Chapter 4
The Formation
"Ahh what do we have here, bloody note on an old corpse lets see what is says"
"My name is Oliver Smith. I am writing this as a warning for whoever comes
here. If you find this note, run. This is hell. God finally had enough of our
sins and has started the rapture. Everything was fine just some time ago.
I was here with my son. Oh, my poor Gregory. His own mother killed him.
Ripped him into pieces. I don't know what happened. She just screamed,
said some bullshit I cannot remember and became this monster. Eyes oh
the eyes. On every part and the branches and the chanting. It wont stop.
My head is bursting with pain. I cannot deal with this. I saw her again,
she looks beautiful I am drawn towards her but I know what will happen
if I go near. Another monster is also in here somewhere. I need to get
out of this place. I see a window. Maybe if I can just get to it, I can
escape. I need to escape."
"I did it. I'm out. I don't know why I am still writing on this note but if I die off my
experiences need to be documented. Okay. My name is Oliver smith. I am
writing this on the morning of 25th of October 2005 in its early hours. I
am 35 years old and I till now was a family man with a wife and a child.
From the previous page I think you already know what happened but I
need to keep calm. Control my emotions. This…. This situation now that I
realize is Freedom. True freedom. Ha ha. No…. I think I am going mad.
What is happening. I heard other howls too… did people turn into those
things? How…. Why… Why am I left. If I am here there must be others who
are still normal. Maybe my wife can still be okay. Maybe this is all just a
prank. A sick fucking prank. No…. I see another in the distance. What is
happening. Holy fuck that one just fucking killed someone. There must be
a way to get out of this situation. I just need to find it."
"I think I'm safe. I hopped in my car and drove off. I don't know what the fuck is
happening. This is nothing like the rapture I had heard about in churches.
Does God hate us this much? Is this our god? The one we venerated our
entire lives just threw us away so easily? No. I don't believe it. This isn't
the god I worshiped and these aren't his angels. I will kill every last one
of them. I swear to the real god if he is still out there. I will take revenge
of what happened to my family. But for now, I need to survive this. I am
in the outskirts of the town. Surrounded by forest, I don't see anyone or
any of the demons. I think I'll stay here for a bit. I don't have any food
except this pack of sprouts. I don't know what to do. I am just filled with
rage. Oh lord I ask for thy mercy as I have allowed my vessel to be filled
with a deadly sin. I think I should lay down for a bit. Maybe calm down a
little."
"October 26th, I guess"
"Added the date. I don't know how I slept this much. Woke up the next day or if
it is in the case my brain isn't going smoosh. I feel really hungry though. I
miss everyone. I miss my family. My son died in front of me by the hands
of my own wife. What the fuck is happening. Is this even real. This all just
feels like a dream. A bad, bad dream. What if it was one? Should I drive
and go see if it was. This road seems familiar I think I travelled it before.
Maybe I slept and dreamt the whole thing. My wife could be at the home
worried sick. Why am I even writing on here. Wait. No. I'm writing. This is
the same piece of paper. My head hurts. I don't think I am or was
dreaming. Oh god. This is real. What the fuck. What happened. Are the
people who turn still in there or did they already ascend only to leave us
down here to suffer. The more I think about this it seems like a rapture
to me. I think I should see what the factory is like. Seems like a shit idea
but it might be safe since no one would have been there at the time of
the shitstorm."
"Ah fuck. I was wrong so wrong. I forgot about the night watch. Ah. Alan was in
the hiding on the road too because of a broken car. Damn it. The night
security had turned into one of them. Alan, I don't know how or what
walked up to it in some mindfuck state and then he wailed. I knew what
was coming. He turned too. He turned before my eyes. I saw it. His last
moment of consciousness. All fucked up panicking and confused. I think I
am turning too. My hands aren't feeling my own. I can't even stop writing.
I need to stop. Stop. Stop."
"I don't care anymore. Even if it a rapture, I don't want to turn into one of those
and kill someone. No matter if I would be inside or not, I can't let it
happen. Taking your own life is supposed to be the greatest sin. Doesn't
matter. Even if I go to hell now, at least I won't turn into one of those
things."
"I…. I stabbed myself. My guts are spilling out as I write. This is my last note.
Hope someone finds this and puts my experiences to good use, I think I'll
just rest on this tree until I die off. I'm off to hell. Adios people. I will miss
what we once had."
"Eh a child of God eh. No matter. Mate, I don't think you were turning into one of
them. Still, you thought for the better Oliver. You certainly are up in
heaven as you would call it. I think you would regret your note falling in
the hands of a non-believer but just for you I'll say this AMEN MY
BROTHER, AMEN."
It was the fateful day. The day when Mark and his party of people were going to
head off to the armory at that fateful night. All of them were nervous as
a last minute debrief was going on. There were 6 of them in the room
including Eric. Mark was going over the plan one last time.
"Alright so we will take the route as planned. We will go from the back door as
the watch party has seen a couple of angels out front. We will stick to the walls
until someone spots one of them around the side. If that happens, we stray off
straight into the darkness of the woods. Judging by the absence of ears and the
overabundance of eyes on their body we can assume that their main sense is
that of sight." "But what if they have other senses or something. What if we get
tracked in the woods?" Asked Emma. She was one of the 2 women in the
expedition. The other named Madison. There were 4 men including Eric and
Mark the other 2 being Joshua, a friend of Madison and Dylan. Over the past 2
days there had been many meetings and debriefings. They started with 13
people in the first meeting but as the plan went on being formulated further
people resigned out of the fear of demise. By the end only the 6 were left. They
were hurdled around a table looking at the route they had created. The map lay
in front of them with a pencil line drawn on it. It started at the back of Arvada
and went on to the armory. They also had a list of what they were to take to the
expedition and what were they to bring back based on calculated guesses. List
included things like guns, silencers to suppress the noise, gloves and vests for
the upcoming winter days and any other useful thing they were to find.
"Hey if we are going to do this what should we call ourselves?" asked Dylan.
"What do you mean?" asked mark. "You know, we are a group of survivors who
will embark on a deadly mission. We should give our group a name. Like the
hermits or the lone wolves" "What about Stalker?" asked Emma "I have read it
in a lot of places. It is mainly used by Russians in their books." Eric was a bit
excited at the aspect as he has part Russian spending much of his time with his
grandfather who had hailed from Russia during the war. "Yeah, that sounds
good." said Dylan. "The name doesn't matter if people die. We need to focus on
the expedition more than some taken name to feel like a badass." The room felt
silent. "Look I don't have a problem with names. We can call ourselves the
stalkers but we need to focus more on the task at hand." The 5 nodded. Mark
looked at a makeshift sundial from the window. "There are roughly 2 hours left
for sunset. Go pack your stuff for the expedition. Meet up at the back gate."
Eric and the others left the room. "Hey you are Eric, right? Heard about you
from mama luna. I am so sorry man. I can understand how it is like to lose
someone close". As he turned his head he saw Madison, the other woman in the
group. She was in her mid-30s. Way older than Eric and more experienced with
guns and survival than anyone else. She and her husband had been in the
armed forces and he had died on a battlefield some time ago. "Yeah. My guy
died and the squad leader gave me time off to mourn but then this happened
when I came back. I guess life just can't stop giving me shit after shit." Eric
was both startled and uncomfortable talking about his daughter. "Yeah, shit
happened to us all, I guess. Doesn't matter. Let's not talk about that for now."
"Oh yeah, I get you don't worry. Just making sure you up for the job at hand. You
know, we can't be the sulking ones right." Eric looked at her with a weird mix of
anger, frustration and sadness. She had managed to hit him where it hurt. "So,
if I even mourn Ellie now, I get called The Sulking One. Who is she to ask me if
I'm fit for the job." Eric thought. "The woman with no compassion towards her
own dead husband is telling me this." He continued to think. Madison had
already left the place before he could say anything. Feeling a bit defeated he
walked to his room thinking about if what he was about to do was a stupid idea
or not. At one side he was proving his worth by surviving in this waste and on
the other he thought he was just throwing his life away. "This is important for
everyone's survival. Someone has to do this. Winter is soon approaching and
we need the clothes and whatever else is in there." As eric entered the room a
musty stench washed over him. The room had grown mold in the past few days
and had reeked like desolate old concrete. He rested his head on his makeshift
pillow which was just a sheet filled with leaves. And laid down. "Two hours.
Just two more hours. I may never come back from the expedition." He thought.
Eric sprang up and emptied his backpack. Then from the contents on the floor
he picked up his rusty water bottle and gloves and attached them to the bag.
He also picked up a flashlight and hanged it onto one of the zippers of the bag
with a string. He left the rest of his bag empty to fill it up later with stuff at the
armory. He looked around to find more helpful items to take with him when
suddenly his gaze struck the yellow coat. He sighed and took his knife from his
belt and fashioned a bracelet from the it. He wore it on his wrist as he thought
that even if he dies tonight a part of his daughter will always be with him.
Fastening the knife to his belt he sprung up with the bag and wore it on his
back. He left the room thinking he might never see it again. "It is nearing
sunset. I should hurry up." He thought and locked the room behind him. He put
the key in a potted plant pot near the door as he didn't see sense in taking it
with him if he didn't return. "It would ruin a good lock." He thought.
He went downstairs to Ellie's grave. He held the stone and kissed it goodbye as
he went towards the back side gate. He found Mark already ready for the
expedition and 4 others not including Emma on the sight. He went to the door
as no one said a word. People had gathered there to wish them luck. Mama
Luna was there. She came up to eric and placed her wrinkled hand on his
shoulder. "Go out there and show the world what you can do, and take care
sweetie. This old woman will be waiting to feed you all once you get back."
Everyone's mood brightened up a bit as Emma came up running from the back.
"I'm sorry I got late. Didn't know what to pack up." "Don't worry. We will head
out in a minute we were just waiting for you." The group faced the door as Mark
opened it with a semi loud thud. Eric's heart sank a little at the sound as
everyone prepared themselves for what was about to come.
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