The forest was vast. The brothers had been lost before entering the fungal landscape but the beach had at least been familiar. The alien world in which they walked was nothing either could have imagined. The great toadstools blocked out the sun, but many of the smaller clusters were luminescent, providing a sort of half-light in the darkness. The soil was barren. The mushrooms had drained the land of sustenance leaving only dry grass and skeletal trees. They trudged through this ghostly landscape, salt-encrusted, parched, famished. How could they survive in this land? They did not dare taste the foul-smelling mushrooms.

They found the village after hours of aimless walking. The hope of finding helpful natives was dashed as soon as they saw the buildings. Mushrooms grew in slimy bunches on the tiled roofs and white-washed walls. Not a soul was in sight; at first glance, the community had been abandoned to the growth. They walked past doors scorched by fire and walls pierced by bullet-holes.

"There was a fight here," the younger whispered. His brother grunted, spying an old stone well. He turned the winch to pull up the rope. The water in the bucket was covered in a film of orange algae. He tipped it back down the hole in disgust. He pointed towards one of the houses.

"We're going to die if we don't drink something. Let's look in that house. There has to be something. Canned food, wine, anything."

"I don't know about that. This village was looted."

"Just look."

They picked through the rubble and rubbish of a kitchen gone rancid. What they found was discouraging. A cloak caked in mold. A tea-kettle filled with slime. Maggots carpeted the floors. The stink was unbelievable. The younger brother stepped in something wet next to the brick fireplace.

"What the…"

It was a child, face up on the hearth. Its mouth was filled with bulbous white mushrooms. Nightcaps sprouted from blackened eyes. The younger brother turned as green as his shirt and stumbled against the fireplace. Something cracked.

"Look out!"

The fireplace shifted under his weight. Crumby bricks burst to powder as the chimney collapsed. The older brother grabbed his sibling and dragged him towards the door as the roof caved in. They tumbled in the mud outside the door just as the supports gave way. The entire house fell into its foundations with a crash that echoed through the fungal wood.

"What the fuck happened? Jesus, are you ok? I should have guessed the house was unstable with all that rot, we shouldn't have gone in…"

The younger brother simply pointed into the wood.

A red light floated in the darkness beneath the mushroom caps.

"A flare? Should we…"

"No way. We aren't going anywhere near that thing. That house falling probably woke up every thing in the fucking forest and I'm not keen on seeing what lives in a place like this."