Running in the dark pt2

In the deep of the night, amidst the silent air surrounding the endless expanse of darkness that have fallen on the landscape, the subtle sound of footsteps can be heard.

The vast plains and the mountains beyond it wear the darkness of the night like a cloak, casting a silence spell on various life living in it luring them into a deep sleep and concealing them in a veil of darkness. Yet, this veil is penetrated by odd sound of someone walking in the night. 

A boy is walking home, the moon above him, shining it's light at his back like a guiding mentor casting his long shadow onto the unsuspecting road.

Mc's pov

I have been walking for a good while now. The road to home has always been familiar to me and yet, tonight it's so much longer than usual. 

The road has been stretching on forever. It's the dead of the night so everything is quiet, not even the crickets sound remain anymore my ears could only pickup the sound of my shoes tapping against the concrete road.

Ah... But it's been since I walked this road with my own feet, it brings back alot of nostalgic memories. I still remember the days where me and the other kids in the neighborhood would run home when it's close to dark after spending a long day playing games and catching crickets. That one of the differences that set us aside from the kids in the city. Their parents are always busy so they spent most of their childhood with their smartphones or ipads, our parents on the other hand, always encourage us to spent our time outside playing with each other. I still remember the tantrums that we threw when we couldn't stay home playing the ipad all day, but after awhile me and the other kids grew real close, we've developed an almost inseparable bond keeping contacts even after we got our own lives.

I still remember the days that I would come home late and get a scolding from my mother.

Ah.. Mother, it's been long time since I've thought about her.

I still remember her gentleness, her soft hand brushing through my hair, her warmth as she embraced me, her calming voice as she sung me to sleep, her good cooking. My father and mother had a divorce when I was 9, since then I have been living with my father. I still remember crying on the day mother packed up her things and left, but I think dad got it worse, he was always drinking alone and wallowing in his own misery. A few years following the divorce mother would pay visits, often 4-6 times a year, but I could tell she didn't come to see my father. They were always awkward around each other, but not the cute kind of awkward like a couple new to love but like two people that just had a huge argument and can't look each other in the eyes. Their conversations and interactions were always short and rigid like two soulless robots. After the visit ended and my mother left, father would often bury his head in work and come home late at night just to drink alone. I could only imagined how lonely he felt during that time, atleast I have my friends ( neighborhood kids) to rely on but he didn't have anyone, even grandpa looked at him with disapproval.

Dad would continue to come home late throughout my middle school years, sometimes piss drunk and yelling at the top of his lungs or just quietly sits in his room. He wouldn't confide in anyone including me so somewhere along the way our relationships got strained, we'd still call each other father and son but in reality it was anything but, it was like two strangers living in the same house. It got so bad that my grandpa had to step in to take care of me because my father couldn't. This, thankfully, only continued until my highschool years. When I got to highschool, dad gradually got better, he stopped drinking and coming home late, he and I started talking again and we slowly repaired our relationships. I don't know what motivated him to change but I'm glad he did. 

But he's gone now, grandpa too. I don't know if mother is safe though, she returned to America after our parents divorced. I left my phone at home so I couldn't check up on her immediately. 

This long walk turned out to have been useful after all. It brought back alot of memories and allowed me to contemplate on many things. If only it had been under different circumstances though...

My thoughts sank into silence once again leaving only behind the sounds of my footsteps echoing in the lonely road.

Just then- I saw it. The place I've been looking for.

My neighborhood. 

Home.

I could the road stretching long into the neighborhood then splitting apart at a fork and going their own ways to form an intricate road system. I could see the white painted houses standing tall in the night.

But...

The streets was not empty

I could make out several shadows moving around. It's them. The Infected.

They dragging along their heavily mutilated body letting out groans occasionally. It's hard to believe these things can sprint like pro athletes.

I can't get home if these things get in the way. Fighting them was not an option either, I'm too wounded. That's when I noticed something. 

These things can't see very well. Some of them are tripping over fences, some bumping into walls and obstacles. Look like they ain't smart either, but one thing for sure though, they got very good hearing. They would all simultaneously turn their heads when they heard a sound even something as subtle as a rat scurrying around can't escape their hearing. They're so sensitive to sound that it's terrifying.

I could see my house in the distance, it's at the end of the road and it's the biggest one around the block but unfortunately, also the furthest one from my position.

I have to be careful not to make any noise when I'm moving. With that in mind, I start to move carefully and silently using the veil of night as my cover.