Dispocalypse

by M. A. Rothman

  The soldier, he’d worn metal armor, just like the Steel Fist did. Behind her was a metal door set in concrete and directly ahead was the edge of the forest. Suddenly it all clicked, and her heart fell into her stomach. Her throat tightened with emotion as tears blurred her vision.

  I’m exiled!

  All her life, she’d heard stories of the Forbidding. Willow remembered the tales of monsters, deadly swarms of werebits and trees that would trap and suffocate people who ventured too close. The soldiers who always went out in squads, were trained in the dangers of the poisoned lands and they of course had all sorts of protective gear—even they knew enough to be afraid.

  Willow swallowed, fighting past the lump in her throat.

  I’m not ready.

  As the prickly sensation on her skin intensified, the chill of the air seemed to diminish. Willow waited, unsure what she could possibly do, and suddenly she heard someone yelling.

  Willow slowly stepped out of the miniature cave she’d been dumped in and noted that similar corridors were dotted all along the giant concrete barrier. The same barrier that separated the Forbidding from the Dominion’s lands.

  To her right she spied a huddled group of six people, one of them looked like a student, the others were all adults. Willow slowly approached and noticed they were all men. One of the gray-haired men noticed her and waved her forward.

  “Come join us. We’re the last people you need to worry about, young lady. We’re all in the same craptacular situation. In fact, there’s safety in numbers.”

  As Willow approached, one man grumbled sourly, “Don’t listen to that old fool. We’re all worse than dead. I should know, I used to patrol these parts. Those wildlings are going to come in packs and swarm over us, dragging us away to our deaths. Or worse, one of the clickers will show up and we’ll have the pleasure of being paralyzed and watch as it eats us, starting with our fingers and toes.” The middle-aged soldier shook his head and spit on the ground. “I know I shouldn’t have taken my sergeant’s knife and stabbed him with it, but the bastard had it coming.”

  Willow stared at the man and immediately saw that there was something wrong with him. His skin was peeling on his left cheek and the rest of his skin was bright red from some kind of rash. He also had a crazed expression, with glassy eyes that constantly darted back and forth.

  One of the others asked, “Russ, what’d he do?”

  Russ snarled. “He ate the last sweet roll, damn him to hell! I’d been saving it and the bastard just took it without even asking.” He glanced back at the giant concrete barrier, shook his fist and yelled, “Screw all of you dry humps! I’ll kill every last one of you bastards!”

  As a group, everyone took a step away from Russ as he grumbled and cursed about everyone and anyone who’d wronged him in his life.

  The student looked familiar and Willow realized that she’d probably passed him countless times in the hallways of the Academy. He was a couple years younger than her, but he seemed calm, resigned to his fate. His eyes flicked from one person to the next and Willow figured that he’d either flunked out or self-exiled. She guessed the latter, since he was altogether too calm for anything else.

  Willow’s heart raced and her stomach tied in knots as she slowly absorbed her surroundings. She’d not prepared herself for this. How could she?

  One man with an angry red scar running across his forehead turned to her and asked, “I’m guessing you didn’t stab anyone. So why are you out here, stuck with us?”

  Replaying the events from the night before, she slowly shook her head and shrugged. “I’ve no idea.”

  The man frowned. “Didn’t they tell you?”

  “Well, no. I was in the Academy and one of the Steel Fist burst into my room, sprayed me with something,” Willow tilted her head toward the stone caves. “And I woke up just a bit ago, over there.”

  “Did you check your pockets?” The former Academy student asked. He extracted a slip of paper from his pocket and waved it at her. “My baby brother disappeared from school and I confronted the Headmaster, asking him where he was. Evidently I didn’t do it nicely enough, or they didn’t like me asking everyone I knew about it, because I also had a visit from the Steel Fist.” He read aloud from the slip of paper, “For insubordination to members of the Dominion and a lack of community discipline, you, Tyler Akins are exiled from the Dominion’s lands.”

  One of the men groused, “What a damn lousy reason for exile....”

  Willow patted at her pocket and heard the crinkle of paper. She extracted a folded slip and read the words silently. Her heart seemed to stop as the cold shock of the words she’d read washed over her.

  I don’t understand.

  The others all looked in her direction and she struggled to find the breath to say the words.

  “For the charge of spying on the private conversations of the Lord Governor, you, Willow Park, are to be exiled from the Dominion’s lands. Effective immediately.”

  How could anyone have known ... it was while she was dream walking that she’d heard the conversation. Suddenly, yesterday’s discussion replayed in her mind.

  “You don’t get it, do you? I heard the governor talking to Karl, his oldest son. No way am I the kind of person they’d want to see with Tristan, I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Willow gasped, tears dripped down her cheeks as the bitter sense of betrayal filled her with rage. Mel’s empty bed. Her friend’s love of all things Dominion. Her best friend.

  It was Mel! She was the only person who’d known.

  Willow clenched her fists, wishing that she could exact some type of vengeance. Her whole body tensed as she felt the heat of her fury wash over her.

  The others stared at her wide-eyed. Everything she’d ever hoped for had just been ripped from her. All because she’d befriended that traitor!

  Her chest constricted as visions of her brothers popped into her mind. She gasped for breath as the cold realization infused through her that she’d never see them again. Feeling unsteady, Willow forced herself to breathe as the others talked. Some tried to give her words of encouragement, but deep down she knew they were empty, useless–a waste of breath.

  The older man nodded. “We’ve all deep-down worried about having to face the Forbidding. The Dominion has hung that over our heads since we were born. I say let’s get over that fear. When you overcome fear, that’s when life truly begins.”

  Somewhere in the distance, a high-pitched shriek echoed from the forest and Willow took a deep breath.

  Some of her new companion’s words carried wisdom, but words alone weren’t going to shield her from harm.

  The former soldier’s head popped up with the echoing sound from the forest. He turned to the west and motioned for everyone to follow him. “I know a place where there are some natural caves we can huddle in and decide what to do. It’s better than standing out here in the open, waiting for the freaks to pick us off.”

  Willow nodded and began following the group as the soldier jogged ahead. The prickly sensation that had been troubling her earlier was now making her skin feel as if it were on fire. Glancing at the others, she noticed that most of their skin was covered with red splotches.

  Silently, Willow wondered, “Am I going to die from the monsters, the trees, or the radiation?”

  Willow wiped her mouth as her stomach finished convulsing. Anything she’d had in there was gone, but that wasn’t the worst of it as her skin burned with waves of pain. Gritting her teeth, she hid in the deepest shadows of the shallow cave. However, the coolness of the shadows did nothing to alleviate Willow’s agony.

  Anything that touched her skin felt like a searing hot poker. Most of the others had shed their clothes in hopes of mitigating some of their pain, choosing to lay on the filthy ground, groaning in agony as radiation and whatever else hung in the air took its toll. Willow couldn’t look at them anymore, knowing that the blisters, open sores and layers of skin sloughing off in ribbons were all like
ly happening to her as well.

  With the piteous sounds of suffering echoing through the cave, Willow found it difficult to achieve a calm center, a place where her mind could seek refuge from the outer world.

  “Be like a calm pool of water ... drink of the cool source of life that lies within. A calm mind will provide you with all the strength and confidence you need, my flower.”

  The accented voice from another world touched Willow’s heart.

  The voice, the message–it helped.

  Even if sourced from a dream, the soothing message of Grandpa Lin’s words bloomed inside of her.

  The echoing sounds of misery surrounding her faded, and just like when she dream walked, Willow found herself separated from her body as her mind’s eye opened.

  Hovering over herself, Willow’s cool emotionless mind saw everything and calmly took it in.

  Her face was covered with a thick web of blisters, some of which had burst and were dripping clear fluid to the ground. Wherever her skin was visible, it was a deep pink or so red that the it looked like a ripe tomato.

  The others had it worse.

  Somewhere just outside of the cave, Willow heard shrill, inhuman screams.

  Suddenly, the men closest to the entrance yelled as a horde of twenty or more creatures raced into the cave.

  The invaders were all humanoid in appearance, ranging in size from four-feet-tall to six-feet or more.

  As she hovered above the chaos, the wildlings grabbed at Willow’s companions. The monsters, with their spindly arms and legs reminded her of muscular spiders. They moved with blinding speed, and their skin had an odd sheen, giving it a brownish-green hue that clearly showed the corded muscles underneath. These creatures were strong.

  Within seconds, her companions were overwhelmed, and the creatures dragged them from the cave.

  Willow noted that most of the creatures wore strips of armor and carried clubs or crudely forged metal blades. None of the wildlings had used their weapons. They didn’t need to. The people who’d been exiled were already so weak from the radiation sickness that they barely put up a fight before letting themselves get dragged away.

  The few remaining wildlings scanned the back recesses of the cave and discovered her unresponsive body leaning against the back wall. One of them poked Willow on her cheek and her head lolled limply to the side.

  One of the wildlings made a screeching growl, “Too far dragging. Almost dead.”

  She hadn’t thought they were capable of speech.

  Another of the wildlings poked at her thigh, and wiped its drooling mouth. “Lord Tan says can eat? No?”

  Somewhere in the woods, Willow heard a bellowing roar that immediately caught the attention of the remaining wildlings.

  After one last poke at Willow, they all spit on the ground near her and scurried out of the cavern to join their rapidly departing brethren.

  Moments passed, and Willow wondered if settling back into her body was smart. She knew the kind of pain that waited for her.

  She heard a clicking sound just outside the cave and noticed a huge creature poke its head in. It was similar to the humanoid monsters who’d taken her companions, but much bigger and more muscular. At least seven-feet-tall, it scanned the cave’s entrance, making loud clicks with its mouth.

  Yet the ominous creature was infinitely more terrifying than the others. Where there should have been eyes, there was nothing but an extended forehead. The skin where the eyes should have been pulsed in an out as the hideous monster entered the cave, all the while sending clicks deeper into its recesses.

  This creature must be what the soldier had meant by a “clicker.” It was a wonder that she’d never heard of these things before. The clicker was obviously blind, at least in the traditional sense.

  Without warning, the creature spun as a tiny lizard scurried behind it. Instantly, the clicker spat a stream of viscous liquid at the unfortunate reptile and the lizard staggered and collapsed, its body convulsing. Within seconds, the convulsions stopped, and it was as if the lizard’s muscles had seized. It lay statue-like on the ground, blinking–obviously paralyzed by the clicker’s poison.

  The clicker snatched the lizard, popped it in its mouth and crunched, occasionally sending out probing clicks as it chewed its victim.

  The lack of eyes were certainly not something that inhibited the clicker’s ability to hunt. Willow had read about bats using echo location to “see” things and concluded that the clicker must have a similar adaptation.

  A crashing sound erupted in the forest, and with near-blinding speed, the clicker raced into the trees, chasing after some unseen quarry.

  As Willow’s consciousness hovered outside of her body, contemplating her fate, her mind’s eye detected a flash of light somewhere in the forest. A torch during midday?

  With her mind’s eye leading the way, Willow slowly glided out of the cave, heading in the direction she’d spied the light when she noticed a flash of white and the sound of something splashing in water.

  Suddenly, something in Willow’s mind quivered, and her vision shimmered unsteadily. Something was wrong and instantly the searing pain hit her as her body reclaimed her wandering consciousness.

  It was almost as if she’d been set on fire. Every inch of Willow’s skin screamed for relief, nearly overwhelming her senses.

  Water! Maybe the water could help.

  Willow grasped at the wall of the cave and slowly struggled to her feet, every movement a new moment of agony.

  She felt the blisters that had formed on the bottoms of her feet pop, making every step an unmitigated torture.

  Slowly, ever so slowly, she staggered from the cave.

  Breathing came in halting gasps. It felt as if iron bands had locked around her chest, and each breath was a struggle.

  Step by painful step, Willow struggled toward the spot where she had detected the splashing water.

  She gritted her teeth, setting smalls goals, each a minor victory.

  Ten steps.

  Skirt past the spiked tree that threatened to slice her open.

  Ten more steps.

  Willow wheezed and grew light-headed. She wasn’t able to pull in enough breath.

  Taking one step at a time, she tried to move through the thick underbrush, but in her condition, it was nearly impossible.

  She stumbled, her breath whooshed out, and Willow crashed to the ground, unable to move. Unable to breathe.

  From the edge of her vision, she spied dozens of dark soulful eyes staring at her. Coming closer. Their fur-covered bodies chittered with an oddly familiar sound, and everything she’d been told that could happen in the Forbidding, she suddenly knew weren’t exaggerations.

  Willow felt darkness creeping in on her even though it was still midday.

  As Willow slowly sank into unconsciousness, she felt tugging on her arms and legs. Somewhere in her mind, she knew what was happening.

  The werebits were feasting on her.

  Raz

  The only thing Willow sensed was blackness. Was this what death was like?

  Somewhere in the darkness, she felt a presence. It was reaching for her like some ancient monster she couldn’t see, its dark clammy hand trying to claim her.

  In the emptiness that surrounded her, Willow heard an ominous, grating voice. It promised vengeance on those who’d wronged her. The looming presence felt wrong. The oily sensation of evil repulsed her. Willow recalled the sensation of being in the governor’s presence. She now understood what that darkness the man carried within him was–it was death itself.

  Willow’s mind rebelled from the words and feelings coming from whatever was out there and suddenly, she felt the sensation of water lapping at her feet.

  Even though she couldn’t see anything, she sensed the warm wet embrace of the water and thought, “I didn’t think I—”

  A tingling feeling shot through her extremities—it was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. Gone was the burning pain of her rag
ged flesh, only to be replaced with a thousand cool pinpricks. It was as if each soothing tingle was applying some kind of balm.

  Willow felt a pulling sensation as her body shifted. The touch of land under her was oddly comforting and she lurched into a sitting position, gasping for breath.

  The bright midday sun reflected off a nearby lake and Willow was nearly struck blind.

  Unable to keep her eyes open due to their light sensitivity, her mind suddenly flashed back to her most recent memories.

  She’d collapsed. Died?

  Images of her deaths flashed across her mind’s eye; near Yawning Deep, in the Kansas City hospital room, and finally—in the Forbidding.

  How many times am I going to die?

  Willow’s thoughts drifted toward those poor souls she’d been exiled with. The agony they’d suffered, only to be taken by the monsters of the Forbidding.

  The memories of the darkness fluttered away as she grasped for them, leaving her only with the vague sensation of having been examined. Her life splayed before some arbiter, evaluating her worth.

  She shivered as she recalled memories of that presence in the darkness. The one who’d promised her vengeance.

  Slowly, Willow opened her eyes. The forest of the Forbidding encroached on all sides, yet somehow, it seemed less ominous than before. The lake, which lay only ten-feet away, was a peaceful pool of crystal-clear water.

  Willow heard sounds everywhere. The clicks of creatures deep in the woods, the chirping of birds perched in the trees or flying overhead.

  A loud crash broke the calm and Willow glanced toward the disturbance. A lone wildling burst out of the forest, chased by a swarm of werebits.

  It tried to veer away from the water but slipped on the mud and fell face-first into the lake.

  Instantly, the monster shrieked, thrashing in the water as its sickly-green skin melted in gobbets of fatty tissue.

  Seconds after entering the water, the creature’s struggles ceased.

  The echoing sounds of its struggle faded, and seconds after that, even the ripples on the lake had disappeared–making it seem as if the incident had never happened.