DIVERSE TALES

THE GREEN HOUSE DISEASE

#WritcoStoryPrompt56
 
    I fell onto my back, clutching at my coat. The wind whipped past my hair, drawing through it and leaving it in a tangled mess. The blood in my ears roared, pumping with each beat of my heart. The winding path before me, that was once a thriving street was now reduced to an overun and thinning path. Trees outmatched the surrounding in strength grasping onto fragments of run down houses and battered cars.

   The vines drew around themselves turning the suburbs into a forest wasteland. I crawled back to my feet, positioning my nose mask quickly. I kept my breathing to a minimum, trying so desperately to keep out the fog of particles that clawed into my nostrils. The green house disease started earlier this year.

   A scientist was said to have been engineering a way to reduce climate change and keep the trees alive. To make certain that the world was not rid of trees. After it was applied on a tree for it's first testrun, everything crashed and burned. The tree began to growing exponentially, releasing some sort of weird greenish fog.

  The scientists and her co-workers fell unconscious and were rushed to the hospital. Their skin was covered with green streaks, that seemed to be attacking the lungs before it went straight for their hearts. I jumped over a vine that crawled past what looked like a bungalow. The white washed walls were streaked with green, the fog's effect on the walls. The roof was pushed over the edge, the structure resembled a half opened pot.

   I gripped my coat tighter, the whisk of the air rushing past my woolen coat. I walked past what used to be the center of the town. A fountain was once stationed here, but now vines had covered it's top. It's marble cracked at the edges, crumbling under the immense weight. The familiar green marred it's once bluish glaze. A tree as high as anything you could see, towered far above me.

   The cracks had ripped down the concrete road, turning civilization into destruction. Even the animals had abandoned the area, the few birds that usually came to visit my window every morning in search of breadcrumbs no more came. I soon sighted my caravan, fenced with a ladder and grated stumps. It stood at the edges of town, overlooking the fallen layers of sand that sloped into a hill. Luckily for me, there were no surrounding plants, all though it was wedged between two almost complete houses. They were lucky enough to be overlooked by the mass of vines.

   I shuddered under the chill that permeated the air. I gripped the food that had been stowed far away in an emergency facility. I kicked a couple of stones in my way, watching it skitter until it fell in between two cracks. My heart seared with pain, clutching onto the memories of the people lost to the plague. My eyes burned, the prickling sensation overwhelming the upper half of my face.

   I breathed in beneath the face mask, still resistant to itch of the semi plastic material. The caravan's tires were busted, the windows cracked. The white washed exterior was now brown, neglected from soap and clean water. A dumpster, half falling into the surrounding cr-

   A hollow bang resounded. I jumped, my heart pacing. Another clack with a hollow muffle cut through once again. I edged slowly, taking one step at a time while avoiding the cracks. My nerves bristled. My ears tipped, at alert for any other sound. Soon, I was circling around the dumpster. The dumpsters green was grey from the decay of splattered oranges and other fruits.

   Despite my nose mask, the familiar smell of rot slithered in between it. I tipped the dumpster slightly, pushing as far as I could. Behind it, an almost passed out woman lay. Her chest still rose and fell, so clearly she wasn't dead. With my gloved hands, I took her by the legs and dragged her down the cracked road.

   I dropped her legs once again and observed her. The green streaks that marked the owners of the disease wasn't present, all though she didn't look all too perfect. Her olive skinned face sloped down to her almost sun bleached neck.