I opened my mouth and spoke, “Hello.”
He turned his head and let out a terrible scream. I jumped back and covered my ears. He smashed his head against the glass door and blood smeared everywhere. He repeated smashing his head over and over. I noticed his knuckle bones were exposed. He smashed his fist and head against the door. His head had meant the same fate as his hands.The white of his skull peeked through his dangling skin. I felt sick. He continued to scream and I fell back against the door behind me. I turned my head and vomited onto the white and black tiled floor. After l vomited I was paralyzed by his relentless screams. At some point he finally stopped screaming. I didn’t know how long he had screamed and smashed his head and fists. For me it had been an eternity of endless torture before he stopped his episode. I slowly got to my feet. I saw my ears were punished severely from his screams. My hands had a thin layer of blood on them from where I had covered my ears. I observed the man lying on the ground. He must have knocked himself out with all his banging and smashing. His skull was an open mess of cracks and holes, black blood exited his wounds.
I turned to leave and saw another man in the holding cell behind me. He was lying on the bed. I stepped closer to the door and peaked in the cell.The lighting was dim and made it hard to see into the room. I could tell he was too long for the bed. His feet hang off the edge. He was wearing blue levis and a black T shirt. His hair was dark brown and facial hair had grown in like weeds on his face. He appeared to be dead. I turned to leave but heard him call out in a raspy voice, “Please help me.”
“Are you sick?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
My rational side was telling me to leave but he was the first person I’d seen in days that had spoken. That must have meant something. I had the strangest feeling I was suppose to help him. He was in a jail cell and this made me feel worried. What had he done to be put in here? I also told myself I had a gun on me. That thought seemed to ease my mind.
“I was sick, but I’m not now. I’m not sick like the guy over there. I need water and food. Please. Help me!” He begged.
I decided I would help him, but first I wanted to know why he was being held in jail.
“Why are you in here?” I asked.
“I was in a fight at school. I’m a senior at KHS. Please, I need water!” He sounded desperate but continued on, “My name is Silas, I’m nineteen years old. My parents were supposed to come and pick me up. They never came and then I became sick. I thought I was dying. You are the first person I have seen in a long time. Please lady, I need water.”
I fumble through the keys until I find the right one. I hesitate but unlock the door.
“I have a gun so don’t try anything crazy.” I said, entering the holding cell.
He didn’t move and I wondered if he was still sick. I walked slowly towards him. He started to move around a little but cried out in pain.
“Please, I need water. Everything hurts and I am thirsty.”
I looked around and saw there was a sink and toilet. I walked to the sink but kept an eye on him. I filled a cup of water and brought it to him. I handed the cup to him but he shook and wasn’t able to hold it. I knew how it felt being weak. I noticed he had dried blood down his ears, mouth, nose and eyes. He smelt awful. It was a scent I had experienced myself when I was sick. Even with all the grossness he was still handsome. His eyes were a dark chocolate brown. He wasn’t able to hold the cup on his own. I put the cup to his lips. He immediately asked for more. We repeated these steps for some time before he was able to sit up and eventually move around. He was close to six feet tall when he stood fully.
We left the holding cell and headed into the hallway. He miraculously appeared to be getting stronger by the minute. I picked up the duffle bags and we exited the station. The sun was setting at an alarming rate and I knew I needed to get home quickly. The air was thick with the foul odor. I worried trouble would be approaching.
“Is there somewhere I can bring you?” I asked.
We stood outside the main entrance in awkwardness.
“I live in Keene, our school was here for a basketball game. We won but a couple guys were not happy and they attacked a friend on my team. I jumped in to help and ended up here,” he explained, pointing to the station, “Would you mind giving me a ride home?”
The sun was setting but I couldn’t stop staring into his eyes. They were dark and his voice seemed too deep for a senior. I knew him but couldn’t put my finger on it.
“We can’t go into the city this time of day. The night screamers will be coming out soon,” I replied.
As if on cue a terrifying scream exploded into the silent air making Silas and me jump. His eyes opened wide with a panicked expression. I’m sure my face was of equal terror.
“We need to go, now!” I ordered, grabbing the bags.
I moved quickly to the fully loaded truck. He followed behind me, surprising me by keeping pace with me. The screams became louder and more unbearable with each passing minute.They sounded close, too close. My ears were starting to buzz and my stomach knotted. I glanced at Silas while clearing the passenger seat. I practically threw the bags in the back of the truck. The sun was almost completely set and the screams were coming from every direction. I focused and fought to keep moving, I was terrified. Judging by the look on Silas’ face he was scared too. I started the truck and the lights came on automatically.
“Oh Shit!” Silas yelled.
I glanced up and saw we were no longer alone. Standing not even twenty feet in front of us were, screamers. They all looked the same, sunken grey eyes, pale white skin and a terrible odor that filled the air. They all had dried blood on their eyes, ears, nose and mouth.
“Go. Go. Go!” Silas shouted.
The screamers all tilted their heads like a practiced dance and then proceeded to scream. The screams tortured my ears, sending pain throughout every inch of my body. Silas covered his ears too. The pain the screams caused spread across his face. I somehow managed to put the truck in reverse and I backed up. The screamers all proceeded to follow the truck. I turned the steering wheel and the truck turned around. The light from the truck revealed a horrific view. We were surrounded by screamers.They were coming out of the buildings. They were everywhere and I knew some of these people. The first one was the librarian. She almost looked the same, except her eyes no longer brown. Her torn blue dress hung at odd angles. My gym teacher Mr. Mason followed, a whistle dangled off a chain around his neck. A few kids I went to school with stood close to Mr. Mason. They all looked the same. Dead, but not dead, they definitely smelt dead though.
We started to drive but there were too many of them, they were too close and too fast. They came at us like a lioness going in for the kill. I tossed my gun to Silas. I immediately knew he had no idea how to use it. Judging by the expression on his face, I didn’t think he ever held a gun. The first screamer hit the truck from the passenger side door. I pushed the gas pedal to the floor but it was useless there were too many screamers. They jumped onto the truck and covered the windshield. They punched at the windshield trying to get us.They were focused on getting to us and weren’t screaming.They were too busy trying to killing us or maybe eating us. I guess it didn’t really matter because we were minutes from finding out how death would take us.
I couldn’t see the road in front of me. The screamers blanketed the windshield completely. One of them resembled my best friend Lily. I really hoped it wasn’t her. I didn’t want to be snacked on by my best friend. I couldn’t help but gaze over at Silas. The windshield was moments from breaking completely. I wanted to see someone else like me before I died. I was shocked when I looked at him and saw not fear in his face but rage. He was really pissed off. He was staring at one of the screamers in particular. His rage building like fuel on a fire. I could feel the heat coming from his body. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I watched him shine and glow. I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. It was an incredible sight. He was beautiful and all I could think was how much he reminded me of a twinkling star. His skin lit up, shining brightly. The sound the windshield made breaking echoed in my ears. Cold hands touched my skin. They came for me but I refused to look. I admired Silas and the beautiful light that shone from him. I thought to myself, maybe death wouldn’t be so bad. Then the light exploded in every direction, sweet warm light consumed me in its loving embrace.