Walking the Ruins

Ruin

"Sumo!" Steve's voice booms over the clearing.

Not even an echo answers.

"Who else was with us?" I ask.

Kevin shrugs. "I don't really remember. Paul maybe?"

"Paul!" Steve shouts.

The trees watch us silently.

Jenny stands beside a crumbling concrete block close by, having dropped her backpack to the ground and staring at the scenery. She shakes her head in a slow, tiny motion while her hands are fingering her lips.

"Let's look around, everyone," Steve says. "They must be somewhere." He heads away from us, shouting the names of our companions.

I peer into the forest. The building between the trees looks like a brooding animal, watching us. I try to recognize what's hiding in the gloom of its large, empty doorframe, but I can't see much.

The uneasy feeling lurking like a fat, black cat at the back of my mind gains presence, chasing off the fatigue I felt while hiking.

I drop my pack beside Jenny's and use my chin to gesture at the ruin. "I'm having a look at that building. Do you want to come?"

She shakes her head. "Ugh... Not really."

"Okay." I didn't really expect her to come along.

As I step into the forest, the air turns cooler. The entrance to the building is wide, and I recognize the large door lying on the ground. Part of it is covered by plants, and it makes a metallic sound as I step over it.

Inside, a humid, mouldy smell lies in the air, and the room is in chaos. Spiderwebbed panels hang at odd angles from the ceiling. Many of them have fallen, adding to the junk covering the floor. On my left side, a group of fat chairs sit in decay, their grayish upholstery split at the seams, wads of yellowish stuffing oozing from them. They look like the bodies of bloated, gutted animals.

A couple of tables stand in the center of the room, some of them toppled over, legs brown with rust, plates cracked.

Light enters from the right, where a gap in the wall offers a view of the forest. Below it, collapsed pieces of bricks, girders, and furniture form a heap of rubble. A few, pale-green plants have gained a foothold there.

An exit in the wall opposite seems to lead to further rooms. I head towards it, threading my way through the junk. The space beyond the exit is dark. A wet, moldy smell wafts from it. I retrieve my cell phone and switch on its lamp to shine it into the gloom. It's a stairwell, leading up and down.

A flat, forbidding surface of black liquid reflects the light one floor below me. The basement must be flooded.

I look up, considering a climb to the first floor. The stair is made of corroded metal steps, some of them missing or at odd angles. It wouldn't be a good idea to trust them.

Switching off my lamp, I turn back towards the main room.

What the hell has happened here?

I approach the jumble of junk under the gap in the wall. A corroded metal table forces me to make a detour when my foot hits an obstacle. I look down at the ground and right into the hollow eyes of a skull.

Fuck. I stifle a squeal, I don't want the others to think I'm a coward.

"Hey, have you found anything?"

The sudden, unexpected voice makes me jump. I search for its source and see Rose's small figure outlined against the light in the doorframe.

"You've got to see this." I point at the ground in front of me.

She enters the room, her steps slow and hesitant. When she sees the skull, she shrieks loudly.

"Shit. What's this?" She clasps my arm.

"Skull," I say.

There's a movement at the entrance. It's Steve.

"What's happened?" His voice sounds worried.

I point at our ghastly discovery. "Look at that."

Steve enters the room. Jenny trails him. They join us.

"Crap!" Steve squats down and prods the thing with a finger.

"Yikes," Jenny yelps, "leave it alone!"

"It's just a bone," he replies and turns it around. "Must be quite old."

My gaze starts searching the ground, expecting more bones. I see nothing but junk and some plants.

"I'm getting out of here," Rose says.

She turns towards the exit.

That's when a scream tears the silence.