The explosion.

The sound could be heard from miles around, and it would be odd if no one had heard it. The sound began from a large city, the name of which is not remembered. From the centre of the city, a bomb had gone off, purposefully killing every living and non-living being in the city. A blonde man watched off in the distance, heart pounding in his ears. He watched, seeing infernos rip and tear across the buildings, destroying and wrecking the life in it. The blond turned away, tightening a band of cloth that was a temporary tourniquet on his arm. A whine from the ground made him look, seeing the mutt of a dog he managed to bring with him as he ran from the pending disaster.

Now, one may wonder what happened that would cause someone to evacuate from a city, or to even have the city be blown up to begin with. This was because of the disaster, called the Rise of Darkness. The Rise of Darkness happened in a town in Canada, where the people were having an ordinary day as usual. But, from the shadows and hallowed depths of the earth rose what someone might call a Zombie. Though, it wasn't one in the typical sense. The creatures, called the Darkness by a lot, were humanoids, completely enveloped in shadows with the only visible feature being their eyes, which even then were glowing white gouges in their skulls. When bit by one, slowly you would become deranged, and at a point become mad, crazy, delusional, and the shadows of the soul would take over. And yes, it all sounds silly, but if you lived in a world where a bite from a monster eventually made you one of them, I think you would be afraid.

The blonde man stood in the middle of a barren road, overlooking the city. All he had was a bunch of keys on a lanyard, 11 to be precise, and a small satchel. He glanced at the dog, making a small motion with his head for it to follow him as he walked away. The man, who's name is Francis, was a florist in the city before it all became ruined and uninhabitable because of the Darkness. He had watched his parents become part of the darkness, almost escaping without a scratch. He had found out that the government was planning on bombing the city, he got out of there as fast as he could, throwing a few necessary items in the satchel. These included small pictures of his family and friends, as well as very little food and supplies, hairspray and a lighter; the Darkness only dies by fire.

Francis walked, the brown and white dog at his side. They walked for hours, only briefly stopping to take a five minute break or to eat a little. After all his walking, the night started drawing near- the worst time to be outside. Francis looked around for a building of some sort, his eyes landing on a small shack, barely big enough for three. He and the dog hurried over to it, shutting the door upon entering. It was nothing impressive, just a cot and a counter, and it looked as though the last person who was there had been changed into a Darkness creature. He sighed and sat down on the cot, sliding his bag under it and running his fingers through his dishevelled hair. The dog sat in front of him, tongue out and panting. He laughed quietly and pat its head. Its collar jangled, and upon looking at it he saw that the tag read 'LAPIN.'

He opened his mouth to speak, quiet words coming out as he spoke, "So... Lapin the dog. I see that its just you and me now, non?" He gave an airy laugh and sigh, continuing, "You're lucky you can't understand what's going on. Now, don't droop your ears like that, you're fine." The dog jumped up next to him and laid down, immediately falling asleep. With that, Francis got up and made sure the door and windows would stay shut. He then laid down with the dog and slept as well.

At around two in the morning, Francis was awoken with pounding on the door. He made a girly sound as he jumped up, rushing to the door to make sure it couldn't open. He tightened the tourniquet on his arm and stopped when he heard a voice.

"Hello? I-Is there someone in there? Please let me in!" They yelled, pounding on the door more. The person was clearly scared, but Francis was still cautious.

He responded, "Who are you? Why should I let you in?"

"My name doesn't matter now! I just need a place to rest and hide! Please, let me in!" They yelled, trying to open the door. With a heavy sigh, Francis opened the door just wide enough so that the person could get in.

They, like himself, were blonde, hair matted and caked with odd bits of things. His face was cut and he was very clearly starved and sleep deprived. They stared at each other, something not quite clicking in their minds. Francis had a feeling that he know him, the other man as well, but they couldn't remember.

0-o-0

I have no idea where I went with this one. Review if you want me to finish this, and if you know any of my other stuff that I got too lazy to finish, yell at me to finish them or something!

~ViraLayton