Category: Novelettes & Novellas

Chapter 6: Hill 

The wind passes through the green grass, raising a white mat of dandelions. An old man strokes his white beard, a smile on his face. Below the valley, a dozen children play with a ball, using a small river as a dividing line between two teams. Their laughter resonates loudly in the valley, despite the falls, despite their commitment. With his tired eyes, David watches the joy of spring spread like wheat is sown. Henceforth, he no longer refuses human contact. He has accepted the need for a balance between his love for nature and his love for human beings. The patriarch loves this place, this rock, where he can contemplate everything that has been done to live away from apathy without falling into the hybris. Contemplate how the scars of the flood had passed, the sea was receding a little more each year. Contemplate the fact that a day will come when everything will re-appear. That day these children will have to be careful. From his rock, sitting cross-legged, he finds, every day, the measure of which Noah spoke, in meditation, in contemplation, and in the hope for a stable future. 

Behind him, Cleo looks at him with tenderness. Fifty years have passed, they are found, lost, and found, they have rebuilt, rebuilt, and enshrined in the education of all the principle of measurement. Everything, always, must be done with the measure. Empathy and confrontation, always with the measure. It will always take change, but also continuity, the world of men will always have to follow a spirit of resilience, balanced precisely between past and future, without becoming the shadow of what it can be. The envy of too much, the lure of not enough, the 

excess and the annihilation of the will, must be avoided at all costs, and they both hope it forever, as the new generations spread in passions. 

“I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” – To Holy Bible, Revelation, Chapter 1, Verse 18 

“He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped” – To Holy Bible, Chapter 16, Verse 48 

THE END

Chapter 5: Hybris 

When they finally saw the light of the day, poor Eva had taken a bullet in her hand and their pursuers were following them a few tens of meters away. On reaching the end of a tunnel, the group found themselves in torrential rain, creating a lake at their feet. Noah yelled “finally!”. Daryl glared at him, and then took the lead in a line that went around the newly formed lake, with the idea to take refuge in the forest. But before halfway there, the soldiers’ footsteps were heard. Commander Ramsey was howling threats. And then gunshots rang out. The group froze. The soldiers were screaming, then they heard a man running along the tunnel. Thus, the Commander emerged from the dark hole, with several Others hanging on his calves and arms, and jumped into the lake. He never reappeared again. 

Daryl cast a questioning look at Christian, who made a sign that he did not understand how the Others had entered the bunker. In truth, the rain had violently roasted the speaker circuits around the hill. Suddenly the group realized that he was stuck too. The narrow path to the forest was already largely flooded and impassable, and they were stuck to a stone wall, with as the only “escape” from the currents and the rain a tunnel full of Others. Death assured, disarmed as they were. At the bottom of the line, Sarah dared to take a look inside. Many Others were gathered around the fresh corpses of the military. The water was rising quickly, however, and soon the tunnel would be flooded. Then violently, a stream of water came into the tunnel from the inside, and expelled all the Others outside, in the current. The tunnel was now completely flooded, and they had to climb up and hang on the wall to stay out of the water. 

They only had a few minutes left before the water rose enough to carry them into the current. The storm was unleashed, and swimming was unthinkable. Daryl turned to Noah. “These may be my last breaths on this Earth. I want to know the truth.” He pointed to Old Goldblum. “With Joseph, we have identified significant underground activity for months. The tectonic plates had not experienced such a major upheaval for thousands of years. This kind of 

phenomenon always causes an increase in extreme climatic phenomena.” He made a big gesture to designate the apocalypse which surrounded them. “You could not have access to our information, and yet, you know something.”. Noah took a deep inspiration, stuck to the wall, and said slowly: 

“You want to know the truth? Very well. So know that all of this is not a coincidence. We are at the end of a cycle. The Others, the Earth which breaks, the Sky which splits. You see, the human being is a complex animal. Capable of solidarity and friendship, he is also capable of envy and ambition. The sages of ancient times had defined that the first principle to keep peace in human societies was the need for the measure. The ability to distinguish what is necessary and what is too much. The power to know when act and when not act, when energizing your humanity and when remain inactive. Generations were educated on these principles, and civilizations put them as fundamental structures. But men are easily corruptible, and one day, someone broke borders, abolished limits, destroyed measure. The ambitious jostled the order, and then this order was unleashed, because had been awakened a disease which wears out the body of human beings until transforming them into apathetic larva then into bloodthirsty monster, the hybrid. The disease of ambition, the madness of grandeur. And while Men begged Heaven to forgive them their madness, the order decided to clean everything, to reorganize, and it rained oceans, which cleansed the Earth of its impurities. In myths, this event is referred to as the deluge. New wise beings knew for the law of measure, and the madness which its crossing could generate. In Greek Antiquity, philosophers such as Plato, the Stoics, and Epicureans placed the idea of measurement at the center of their knowledge and their teachings. Never too much, never not enough. Balance, always, if not, hybris and death. But over time these principles were again forgotten. Some born with the ability to remember. I am one of them. Always between action and apathy, always between wisdom and candor, always between fear and courage. Always between ambition and laziness. We are our own 

Gods. We are the ones who cause the disease, those who contract the hybrid, those who protect it like a sword of Damocles. Today, a cycle ends, and a new one begins. Maybe humans will not survive this time, and maybe, maybe it’s a good thing.” 

Suddenly a rope fell on Sarah’s head. Twenty meters higher, Ben, all smiles in the rain and the storm, held the key to their survival wrapped around his arm. 

 

Chapter 4: Prison 

Of course, on the way, prisoners and chained, they realized that Christian was missing. But it seemed that the military ignored its existence, or that they confused it with Daryl because of its size, because they made no remark. Sarah was crying silently, but Ben was confident. His son had survived a week almost alone to join Atlanta from his vacation camps in the Rockies at the start of the apocalypse, when he was only 8 years old. This story, he always told it with a strange mixture of grandiloquent pride and empathy for a son who had to go through traumatic ordeals so young. He told it with a strange light in his eyes as if his confidence in his offspring had no limits. Daryl noticed that it was the same gleam burning in his eyes at that moment, in the military car. Concerning him, he had felt the boy’s breath behind him, just before his presence passed out. During the past year, he had taught her everything about concealment, mastering silence, strategy games, and nature. He was also trusting in the boy. 

After an hour’s drive at a surprisingly high speed, they got out of the cars and walked to a bunker, located next to a disused industrial area , at the top of a hill. The kind of place Daryl never went, because nature was dead there and because it was the first place that the soldiers had requisitioned when they lost control in the face of the millions of bodies that surged in front of their weapons. They were taken to a medium-sized room, which appeared to be the office of the head of the dissident regiment. The man with the mustache received them. “Hello citizens, my name is Commander Ramsey. Congratulations on having escaped our survivor detection services for so long, citizens. We have been tracking you for weeks, and I must admit that it was very clever to place your camp in the middle of the forest, but once we had detected you, you were made like rats. However, this achievement shows how important you can be in the reconquest of the world that will start here in Indiana. I wish you a welcome to Camp Ronald Reagan. Here, it’s very simple, I order, you obey. Is that clear? “. 

Silence. 

“Ok Officer bring me a recalcitrant prisoner. Quick!” The man called out returned a few minutes later with a man, in his fifties, ragged, with a crazy look, who was more dragged than he was helped to walk. Commander Ramsey looked at him, and asked him firmly, “Have you decided to obey?” The man fixed his eyes on his mustache and laughed. The commander drew his Glock from his belt and in the same movement stuck two bullets in his head. 

Daryl was flabbergasted. How can you have the audacity to shoot in this situation, in your own hideout? The building was underground, but still, the sound could be heard. The Commander turned to the group and pointed his weapon at Eva’s head. “To be clear, I am your God. Here I have the right to life and death over all of you. What is your choice?”. “We will collaborate”. The flame in Ben’s eyes hadn’t gone out. The Commander seemed surprised by the assurance of the colossal figure in front of him, in front of which he himself seemed small. He pointed to Ben. “You, you come with me, we’ll see what we can do with you. For the rest, the officer will take you to your quarters.” 

Eva, Sarah, the Old Goldblum, and Daryl were in fact led to an old padded cell with rotten and torn off cushions, closed by a grid. A puddle of black blood was languishing in a corner, which showed that at the beginning of the apocalypse, this room had been used to imprison some Others for military experiments. At the back of the cell, two half-ghostly figures stood out from the dark wall. Daryl stepped closer and realized that he was actually in front of him a very old man and an extremely thin girl. The man looked at him with curiosity, but the girl seemed suspicious and drew a blade from his boot. “Wow, I don’t want to hurt you, calm down.” She replied, “What if I’m the one who wants to hurt you?”. A quavering and weak voice was heard: “It won’t be necessary. This young man is not a member of madmen”. The girl frowned. “Are you sure, father? I have a bad feeling about him.” “Wow, we don’t know each other, can you calm down, you’re a bit young to threaten me”. “Do not speak thus to my daughter, young man. You seem wise, but do not push her to the end, she could skin you alive.”. 

The tension was mounting, and Sarah finally intervened: “Oh, calm down ladies and gentlemen. We will stay here for a long time, stay calm”. The old man looked at her, then looked at everyone in the cell, and just said, “I wouldn’t be so sure about it. The world is cracking. It’s coming.” Daryl’s eye lit up. “What do you mean?”. “I would like to tell you more, but I think someone is waiting for you on the other side.”. The Old Goldblum got a little angry: “Is it a threat?”. The old man laughed, shook his head, then reached for a target behind their backs. Everyone turned around. “So I wouldn’t want to disturb you,” said a triumphant Christian, holding a set of keys in his hand, “but I’m afraid that one of the soldiers wake up from his hangover, can we go now ?” 

As they progressed down the hall, Christian explained that the military have small speakers that perpetually transmit footsteps sound all around the hill. “That’s why they allow themselves anything”. Daryl was able to approach the old Goldblum. “Joseph, did you hear what that old man said?” He smiled “Haha, it’s funny, suddenly I’m not the only old man in town.” Then he becomes serious again. “Yes. This is completely in line with our research. Word of a prehistoric seismologist, this old man knows something about the transformation of basements that we still ignore.” Daryl moved closer to the youth girl. He saw that she had brown hair, and despite her deeply thinned appearance, he found her rather pretty. He clears his throat: “Hey, uh, so, haha, tell me, how long have you been stuck here?”. She lifted an eyelash: “2 months. My name is Cleo. I am 29. Here is my father, Noah. Can you focus on our escape now, Don Juan?” Humiliated, Daryl accelerated to find himself at the head of the group. He stopped dead. “No one is moving” he hissed. As a guard passed the corridor, he was grabbed by the neck and smothered by Daryl’s powerful arms. In a firm voice, Sarah said, “okay, discretion now.” 

Suddenly, a bright red light lit up the corridor, and a second later, an alarm began to scream. 

Chapter 3: Escape. 

A long second of silence. Even the Others seemed to have stopped. The grenade never exploded. And then a throaty and inhuman scream broke the silence. It was the severed head on the ground howling. In the past, every time Daryl had heard this scream, someone was dead. Maybe it would be his turn this time, he told himself, when he realized that half of the Others in the clearing were running towards him. 

But if he could save the maximum number of people by dying, it was a lesser evil. He then started to run in the opposite direction, towards the tower, and he slaughtered his katana on the foot which he had intended to explode. He had a small lead over the Others, but before breaking the base of the structure, he had to cut off a few heads, the howling of which added to the ambient shambles. Now all the Others were running in his direction. Out of the corner of his eye, behind the tide of rotting corpses that were about to submerge him, he noticed that his companions were running out of the building. While the Others were only 10 meters away, the structure finally collapsed. On them. 

Three-quarters of the Others immobilized, Daryl could make his way by decapitating a part of those who remained. The smell would have been difficult to bear for any human being. As soon as he had an opening, he sprinted to his group, situated on the old parking, at the limit of the land, close to the road. Old Goldblum and Benjamin, Sarah’s husband, were waiting for him at the edge of the fence. The old man and the colossus of almost two meters formed an atypical canvas, but Daryl did not focus on this funny picture. They exchanged a heavy look when Daryl came to their level: they had to be careful. It was obvious that something was wrong. The north grid had been repaired recently. This hole made no sense. Neither the Others’ attack. There had been too many, too quickly. The disappearance of the weapons from the west tower was also very strange. Nothing was going well this day. 

They set off to join Sarah, and Eva, the wife of old Goldblum, already advanced along the road. By catching up with them, Daryl realized that Christian had stayed close to his father Ben. He did this only in times of great stress, usually preferring the company of his mother. Daryl put his hand on her shoulder. The young boy was already his size and despite his youthful face, the harshness of the last years was reflected in his eyes and the scars that dotted his body. In a glance, Daryl congratulated the young boy for his courage during this chaotic ordeal. In response, he smiled at him with all his teeth. Daryl pretended to know how to react, but as usual, he couldn’t communicate emotionally with another human being. 

Quickly, Sarah had passed poor Eva who was following the pace with difficulty, particularly because they had started to climb a slope of the road. The rest of the group followed her a few steps. They had to reach the emergency hideout, a few kilometers away, but you had to do it early before the sun fell. At night, the jungle was not viable, even for a wild adventure expert like Daryl. Wild animals escaped from absolutely all the zoos of the United States circulated everywhere, had reproduced, and had adapted to an ecosystem become gigantic, and mortal, for all that did not run the 100 meters in 9 seconds or weigh 200 kilos and had claws. Even the Others seemed to avoid staying in the forest at night, preferring to wander the roads. But for that moment, they had to stay on a clear track, the risk of a surprise attack was too great. They did not mean it so well. 

At the top of the slope, the silhouette of Sarah disappeared from their field of vision. Half a second later, a muffled cry reasoned, and Ben accelerated like never before, followed by Christian and Daryl. At the top of the ridge, they found Sarah, with a Colt 45 pointed at the temple. Behind her, a tall man dressed in lattice held her firmly, and still behind him, twenty electric vehicles with fifty other soldiers awaited them firmly. A man wearing a mustachioed and insignia and who was to be the high-ranking officer approached the group of 4, petrified with stupor. 

Chapter 2: Alarm. 

A noise. Even under the waterfall, his overdeveloped hearing allowed him to immediately detect the sound of broken branches and stirred leaves. He froze. It was 100 meters away, maybe 80. No 60. It was going fast. He took out his knife in a tenth of a second, and disappeared half behind the waterfall, leaving only his face to appear. If it was an Other, hiding made no sense, but they weren’t the only dangers in the jungle. 

Releasing herself from the plant layer, a gigantic doe appeared. The beast leaned its white neck at the edge of the water and drank the pure liquid. He watched her do so, without moving, so as not to frighten her. Daryl loved wild nature. 

As a child, he preferred to spend his time with the birds next to the school rather than playing with the boys. He had cried when he had to release his cats in the wild when he had to leave his apartment to join the groups of survivors who left the cities where the Others concentrated. And also, for fear of the incendiary bombs sent by overwhelmed governments and armies. But the fact that shortly after the collapse of civilization, Nature had resumed its rights, transforming a small park in the south of the suburbs of Atlanta into a veritable jungle with incredible biological diversity, had made him deeply happy. 

For a few seconds, the doe sniffed Daryl’s things. The blade of a knife was reflected in her black pupils, below which immense eyelashes fluttered. Then she stretched out her head, her ears stiffened. Daryl felt his whole body stretch. It seemed as if in the west a strong wind was blowing as if a storm was brewing. But it was not possible, the sky was still clear, and the sun was shining, moreover, there was not a cloud on the horizon. “The alarm!” he refrained from shouting. 

He leaps out of the water, frightening the poor doe who immediately fled. He dressed in a flash, filled the gourds with pure water, and accelerated through the trees. Thanks to its small size and low center of gravity, it could make its way quickly and rather silently through the 

forest, which had often saved his life. But at this moment, and unlike the outward journey, he focused on speed. He was running, jumping, climbing, hanging on lianas, and swaying over chasms. 

Throughout the path, his anxiety was increasing. The alarm had been activated. The camp was in danger at this very moment. He had made the way in three hours, paying attention to each step, at the speed he was running now, it would take about an hour. But it was already too much. Especially in case of imminent danger. Even worse without knowing the nature of the threat. The Old Goldblum could no longer fight, and Christian, even though he was exceptionally strong and fast for a 12-year-old child, was still a 12-year-old child. It would already have been difficult to manage an attack with the 6 members of their group. But incomplete and dispersed, it was the worst possible situation. Once again, Daryl was mentally preparing to lose all his companions, as had so often been the case the previous years. And once again, while he had been in this group for over a year, he couldn’t feel much. Sometimes he said to himself that he had more in common with the Others than with his fellows. Daryl couldn’t seem to feel empathy with people. 

Arriving near the clearing which demarcated the encampment in a circle of a hundred meters in radius, Daryl climbed up a tree and analyzed in a fraction of a second what was happening. The situation was out of control. The north grids had been torn off, and the central building was surrounded by dozens of Others. At the top of the building, the alarm, the huge fan that he had found three months earlier and that the Old Goldblum had repaired, was operating at full speed, broadcasting the deafening but continuous noise of a tornado, which made it possible to alert of a situation at a great distance without bringing other Others around. 

Below the second story window, two small flags flew, a green and a black. Green: attack by Others. Black: refuge on the roof. The attack had been sudden, the roof was only the fourth 

and last place where to take refuge in the event of an attack, behind the west tower to fight, the south tower to fight and potentially flee on the road, and the basement, where they could flee by the galleries or sewers. The roof was in the last case, if leaving the building was no longer possible and if the first floor was already surrounded. If ever a step was heard, the Others would have broken the windows and would have jumped on the unfortunate fool. It must be said that after a while, by dint of finding nothing to eat, they also had developed their hearing. 

Daryl railed inside. Sarah must have missed her watch again he thought. He pulled out a radio of his pocket, and pressed the enter button twice quickly, to signal to the group without talking that he had arrived. He waited a few seconds, the lump in his stomach. Finally, the red button lit up, which meant there was at least one survivor. He took out and then unfolded his little telescope and observed the place on the roof where the shelter was installed. After a few more seconds, a bamboo stick emerges, followed by 4 other sticks. The five of them were alive, gathered on the roof. Daryl closed his eyes of relief. The camp was lost, but at least he had not lost his group. 

He climbed down from the tree and started walking along the outside of the grid, at a respectable distance of anything, slowing the rate of his breathing. The fan was still working, but there was no general rule about the distance or the intensity at which the Others could hear the breath of a living being, some seemed more advanced and more sensitive than others. In a minute he reached the west tower, and slowly climbed the grid to climb the ladder on the inside. Once at the top, he could take the weapons hidden under the floor and then communicate in Morse code with his comrades. But, when he moved the hidden board, he only saw a grenade and a katana. The rifles, pistols and the shotgun were gone, as the stock of homemade bombs. He gritted his teeth and held back a shout, “shit”. It was not normal. Although guns have little use against the Others and could even be dangerous in attracting them, it could be helpful during their flight to defend oneself against the other dangers of the jungle, as well as against dissident 

groups in the army. It should have been there. It was very unlikely that a member of the team had moved them. Perhaps a greater danger than he suspected was hovering over him and his group. 

He used his flashlight to contact the group. The response was immediate. He succinctly informed them that he was going to draw the attention of the Others to him, to the west, so that the group could escape through the basement and exit safely to the east. Before going down from the tower, he hung the katana on his belt, adjusted his bag, and took the grenade in his hand. Once he had launched it, he couldn’t just stay hidden, he had to get away from the source of the explosion to not being deafened by the blast, avoid being surrounded by the Others attracted by the sound, and to find his comrades at the exit of the tunnel, east of the clearing. The slightest misstep and he risked a violent and brutal death. The plan might seem extremely risky, but Daryl had helped build this tower. He knew that if the grenade destroyed one of the four legs, the entire structure would collapse down, causing a noise long enough to give him time to get away from theses corpse with no eyes. 

Once the ladder descended, Daryl took a few steps back, positioning himself about twenty meters away, activated the grenade, threw it at the foot of the tower, and began to run along the fence. 5 seconds before the explosion. An Other turned his head towards him. 4. Three of his fellows also turned, while the first approached. 3. Daryl accelerated, to be about fifty meters away. 2. The first Other started to run towards him. 1. Daryl pulled the katana from its sheath and cut off the Other’s head. Black blood gushed from the rotten body. 0. 

Nothing. 

Chapter 1:

As he moved silently between the trees, a light breeze caressed his forehead and made a strand of brown hair fly over his eyes. Daryl raised his hand gently to put his hair on. His gesture was fluid but controlled. From now on, the slightest unnecessary noise had to be avoided; it could have fatal consequences. Daryl was far from the camp, being attacked now and death was assured. 

When the wind fell, he set off again, and quickly, making his way through the dense jungle, reached his goal for the day. It had been several kilometers since he had started to hear the faint sound, spotted the day before, of water hitting the rock, but when he crossed the last plant barrier separating him from his objective, the noise became loud, violent, pure. The waterfall was about twenty meters high, which allowed it to be hidden by the cymes of most trees. A blinding light was striking the pure water, which descended like silver hair on the shiny stones, before crashing down below. The surrounding nature was lush, omnipresent, impenetrable. Millions of shades of green framed the natural spectacle. It was magnificent and Daryl could not take his eyes off. Thousands of small bright red dots were tied all over the rocks. Wild berries. The water hole below was crystal clear, and you could see fish as big as melons at the bottom. 

The sound of the waterfall covered any noise that might have attracted the Others. Daryl took a break. It had been more than 3 hours that he was half crawling in this thick jungle. He slid down the slope, put his bag, gourds, weapons, clothes, and shoes padded with moss on the 

wet stone, except the knife always attached to his calf, and entered naked in the water. It was cool but not freezing because the sun was warming it. He got under the waterfall and watched the water run down his muscular and full of scars body, marked by 5 years of survival. He suddenly realized. He had not taken a bath since the beginning of the apocalypse. No, even before, in his little pizza deliverer apartment, there was no bathtub. 

Actually, there was not even enough place to put a bed for two. He often thought that it could have been a problem if he had to take a girl home after a party. But anyway, the question had never arisen. Daryl, who was then called David, had always lacked self-confidence. Shortly after his birth, the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis caused his parents’ jobs and their Atlanta home to be lost. Raised in extreme poverty, he had been undernourished for much of his childhood and had kept the stigmas. Even the end of the world had not changed his small size. At the age of 22, from his one meter sixty-five, perched on his delivery motorbike, he had watched the world collapse, slowly. 

It had been so slow that almost no one noticed anything at first. But quickly, people like David, those who spent their time on the street, saw that something was wrong. People in suits, with their briefcases, going to work, stopped. They froze in the middle of the streets, everywhere in the cities, everywhere on the entire planet. They remained motionless, their eyes glassy, as if petrified, day and night. It was impossible to move them from their place, as if they were rooted on the ground, or if they weighed a ton. At first, people have enjoyed these “living” attractions. They drew shapes on their faces and the children climbed on their shoulders. But within a few days, the “motionless people” have begun to give off a pestilent odor. People started to bypass and call them “the Others”. 

In a few weeks, their number had increased very quickly, too quickly. At the same time, strangely, there were fewer and fewer cars on the roads, which arranged David’s deliveries well. 

But the economic activity had visibly slowed down. The economic experts on TV did not understand, the political powers wanted to be reassuring, the social and public services began to show signs of saturation. 

For their part, the scientists who had succeeded in studying the Others could not explain the cause of this ailment, but were categorical: they were not biologically dead, but almost. Breathing, heartbeat, blood circulation and brain electrical activity were very weak, but existing. However, the nervous and eye systems were completely shut down, while the digestive system was extremely defective. Smell and taste also appeared to be severely damaged. Only the hearing remained intact because the inner ear is protected by the skull bone. Moreover, the lack of stimulation of the body by the nervous system had led to congestion around the vital organs, which had deprived fat and muscles of oxygen. Basically, they rotted from the inside, which produced those awful smells. 

For the rest of the events, there are no longer many living people capable of telling the story. Anyway, a few of those who survived can explain them precisely. It went too fast. 

What Daryl knew for sure is that on January 18, 2030, at 4:48 p.m., all the Others, who at that time numbered in millions, suddenly jumped at everything that was within their reach. Daryl knew this because he was driving on Arden Road, north of Buckhead, the chic residential district of Atlanta, his gaze fixed on the screen of the interactive map hanging on his motorbike handlebars. 

When he saw a shapeless thing throwing itself under the wheels of his scout, he swerved, and, in a saving reflex, did not slow down. He would have been caught by another Other who came from the other side. Instead, he accelerated, narrowly avoiding the disarticulated bodies trying to catch him. He drove at full speed for several kilometers, but the noise of his engine invariably attracted them. On the way, the cries of pain from the dozens of people being 

violently attacked was the only thing that seemed to distract the Others from him. There was blood everywhere. 

Realizing that they were only attracted by the noise, he jumped from his scooter, and threw himself into Peachtree Creek, letting himself be carried by the stream. He did not understand it until later, but this act was the one that saved his life during the end of the world. In the middle of the cold river current, he noticed that the Others were not attacking him. It was mainly the sudden or articulated sounds that attracted them, those that could come from human beings on which they could feed. Not the continuous, natural sounds like flowing water or wind. 

In the months that followed, David was renamed Daryl by the first group of survivors he had joined, referring the TV series “The Walking Dead” and because of his hair which had grown quickly. But the Others were not “walking dead”, they were not zombies. 

First, there was no evidence that they were dead, although their decay had continued during the years that followed. 5 years after, their eyes had been completely eaten away by vermin, and they only had empty sockets left. 

Second, being bitten did not transform you into an Other. 

Third, they were completely immortal as long as they were not reduced to crumbs or ashes. Shooting them in the head was useless. The only way to stop them without charring them to the bones was to cut off all their limbs or to separate their heads from the rest of the body. 

But even so, they remained aware. It was not uncommon to meet an entire head, alone, which at the slightest sound, was agitating. Not uncommon, because their number had exceeded hundreds of millions long before the date of their awakening. They just froze inside their apartments and their houses, where no one could see them, and not in the middle of the streets. So far, Daryl has not met anyone who knows what woke them up from their immobilism. It was his goal, his obsession, to understand. 

I keep my heart encased inside a cage of fragile bones 

Away from people who build palaces and forget to build homes 

They try to hide the crooked walls with glitter and gemstones 

No thank you, I will keep my low thatched roof and cobblestones 

Upon my head I place a crown of flowers filled with thorns 

A queen of nothing much, possessed by loneliness and storms 

My thoughts scream across a mindscape that is ravaged and war-torn 

Inside I sit alone and ponder all the things for which I mourn 

A gentle heart, I’ve heard it said, is a gift you can’t refuse 

But my gentle heart has thus far left me battered, burned, and bruised 

So I gathered all the pieces, feeling broken and bemused 

And locked them up inside a cage so they can’t be abused 

The cage I built is guarded by a small sheep in wolf’s clothes 

It bleats and bleeds and warm drops fall on snow and frosted roses 

With trembling voice it threatens anyone who dares get close 

But slowly fades, in the lonesome glow, into a loathsome ghost 

One too many people left who’d said they never would 

They spoke with honeysuckle words, they thought I understood 

That nothing stays forever, it never can and never should 

But my gentle heart overlooked the poison and saw only good 

I keep my heart encased inside a fragile cage, it’s true 

In my eyes swim a thousand shades of faint, cool morning dew 

In the darkest corner of my mind a spark ignites, small and new 

Slowly, slowly, I wait for someone to break through 

“Part IX” 

Hope 

Two weeks had passed since the revolt and the mood on the floating tomb was awfully sour. Twenty nine more people had died from starvation, sickness, desperation and additional casualties were to be expected. The faith of his people fed him courage and resilience. His body had gotten used to famishment. His skinny physique only required half a fish and a drop of water every couple of days. During that time, Kaya Maga and Aminata had grown closer and started entertaining a relationship. Their attraction overcame the abundance of hunger and subdued the dryness of thirst. Despite the harshness of time, she shone brighter still. Their time together also gave him hope someone will rescue them. She made him forget the weight of his responsibilities and the error of his ways. 

One morning Aminata came running into the room and woke Kaya Maga to inform him, the remaining survivors had jumped off the boat. Flabbergasted he flew off the bed, and ran in the direction of the dining room, then onto the deck to make sure he was not dreaming. Outside, he saw the deck was completely empty. Still sceptic he double checked the entire boat. He could not believe that everyone would sacrifice themselves without his consent. Aminata who was following Kaya Maga, held him against her chest and said with tears her eyes: 

            “They are gone, all of them” 

Kaya Maga still in shock retorted: 

            “But why” 

A much calmer Aminata replied: 

            “Because they loved you” 

“The supplies were running out and I believe they thought after everything, you deserved a second chance at life” 

Finally coming to the realisation that he was not dreaming, Kaya Maga walked outside wondering why he had to be the one who survived. Aminata stayed by his side all night to make sure he did not attempt to do the unthinkable. They spent the night on the deck watching the stars and reminiscing time back in Mali. Kaya Maga who was still unsure about how Aminata found herself on the boat decided to ask her. Unsurprised Aminata replied with a soft voice: 

            “Before the conflict, my father came to warn us of the upcoming battle” 

            “When I asked why he wasn’t helping the emperor defend the city” 

            “He replied the emperor’s time had passed” 

            “I was scared but I could not reject my family” 

            “After the fight was over however, white men turn their sight onto us” 

            “They slew my father and mother wherethey stood” 

            “My brother tried to run but he too was shot in the back” 

“I cannot remember what really happened after the soldier bashed my head in with the side of his weapon.” 

“I feinted and woke up later naked and strapped to a horse.” 

“I was then sold off to the slavers.” 

“The rest is history” 

Her story brought him even more grief as he’d fallen in love with the person. Kaya Maga expressed his disappointment in the father’s actions, and regret for what had befallen Aminata. The night was long and grief-stricken. No more words were spoken as they clasped through the night. 

It had been three months since their departure from Africa. Six hundred and forty two souls had perished, and circumstances worsened over time. But there was a glimmer of hope. Aminata was one month pregnant with Kaya Maga’s child. Their time together since the revolt had been fruitful—a young soul were to come into the world. Though conflicting, the situation encouraged them to continue hoping for a better future. They did not believe God will disregard the suffering of an unborn child. Since knowing about Aminata’s situation, Kaya Maga refused to consume food or water to give Aminata and the baby a fighting. His condition quickly deteriorated, he could barely walk ten paces before collapsing. Despite several attempts from Aminata, he would not eat or drink. Maybe the lifetime of regret had finally caught up to him. 

Like his father, Kaya Maga died during a full moon, in the captain’s bed and on empty stomach. His ring around the middle finger carefully rested on his chest. He appeared at peace as if he were sleeping. His old soul had finally crossed to a better place. Aminata, washed his body wrapped him in white sheet and sent him off to join his lifelong friend Sembema. She was wrecked and lonely, but the ring and the child she carried would keep her company. Two weeks after Kaya Maga’s death, Aminata Koulibaly was rescued by friendly barbary corsairs. She was washed, fed and taken back to the port of Rabat Salé. After few months of labour, Aminata set on a path to keep a promise she made her beloved Kaya Maga before his death—To find the lost people of Mali and introduce them to their saviour. 

THE END

Part VIII: The Revolt 

The wretched conditions of the trip was significantly highlighted by the number of people who died every day. A month into the journey, the death toll had risen from five to ten people a day. Such staggering numbers made Kaya Maga realise their chances of surviving the ordeal was slimming by the day. Three hundred of the initial six hundred had perished within a month. If left to faith the remaining slaves will die also. It is therefore crucial to find a way to free everyone in order to overrun their captors and take over the ship. Kaya Maga angered by the situation, began ruminating on possibilities. He concluded the best way to achieve such a feat would be to enlist the help of other slaves, especially the woman he saw a week earlier. 

The next time he was allowed above deck, Kaya Maga carefully snuck into the kitchen to speak with the unknown woman. The kitchen which was next to the captain’s quarters and the dining room did not give much cover, so the conversation lasted less than a minute. 

The front door of the kitchen was cracked open when kaya Maga arrived, so he smoothly went inside. The women who was facing away jumped in panic fearing the man had come for ominous motives. At first glance she did not recognise him. The dirty face and shirtless torso did not allow much possibility for identification. Turning around, the woman stammered and asked the intruder. 

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” 

“If someone finds you will be flogged to death.” 

“And I will be thrown overboard.” 

“You should leave at once and I will not tell anyone you were here.” 

“Or I will be forced to report you.” 

Although Shaken by these words, Kaya Maga stood his ground and replied: 

“My name is Kaya Maga and I have been on held below deck for over a month.” 

“What is your name?” 

With a sign of relief the lady responded: 

            “I am Aminata Koulibaly, daughter of SamoryKoulibaly.” 

All of a sudden everything clicked, Kaya Maga understood why she looked so familiar. He had never seen her face in the past, but he was not disappointed. She looked better than he could have ever dreamt of. Her clean nappy hair, symmetrically oval face and large smooth lips gave the impression she was being employed in a lawful and respectable establishment where she’d receive monthly wages to take care of herself. Surprisingly, the hair still smelled of white ginger blossoms. To Kaya Maga, Aminata Koulibaly was an angel sent from the heavens to save him. So he was encouraged the plan to take over the ship will succeed. Aminata who’d also recognised Kaya Maga decided to remain calm and listen to him speak. 

            “I am so glad to see you.” 

            “I wish It were under better circumstances, but we are here now.” 

            “Your presence and freedom to roam the boat is a great gift from Allah.” 

“I have a plan to take over the ship, your help will be invaluable to operational success.” 

Interrupting him, Aminata koulibaly asked: 

            “How may I be of service my emperor?” 

Hurriedly Kaya Maga who’d noticed he had been too long replied: 

“I will give you exact details afterwards.” 

“But for now keep your head down and continue your routine.” 

After the short conversation Kaya Maga rapidly re-joined other slaves on the deck before the headcount. The excitement of knowing he had finally seen the face of his betrothed and she was willing to help him with his outlandish plan to save everyone gave him butterflies in the tummy. The following nights were filled with optimistic dreams. The prospect to see Mali once again became more than just a dream. Kaya Maga decided to share his objectives with Sembema together they decided to involve other captives. Despite the high survival instinct and fear of death everybody was on board with the strategy. The compelling arguments laid out by Kaya Maga and Sembema were based upon the truth. He reinvigorated their courage by reminding them of their proud origins. 

The whole plan hinged on Aminata Koulibaly, poisoning the white crew and freeing all slaves so they can take over the vessel. The poison was made from dead cockroaches and rat fluids. The concoction was to be poured into the evening meal. After eating the guards were expected to be incapacitated. At which point, Aminata will remove the keys from the guard on duty and free the slaves. Some of the slaves were army veterans and will help subdue the surviving crew members. At first the feat seemed easy, but when came the day nerves started palpitating. The high level of anxiety was palpable below deck. Once they were brought up to throw out dead bodies, Kaya Magas surmounting his fear risked getting caught to speak to Aminata one more time before the deed. 

Inside the kitchen, Aminata was quivering. Her caring eyes swollen as if she had been crying overnight. The sadness could be felt by any passer-by. Kaya Maga calmly approached to grab her shaky hands. She began tearing up and held him tighter while she muttered: 

            “I can’t do this” 

Kaya Maga gently retracted, while still holding her he responded: 

            “I know” 

            “But you have to” 

            “The faith of our people lies in your hands” 

            “Without this we are assured shameful deaths” 

            “They will exploit us to death” 

            “Over five hundred and fifty of us have died despicable deaths” 

            “No more” 

            “This ends tonight” 

From his short, Kaya Maga brought out a rug imbibed with poison, dipped it into the fishsoup cooking in front of them before he spoke to her again. 

“The seafood should mask the smell” 

“All you have to do is serve the plates and free us” 

“We will handle the rest” 

“I am counting on you” 

He then hugged her again before turning back to leave the room. 

Aminata standing alone in the kitchen felt much calmer and willing to try. 

Diner was set right after the slaves had been taken back to the hull. Although still scared, Aminata performed the role of a lifetime. The unsuspecting crew joyfully devoured through the entire bowl of soup. For several hours the crew was fine and Aminata unnerved began to panic. Every time the unending racket made by the drunk crew caused cracking sounds, Aminata worried the plan would not work. She was concerned the poison was not potent enough to kill the entire crew. On top of that, she dreaded the idea that the captain was to be kept alive. He always ate alone in his quarters, unlike the rest of the crew his meal was safe. As time flew by, the noise began tempering down. Aminata calmly walked outside of her cupboard size roam to make her way to the dinning room. While approaching, she was careful to avoid making any sound as the ship captain’s chamber was right next to the dining room. If apprehended, the crew will almost certainly kill her. 

Upon entering the room, she noticed a man laying at the door with foam coming out his mouth—big eyes popping out their sockets looking up towards the captain’s door. He must have been trying to warn him but it was too late. Further into the room, forty three men laid dead. Some still sat where she saw them earlier full of joy. She could not believe the horrific sight she was witnessing. The room reeked of food, alcohol, vomit and feces. Aminata was overwhelmed by the atrocity of the situation and she couldn’t refrain frombarfing; then she skimmed the room to find the night guard and collect the keys to the chains. On her way out she heard the captain yell, “what is going on out there?”, nonetheless she continued dashing towards the hull. In her mind, she repeated to herself “there is no turning back.” 

Meanwhile, Kaya Maga, Sembema and the rest of the slaves were chained below eager to assist. The thought of Aminata fighting off the crew alone haunted him. He feared for her wellbeing because he understood if the plan failed she will be in serious trouble. In the quiet of darkness he’s heart beat faster than it ever had before. His hands and feet chained to the beam, he had a flash back of his childhood and father teachings about courage in duty. He recalled, his coronation and the first time he truly felt strong and invincible. Living as a slave was not something he was prepared to accept. To boost moral he decided to encourage everyone else around him. He reminded them of where they came from and who they were as a people. Few minutes after the speech they heard stilted steps cracking, metallic key sounds and saw light glimmering before the door opened. It was Aminata armed with a torch. She leaned over Kaya Maga to rapidly unchain him and said: 

“The captain is still alive, we must hurry before he realises something is wrong” 

As soon as the chains came off, Kaya Maga rose to assist her in unchaining everyone else. Once they were all free, the mob headed towards the captain’s quarters to finish him off. Up the stairs, they realised a fire had broken out, many rushed towards the blaze to extinguish it while Kaya Maga and Sembema continued to search for the captain. The whole place looked like a war zone. The captain’s room was empty. But as they strode through to the dining room, the captain was sitting near his dead men with a weapon in both hands. Without warning he fired two shot. Enraged Sembema leaped onto him and strangled him until his eyes popped out. Then Sembema fell to his knees holding his chest. Blood pouring out of his body faster than it could be refilled. The first shot had hit him. Quickly Kaya Maga ran towards him to place a rug over his wounds and stop the bleeding. But it was too late, the light in his eyes was fading. His once large vain on the neck, had flattened. The lion was no more. 

In disbelief, Kaya Maga continued calling his name, but to no avail. As a child, he always thought Sembema too strong to die. And never in his life time did he expect it would be under such horrid circumstances. The death of such a close friend felt like losing a father all over again. The pain was unbearable, the tears unstoppable. Kaya Maga’s heart was shattered into a million pieces. For over an hour he sat next to his friend to protect him while he journeyed to the world beyond. When he  came to his senses, Aminata was standing above him and saying: 

            “We did it, they are all dead” 

            “The captain set fire to the grain stall before we could reach it” 

            “The food is gone” 

Still unresponsive, Kaya Maga looked up eyes watery and replied with a wobbly voice: 

            “Can you help me take him outside?” 

With her help, they carried Sembema outside onto the deck. The corpse was then washed, wrapped into white sheet and thrown into the vast ocean. The whole night was spent reading coranic verses and praying for the departed souls. No songs were sang, no laughter heard. Kaya Maga remained alone in the captain’s room to mourn. The next morning he reappeared full of energy and ready to bring his people back home. Outside he realised everyone was waiting to know the next steps. Forty nine newly liberated slaves were concerned about the future. There was no food or water, the captain had burnt everything before his demise. If rationed properly the remaining water would only satisfy a month. This meant, their days were numbered as anyone capable of navigating the ship laid dead on the ship. Over the next few days loyalties will be tested.