The Demise of Humanity

by Miller, Jayme L.

“Quinn,” Dr. Nickels called as we exited the room.

  We all turned and regarded the doctor with curiosity.

  “Would you please come back after you show Miss Layla and Mr. Silas to the cafeteria? I need to speak with you in private.”

  Quinn nodded his head and said, “sure thing Doc.”

  Quinn spoke with lots of enthusiasm while he showed us around our new surroundings.

  “The warehouse has proven to be our saving grace. A bunch of us were here working when the world went to shit. A few of us watched the people around us become extremely ill and then unconscious. We thought the sick would die but after a week or two, depending on the individual they woke and were better. Most of the sick have changed but I know you already know that. Some of the sick woke up and have some unique abilities. They have been struggling to cope and learn how to control them.”

  I asked, “You mean not all of you were sick?”

  “We all had one form of the illness or another, but not all of us woke up with abilities, some turned into the ravenous creatures that lurk at night. Some of us, like myself woke up and are the same as we were before we were sick,” Quinn stated.

  “What did you do when the sick turned into the night screamers?” I questioned.

  “Night Screamers?” Quinn inquired with a quizzical expression.

  “That’s what we call them, “Night Screamers.” You know, they come out at night and well, scream and kill.”

  I found the last word to be sour in my mouth.

  “All right, I like that, Night Screamers! Sounds about right from what we all have heard and seen,” he said laughing.

  He rubbed his gruffy beard then ran his hands through his shoulder length hair. At closer inspection I could see little white hairs poking their way through all the blackish brown in his beard and on his head. It appeared stress was the cause of Quinn’s premature aging; stress seemed to play a role in everyone’s life now.

  He continued on, “We thought the people that were not waking up had died. They didn’t have a pulse, they smelt rotten and their skin was grey. The doctor suggested we remove them from the warehouse. We didn’t want to spread the illness to anyone else.”

  Quinn continued, “It was pure luck we moved them when we did. The sun was almost completely gone by the time we loaded the last one in the back of a tractor trailer truck. We had closed the trailer and were getting ready to drive the bodies away from the warehouse when the first screams echoed in the night. The screams, like nothing we had ever heard. Moments later wailing screams came seeping through the back of the trailer followed by banging, scratching and smashing. We hurried inside leaving the people in the trailer.”

  I felt myself tense hanging onto each word Quinn said.

  “Thankfully they didn’t break out of the trailer that night. The next morning when we went to check on them they appeared to be dead again. They were laying on the floor of the trailer quiet and unmoving. We drove them far from the warehouse and left them in the trailer.”

  We entered the cafeteria and found people gathered and speaking in hushed whispers. Everyone stopped speaking and stared at us as we entered.

  Quinn lowered his voice and spoke, “We have to be very quiet in here.”

  He pointed to the ceiling which revealed barbed wires and boarded skylights. Then pointed to boarded up doors that led outside.

  “This room echos and we don’t want to take any unnecessary chances. We have had a few close calls with the screamers. We try and keep it as quiet as possible at night.”

  Quinn stopped at a table where a few teenagers were gathered.

  “You two can sit here with Sara, Hannah, Wes and Greg.”

  “Greg?” Silas stepped forward.

  “Silas! No way man!”

  The two half hugged and slapped each other on the backs like old pals. Greg was tall like Silas and was wearing a KHS basketball jersey. The back of the jersey had a Number 24 and the name Lang across the top.

  “It looks like the two of you will fit right in,” Quinn said, turning and walking back in the direction we had come from.

  Silas and Greg sat together catching up like long lost friends. I sat quietly and half listened to them converse. My mind wandered off and I wanted more information to what was happening. Quinn seemed like a nice guy and open to share what he knew with us. Dr. Nickels on the other hand seemed reserved. I doubted he would relinquish information to a teenage girl. I glanced around the room and watched people converse. I felt as though everyone in the room had their eyes on me. I was restless sitting there, time slowly ticked by. Hannah passed a plate of food to me a large slice of vegetarian chicken, corn, peaches and bread. I eyed the vegetarian chicken and wondered why they didn’t name it something else. Why name it chicken if it wasn’t chicken? Hannah also handed me a tall glass of water. The food was unappealing. I consumed the water in seconds, leaving the wannabe chicken and sides untouched.

  Hannah smiled and said excitedly, “Another one! You are like us!”

  Greg laughed, “I felt it the second they drove up to the gate. You are gifted, right?”

  “I can make light emerge from me. At first I didn’t have control over it. Layla has been helping me. I’ve actually gotten halfway decent,” Silas said.

  “Show us!” Greg pushed.

  “I don’t know, it is really bright and I don’t know how it will effect everyone in here,” Silas added.

  Hannah interrupted, “Yeah, that may not be a good idea right now. Especially with cranky pants over there.”

  She nodded her head in the direction of a young man sitting by himself at a table. We all turned and glanced at him. As if sensing the glares, he got up from the table and potters away; completely ignoring us.

  “That was Gabe. He is super powerful but a real jerk,” Hannah said.

  “What is his gift?” Silas asked.

  “He can disappear and reappear anywhere. It is an awesome gift,” Hannah explained.

  “Not so cool when you end up surrounded by the others with only seconds to disappear to somewhere else,” Greg added.

  “The last time Gabe used his power something happened. He hasn’t been the same since. He is even more of a jerk now.”

  “What is your gift Layla?” Hannah asked.

  “I’m not sure I have one,” I murmured kind of embarrassed.

  “Oh you have a gift, I can feel it. You are strong like Gabe,” Greg stated matter of factly.

  “I don’t know what it is,” I replied.

  Sara and Wes stood up and said their goodbyes while Hannah continued on.

  “My gift is kind of boring, I can make people sleep, I know super lame. Although there are some people here that like my gift. Especially at night with all the, you know crazies out there.”

  “What about you Greg, what is your gift?” Silas asked, curiously.

  “I have a strong ability to sense others like us. I can call out to them if danger is near. Things like that, it’s an ok gift I guess. I can sense the others or as I heard you call them night screamers,” Greg said.

  Our conversation was cut short when a few men quietly ran into the cafeteria. They approached table after table, finally reaching ours.

  “We all need to head underground now,” One of the men whispered firmly.

  “There are “Others” on the fence and a lot of them, hurry downstairs.”

  We followed the line of people down a few hallways. Everyone moved quickly to safety. I was amazed at how quiet everyone was. We reached a staircase that descended into darkness. I felt my chest tighten at the thought of going underground once again. We started to retreat down the stairs but were stopped by Quinn.

  “I need Gabe, Olyvia, Jacob, Wes, Silas and Layla to come with me, please hurry,” Quinn requested.

  “I’ll go find the others. I believe I saw them head down in front of us,” Gabe reported.

  “Thank you,” Quinn replied.

  We ambulated behind Quinn as he hurried back through ha
llways and up four flights of stairs, finally exiting onto the roof of the warehouse. The roof was lit up with spotlights making it extremely bright on the roof. I squinted my eyes and saw a half dozen men and women scattered to different corners. Some were a bit too close to the edge for comfort. I felt exposed standing outside on the roof at night. I was quickly distracted by screams and gunfire that filled my ears. Quinn guided Silas and me to the edge of the roof where I peered down and saw an unsettling sight. Night screamers were lined against the fence, pressing in hard as more and more approached.They all seemed to gather at the gate or close to it. I watched the screamers, a few at a time curled their lips and let out a severe scream. The other screamers seemed too focused on getting through the gate. One of the screamers leapt up and tried to jump the fence. This did not end well for the screamer because it became entangled in the barbed wire. It screamed out in obvious distress but this seemed to agitate the other screams. I continued to watch in horror as another screamer jumped up and grabbed the leg of the entangled one. Ripping it down they closed in and proceeded to consume the injured one. Other screamers joined in the frenzy and devoured it within minutes. I felt sick watching the shocking sight unfold in front of me. The memory of my mother surfacing for the briefest moment before Quinn interrupted my gloomy thoughts.

  “Silas! I need you to use your light hopefully it will break up the screamers at the gate. At this rate the gate won’t hold and if they get in…”

  Quinn didn’t finish his sentence because a young woman went running by us with incredible speed. Followed by a young man that flew by us and yes, I mean literally flew past us. I watched the pair plummet off the roof and land on their feet inside the gate.

  “Come on!” The young man yelled up to us.

  The screamers became agitated when they saw food close at hand. I stood in stunned amazement as more joined the two at ground level. I recognized Greg, Sara, Hannah and Wes. The others were unknown to me. I felt Silas grab my hand and pull me off the roof. I screamed in utter alarm, we too fell to the earth. I felt a spark of energy come over me as we descended, followed by pure energy that spread through my body like wildfire. The wind from falling sent cool chills up my arms. We too landed on our feet with no pain. I felt mirthful, even though I was pulled off a roof and thought I was going to die. I couldn’t help but slap Silas in the arm for bringing me down with him.

  “Damn you. You could have killed us. Don’t you ever do something like that again without asking me first,” I spit the words at him.

  “I’m sorry, I thought you felt the same energy I did,” he replied, looking hurt by my outburst.

  We didn’t have time to argue further because the energy was back only this time it wasn’t inside me, it was around me. I fell to my knees and tried with all my might not to grab it and take it all for myself. My eyes flashed to the young man that had jumped off the roof before us. He stood within feet of the gate. I watched a ball of fire emerge from first his right hand and then his left. He threw it in the direction of the screamers. The fireball made contact with two of them. He continued to make the fire in his hands. I watched Hannah stand a few feet away next to him, she pushed her ability towards the gate. A few screamers fell to the ground and closed their eyes, other screamers approached and started to eat the sleeping ones. I swallowed hard and fought the desire to grab a hold of all the energy floating around the parking lot. Another young man and lady stood in the line forming close to the gate and fence. They fired round after round at the screamers. Silas joined in and illuminated his light, dim at first but soon the screamers were falling back. They screamed out but strangely it wasn’t unbearable. The energy that surrounded us seemed to muffle the screams. I did a quick headcount of the group at the gate. There were twelve total standing side by side, a few feet apart. I could barely keep myself up on my knees. Electric energy filled my entire being. I was falling to the pavement and I watched the twelve fall to the earth with me. The energy shooting out of me and sending me away into nothingness. The light Silas cast was bright and it was the last thing I saw before the familiar darkness consumed me.

  Day 60:

  I woke in a cold sweat. The air in the room musty. I didn’t know where I was. I glanced around to find I wasn’t alone, there were teens sleeping peacefully in lined cots. I sat up abruptly taking in my surroundings. The room was lit by a half dozen candles graciously spread out on small night stands. My eyes darted around the room until they found Silas. He was sleeping in a cot a few down from mine. I found my way to him and put my hand on his chest to make sure he was still breathing.

  “Layla,” a deep voice called by the door.

  I got up and walked over to find Quinn and another man I hadn’t met waiting.

  “I’m glad to see you are awake. It has been over a week and we have all been worried,” Quinn mused.

  “Have you given any of us water? It helps us recover sooner,” I said.

  “Yes, lots and lots of water. All of you did an amazing job but it drained you greatly. It seems sleep has been needed as much as water this time,” Quinn explained.

  Doctor Nickels made his appearance when Quinn finished speaking.

  “Layla!” Dr. Nickels sounded excited.

  “You were incredible. I would like to meet with you in my office to do some minor tests.”

  “I didn’t do anything. It was everyone in there,” I stated pointing to the sleeping teens.

  “Layla. You shined so brightly you cleared the gate and fence. We saw it all unfold from the roof. Yes, the others are indispensable too but they only took out a few at a time. You somehow managed to wipe them all out,” Dr. Nickels stated.

  I listened to his words but felt confused. I had fought extremely hard not to take any of the energy from anyone there. If what he said was true then I had no idea what I was doing or how I was doing it. The doctor must have noticed my puzzled expression.

  “Don’t fret we will figure everything out and hopefully get the world in order. The way it was meant to be,” he added.

  I frowned listening to Dr. Nickels words made me feel uneasy but I didn’t know why. I turned in the direction of the sleeping teens in time to see a few stir. A couple of them had sat up and were getting adjusted to their surroundings. I glanced to where Silas lay but he was still sleeping. Greg was the first to join us in the hall.

  “That was so epic!” Greg gushed.

  “There were dozens of them and we took them all out. Was anyone timing us? I know that was some kind of new record. The strange thing was at the end I felt my energy being pulled out of me. It was really strange,” he added.

  Everyone talked while the remainder of the teens woke. I found my way to Silas and watched him slowly enter the world of the living and dead.

  “Good morning all, I hope you slept well. I would like to first thank all of you for your masterful no, kick ass performance! It was by far the most successful night we have had. Why don’t you all go and get cleaned up and hydrated. I would like for all of us to meet in the cafeteria, let’s say 1 pm,” Quinn rejoiced.

  Soon everyone went their own ways and I found I was alone with Silas.

  “Are you alright,” we both asked, simultaneously.

  I laughed and it felt strange. I hadn’t freely and openly laughed in weeks. It felt odd in my throat but in the end it was fantastic and I laughed again. Silas smiled and laughed too. I probably appeared off my rocker.

  “We should get cleaned up and join the others,” I chimed standing up and stretching.

  The warehouse had a fully functioning gym with locker rooms. The men’s and women’s locker rooms had a hot tub, sauna and steam room. The place reminded me more of a resort than a warehouse. The shower felt wonderful on my skin. There was an endless supply of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razors and any other personal hygiene items you could think of. I didn’t want to leave the shower. I could have stayed standing under the steady stream of water for the rest of my life but I heard female voices ente
r the locker room. There were six total shower stalls. I wanted to stand in the shower all day but I didn’t want to use all the hot water. I exited the stall and much to my disdain I watched Lucy strip down in front of me. I averted my eyes not wanting to see any more of her perfections.

  “Hi, Layla,” she cheered, “What a night we had! I did feel useless just standing there, while all of you kicked ass.”

  “Do you mind me asking what your ability is?” I asked.

  “Oh sure, I can change my appearance, watch.”

  I stood stunned as I watched Lucy shift from her beautiful self into me the resemblance uncanny. She then shifted into Silas and then back to herself. I found myself tightening the towel around myself when she shifted into him. It was silly because I knew it was Lucy but she looked so much like Silas.

  “Wow, that is crazy cool,” I said.

  “It’s ok but not really all that helpful when it comes to fighting the screamers,” she sighed.

  “It would be neat if you could change into a screamer and walk amongst them. That would prove to be an invaluable ability,” I added.

  She perked up at the idea and seemed to drift away in her own mind for a moment. The next minute Lucy was transforming in front of me. She was still Lucy but her skin was ashen, her eyes a dull grey, she even had blood drip ever so slightly down her nose, ears, eyes and lastly her mouth. I found myself involuntarily taking a step backwards, afraid of getting too close. Unlike the screamers, she smiled brightly, then laughed. She turned and glanced at her reflection in the mirror.

  “Oh my,” she muttered.

  “I wonder if this could work? I look the part. I guess the question is are the screamers smart enough to know the difference,” she added.

  I watched her transform back to herself. I could see she was drained I took her arm right before she fell. I could feel her energy was completely depleted.

  “Let’s get you in the shower, the water will help,” I insisted.

  The clock stated it was ten after one, Lucy and I entered the cafeteria. All heads turned in our direction.

  “We are gracefully late,” Lucy stated leaving my side and making her way to Quinn.