A Nightmare [short story | sci-fi]
She awoke to a dull throbbing pain somewhere behind her eyes, at the back of her skull. And to darkness. Complete darkness. To some putrid stench hanging in the air. It all seemed like a terrible dream. Was it a dream? Some sick joke her mind was playing on her perhaps?
At first, she couldn’t find the will to open her eyes. Maybe if she kept it closed this bad place would disappear. It can’t possibly be a good place. Maybe she was dead. Heaven didn’t smell like this, though. She doesn’t even believe in an afterlife, where did that thought come from?
A flash of pain as she tried to move. Tried to sit up. No wait, remaining immobile seems like the best option now. Baby steps. One muscle at a time. Arms seem to be working. Slowly, but in working condition nonetheless. Legs too. Right leg hurts. Hurts terribly now that she focuses her mind on it.
In fact, she can’t move it at all. Eyelids will have to regain some sense of movement soon so that she could assess the damage. To get over the worst hysteria and get out of here. Somehow.
Where is here? Her eyelids must be glued shut. Either that or she has no eyes anymore… Wait, what?? That won’t do! Not at all! A sense of dread wash over her until she musters up the courage, the strength to reach for her face. Wincing in pain as her sore muscles stretch.
Why are her muscles so unwilling to move? Biting down hard to stifle a scream, she tries again to reach for her face. Desperate now to feel her eyelids, to make sure everything feels the way it should.
Her skin feels sticky. Like someone poured a gallon of glue out over her head and it dried. Making the skin feel as if it’s going to crack. The next few minutes – trying to pry the stuff from her face — felt like hours. Relief as she is finally able to open her eyes.
Where is the light? And what is that smell? Almost like… the stench of a decaying world.
“Where am I?” The words were meant to be coherent but didn’t come out as such. The final effect was more like soft granite being rubbed against a grater. Crumbling into a million bits of broken words and pain-filled sounds originating from a very bruised throat.
With her eyes finally open, she could make out some shapes around her. It didn’t bother her at first that there was an eerie orange glow hanging in the air. In fact, she barely even noticed it. Just as she didn’t notice that the sky was covered in rumbling black clouds with what seemed like electrical charges lighting it up every few minutes.
Instead, her eyes were fixed on all the corpses around her. Bodies everywhere. Men, women, children, even animals. Some appear peaceful as if they’re merely sleeping. Others with deep gashes and wounds covering their bodies. Limbs torn off. All of them covered with the same sticky substance. A substance that appears to glow with a dirty orange hue every time the electrical charges light up.
Taking in the scene around her, other details became clear. There was no direct source of light. But also not complete darkness. Instead, it was a mere shimmer. Pulsing. As if the light, the air itself, was alive. It was hard to distinguish whether the glow hung in the air, or originated from the sticky glue covering every surface around her.
Then it comes back, slowly. The war. Finally, it reached its climax. They knew from the start victory was out of reach. How could the soldiers conquer something so terrifying? They were ill-prepared from the start. The attack came out of nowhere. Took out Earth’s communication system first. The media. Then the public went into a frenzy. Who can blame them?
Annihilation. It was evident humankind would never survive this attack. Such a terrifying enemy. So powerful. So… disgusting. One major city after another fell. No military force could stop it. People fled the cities, crazed masses. To no avail. The enemy spread everywhere. The darkness conquered. It swallowed everything in its path. Everything…
A second thought crossed her mind. “Are there any other survivors? How did I survive that final attack?” So alone. Alone on a dark surface. A dark world. A dead world. The last glimmer of light. How long will it shine? The last shimmer of the burnt-out city. The fire, embers, illuminating the destruction around her in an eerie glow.
Movement. Is there someone else there? Another human perhaps? She tries to call out but her voice trembles. Wait, maybe it’s the enemy… It’s moving towards her now.
Slowly the light fades. The darkness consumes all now. Not a shred of light to be seen and she’s not alone… Not alone in this darkness. And that putrid presence, it’s still there. Creeping ever so closer.
She can actually feel it on her skin. Tickling. No, more like scratching. So close. Closer.
She wakes with a scream.
