Revelation Extinction

Revelation Extinction

Author Notes: This story was for a competition where you had to create two stories that went together. The catch was the first story could only be 20 words. No more, no less, exactly 20 words.

This story isn't intended for younger readers.

Story 1 - Revelation Extinction

A person once said, "Men don't completely understand what true darkness is until they are left alone in complete seclusion."

Story 2 - Revelation Extinction / Part 1

April 14th, 2009

It happened so fast, but at the same time managed to last a life time. It was like time itself didn't even exist, at least not in a way comprehensible by the human brain. We were all just sitting in the lounge playing pool like we would on any other Tuesday night when the unthinkable happened. The ground opened up in a deafening roar. They poured out by the thousands in one fluent motion like a sea of darkness. Not one looked exactly the same, but many had the same common attributes. Boney sharpened claws, dark rotten flesh, and a mouth of razor sharp teeth that made me cringe just thinking about them. They struck so fast that nobody really had a chance to realize what was going on. Even if we did have the time, we still wouldn't have known what the phenomenon happening in front of us truly was.

Nick and I headed towards our room, but once we had reached our destination, we heard the crashing sound of shattering glass through the door. We knew that one of those things were inside. I just ran with no idea where to go. I noticed that the door of the study lounge that separates the male and female sections was slightly ajar. Before my mind could catch up to my body, I found myself running towards the door. I threw it open and entered the lounge, with Nick following close behind. As soon as he flung his body into the room, I forced the door shut. Without giving ourselves a chance to rest, we quickly took some of the desks in the room and fortified the only door to the room. I quickly glanced around the room, looking for other things to barricade. There was only one window, which was too small for anything to get through. Regardless, we took a metal bed frame that was stored in the corner and blocked the window, further bracing it with one of the remaining desks.

And then we sat. We didn't talk to each other and I doubt we thought of much. It was nearly impossible to think as everything was being drowned out by the ferocious howls of the monsters and screams of horror and pain. As the night went on went the sounds lessened and lessened. Whether it was due to the receding adrenaline from my body or because of the lack of noise, I reconnected with my thoughts and my mind started to race. As the night grew quieter with each additional hour that ticked by, I started asking myself questions. Was this happening everywhere? Was my family dead? When would we be rescued? Were we even going to be rescued? These thoughts, accompanied by hundreds of others, repeated in my head over and over.

I did manage to go to sleep though I never believed that I would or even could. I quietly searched the room to get familiar with my surroundings. It's probably something that I should have done the night before, but exhaustion and shock probably wasn't letting my mind think straight. There really wasn't much in the room, actually. There was a mirror on the wall opposite of the door, two chairs, a couch, a couple of extra bed frames, the desks that used to barricade the door and window, and a table. On top of the table there were a few scattered papers with chemistry notes written on them. Those are the papers that I'm writing on now. I figured that if these beasts were ever stopped or that I had ever gotten through this event alive that some sort of documentation could be beneficial. Not to mention that it kept my mind busy long enough not to go insane. A loud crash from down the hall made Nick jump out of his sleep in a violent manner.

April 15th, 2009

We hear the cry of people dying less and less as time goes on. We haven't dared risk a look outside the window, but I could only imagine what the scene would look like. When I think about it the memories of the night before flood my mind. People having their limbs being torn off, almost as the creatures were making a game of it. The tossing of bloody limbs and people back and forth, making people suffer before they died. There was also the terrible smell of death that seemed to surround us more and more as the day went on. Just the thought of it made me want to vomit, but with each time I somehow managed to choke the vile impulse back.

Nick and I had finally spoken, but we did it quietly and sparsely, in fear that we would compromise our position. We talked about where these things could have come from. It could have been a species that lived underground and had finally found its way to the earth's surface. Perhaps it was a government experiment gone wrong or a terrorist attack. That's what my brain told me, but my heart told me something else. What if these creatures were actually demons from hell? Of course, this brought the next set of logical questions to my head. Why, and why now? What made this time so special? Perhaps hell had reached its population limit? If so, what better place to move on to then where the source of its population was coming from in the first place? It would be like killing two birds with one stone.

Before the night we figured that we had a pretty bad problem on our hands. In the rush to find shelter we hadn't thought of getting food or water. Even if we would have thought about it at the time we wouldn't have had access to any supplies. We'd have to venture out eventually if we wanted to stay alive. Our room wasn't more than twenty feet from our location, but that twenty feet might as well been twenty miles. We had no clue what would be in the hall or in the room itself. However, we knew that we had to do it and there wasn't any time like the present. Frankly, we didn't even know if there would be a tomorrow.

April 16th, 2009

Nick died today.

May 4th, 2009

I've finally found the will to write again. God, the horror that I saw once we left the room was unbearable. We had to venture out for some sort of food to stay alive. The trip only resulted in one of us staying alive though. Was it really worth it?

We moved the desks away from the door as quietly as we could. While the area always smelled horrible, once we opened the door, it engulfed us. The air was thick with the smell of a misty blood, and pieces of what used to be parts of human bodies were splattered against floor and wall alike. The room wasn't far, but I couldn't have gotten there any sooner. I unlocked the door and peered into the room. The window had been shattered in and the inside of the room had looked the same as the hallway we had just come from. We didn't dare look out the window to see what the world had become. There wasn't any time for it, anyway. Nick shut the door behind us and we started to gather supplies.

What we wanted more than food was water. We had a new unopened case of bottled water in the room so we threw it in my dirty clothes bin. We then proceeded to put in all of the food that would fit. I non-verbally agreed to carry the supplies as Nick would lead the way opening the door to the study lounge for me. We turned one corner and had a straight stretch to the study lounge. As soon as we reached the door it swung open seemingly on itself. One of the beasts was already inside, waiting for us. Its claws ripped for Nick's face as he was thrown down to the ground. I didn't even attempt to save him, but God I wish I would have died trying. I got inside the room and threw the door shut as fast as I could. I scrambled to get enough desks up against the door to stop anything from getting through. Nick screamed on the other side of the door. He didn't exactly scream for my help, but I realized that he didn't want help to live, but he wanted help to die faster.

After the screaming had ended, I spent the next couple of hours crying. I beat my fists against the floor and the wall, Nick's scream for help repeating over and over in my head. Why the hell hadn't the beast taken me instead? Why hadn't he killed both of us? Had we made too much noise moving the obstacles from the door, or had the creatures knew we were there all along? I came to the conclusion that it had only killed one of us as some sort of sick game. In reality, what better way to make someone suffer than taking the lives of everyone they love? The pain by far exceeded any physical torture I could have gone through.

I did finally muster up the stomach to eat the day after he died. A part of me thought that he wouldn't have wanted me to save him, as deep down in his heart because he knew I would have died with him. At least this is what I told myself, because it slightly helped me cover up the tremendous amount of pain that I was in. But still his screams echoed in my head. When I do manage to fall asleep I am only woken up with this scene of horror. To pass the time, I tried to figure out what to do after this food and water have ran out, but I couldn't think of any possible scenario that would get me to a location with food and back to my safe haven without dying. On top of that, I would also have to leave through the door where Nick had died, and I don't think that I'll ever be ready to deal with that situation. Time will only tell, but I'm afraid of exactly what it's going to tell me.

May 7th, 2009

It's odd how weak humans are as a species. At one time I would have thought we were the dominant species and almost a vital part of the world. My desire to live was completely dependent on having another person here with me. Now that I have nobody I have lost this desire. I studied myself in the mirror for the longest time today and what I saw wasn't a man anymore. I saw no emotion whatsoever. Doesn't that make me the same as those creatures out there? I'd like to believe that they didn't have emotion, and now neither did I. When this whole thing started I was afraid, confused, and saddened. When Nick died, I was angry at myself for being such a coward and not dying by his side. I even wanted to take my own life, but I now know I can't do that because I don't feel alive anymore.

Now I don't feel anything. I don't want to be sad. I don't want to be happy. I don't want to be angry, and I don't even want to be content. I don't want to live and I don't want to die. I don't want anything. I do find it kind of ironic that as the rest of my last piece of paper is being consumed with my thoughts that I have finally given up on this thing called life. I had once said that this was all happening because hell had become overpopulated. Now that hell has moved onto Earth, where will it go next or is this its final destination? There are many questions that I can't answer right now, but what I do know is that I have lost all desire to survive. I now know what true darkness is.