weapon to stop it from falling. “That thing is a deadly weapon, so never point it at anything you're not absolutely sure you want to kill.”
She nods. The gun seems to be getting heavier and hotter the longer she holds it. The fact that it now only takes her a single thought and a small movement to send a deadly piece of lead flying through the room makes her feel strong. As though she can now take on anything the world throws at her. At the same time, a massive weight constricts her chest. The tool of death in her hands leaves no room for mistakes. She almost feels like handing it right back, but a little uneasiness is a small price to pay in exchange for being able to defend herself. Holding the gun feels like holding incredible power in her hands and an almost crushing responsibility on her shoulders.
The Sheriff sees Astrid stare at the weapon and says to Fynn, “Explain to her how to use that thing, so she doesn't shoot her foot off.” Those words don’t make Astrid feel any better.
“All right.” Fynn takes the revolver out of her hands. “That thing is loaded with six .38 rounds. The trigger is pretty hard to pull unless you manually cock the hammer. Then it's much easier than you think, so be careful. It’s a pretty weak caliber, so the recoil is pretty smooth. You hold and shoot it like this.” He grabs the gun with both hands and holds it with his arms angled. “It doesn't have a safety, so if you need to make it safe after cocking the hammer, you do it like this.” He quickly cocks the hammer, holds it in place with his thumb, touches the trigger and slowly guides the hammer forward. “Make sure you let go of the trigger or it might go off when you let the hammer move forward. Needless to say, don’t shoot yourself or us. You got that?” Astrid nods and he hands her the weapon again.
She stares at the silver metal a little longer, then tears her gaze away from it. While she slowly places the gun back in its holster, the others continue the discussion.
“Now, about the task itself,” the Sheriff continues her briefing, “as I already said, High Rock is about an hour’s walk away from us.” She pulls a map of the area out of her pocket. The path is marked with a yellow highlighter. It leads through a patch of forest and then over a road snaking through open fields until finally reaching the town.
“Seems pretty straightforward,” Lukas notices as he peers over the map.
“We desperately need supplies and to know what’s going on, so we'll be back before sundown. If we're not…” the Sheriff trails off. The others don’t need her to finish to know what she would have said: Everyone will assume we're dead and will try to figure out something else. The Sheriff pauses for a moment, then pulls herself off the couch and says, “Now let’s not waste any more time.”
She leads them back out of the house. The weight of the gun at Astrid's side reminds her of its presence with every step.
The Sheriff apparently really means she doesn’t want to waste any more time. They immediately depart, and she doesn't even say goodbye to her wife.
As they leave, other people look out of the windows. Some waving them goodbye, a few holding their rifles and scanning the tree line ahead for anything dangerous.
The autumn sun shines and birds chirp all around them. Even as they enter the forest, the sun's rays shine through between the trees. The path marked on their map turns out to be a gravel road that makes its way through the forest. It’s a beautiful day. Still, the trees and dense undergrowth make it difficult to see into the woods beyond. The fear of what might be waiting for them just out of sight prevents the group from enjoying the perfect weather.
Like a gunslinger, the Sheriff has her hand on her holster. Lukas has his rifle in his hands. It’s heavy, but carrying it on his back might mean he wouldn’t be able to pull it out fast enough if something decides to attack them. The others follow their lead, their weapons ready and their eyes peeled.
Lukas’s voice suddenly breaks the quiet, causing everyone to jump. “Is it just me, or is the forest denser than yesterday?"
The Sheriff glares at him, “Quiet and keep your ears peeled. We don’t need to alert the entire forest to our presence.”
Unlike the people traveling through it, the forest seems as peaceful as can be. The difference between these woods and the forest of last week is subtle, but anyone who knows nature would spot the changes immediately.
One of the more obvious new additions to the flora are the fern-like bushes growing on the forest floor. Next to the path stands a small bush that looks a bit like a hemp plant. Its stem and leaves are covered in glistening dark-yellow oil.
Most of the trees look normal, but closer inspection of their leaves and bark would reveal that some of them didn't grow here last week.
The most obvious new plant is a bamboo-like tree with round leaves growing out of the trunk and a cluster of them at the top, facing the sky. Wherever the larger trees leave space, these things stand like pillars, reaching for the sun above.
These newcomers struggle against the plants that have called these woods home for ages. Soon, nature will decide what will be left standing and what is unfit to survive in this new world.
It takes the group a while to reach the edge of the forest, but when they do, a weight seems to drop off all their shoulders. While nothing happened, the tension was unbearable.
In front of them, fields stretch into the distance, eventually ending in another forest and a cloud of fog. What were endless fields of almost-ripe corn yesterday, are now spotted with several other plants. Ferns, flowers with palm tree-like trunks, and many more dot the fields, while beautiful yellow, pink and blue flowers, weeds, and several other new plants stand between normal ones.
A whistle escapes Lukas’s lips. “Wow. There might be horrible monsters everywhere, but at least the plants are pretty.”
In spite of not knowing where her family is, the natural beauty infuses Astrid with some sort of deep joy. “It really is.”
A road splits the fields and leads to two farms, one close and the other a good deal further away. The one closest to them consists of one huge building that now lies in ruins. The entire left section and roof have collapsed inward. Soot and small plumes of smoke rising from the wreckage indicate that a recent fire caused the destruction. Around the ruin, cows and creatures that look a bit like brown bison graze on the fields.
Fynn slings his rifle over his shoulder. “Look. That’s my family's farm over there.” He points past the wreckage to the still-intact group of buildings.
Noah checks the map and says, “Looks like we have no more forest ahead of us. You guys think we should check the farm with the ruined house for any living people, before we head to Fynn’s property?”
The others consider his question for a moment, then the Sheriff says, “You know what, why not? As long as we make it quick.”
They leave the trees behind and follow the now properly asphalted road out into the open. They head for the large building, still checking the fields and forest edge for anything that might be dangerous.