7 views
The Crawl
I can't remember when I started crawling but here I was, on my belly, forced to dig and crawl beneath the earth. My fingers are sore from clawing at dirt and I've been aching to bend my knees. Minor inconveniences compared to what lied behind me, and what could possibly waited ahead of me. But I just knew I had to crawl.
I came across some people now and then. Dead ones, anway. At least they were "dead" dead ones. Sometimes, I'd hear screams in the distance, which would stop me in place, frozen in fear. But I knew I had to keep going. This was their territory. They wouldn't tire out or need food like we do.
This went on for what seemed like days (weeks? months?). Was I dead? How did I end up here? Like this?
I managed to sort of grasp my environment and felt like I was making some progress. I found a long passage -- like immensely long -- with a bright white light at the end of the tunnel. I didn't know what awaited me but it was better than toiling away in this underground labyrinth.
In the middle of my crawl to the light, I noticed a path that veered to the left, where I heard a struggle. I heard a male voice struggle against what sounded like a growing hoard. I was so close. But I was so alone. I didn't know how long I could go one for so long just by myself. So I turned left.
I found a man struggling against one of them clinging to his leg. Behind this one was the horde of the undead, stuck in place as they greedily tried to get at the man, with one of them managing to pull itself out to grab at the man. The stench almost knocked me out but I knew I couldn't afford to pass out there. I tugged at the man as I struggled to crawl backwards. The horde shifted. I got a good look at them as I pulled my fellow survivor. Among them are the rotten, the newly dead, people with missing body parts, men, women, children. It was too much for me to bare.
I don't know how I did it but I managed to pull the man loose. I lead the way back to the tunnel to the light, crawling as fast as we can. We heard the shuffle of bodies behind us get closer and we crawled. We crawled as fast as we can until we reached the end of the tunnel.
© Dustin Julian Domingo
I came across some people now and then. Dead ones, anway. At least they were "dead" dead ones. Sometimes, I'd hear screams in the distance, which would stop me in place, frozen in fear. But I knew I had to keep going. This was their territory. They wouldn't tire out or need food like we do.
This went on for what seemed like days (weeks? months?). Was I dead? How did I end up here? Like this?
I managed to sort of grasp my environment and felt like I was making some progress. I found a long passage -- like immensely long -- with a bright white light at the end of the tunnel. I didn't know what awaited me but it was better than toiling away in this underground labyrinth.
In the middle of my crawl to the light, I noticed a path that veered to the left, where I heard a struggle. I heard a male voice struggle against what sounded like a growing hoard. I was so close. But I was so alone. I didn't know how long I could go one for so long just by myself. So I turned left.
I found a man struggling against one of them clinging to his leg. Behind this one was the horde of the undead, stuck in place as they greedily tried to get at the man, with one of them managing to pull itself out to grab at the man. The stench almost knocked me out but I knew I couldn't afford to pass out there. I tugged at the man as I struggled to crawl backwards. The horde shifted. I got a good look at them as I pulled my fellow survivor. Among them are the rotten, the newly dead, people with missing body parts, men, women, children. It was too much for me to bare.
I don't know how I did it but I managed to pull the man loose. I lead the way back to the tunnel to the light, crawling as fast as we can. We heard the shuffle of bodies behind us get closer and we crawled. We crawled as fast as we can until we reached the end of the tunnel.
© Dustin Julian Domingo
