Till the end

Chapter 1

Introduction

And those who expected lightning and thunder

Are disappointed

And those who expected signs and archangels trumps

Do not believe it is happening now

As long as the sun and the moon are above

As long as the bumblebee visits a rose

As long as rosy infants are born

No one believes it is happening now

A song on the end of the world

Czeslaw Milosz

So many books, movies and theories on how the end of the world would occur but only a few got it right.

'This is how the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.'

The words of T.S Eliot were right. The sun rose, the roosters crowed but humanity had fallen. Almost overnight an airborne virus wiped out half the population and turning another twenty-five percent into the living dead. Creatures who craved the flesh of the living and could only be killed when the brain was damaged beyond repair.

Along with the death and infection of the population, the environment became unstable. Storms ravaged the earth and deserts expanded their reach.

The remaining humans either banded together to form small settlements where they could defend against the undead horde or became nomads and far too many took up criminal acts and murdered their fellow man.

It had truly become a living hell for those left, but humans are a resilient race and this was not their end.

Akashi's Pov

I gripped the small pale hand in my own as we ran on, our breath coming in ragged, the sound of our pursers getting closer. We were both dressed in hooded jackets to ward off the cold. The small pale figure beside me had theirs pulled up but mine was thrown back, my red hair flashing in the sun and my mismatched eyes scanned the trees in front of us, trying to remember the way.

"Should we turn east?"

The small figure shook its head, "we won't make it, the undead are on that side."

"West it is."

"But that's where"-

The sentence didn't need to be finished because we burst out of the line of trees and found ourselves on an overhang, the river raging far below.

"Damn it!"

I spun as I saw the figures in the trees behind us and as I did I saw a small ledge we could creep along, the bigger adults wouldn't be able to follow us.

"This way!"

I grabbed the small hand again and moved towards the edge.

"Seijuro, I don't think I can do it!"

"You can, just step where I do. We have to get away."

With a nod the smaller person followed me as we stepped onto the ledge. I was a few steps away when I heard a frightened cry and turned to see a bearded men had grabbed the small hooded figure. I turned to save them when I felt the ground crumbling beneath me and found myself falling down to the raging water and rocks.

"Seijuro!"

***

"Seijuro!"

I was pulled out of my dream and blinked up from where I lay. Instead of looking at a cliff face I was staring into a pair of emerald eyes set behind a pair of worn glasses. The tall man helped me sit up where I rubbed my tired eyes and ran a hand through my scruffy bed hair.