"Am I …dead?"
I was floating, or, at least, I think I was. It felt as though my entire body had been separated from my mind. I was in nothingness. completely at peace. I tried to think of what happened, how I got here. I remembered a bright light, fire, searing pain, screams, and then…nothing. I spent awhile floating in this 'void' and trying to think about who I was and what had happened with the fire and screams, but couldn't get any further as thinking about it made my head hurt. The only thing I could remember was a name, Ryan, I assumed it was mine. I floated around in the empty blackness of the void a little longer before I felt a light rushing feeling as if I was falling. The falling feeling started getting stronger to a point that felt almost un-bearable and after what felt like hours a saw a small white light somewhere in the distance below me. As I got closer to the light, it started to envelope me and it seemed like every ounce of gravitational force was pulling and squeezing me through one small point. I screamed with pain as the light started to sear away at my legs. The pain was so unbearable that I almost passed out. I tried to hang on to every piece of consciousness I could make, but as my head was being sucked into the light, an un-seeable force hit me in the head and I passed out.
Christmas, it was always my favorite time of the year, not because of the presents but because I enjoyed spending time with my family. My dad always had to work because he was the CEO of a large manufacturing company and my mother passed away when I was too little to remember so my older sister had taken care of me and my younger sister when mom died. It was the year I got Rufus my German Sheppard. I was overjoyed because I had wanted a dog since I turned 10. As soon as I opened the box he jumped out and started licking me. I pushed him away smiling and he sat with a strange, blank expression on his face. He opened his mouth:
"Oink."
"Wait … ." I thought to myself. "dogs don't oink." then I woke up
I awoke slowly as if out of a deep sleep. I sat up, my senses slowly returning to me, and looked around. I was on a beach. The sand was white so it had to be somewhere tropical. I looked around a little more closely at my surroundings and saw pine trees off in the distance behind me. This didn't make sense as pine trees don't grow in tropical areas.
"Oink" I heard the same oink that Rufus had uttered. Ignoring the trees I looked to my right and saw a pig not even a foot away staring at me with a blank expression its head titled to one side.
"Uuhhh …" was the only sound I was able to make as the pig stared into my soul, or maybe just at me. We continued to stare at each other for a while, then pig looked back down and wandered off. I tried to stand up, but when I did fell back down, I felt dizzy and my head was throbbing. I decided to lie on the warm sand and think. I looked up at the sky and saw the sun making its slow arc across the sky, it was about noon. I tried to sit up, but the combination of fatigue, the warm sun, and soft sand caused me to lie back down.
I was jolted out of a deep sleep by a hard nudge at my side. I looked at what had awakened me and I saw a pig standing next to me. He oinked then wandered a few feet stopped, stared at me, and then oinked again. I stared back at pig and he walked back towards me, grabbed my shirt and started to tug on it.
"Hey stop it!" I said bonking him on the snout. He let go of my shirt and started to huff and stamp his feet restlessly at the ground. I think he wanted something. "do you… need something, pig?" when I said that he stopped and started to take a few steps back, but then he would rush back towards me. He would do this a few times and then oink. "Do you want me to go with you?" he started to stamp his feet and he turned around and walked away. "Hey, wait up!" I called after him.
It wasn't until after I started following the pig that I realized night had fallen.
Night here was scary, no …terrifying. Before I managed to dig this small hole in the side of a mountain, me and Paul (I named the pig that helped me because I made me feel less alone…) were attacked by zombies, spiders, and skeletons, and once I disturbed a tall, green, sad faced creature that started to charge me as soon as it spotted me and exploded shortly after. So I sat scared to death as the monsters outside wandered looking for their next victim. I got bored waiting and sitting around so I took the makeshift pick I made out of branches and vines and made a small pile of soft dirt that would suffice to be a bed before I could make a better one.
"Night Paul." I grunted to Paul who was by the entrance. He oinked back which for some reason was reassuring. It felt like hours before I fell asleep, but hey, you try sleeping when zombies and other monsters are groaning and making other noises outside.
Morning came early the next day and I quickly set to work trying to build a better shelter than the hole I dug in the side of the mountain. Gathering the resources was difficult until out of frustration I punched a tree. The tree fell with one swift punch and I was surprised I could collect it with relative ease. I then proceeded to punch more trees and cut the logs into wooden planks until I had enough planks to make a small house. The inside of the house was about four meters in width and five in length with just barely enough room to stand. I dug a fire pit in the center of the house and put in some of the left-over planks into it for when it got dark and the rest were left outside. I made the door by putting six planks together and tying one across the top and bottom, though, since I didn't have hinges it was more like a removable wall. Once I was finished, I sat down and looked at my very rectangular house. It wasn't much, but I would do for tonight. I laid down on the grass, the sun casting its twilight shadows, to once again try to figure out how I had gotten here. I saw the bright light, flames, and then blackness, maybe a crash? I tried to think about my surroundings with the fire, but I saw nothing else. I felt a cool breeze on my face and I looked up to see the stars, more brightly than they ever were in the city. It was awe-inspiring to see so many tiny white dots in the sky, so clear and bright. This place is beautiful when it's not trying to kill you.
"rawrl." something growled behind me. I slowly turned, afraid to see what it was: a zombie slowly shuffling towards me. "OH MY GOD!" I screamed as I ran into my shelter. I moved to door into the doorway and coward in the corner of house. "RAAAWWWWRRRRLLLLL!" the zombie moaned as it banged on the door. After what seemed like hours, the zombie gave up trying to get in and decided to shuffle off to 'away-from-me'.
"That was close, huh Paul?" I muttered to the pig sleeping in the corner. "Paul?" I said when he didn't oink back. I went over to the corner to nudge Paul. But when I got close to him, I saw that 'he' was actually just a pile of dirt I had put as a bed. I looked around frantically for Paul, but he wasn't inside the house. For some odd reason, fear welled up inside me. Paul, a random pig I had found upon waking was somewhere out 'there' with the zombies, skeletons, and spiders. And against all common sense and better judgment, I set out in the middle off the night to find him.
Adrenalin pumped through my veins as I walked through the night to find Paul, armed with nothing more than a large branch that could act as a club. I was in enemy territory: zombies and skeletons wandered everywhere during the night. It was hard enough to stay away from them, but the spiders were faster and could climb trees. The tall green monsters were the worst as they moved silently thru the night and could see you from far away even in the dark, and they would explode if they got to close. I was almost killed twice before I managed to find a tall tree to climb. My search for Paul continued much in this manner until I found a small cluster of the green creatures huddled over something. I crept closer to see what it was and I saw a pig being eaten by them.
"You bastards!" I yelled as I charged the creatures, tears streaming from my eyes. The creatures looked up from their meal and ran at me. I swung my club wildly, each swing hitting its mark and crushing bone. It only took three swings to strike them all down, but I continued to mash the bodies anyway, grief stricken and confusingly enraged, that my only friend in this world had been killed in such a gruesome manner. After I had pummeled the creature's bodies into an unrecognizable mess of flesh, blood, and bone, I slowly walked over to the body of Paul and cried. Paul, who had helped me when I didn't know what to do, who had made me feel as if I wasn't alone, was now dead, gone, as if it was a cruel joke that I had been placed in this land with no-one other than myself.
I sat and cried for what seemed like hours. I cried until my eyes could no longer cry. When I finally stopped crying, my body was heavy with grief, and I just felt like lying next to Paul, to give up on life. I must have fallen asleep because it was day when I opened my eyes. I continued to lay next to paul, but Eventually the smell of Paul was enough to make me get up and give him a proper burial. Digging the grave was difficult without the aid of a shovel but it was finished soon enough and Paul had been properly buried. I took some bark off a tree for a makeshift headstone and carved
"here lies Paul, he was a good friend in life, r.i.p." after I had finished pauls grave, I stood over it for awhile and thought about why I was here. It started to get dark and I decided to head back to my wood shack. I walked slowly and my surroundings were equally slow as If out of a dream, I was indifferent to the things around me. During my walk home, I bumped into a skeleton who hadn't seen me coming. It turned and looked at me raising its bow readying an arrow, but when I looked at it unflinchingly, as if I had nothing to lose, it lowered its bow, turned around and walked off in another direction. I was left alone for the rest of my walk home. When I arrived at my small shack I lit a fire and laid down on the pile of dirt I had mistaken for Paul. As I tried to sleep, I watched the flames dance and the warmth of the fire relaxed me and I felt somewhat comforted by them. Sleep would come easy and slow to me, but it was all I could have asked for.
My sleep had been deep, dreamless sleep. I was awoken the next morning by hunger and thirst, realizing I hadn't eaten since I had awoken on the beach. My movements did not feel like my own when I got up and went out to search for food. It was as If my body was moving purely out of instinct to survive and I was just along for the ride. After wandering around for awhile I found a tree with apples growing off it. The apples were shiny and my mouth started to salivate in anticipation of the taste. I shook the tree and a single apple fell from one of the lower branches. I picked it up and wiped off the dirt. It was a large, deep red apple, bigger than I'd ever seen before. I took a bite of the apple and juice ran down my face. The apple was delicious, as if someone had taken the taste of fifty apples and smashed them into this single apple. I chewed slowly to enjoy its taste and as I did, my body seemed to become mine again. I finished the apple and felt renewed, ready to take on the world. I decide it would be good to enlarge the shack I had built and add windows and a proper door. Gathering the wood didn't take long and I made more planks for the walls so I made the roof higher and made the floor about ten feet bigger. I didn't have sand to make glass so I used wooden sticks as bars for the windows. To make the door I took the makeshift door I already had and put it on a pole so it could swivel. I also gave it a simple lock so I could keep other creatures out of my house. I felt accomplished after finishing my house.
I went back to the apple tree after finishing my house to gather more apple so I wouldn't have to leave so often In search of food. When I got back the tree I saw one of the green creatures jumping, trying to get an apple off one of the lower branches. At first the sight of the creatures feeble attempts to get the apple amused me, but the longer I watched it, the more a nameless rage began to build inside me. Tears began welling up in my eyes and I dropped the bag I was holding and charged the creature. The creature didn't notice me coming and I brought my club down on its head. The force off the club hitting the creatures head ran up my arms. There was a sickening crack of wood breaking bone and the creature went limp, falling to the ground with a dull flop. Breathing heavily, I began to calm down.
"ssssssssssssss" the sound of a fuse being lit. I turned around to strike the creature behind me but it was to late. In my rage I hadn't seen another of the green creatures behind the tree. As it was about to explode, I felt a sudden calmness wash over me and I closed my eyes. Suddenly a strong force pushed me out off the way of the explosion. I opened my eyes and saw a tall man dressed in studded leather armor standing over me. He had short black hair and stubble. His face was rough from time, but his eyes were soft. He was talking but my ears were still ringing from the explosion. Finally my hearing retuned and I could hear him clearly.
"Are you ok? Can you move?" I nodded slowly still dazed from the explosion. "good" he said relived "boy, you're either really brave or really stupid to take on a group of creepers like that" he said with a chuckle. "Here, I'll help you up." He said giving me his hand. I took it gladly and got to my feet. "I don't think I've seen you before. What's your name son?"
"r-Ryan." I answered quietly
"Nice to meet ya Ryan. Names Norman." He said putting his hand out
"Glad to meet you sir" I said shacking his hand
"Son, just call me Norman. You got shelter around?" he said looking around "I doubt you've been sleeping on the ground."
"Yeah, I've got shelter. S'not too far off. It's a short walk that way." I said pointing towards my house.
"lets be off then." He started to walk in the direction I had pointed. "so son, how long you been out here?"
"a few days, no more than a week"
"Hmm," he started to think "that means the others must still be looking"
"Others? Other what?"
"Other humans." I stopped when he said this taken aback with disbelief.
"You're lying."
"Son, did you really think you where all alone?"
"Yes…" I answered quietly, thinking back to Paul's death.
"This world is vast," he said putting a hand on my shoulder "but its far from lonely." He smiled "now come on, its starting to get dark. Is that your house there?" he asked pointing to my house.
"Yes."
"Its not to bad for being out alone like you've been." He said admirably "why, my first hut was just a pile of mud." We stepped inside and I noticed the fire had gone out.
"aw, the fire went out. It took me forever to get it lit."
"Don't worry, I got it" he said as he pulled some flint and steel out of his bag and relit the fire. We sat in silence for a while just watching the fire. It was strange, being in someone's company after so long. After some time Norman pulled a small package out of his bag and unwrapped some pieces of uncooked pork. He put the pieces over the fire to let them cook. The smell of the meat cooking was intoxicating and it started to make my stomach gurgle. I reached for my bag but remembered that I had dropped it when I attacked the creepers. Fat from the pork was dripping in to the fire, sizzling when it hit the flames, and I couldn't stop thinking about how delicious that pork would be. I took a small piece of wood and started to chew on it to keep my mind off the browning pork cooking over the fire.
After a few minutes, the pork finished cooking and norman put the pork into a small wooden bowl and started to eat. I watched him eat with envy; all I had eaten was an apple.
"Ah," norman said with a mouthful of pork "where are my manners. Here I am enjoying this and im sure you don't have much in the way of food. Would you like some?" he asked. I nodded my head and he handed me the bowl and I took it greedily. I started tearing at the meat ravenously and after a few bites, I noticed norman was doing something with his bag.
"I'm sorry" I said handing the bowl back to norman "you eat the rest of it"
"No, go ahead and eat it, I got more" he said, pulling a few pieces of beef out of his bag and putting it over the fire. We sat in silence for a while eating and listening to the cackling of the fire, watching its hypnotic dance.
"Well," norman said putting his stuff back in his bag "best get some sleep, we got a long journey ahead of us tomorrow"
"What?"
"we'll be heading out to the desert fortress, first thing in the morning…which reminds me" he stopped and pulled a small piece of paper out of his bag and scribbled something on it while muttering something to himself, but I only caught the words boy, fortress, dawn. When he finished scribbling, he stood and after a few moments something else appeared on the paper.
"Good, they're already back" he said putting the paper back in his bag.
"Who's back?"
"You'll find out tomorrow. now get some sleep, like I said, we've got a long way to go from here." He said as he pulled a wooden bed out of his bag.
"Where'd you get that bed from?"
"Don't worry about it" he said lying down on the bed. "Now go to sleep. We leave at first light"
I lay down on my dirt and started to think. Only a few days ago I was the only human In this world, now I'm about to go meet more. I also tried to remember what I had seen before I woke up on the beach, the fire and screaming, but I couldn't see any more than that.
"Ryan get up." Someone said shaking me
"It's still dark out." I mumbled as I rolled over
"Get. Up. NOW!" Norman said throwing me off my bed with relative ease.
"owwww, why'd you do that?" I said standing up rubbing my head.
"come on and pack your things," norman said tossing me a small leather satchel " put your stuff in this, we leave soon."
"my stuff won't fit in this, it's too small."
"its enchanted, you could fit an entire house in there. Now hurry up. Ill be outside when your ready." I looked through my hut looking for anything I might need. Not seeing of anything of importance I walked outside to see that it was still dark out.
"I thought we were leaving at dawn."
"We were," Norman said staring off into the distance "but I figured it would be safer to leave a little early."
"So where are we headed?"
"Desert fortress. It's about a day's journey from here"
"Lets go." As we started to leave the wood shack, I looked back and felt a feeling of sadness. The shack meant a lot to me as it had been my shelter and it was the last place I had seen paul.
We continued to walk for about an hour and the sun was just coming up.
"Get down." Norman said as he drew his sword. "Look, over there." He said pointing to a skeleton. He started to creep forward but stopped when the glare of the sword got in his eyes. He looked up at the sky then sheathed his sword. "Watch the skeleton." he threw a rock at the skeleton to get its attention and it started walking towards us. I started to run away but Norman grabbed my wrist. "watch the skeleton." He said as the sun started to light up the area. When the suns light hit the skeleton, it suddenly burst into flames.
