BroccoliRiceTofu on Nostr: THE REUNION OF DARKNESS Chapter XV. As they headed out behind the dumpster, they ...

THE REUNION OF DARKNESS
Chapter XV.
As they headed out behind the dumpster, they could see that things had changed. There were shadows now flying overhead, and things were getting worse. You could smell fire in the distance, and you could hear howling, screaming and crying from all directions. Across the basketball court of the school, you could barely make out the shape of the woman standing near the hoop. The crooked nature of her stance, and the clear extension of her shoulders looked like wings. As she stood, her arms twitched as she was hitting her hands against her head. Her legs appeared frozen, as this was the only part of her that did not move. A glass shattered at her foot, as a molotov cocktail was thrown from the other side of the yard. Her clothes and body quickly caught up in the flames.
Seeing the molotov come from the right, they knew they needed to head the other way. They crept along the edge of the building until they were directly in front of where they needed to go. Chesty whispers, ‘one, two, three;’ and they all stood up and ran together across the field to the row of houses.
They were instantly paused by the sound of the tornado sirens all going off at once. The announcement made over the speaker followed, ‘All government zones have been abandoned. There will no longer be guards at the zone entrances. Any and all citizens must shelter in place until further notice.’ In the distance, you could barely make out the scene of the tower being torn down as chants and cheers followed.
The few men left were right behind them, running across the field. Afraid of using their guns, and making too much noise, they decided to continue running. They made it into the neighborhood street, and only had a few more houses to go. They decided to turn right instead, and go down to the greenbelt and head up to the house that way to avoid giving away their position. Buckley took a glowstick, threw it in the other direction, in hopes to take them off the path, and they headed down to the field.
Finally, they get to Chesty’s house. It’s all dark except for a couple candles at the table. There were a couple families together already, and all the windows were boarded up. Now that they are back, the doors are locked up again, and 2x4’s nailed into the door jams. The other kids were all asleep on the couch underneath a pile of blankets. The living room was taken over by sleeping bags, and packs. They rushed Buckley over to the table to stitch up his wrist, while the kids fell over from exhaustion. The women went over to get the kids food & much needed water.
A swig of some rum, and a splash of alcohol on the arm, it was time to stitch up the wound. They only had a simple sewing kit, and a small needle. As the needle went into the cut, Buckley could feel the string dragging through his skin until the pain of the needle pushing it’s way back out blurred out his attention. Buckley needed a breather before they would do the much needed second round. As he opened his eyes and wiped his tears, he noticed in the candlelight that Chety had on red shoes, and as he nearly nodded off to sleep from the pain, at least 2 others in the house did as well. Chesty slaps his face, ‘get ready brother, and bite this belt if you need to.’ The second stitch was not any less painful than the first. The pain took what was left of Buckley, and his eyes closed.