Random Adventure 2

An event that happened?

This is a story about an event that happened a long time ago in a
distant land, a land ruled by the insidious warlords known as The Evil
Shadow Men, great creatures of astronomical power, deep mystery and
boundless cruelty.

Billy Smith lived in a house in DistantLand, the last remaining house
as far as he knew, because whenever he would look through the windows
he was struck upon with a vision - from the eastern horizon spanning to
the edge of the west - of death, charred hulks of what was life and
civilization piled up in a global scrap-yard that went on and on like
the ocean, not that Billy had ever seen an ocean.

This day was March 29th of the year 1921b, Billy was making breakfast
in the morning, it always gave him hope how the days were still so
bright and the sky so magnificent sometimes, even if the rotting stench
of the cremated human past outside never quite cleared. Breakfast was a
tricky deal; the only source of food was in the gardens, on the roof,
where Billy was tending the greenery and selecting a few ripe fruits
for the residents, there were tomatoes, potatoes to unearth, and a few
other things. The problem was finding enough balance of nutrition from
it all to keep everyone alive, and it all had to be rationed so
carefully, one drought or bad winter and they would have no choice but
to venture outside, and then it would all be over. That's when they got
you, the Evil Shadow Men, step out into the open air and there is
rarely any escape.

Sometimes it took hours to find enough food for everybody, there were
twenty-nine people and this was no mansion, Billy had no freedom, he
slept on a floor with five other people, shared a bathroom with fifteen
other people, Billy breathed the recycled air and drank the recycled
urine of everyone, just like astronauts. The garden on the roof was the
only place he got a moment alone; people didn't trust it in there, the
greenhouse roof shielding them from the Evil Shadow Men left them
feeling a little too exposed.
"Billy! Are you done yet?" came the call of Helena from
downstairs.
Billy groaned quietly, "Nearly, five minutes!" he quickened his pace a
little, stuffing more produce into the sack before she came nagging
again.

He simply had to do it quietly, his upset groan that is, everyone did,
they could not risk starting a fight, someone could get pissed off,
decide they'd had enough and run for the door in one of those sudden
nightmarish dashes that happened from time to time as the whole hoard
of housemates would chase the maniac down in blank terror before they
could reach the door and fling it open. That was how it happened in the
war, no one lasted long and once they kill you the Evil Shadow Men set
about destroying anything you have touched.

"Keep your doors and windows locked, cover all vents and letterboxes
and you will be safe, do not worry, help WILL arrive." - That's what
the government told the country, Billy put down his things for a
moment, every time he remembered that broadcast it hit him like a punch
in the chest as if it was happening all over again. That moment of raw
dread ten months ago - he and his dad were crowded around the TV,
hissing with static the image of the Prime Minister glowed upon them,
as the words came Billy died inside as if his limbs had just been
switched off, the blood drained from his face and he began to realise
that life as he knew it was over forever, the Prime Minister tried to
speak on but static continued to overcome the image until there was
nothing left but fizz, the nation - the world's infrastructure was
already beginning to fall.

It always took several minutes before Billy could get up again, he was
sat upon the stone floor, his back against the wall, sinking. Greedy
Helena would soon be calling again, but that wasn't what was troubling
Billy that moment, as he sagged down toward the ground his head
teetered upwards, through the panelled glass frame he saw that the
cloudscape was dimming, and greying. This made him tense.
"Billy!"
"I'm coming, Helena!" He yelped reflexively, he couldn't control
himself that time, and he'd probably pay for it later, maybe they'd
tighten his food rations, or water, maybe they'd make him work extra
shifts pedalling the generator, it would be something for sure, "House
rules, we all have to control our outbursts", as Ian, self appointed
leader put it.

From nowhere, Billy summoned the strength to drag himself to a stand,
scraping up the wall. The garden was all glass except for the back wall
joining the house; it was as good as being outside except they couldn't
get you. The clouds seemed to be thickening rapidly, and were
turbulent. If only to get away from them, Billy grabbed the bag of
plants and left the garden.
"At last!" Giggled Helena, she thinks she's funny, and she was poised
behind the door with her hand open "I'll take it to Ian, and don't
worry, I wont steal anything."
"It's alright, I'll do it." Billy calmly replied.
"Trust me, I'll do it, I wanna help out more."
"Fine." Billy could feel the nerves tensing up in him, and he shoved
the bag at her before he said something he'd regret.
"Don't look at me like that!" She huffs.
"Like what?" Billy wasn't aware he'd done anything, but just to be sure
said, "Sorry Helena."
She broke for a moment, then "No problem" she said, the lack of
sincerity in her face was obvious.
Billy ignored her, turning towards the sky again, it's turbulent shades
of grey were glowering ever deeper. This was not going to be good for
the garden, which meant another lean time inside the house, and that
was never good for morale. They'd live through it though; they always
managed to go on surviving somehow, it was more than just luck that
Billy and his friends were all still alive, he could never let himself
loose sight of that.

Billy withdrew from Helena, he did not wish to speak with her, he
passed across the garden to the one bench on the far side where the
glass wall sloped in.
"You spend too much time in here pal, it's antisocial, people are
starting to talk."
"I know." Billy said.
Her bony figure dipped its head to one side and smiled emptily, "It's
ok mate, I was only kidding."
"Sure you were."
The wind was picking up; the glass began to rattle in the framework
just a little, Helena was too afraid to venture out, and remained fixed
at the door frame.
"Its ok Helena, come on out, it's perfectly safe, like I always say,
I've been out here a thousand times and I've never been taken, have
I?"
Concern began to seep from her, Billy was always terrible at hiding his
depression, not like the others and sometimes that would get to
people?

"You see, I had a good dad?" Billy began, Helena stood next to him,
still too tense out there to sit down and relax, she listened intently,
whilst surreptitiously scoping out places to pinch food that wouldn't
be noticed.
"They were, eco conscious, always got em a lot of flack, especially for
being wealthier than the others in the neighbourhood." Billy sank
further and further in on himself, to the point were he didn't give a
damn about Helena sneaking tomatoes into her pocket.
"He built this home to be as green as possible, that's why we had all
this stuff, the garden, the water filters, the generator. They're why
we've survived here as long as we have." He stopped with the sudden
racket of a hard gust battering the panes, peering once more toward the
sky, now a thunderous and menacing looking prospect. "When the shadow
fell, when they arrived in the sky? I cried for days?"
"What happened?" Helena lay a comforting hand on Billy's shoulder; the
other hand was still thieving.
Billy took up a deep breath, "Well he thought it was safe, he went out
to look for survivors, and died."
"God damn! What do they want, why are they here! What are they! W-"
Helena silenced immediately, the first blast of lightning split the
sky, their air seized up with the first electric tension, as the sky
produced a great deep rumble and the next gusty battering rattled the
glass.
"I don't know" Billy weakly spoke "But this place was never meant to
survive a supernatural invasion, it wont last forever? We're all going
to die."

Understandably, Billy and Helena decided to go back inside, away from
the storm and the lashings of lightning striking across the land, the
great barren sea of ruination, in which their house was the only
building left standing, where The Evil Shadow Men lay in wait, simply,
biding their time.