The Crossing Dawn

V. Reminiscing

Our story takes a turn for the worse as Nate is already associated with, clearly, not the right people. The choices now are simple: either fight to live or die trying. Our story continues. Nathan chooses life. But one's choices do not always result in desired results.

Black was all I could see as I awoke in a freezing-cold room. I quickly got on my feet and knocked. The inner walls were made of iron; This was no house. It was evident that a knight in shining armor was not going to get me out of here.

"Who's in here?" Said a perceivable female voice coming right from behind. I lowered my hands down to my pockets as I felt my dagger still equipped. I gripped the handle tightly as I spoke.

"Why are you keeping me in here with you? What do you really want from me?" I said with bleakness in my voice.

"Take it easy. You can't see me, but I swear I'm not one of them Magpies." She said.

"Then, they must have thrown you in here along with me. Magpies? That's what these people are called?"

"How in the world do you not know? Have you been living under a rock for all these years? Does the Naval Flu pandemic ring a bell for you?" Said the girl in a shocking tone.

"What's your name?" I asked her very seriously.

"Claire."

"Claire, I understand that you will never believe what I'm about to tell you, but I need you to please listen to me, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'm... not from around here, in fact I-" I continued as Claire interrupted me.

"The Flu occurred globally, man... It has taken the lives of all of our loved ones. There is about a million people left. It doesn't matter where you're from; One thing is always true: There's not much time until the Magpies take over." She said, on the verge of tears.

"I can relate to that part, at least. Everyone I used to know is gone." I truthfully exclaimed.

"May you go on? I fail to process the thought that you've never experienced the wrath of the Magpies before." She insisted as I revealed my true origins.

"I'm from another world. I did something foolish that I'd rather not talk about, and it caused me to wake up here."

"Oh, enough backbiting, that's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time." She said as she started chuckling.

Outside the hard walls, I heard loud screaming being suppressed by the sound of a blade piercing human skin. I doubt the splash that followed was the sound of water. During these moments, the fort's lights turned on, allowing me to see Claire from the shine illuminating the cracks on the steel door.

"I just heard somebody die, Claire." I whispered.

"Yep, that's their handiwork. They're probably lining up the bunkers right now, tossing their kill on the fire. Sounds like we're coming up soon. Oh, and you never told me your name. What a pity."

"How can you be so calm about this? They're about to murder us. We'll never see another dawn or dusk. Does that make you fucking happy? And why would they even burn us?" Those were the words that made her cry once more.

"Stop breathing, 'kay?" She said as she wiped the tears dripping from her face.

"What are you saying?" I asked.

Moments later, I knew exactly what she was saying. She got closer and closer to me as her face was inches away from mine. I watched my blood splash against her green eyes as she stabbed me with my own knife.

"Close your eyes, and whenever you hear a soft bang, stop breathing." She said as I was struggling to keep myself from screaming in pain, let alone hold my breath.

I felt a door sliding open as Claire lets out a small thump. I laid there looking lifeless. A man spoke with the same plain, robotic voice I had heard earlier.

"Fuck! Rick, come look at this." Said Dave as I could feel his shadow obtruding the light that was previously shining on my closed eyelids.

"Ah, shit. They're out alright. Looks like the boy strangled the girl with her own shirt, so she stabbed him and he bled out."

"We got bunkers for miles. Two provs gone ain't gonna make a difference." Dave added.
"Little bitch got a fine one dead, though." Rick sighed as he moved along with Dave to the next victims.

Holy shit. I had just escaped death's wrath by a molecular amount. Had those sons of bitches heard my heart's rapid beating, I think it would have been over. It looked like Claire held her own, too, as she took off her shirt and wrapped it around her neck. This made it look like a strangulation and a self-defense murder. We pulled off the perfect bluff. But stalling them won't be an option for too long, so we need to continue with our plot to get out of this mass murder site.

"Here." Said Claire as she wrapped her shirt around my wound. Sheer panic had made me forget about it entirely. The bleeding had come to a halt.

"Nathan. That's my name. But call me Nate." I said, feeling like I owed her that, at the very least.

"We escape in the morning. Feasting hour is approaching us." Said Claire.

"I'm sorry, what? Are you saying that-" I froze as I looked at her with dead eyes.

"The Naval Flu originated from an extremely large tsunami that struck California in 2007. The wave introduced a new species of fish called Navals, which were small, and carried the Flu that ended our world. Humans were infected at incredibly high rates, claiming hundreds of thousands of life every day in the U.S., and soon after, the whole world had experienced its wrath." Claire explained.

"That still doesn't answer the question." I complained as Claire began another sadness-tantrum.

"Do you know why it ended humanity so quickly?"

"No, but I'm guessing you will tell me now."

"It turned humans into primitive cannibals!" Claire yelled.

I put all the pieces together: the fire and the "feasting hour." These monsters were not satisfied with just ending our existence. They sought to eat whatever remains we may have left on the world. Everything made sense now. They're god-damned maneaters.