It’s not true

By Stephanie Morgan

It's not true
Tell me I've been lied to
Crying isn't like you
Ooh-ooh-ooh
What the hell did I do?
Never been the type to
Let someone see right through
Ooh-ooh-ooh

I love you Billie ellish

It’s not true. Tell me I’ve been lied to. I caress his face, laying my head on his chest. I am pulled back by people around me. The body of my friend, my lover lays still. My throat feels dry. There is no air coming into my lungs. His eyes are empty, and his body is damaged and bruised. The blood has dried into his clothes. The denim now a rusty red. Tears begin to fall heavily, my breathe becoming uneven. But no sound comes out. I look across and see his sister crying too.

“I was there, he could’ve lived if I’d just…” She let out tears as her words became little more than mumbles. She must have dragged him back. She knows that’s a risk, so why?

“Come now, crying isn’t like you. Remember to keep quiet,” I whisper as I wipe her tears. He is dead. I am used to this feeling of loss. My family died when the beasts escaped the lab. No one knows how or why they were created, all we know is they bring loss, despair and chaos. My family was kind. They were my heart. When they died, they took so much of me with them. I was only here for my friend, for his love and kindness. Now he has taken the rest of me with him.

“What the hell did I do? I left my brother to die at the hands of those beasts. Those same beasts who took our homes and many more of our families. We only wanted to survive to know the next day.” She is not listening to me. Her voice grew louder as she spoke, letting out cries for help. Though we are underground surrounded by cement walls her voice might still travel to the surface. I take her hands in mine. She flinches letting out a little yell. The palms of her hands and her knees were scraped. They didn’t look like deep injuries but there might be an infection. An infection might lure those beasts. The beasts have no eyes and are covered with fur. They have long claws which causes rashes that look like scrapes.

“We cannot risk our safety. We must leave them,” a man who used to live nearby hisses. I cannot bear the thought. We have to bury his body that is hard enough. I must bury my heart and soul along with it. Do we really have to sacrifice another soul today?

“I agree.” The girl who was covered in scrapes, crying and wailing about her loss is now agreeing to her end. Her own death. She would not last long even if she might not be infected. The man reaches for a knife. I stop him from continuing. She walks over to him, takes the knife and ends it herself. She lays peacefully next to her brother. Silent. Still. Empty.

“We must move again, there is no place to bury them without making noise. Everyone say their prayers and let’s be off. We will follow the track we came on, to another house with a basement. We will pack as much food as we need, and contain it so it doesn't make a noise,” I begin from the silence.

“Are they really affected by noise though?” someone asks.

“We don’t know but we know it is a risk. They are beasts, beasts which will hunt anything. We know they don’t have eyes. Whether they’re hearing is similar to our or more like echolocation, we don’t know. But we know we must keep moving.” Just like that we planned our next move. I will carry the young girl. The three men, my neighbour, and two lovers will carry everything we can carry: weapons, food and warmth.

A rustling noise startles us. We are only a few meters from the next house. I signal to stay still. To try and keep everyone calm. Three sharp claws come onto the track. Slowly the rest of the beast emerges too. My neighbour was holding a crate full of cans, and as he panicked the crate began to rattle. I covered the young girls’ ears, she mustn’t wake. The beast moved towards us, clicking its claws on the ground twice at a time. My neighbour drops the crate of cans on his foot, letting out a cry we move as quietly possible away from him. I didn’t look away as the beast clawed at him. the couple ran towards the house in the distance. They reached the driveway as the beast began to approach me, scratching at the road between it and I. I saw them stop. Their eyes wide with fear, they slowly walked back. Sadly, not fast enough as another creature emerged from the house and chased them out onto the road. I held a gasp as it caught one of them, its large claw sinking deep into his stomach. His lover watched eyes screaming. He reached for his gun and fired continuously at the beast taking his lover away. The beast roared in pain but still nothing changed. The beast near me ran towards where the bullets were fired. In a moment both were gone. I moved my hand from the child’s ear and reached for my old car keys. The car alarm rang through the empty town. The beast ran to it, it was streets away, but the land was silent enough. I managed to run into the house. That’s where we would stay until the day came where the girl and I would no longer need to hide or wouldn’t be alive to know.