Them

I looked back into the darkness that engulfed the island. The screams could be heard even from the boat out in the ocean. I wrapped the rags that were on my body that other people called clothes around me tighter, trying to keep the heat in. I looked away from the island and out into the water. The waves were pounding on the side of the small boat that I was on, rocking it from side to side. I closed my eyes as the sleep took me away into the land of dreams.

I dreamed of the island. Of how it used to be happy. The sun would shine, people would smile and laugh, but soon, that was all gone. They had no name. They were just, 'Them'. They took over the island and filled people with thought's that would never come true. But I knew they were wrong. They could have never done what they had promised to do. My family refused to flee and kept believing that what they said was true. Soon, chaos spread. They started burning down houses, cutting down the forest, killing people. If you listened, you could hear the faint whispers of fear. "They have come for the neighbors, they will come for us next, we must run, flee." You could hear the echos of the cries in the streets, but you knew, no one could save the small child dying, for you must save your family first. The fear of losing family was one that all had. I fled before everyone else. I was hidden at sea before the came for my family. Yet I had seen what happened to my family. All I could see was blood.

I woke up, the vivid image of my family dying in my brain. I sat up and noticed the storm had cleared, but the smoke was still coming from the island, surrounding it, as if keeping things out, or in. I looked out towards the horizon, before I heard a cry. But this was no cry, this was a child. Crying out for their family, who was most likely dead. I debated whether to continue out into the sea, to leave the child behind and save myself. I had no family, no one to save but myself. I rowed further away from the island. As I did, the cry got louder, so much, it sounded much like a scream. I quickly turned the small boat and made my way towards the island. I crossed the barrier of smoke and saw much worst past it. Homes were burning, people were burning, bodies piled up in trenches. I jumped out of the boat into the water and waded through the dirty water towards the shore. I felt the coarse sand underneath my bare feet as I made my way towards the burning houses and the broken up cobblestone roads. And I saw the child. I saw why she was crying. Surrounding her were Them. I hid behind a house, trying not to make a single noise, including my breathing. As I hid longer, I had breathed in the smoke and was wheezing. They were slowly closing in on the small girl, curled up into a small ball on the broken roads and sobbing, not wanting to be hurt. She looked young, maybe 3 years old. Her clothes rags just like mine and her dirty blonde hair in a mess. She looked up and saw me out of the corner of her eye, but kept crying, hoping that someone would save her. I didn't step out of the shadows, I just waited, until it was dark, and they had not done anything to the poor child. They had just stood around her, waiting for the proper time to strike. I heard the sound of a horn in the distance and saw as they left the girl in the middle of the street.

They always left at night. At 9:13, they would leave what they were doing, whether they were eating, resting, or killing. When that horn sounded, people knew they had survived another day, at that was enough around here. Just to know that you were safe, that you were alive. You would think this would be the time to escape, but no. That smoke around the island wasn't to keep things out, it was to keep things in. At night, the smoke thickened so it was nearly impossible to get through it alive. If you had tried to get through, the smoke would get into your lungs, much like it did to me, but worse. It would fill up your lungs and surround them, not allowing any oxygen to get to them. It would not only be a painful death, it would also be a slow one, as you slowly stopped breathing, wheezing for air, but you could get none. One would think to swim below the water, but that was worse. Shark would come and tear you to pieces. If you want to escape at all, take your pick. During the day, the smoke thinned and the sharks left to feed on other fish and not humans. I had made my escape then, almost dying, but I had made it. I couldn't bring my family, by then it was too late, but I had made it alive, when the streets were empty and people were hidden in their houses. I took a small boat and left, almost getting caught. But once you made it past the border, you were safe, you were free, but there was no land for another hundred miles. You were most likely as good as dead.

I came out of the shadows and made sure there was no one around us. I ran towards the girl in the middle of the street, my feet hitting the cold cobblestone. I tried not to make a noise, but that soon failed with my breathing and running. I reached the girl and kneeled down beside her, but she kept crying, sobbing. She looked up at me, her blue eyes puffy from all the crying. "Hey, it's ok now, you're safe with me," I said softly, trying to calm her. She slowly stopped crying, her ears subduing to sniffles. I smiled a bit and picked her up. She clung onto my hair, not wanting to be dropped. "You're safe," I said again as I walked towards one of the abandoned housed on the street that had not been burned down, but we both knew it wouldn't be like that for long. I pushed the door opened with my leg and it slowly creaked open. I put the child down on the mattress in the corner of the small cottage, identical to the other houses on the island. I looked around the house to find any food that the people had left behind. I found a small loaf of stale bread  and split it in half, giving the bigger piece to the child. She immediately took it and started eating it quickly. She finished after 30 seconds, while I had only taken a few bites out of mine. She eyed the piece of bread I was eating. I took one last bite before handing the piece of bread to the girl. She took it.

"Really?" she said, looking down at the piece of bread and then at me again. I nodded. "Thank you," she said before she started eating. I looked around at the old cottage, there was one small table, whose leg was gone, probably to be used as wood for a fire. The small matress that the girl was sitting on was in the corner, pushed against the wall. This cottage was nicer than most, for it had windows and a stone floor, compared to the one that I lived in, with dirt floors and no windows, it felt more like a prison than a house. The girl finished eating the bread and looked up at me. "What's your name?" she asked me, curiosity in her eyes.

"Alex, what's your name?" I asked. She nodded before speaking.

"Sage," she said. "You're the only person I know that's alive, thank you for saving me," she said.

"Your welcome. You should get to sleep. If we want any chance of getting out of here, we need plenty of rest," I said. She nodded before laying down on the uncomfortable mattress. She moved and faced me. She patted the spot beside her on the bed. I shook my head. "I'll stay here on the floor. If someone comes in, I'll fight them," I said. She nodded before turning away and closing her eyes, facing the wall. I closed my eyes and sleep transported me to the land of dreams once again.

When Sage woke up, I was already up, collecting some things. She stood up and walked over to me. I kept collecting small portions of food before I looked back at her. "The smoke will thin in a few minutes, so we must reach the boat quickly. They will arrive once the sun comes out," I said. She nodded as I walked out the door. She followed me as I walked down towards when I had left the boat, I steadied the boat, allowing her to get in. "Stay low," I said. She laid down in the bottom of the boat and I grabbed the oar. The horn rang and I quickly got in, paddling away. They were coming. I paddled faster, the barrier of smoke becoming thinner by the second. But you could here them, coming up behind us, the water splashing up into the boat. I rowed faster, we were so close, I could feel the smoke getting nearing, I could see it approaching. But I looked behind me and saw them. Them. I tried to get past the barrier but the were speeding up by the second, not failing at catching up to us. I was able to get the first half of the boat through the barrier before they grabbed me. Them. I was pulled out of the boat, but before they could get Sage, I pushed to boat with my foot past the border, and I knew she was safe. I looked up, their faces that had no face. Their skin as pale as the moon, yet their was no face. The looked at me in the eyes and said the single word that I knew my life was over. "Exterminate." I fell limp in their arms, the last thing I could hear was the girl, Sage, screaming my name. And I knew I was finished. They had done this to our island. And they were going to do it to the rest of the world. And everyone knew what was coming. Them.