"Dad, this is so boring." Jason twiddled his fishing pole in his hands while lying on his back. "We've been out here forever. Can't we go home?"
Dan, sitting on the bank of a large lake next to his son watching the water drift along the current. "Not yet boy, you've gotta give it some time."
"But we've been out here for hours!" Jason shouted, holding the pole between his knees and rubbing his eyes with his free hands.
"Tell you what, if we haven't caught anything in thirty minutes I promise we'll go home."
"Cool." Jason muttered, nearly falling asleep.
Dan was dreaming, obviously, but this dream wasn't all made up. This was the setting of the fishing trip down at Paul River he and Jason had attended a few years back. Dan always said that when his kids were old enough, he would take them fishing.
It was a fantastic day, the ducks were floating on some calmer water ahead of them, the sun glimmered of the lakes surface while the dragonfly's danced over it, it was the perfect day and setting. It was the day a father and his son made a real connection, and so it was.
Out of the blue there was a powerful tug at the end of Jason's pole. "Wha-" There was another, and this one nearly took the pole right out from between his legs. "Dad!" He arose rapidly from the ground and seized the pole to prevent it from getting hauled away from him.
"You've got it!" He patted his son on the shoulder. "Ease it in, you don't want the line to break now." He knelt down and viewed the fish thrashing the rivers bank.
Jason reeled it in slowly as the fish pulled on his line. "Am I doing ok!?"
"You're doing a fine job!" The fish seemed to tire, the thrashing began to cease and Jason finally saw the fish as he brought it closer to him. "Now, steadily reel that baby in, be careful if he tries to fight again."
The handle made clicking sounds as Jason twirled the handle. "Got him!" Jason shouted as the fish was dragged onto land.
"Good job!" Dan yelled as Jason ran to claim his catch.
His son grabbed the fish by its tail and displayed it to his father, its wet white underbelly and green top reflected the light that beamed down upon it. "Are you proud of me dad!?" He shook the fish, excited as can be.
"Yes son, I am!" He clapped loud for his sons catch.
Jason seemed to have developed the need to find his fathers approval often. Ever since that fishing trip he had done a lot to make his father proud, just like Dan at a young age.
Dan halted his clapping as his son gave an evil grin. "Son? What's wrong?" This wasn't apart of the dream, something was wrong. "Son-"
Jason turned the fish to its side and bite into its belly. Blood gushed out from it as its mouth puckered from pain. Jason broke his gaze on his father and stared at the poor creature as he did this. It flapped its tail, trying so desperately to escape the boys merciless chewing.
"What in the hell are you doing!" Dan rushed to his son and grabbed him by the shoulder. "What's wrong with you!"
His son shot his head up and and glared at Dan. His eyes were gone, there was nothing there but to open holes with blood spilling out of them. He hissed at Dan and bore his teeth at him like a rabid animal as he threw him out of his grip.
"What-what are-"
He arose from his nightmare, sweating and dazed. His head fumed with a mixture of fear and pain. It was frigid in the storage room now and excessively dark. He couldn't see two feet in front of him, the shadows just too dense. "Where am I now?" He stumbled to his feet and remembered the door was locked. "Oh no!" He grabbed the knob, expecting it to be frozen in place, but it turned with a loud squeak. "Oh, guess she decided to unlock it after all."
Upon entering, he saw a light, standing on its back and pointing toward the ceiling. Bolting toward it, terrified of the darkness around him, he nearly tripped over the bucket that he had kicked earlier. "Not this time!" He knocked it out of the way and scooped up the flashlight. When he did, he whirled around and investigated his surroundings. The stoves were now rusty and warped and beaten. The floor that once had been spotless now was covered in what looked to be rust as well with a touch of blood. The white bucket he had tripped over dripped with the red substance along its rim. This sight made him cringe as he knelt his head down at his pants that had been drenched in soapy water to find they were now covered in blood.
He gasped, his legs felt like noodles as fell to the ground. He kicked his feet forward and parked his back against one of the counter edges. "What is this!?" His heart felt like it was clogging, his eyes baffled by the odd setting of the room.
As he held the flashlight tight, wildly brandishing it until he noticed there was a note tied on the end of it. It said, "A gift from an old friend."
"Who in the hell could I know who would be be in this God forsaken place!?" Dan stood back up and sighed, rubbing the butt of his gun through his hair he glimpsed toward the exit of the kitchen. "Guess I have no other place to go." Reluctantly, he exited the kitchen and reentered the front of the dinner.
Dan now realized there was no place where the sunlight, even in its most minute form, graced the horrifying wasteland. The dinner was just as cold as everywhere else, and just as sick in its entirety. The booths were now made of chain like metal, rusted and stained. The counter had rotting meat on it, the smell was almost unbearable. "What have I gotten myself into?" He spoke nattered his breath observing the sinister looking area.
A shadow and a set of glowing eyes passed in his left peripheral vision and he instinctively whipped around."Hello!?" He bolted forward and ran past the corner, his heart thrashing ever greater as he did. He turned the corner and aimed his light and his gun only to find a bare, taunting wall. A sense of disappointment and relieve rushed over his body. Lowering his gun, he smirked and began to turn away. "Should of know, this place is just-"
A child's laughter came from behind and he felt the cold hard sense of fear shockingly make his way up his spine and out through his whole body. He spun back around and again found nothing but the blackness from before. "Is anyone here!" He shouted as the laughter began to fade. "Answer me damn you!" He reared away and turned around, waving his gun and light all around the room trying to find the kids. The laughter finally ceased its tormenting wails but Dan didn't stop flailing around for about a minute or two. His sweat poured down his face even in the icy temperature and he nearly fainted from total panic.
Finally, after a minute or two of spinning he drew up enough strength to stop. Dizzy, he walked to the wall and leaned against it and tried to get a hold himself. He started to pant as he looked at the doors to the outside and felt a sense of dread as he did. "I have to leave this place." He pushes his shoulder against the wall and forced himself forward. "I have to get out of here."
Out of the dinner, it was raining hard. He stuck his gun in his deep jean pocket and reached his hand out to catch a drop of it. Dan watched as a big drop fell in his palm but he didn't feel the coolness of a rain drop, he felt nothing. He gawked in astonishment as it dried up within a split second in the middle of his hand. "No comfort of the rain either I take it." He pulled his gun back out a continued his search.
The streets were broken and torn, no one could drive her without destroying their car in the process. There was a sign that said intersection ahead earlier was now full of holes and completely faded. The buildings were dark, as lifeless as before. His small flashlight could only project a few feet in front of him as he went forward on the streets.
Aftr a few minutes of what felt like endless searching he stopped and closed his eyes. "I can't get lost here." He opened them back up and paced forward again. "I promised my family I would make it back. This isn't going to stop me."
A shadow again passes from in front of him and he brought his gun up as it did. "Hey!" He followed it as it zipped to his left, just out of his flashlight line of sight. "Wait!" He chased the shadow a little ways and came upon another building. He halted and looked up at the old looking sign above. "Foreman Pharmacy," it displayed with the y broken and upside down.
Passing through the front door, he inspected the inside of the building. There was a cashiers counter to his right and shelved with label-less bottles on them. Many other bloody bottles covered the ground like confetti as he walked into the structure.
A few child like giggles came from the back as the door closed behind Dan. Frightened, he turned around and grabbed the knob, hoping to get it open again but he couldn't, it was locked tight. He stopped and thought to himself, "what if someone sneaks up on you?" These thoughts made him twist back around and shine the light around him. Nothing was there, nothing at all.
A sudden sound emerged from the darkness in front of him. He targeted his gun, and waited for something to come forward. A small pill bottle rolled empty in his lights central vision. He stared at it a few seconds as bright, as three pairs of bright, red eyes gleamed forward at him.
The patter of small feet began to sound through out the room and the eyes got closer to him. "You stay back!" The eyes didn't change direction and they got ever closer. "I have a gun! Stay back!"
Unwearied, they got closer and into the path of the light. They looked horrible, their faces mangled and ripped looking, their skin pink and their backs arched over. They carried what looked to be large butcher knifes in hand. Their gigging intensified as they got closer to him. Dan fired off a shot, causing one to fall to the ground. He shot of another, missing. They got closer and began waving their sharp weapons around, pretending they were cutting through flesh and if Dan didn't do something quick, they would be. He fired off another and cause another thing to fall. Finally, with the creature raising his hand to stab him, he fired off one last shot, catching it right in its head.
"This is just..Too sick for words..." Dan just stood there, astounded and oblivious of what creature lay before his feet.
As he looked, he noticed one of the things were gone. "Where-" A loud screech came from the right of him. He felt a stinging pain and turned to the screech. It had sneaked around the side of the rack of pills and made its way to the side of Dan. "You little bastard!" He gripped his bleeding leg and kicked the thing with his other, knocking it against the wall. He continued to shot the thing point blank three times, killing it in the second.
The siren, that had sounded earlier began ringing once again. "Not again." He grabbed the knob of the door and pulled hard, but it was no use. "Where's it coming from!" Dan let go of the knob and grabbed his ears again as it amplified. His eyes rolled back into his head, and again, his awareness began to dissipate as he fell into another deep coma.