There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the ... Twilight Zone - Rod Serling
Tonights episode is one where a brother and sister get thrust into a new world so foreign so intense and so different it could only happen within the reaches of the ... Twilight Zone.
I sit in the chair of my movie room. I lean the plush leather chair all the way back as I play Uncharted multiplayer with my little brother. (I was down visiting my family from college.) The game ends and my eyes start to get droopy as it nears 3:00 in the morning.
"One more," my 17 year old brother yawns.
"Okay," I yawn back.
Before I know it I am having a falling dream. You know the kind where the Earth feels like it is opening beneath your feet and your endlessly spiraling as you fall towards the ground. Then suddenly right before you hit the floor you jolt awake.
Except when I sat upright I was in the hot humid forest and not in my nice comfy cool air conditioned movie room. Wherever I was it was daylight and there were birds chirping.
"What the hell?," I say out loud completely and utterly confused.
"Where are we?," I hear.
I look around seeing my little brother sprawled out on the forest floor by my left side.
"I don't know," I reply disoriented standing up from where I lay stretched out on the ground.
I hear a semi loud whistle. I instinctively turn towards the noise only to be greeted by a bloody raised hand with a knife.
The person looked about ready to plunge it downwards when I yelled out, "Oh shit!"
I jumped back about a foot placing my body protectively in front of my brothers.
The stranger replies as they expertly stop mid strike and instead holds the knife pointed threateningly towards me and my brother evaluating us, "Oh fuck ya 'live!"
"W-w-who are you? Where am I?," I ask even more confused than before.
If this was a dream it was the most realistic and frightening one I've ever had.
The stranger looks at me like I'm mental or something, "Ya'll are in Georgia."
Me and my brother look at each other sharing a 'what the fuck' look.
It goes silent and I take the time to evaluate my surroundings trying to figure out how I got here and why.
I then bring my attention to stranger. We stare at each other taking in the others stance and appearance. The stranger is wearing a gray button up shirt rolled up to their elbows. They have on a dirty white t-shirt underneath. Their tan hiking boots are peeking out of the bottom of their frayed blue jeans. It is a man with an athletic physique, blue eyes and black hair.
On top of his hunting knife he has a Glock handgun strapped to his torso in a black holster. He has an empty army green holster strapped to his leg and a rifle hung precariously over his shoulder. He has a camping backpack secured around his broad shoulders and is covered in days worth of grime and dried blood.
I feel fear gripping me threatening to take control. I gulp taking an involuntary step backward. Why was this man spotted in blood? Why did he need so many weapons? My brother shifts uncomfortable behind me probably with the same questions plaguing his mind. What was this strange new world?
"How have ya lived this long without weapons or supplies?," he makes a query that had likely been weighing on his mind for a while now.
I look down at myself. I am wearing a loose fitting teal top with a brown tank top on underneath. I have on ripped capris, a brown belt, and brown cowgirl boots. My long blonde hair surrounding my face as it falls straight and my bright blue eyes questioning the reality of this world.
My brother is wearing his wrinkled black Toon Link shirt, with black jeans and gray vans. He has on a black leather belt with a train belt buckle. His blonde hair is all over the place and his brown eyes mirroring my own curiosity.
We must look as out of place to this stranger as he did to us.
"Why would we need weapons?," I ask curiosity seeping into my voice.
"Don't tell me all ya'll haven't seen the walkers?," he says disbelieving.
"Walkers?," my brother asks.
"Ya know the dead comin' back," he says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.
My brother and I just stare at him like he was crazy. Hell for all we know he could be.
"What do you mean coming back?," I ask.
"Ya know people dyin' then comin' back tryin' ta feast on ya flesh," he replies.
I push my brother further back behind me. This guy obviously had a screw lose. I take off running pulling my brother behind me.
"Where are all ya'll going?," the stranger yells at us giving chase.
I push my feet harder against the dirt weaving around trees as I release my brother. He keeps pace with me and we barely maintain a lead to the strangers fast pace sprint.
Suddenly a man appears out of a clearing of trees cutting us off. I stop frozen in fear taking in his grotesque shape. My brother slams into me making us both topple over. The man's flesh is loosely hanging from his bones as he growls at us. He drags his foot as he stumbles forwards towards us. His hands wildly reaching in the air as his jaw snaps open and shut.
Whatever this thing was it clearly wasn't human. It appeared to be thriving on purely animal instincts. The strangers words echoing in my head. Ya know the dead comin' back. Is that what this was?
The stranger catches up to us. He bends over catching his breath. Once he does he shoots forward plunging his bloodied knife into the things head. Making a sickening cracking sound as he cracks the skull with his knife and goes through the brain. The thing then slumps forward falling to the ground.
He doesn't look the least bit disturbed after what he just did. In fact it seems almost choreographed like he has done it many times before.
He gives us a questioning stare, "Ya'll alright. You bit."
"Bit," my brother asks.
"Did that thin' bite inta ya?," he rephrases.
"Uh...n-n-n-no," I stutter trying to figuring out how this could be happening.
Her eyes grew even wider with fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the man standing before her. Fear of the new world she has been thrust into. Fear of what waits around the next corner in the ... Twilight Zone.