In a Damp Dark Corner (opening post)

[Darlene McGregory]

Once again Darlene had woken from another nightmare. They seemed to come every time she closed her eyes. Not that closing them was really all that different then keeping them open, it was still dark nevertheless. The only real difference between 'sleeping times' and the 'waking times' was that when she was awake the demons outside remained there.

Again she had dreamed of Ira. Not Ira the husband, the father of her children but Ira the monster. When he had come for them e had not been himself, there had been something different about him, something changed, something evil. The thing that had pounding on the basement door, yelling and cursing his family was not their Ira. It may have had his voice and for all she could guess, it may have looked for him but there was no way that creature could have been the man she loved. No, he was a demon of the Evil One. One sent to drag us to Hell for the sins I have committed.

She woke from her nightmare with a silent scream, once again entering another 'waking time.' For all the time that they had spent in the dark, they had lost all concept of both day and night and as such time was now measured only with that of 'waking' and 'sleeping times.' It was a horrible way to mark time but it was the best they had to go on.

Taking a piece of chalk in hand, Darlene made another mark on the wall. Another 'waking time' had started. She couldn't see the marks in the dark but from the size of the diminishing size of chalk and with so many memories of doing such in act, she knew that they had been trapped in that damp basement far too long.

She sighed in relief that it was quiet. The only sounds she could make out was that of the occasional whimper from Matthew as he slept. The boy boy had been tormented with nightmares just as much as his mother ever since they had locked themselves below ground. And like his mother, Matthew could not speak of these fears of his, he was forced to keep them trapped inside only to express them in the drawings he made on the floor.

One of the only advantages of the dark was that Darlene couldn't see the disturbing pictures. Her sons' mind was full of torment and his only outlet had been to draw, it was his way of communicating. Even before the incident, his art had been more of a dark nature but she couldn't imagine, didn't wish to imagine what it was that he scribbled away into the concrete floor.

For now, the boys slept. Johnathan lay curled up next to his brother, both huddled under one of the old afghans that their nanny had knitted for them as babies. By now, they thing had to by tattered. It smelled like unwashed bodies and months of body soil. But, it kept the boys warm.

Warmth was one of the things that Darlene had not fully thought of when packing the basement full of provisions over the years. Sure she had thought of almost everything else but somehow, she had never expected that her family would be trapped in this room for an extended amount of time. The room had been stocked with plenty of food, water and other survival gear but somehow she had only brought down a few blankets.

Thinking of food only served to remind her of how hungry she had been. That once great stock of food had been diminishing. Though it lasted much longer then she had first thought possible, they were running dangerously low. Before long, they would be without food.

As a good mother, Darlene had cut back in her portions of eating. Even as she grew more hungry due to the growing child within her, her boys needed the food more. She was willing to starve herself if it meant that it would keep her boys alive that much longer. But how much longer will that really be?

Her stomach grumbled in protest but it was a call that she had not answered. She was determined to sit in the dark and keep watch over her sleeping little angels. May God curse those demons outside.

[James Furnell]

[Love this post! Sorry for taking so long; here comes James the Savior!]

The air was cold and damp. James walked as quietly as he could and despite the constant moans and cries of distant undead, his footsteps were loud to his acute ears. Every so often, he'd catch his own breath and stop in his tracks just to filter through the other noises around him. Constant paranoia...

He continued on, skirting around a car and up to a wall. There were a few 'amblers' here; their eyes were empty and unseeing. Something about them terrified James more than the 'runners'. James couldn't stare at them, as if they'd sense it and come for him...Souless. Merciless. Relentless.

There was a door wide open nearby. A quick look up at the building confirmed that it was a house, there was far more chance of finding useful items and food in houses - all the shops had been looted already. He peered into the dark corridor, which seemed to go from the front door, all the way to the back, past a staircase that led into a gloomy upper level. He almost sighed in frustration at the idea of yet another tense journey through a dead house.

With the revolver firmly in his right hand, he took a first step inside. Silently, like a shadow, James moved along the wooden floor and checked the first room. There were pictures hung on the walls, and a cross over the fireplace. The room had been completely trashed and had obviously been stolen from. With a scowl, James continued into the next room - it was larger and had an elongated table in the center. Probably the dining room. It had also been hit hard by looters, even the chairs were missing.

Wasting time, he decided and turned to go to the kitchen. His breath was snatched away as he came face to face with two cold eyes. James wanted to scream, wanted to shout for help but fear gripped his very being. The infected just stood there with a contorted expression of pain on it's face glaring at the intruder with raging eyes. Suddenly, in a seemingly snap decision, the thing darted towards James, hands extended and mouth wide open.

This time, the ex-mechanic managed a fearful yelp and struck out with the wrench. The heavy end connected and threw the thing off balance and he ran off to one side, into the table. James ran out of the room and further into the house. He span around, gun raised waiting for the thing to follow him. Shit, what if there were more?! There wasn't much else to contemplate as the monster tore out of the room, hellbent on feeding.

BANG!

In an instant the shot ripped from the barrel and sunk itself deep within the Zombie's neck. It slipped on it's heels and landed flat on it's back. Still it writhed and shrieked on the floor. James let out a cry of anger and lept forward, into action. The wrench came down heavily onto the infected skull. Then again. Then again. He was furious at the monster, furious that he'd even tried to attack him. James continued to bring the tool down three more times, like some great and raging vengeance.

It was symbolic; James decided from there on, he'd not go down without a fight.

[Darlene McGregory]

Past the dinning room table that once sat at the middle of many family dinners during happier times, was a large arched doorway. On the floor, in the middle of the arch, lay the large oak cross that once hung above the doorway. It lay there covered in dust to serve as if another symbol as to how God had fallen in this very house. From the base of the mangled piece of wood was a trail of bloody foot prints. Not the bright red color of fresh blood but the darker brown color of long dried blood that had seeped into the wood ruining it beyond all repair. In time the wood would surely warp and had began to creak with even the lightest of footsteps upon it.

Deeper into the back of the house the blood led. Beyond the wooden floor lay a once white linoleum floor. About halfway through the room, the footsteps ended, bring however chose to follow them to the bloody mess that was their treasure. Spread across the floor lay the scattered remains of what had once been a cat. Its body had been ripped in two and much of the midsection as well as the precise innards were missing. What remained was but a mass of body and fur, covered in its own body and the many insects that feed upon it. For weeks it had been there, slowly rotting away and feeding the monster that haunted the house.

Darlene and the boys had known nothing of this though. When the house had been raided, the cat had been slain and the monsters had hunted for food, they had been hiding in the basement. Behind the fridge was an old door, that door led down an even older wooded staircase and into the basement. On the outside of the door were many scratches and dents from when Ira had tried to bash his way through the wood and into the dark room below. If only it had not been for the locks on the door and the washing machine that Darlene has pushed in front of the door, he had been unsuccessful in his attempt.

Darlene had been stroking Matthew's hair, trying to calm his whimpers when the sound of a gunshot was heard in the basement below. A part of her wanted to scream, to curl up into a little ball and hide but if she had only learned one thing in all the time that they had spent hiding in that damp underground room, it was that staying quiet was what had kept them alive. She covered the boys mouths, making so that they could not cried out in fear as they were woken. It had woken them and like all scared children, they had tried to fight and scream.

They had to be quiet, they needed to be quiet. There was no telling if the thing upstairs was another raider or if a monster had gotten its hands on a gun. That was one thought she didn't wish to think of.

In order to calm both the boys and that of the fussy child within her womb, Darlene began to sing in a whisper into the ears of the boys. "Hush little baby..."

[James Furnell]

His breathing was heavy but the house was silent after the violent clatter. He looked up to the front door, then back down at his victim, a rotting corpse. It's head was a mess that splayed out onto the wooden floor, lined thinly by thick, dark blood.

James swallowed hard and walked into the kitchen. His hands were shaking with some dark adrenaline that fueled him. He wanted more blood, more vengeance on the soulless walkers of Williamsburg.

It was then that he noticed it - a wooden door, hidden slightly by the family fridge. The fridge itself was empty, but he wasn't concerned about food, the door itself was interesting to him. As he approached it (with a cautionary glance back at the front door) he recognized the marking - scratches and large gashes. In places the door had been hit hard, possibly by a fist, but why? What would want to get in so bad?

He tried the handle, it opened, but only by a centimeter or so; something on the other side blocked it. He shouldered at the door, but it gave little allowance. Maybe someone was down there - hiding! He barged it again.

"Hello?!

The shout split through the silence and instantly he regretted it - there was no way that anyone would be down there, he was just blind from hope. Now he'd achieved nothing more than alerting a horde, probably...

[Darlene McGregory]

After the sound of the gunfire had died, they were greeted with silence once again. unlike the earlier silence, this one was worse. It left her wondering what had happened. Who was upstairs? What did they what? Who had been shot? But she wasn't about to ask or even leave her safe spot to check.

For all she knew there could be more of those monsters upstairs. They could we waiting up there to shoot at her and then eat her, or the boys. no, this was a safe place and this was where they were going to stay. Maybe if she continued to stay quiet the looters upstairs wouldn't think to check down in the basement.

The boys were just starting to calm down when they heard noises at the door. The handle turned, making a clicking noise. Had the lock broke? Wood splintered as the door budged open a bit.

Is this the end? Are they going to get us now? Darlene held the boys tight. she buried her face into their chests and hugged them as if it would be the last time that she would ever see them. For all she knew, that was the case. A small prayer escaped her lips. That was a habit Ira had taught her and she most likely would continue to do it if she lived.

Bang.

The door hit the washing machine at the top of the stairs. The metallic sound echoed through the small room, much loader then it should have been. It was the the most frightening noise that she had heard in as long as she could remember.

The children clung to their mother. Desperately she wanted to comfort them but she found herself lacking for once. What could she do when faced with an unknown danger? Death loomed at the top of the stairs.

Then came the voice of a man. "Hello?!" It wasn't the yelling or groaning that came from the mouth of a monster but instead the shoat of a man, most likely scared just like she was.

How long had it been since she had heard the voice of another person? She had been down in this damp little hole of a room for longer then she could remember and found it hard to form the words needed to shoat back up at the stranger behind the door.

"Who...who's there? What do you want?" her voice was shaking, filled with fear and loader then she wanted. I hope I didn't just get us killed.

[James Furnell]

Someone was there! James was amazed, but the woman's voice stirred up all sort of energies within him. "You're OK! My name is James." He introduced through the small crack. A grin spread over his face and he dropped the wrench to the floor, along with his bag. "I'll get you out of there, don't worry," James added and barged the door again. It was barricaded from the inside, she'd have to help him.

A raging wind passed through the house's broken doors and windows dragging with it the stench of death and James froze for a second. Even mother nature was pissed off. A second, sharper wind whipped around, and somewhere upstairs a door slammed. His attention was on the kitchen door, leading to the hall; paranoia was all he had....

[[crappy post, sorreh ;(]]

[Darlene McGregory]

"You're...you're not one of those things are you? If you are one of those demons, you can go back to hell." She desperately wanted some human contact. It had been so long since she had last spoken with another adult but the possibly risk of death was more then enough to make her cautious.

Sure the man behind the door sounded genuine in his proclamation to rescue her but how could she trust him. She didn't know him. For all she knew he could by lying to her, he could say whatever he wanted and as soon as she opened the door he could shoot her. He could shoot the boys. How was she to know what this stranger planned to do?

Then again she could be passing up a real offer for help by expecting the worst of others. What would Ira think of me now? He had always taught her to think the best of others, to treat them as she wanted to be treated and they had in turn raised the boys to act the same way. She just couldn't turn him away could she?

No, she couldn't just pass up this possible opportunity. She would greatly regret it if that were the case.

Darlene kissed each boy on the forehead. Johnathan first and then Matthew, at times she felt sorry for John; he was the younger of the two but had matured past his six years in hopes of helping his mother take care of his brother. Sometimes she had to remind herself that he was the younger of the two.

Making up her mind, she got up from her place on the floor and stumbled in the dark looking for the old wooden railing. She stumbled on various ruble and trash that littered the floor. The coffee can that had served as a makeshift latrine tipped over and spilled months worth of waste over the feet and the bottom of her pants.

The railing was harder to find then she had thought. The batteries in the flashlights had died long ago and they had been lost under the garbage heap that had become their home. With her hand outstretched in the dark, she felt around until it hit something hard. The railing. The wood was old and it creaked and she slowly made her way up the stairs.

The washing machine was dented in several places from where the broken door had been slammed against it but it held its place. It was not going to move unless she wanted it too or this man had help. What if he did? What if there are more people up there?

Her mind raced with both good and bad thoughts. He could be here to help or to harm but she would never know unless she took the effort to find out.

"What are doing here?" she whispered from behind the door.

[James Furnell]

"No, I'm not a monster." James said behind a grin - this was great, another living person. Each new survivor was a miracle, considering the state of the city. He could hear scrambling coming from behind the door, something smashed and then came footsteps up a wooden staircase. James scanned around the empty kitchen while it was quiet, for a second or two. "What are you doing here?" came the same voice, but stifled to a whisper.

"I came looking for food. Are you alone?" He asked the door. It was still held mostly shut by something on the otherside.
Judging from the worn and beaten door, someone else had tried to get in to the woman. It may have even been the monster he'd just killed...

[Darlene McGregory]

From behind the door, a smile had crossed her faced. It had been far too long since she had had contact with a person from the outside world. Though she still had doubts about this stranger, the part of her that sought the company of another human being won out.

The washing machine was heavier than she had remembered it being. Her growing belly didn't prove to be much help either, instead it just wanted to bump into everything as if it had a mind of its own. Bending at the knees, she grunted and pushed on the the old dented washing machine. It squeaked and scraped against the landing at the top of the stairs. Slowly it moved away from the door, letting in a small amount of light from the other side.

Light. How long had it been since she had seen light?

With the washing machine pushed to the side, Darlene open the door a crack and peered out into her kitchen. The man staring back at her stood slightly taller the Ira. His thick dark hair that stuck out against his lighter, somewhat discolored skin and he looked in need of a good shave. But he didn't look the type to rob and murder her. There was something in his dark eyes that made her want to trust him, thought the gun in his hand spoke differently.

That's when she thought of her own appearance. She couldn't remember the last time she had showered, it was sometime before they had locked themselves in the basement. Her thick brown hair was greasy and hung in clumps around her shoulders. Her clothes were stained with more then just the body waste on her feet. Eating in the dark had left many food stains on her clothes along with layers colostrum that had dried on her top. Her expanding stomach fit tightly within her clothing, they were too small for her but she had had nothing else to wear.

Her skin was paler then normal, being deprived of sunlight for months had taken away much of her natural glow. Around her eyes were dark circles rimmed in red. Like a mole living in a dark hole for too long. She only imagined that she looked more like a monster then a person.

"We have some food but not much." She darted her head around the kitchen, looking or others. "Are you alone?"

[James Furnell]

The door closed it's centermeter or so gap, then he could hear some sort of grind. Whatever blocked the door seemed to move, since it rattled then opened freely to about 5 inches. Staring back at him fromt he dark basement was a woman, squinting in the light. James tried to peer past her for a moment, but was unable to see far.

The poor woman looked terrible, pale and deprived. Jesus, how long had she been down there? At first, James could only stare in somewhat disbelieving pity. Then came a ghastly smell, which would usually have James reeling backwards, but the City generally had a much fouler smell these days.

The woman was in her middle ages and was in need of a decent nutritional meal. The darkness sapped all colour from her skin, and before him, probably stood a much different person to the one she went in as.

"I'm alone. How many of you are down there?" James asked. Another wind rushed through the house and he shot his attention back to the hall. It was quiet, for now...

[[we'll say that James hasn't spotted that Darlene is pregnant, just yet.]]

[Darlene McGregory]

Darlene opened the door further revealing her body that had been mostly hidden behind the door along with more of the stench that came from the dark room below. She knew that she wasn't the most attractive person to look at right now but maybe that was for the best. There was no telling what intentions this man may have.

No, she told herself that she wanted to trust him. If she didn't trust this stranger and his promise of freedom she would be stuck down in the basement until the next person came along. Seeing how long it had taken this guy to show up, there was no telling how long it would be until she saw another human being and they wouldn't be able to last here much longer.

She didn't want to admit it to herself but they were running out of food. It shouldn't even have lasted this long. The shelter in the basement had been built to serve as a temporary hideout for the family encase of a natural disaster, it wasn't suppose to last this long. If they didn't get rescued soon they were going to run out of food and starve to death down in the basement.

"There are three of us. Matthew, Johnathan and myself." She opened the door a little more and moved to the side to make room for him to enter.

"We don't have much left but we are willing to share our food if you can help us." Hopefully he would prove worth her trust.

[James Furnell]

Three more survivors. "Listen, you need to come with me. There's a group of us, we're just like you." He explained, rather hurriedly. James didn't like the sounds that came from outside - he'd heard distant shrieks like that before, it usually meant that the 'runners' were chasing someone.

But then...his eyes drifted for a second while he awaited a response. He saw something that shocked, terrified and filled with hope at the same time. This woman was pregnant. It was amazing, pregnant! Along with the feelings came a small smile. Even in these dark times, life pulled through. It reminded him of weeds breaking through concrete...

[[AMG, my posts are sucky. Apologies, Darlene. We should think about moving this thread on, though, theres a general thread with us all in at the bar.]]

[Darlene McGregory]

"Others, you have others?" She couldn't contain the excited feeling that came out in her voice. It wasn't necessarily a happy excited feeling that one might expect after receiving good news but rather one that showed both her nervousness mixed with hope.

Too long had they been stuck down in this dark hellhole of a basement. The cold and dampness had seeped into her bones making standing even this long seem a chore. Too used to the darkness by now, the minimal light shining through the broken kitchen window blinded her eyes but she wanted more. She wanted out of this little basement and to live among other people.

Turning her back to James, she slowly made her way back down the old rickety stairs. "Help us gather food then if you can." Without waiting to see if the man had followed her, Darlene crossed the room to the corner that the boys were huddled in. They were hiding in a pile of garbage, trying to make themselves indistinguishable from the pile under which they lay. A small part in the mountain formed and a tiny hand shot out grabbing the fabric of her pants.

"Matthew?" She guessed. It was too dark to tell which of the boys had grabbed her but it was evident that they were scared. "It is okay, help has come. Come out and we will leave this place."

Matthew crawled out of the pile on his hands and knees and into his mothers awaiting arms. He was starting to get heavy but in this state of fear, it wasn't likely that she would get him out of here any other way. Darlene tried to throw him over her shoulder with a grunt and reached for her purse that was sitting on a nearby self.

It almost seemed silly to grab the purse. It made the situation feel more normal though. Carrying the purse around made this not seem as if they were about to emerge from their prison of a basement but more like they were going for just another family outing. How many times had she grabbed her purse and threw it over her arm before heading out to the park or the grocery store?

Johnathan had his favorite stuffed bear tucked under his arm. He had not parted with the toy when they had entered the basement and he was not about to part with it now. It was worn and torn in several places; it was stained from months of food splatter but still he insisted to keep it with him.

Darlene nudged John over to the stairs and looked back up at James. "If you can carry a few cans of food on you, feel free to take what we have. We would hate to be a burden on you in these troubled times."