บท 13: Final Night
As the screams of the tree faded from my ears and the glow of the sun faded from the sky, I barricaded myself in my hideout for my final night. All was silent for nearly an hour after night had fallen, but then, the radio in the room beside me crackled loudly with static. I rose quickly to my feet and focused my senses. The radio was broken, and was not connected to any electrical source. I thought for a moment that my own mind was deceiving me, but sure enough, the radio buzzed to life. Through the white noise, a distinct voice bled through.
"...why...di..you..do...it?"
I swallowed with fear at the emptiness in the voice. It spoke as a sentient being, accusing me of senseless violence. I began to grow anxious. Had I acted rashly? Was there another path I had overlooked?
Did I deserve to escape Darkwood, or was I simply another savage attempting to escape my cage?
I had little time to dwell on such moral quandaries, as an inferno erupted from the radio room. Then, from the forest, a multitude of angry shouts rang out. Burning figures ran towards the safe house from all directions, waving their arms and crying out for my death.
For hours, I held the barricaded room, as they beat upon the walls. But, the flimsy wood could not hold them back forever. As they tore down the planks, I fired round after round into the numberless masses, killing any that dared to breach the windows and doorways.
When my position was overrun, I mantled the nearest window and fought them in the yard, moving from cover to cover. I made certain I was within the stove's influence, as the floor gore darted about in the distance, hungrily probing for weaknesses in the safehouse's protective sphere. The villager's did not relent, until the first light of dawn crept up and over the horizon.
Then, all at once, the violence ended.
When I returned to the village, all that remained were charred wood and ashes.
The road home was clear.
I walked with an indescribable sense of freedom on my shoulders. The dismay of my actions, of all that I had done to survive, melted away, at least for a time. When I reached the main highway, I saw the Old Man, crawling on his stomach.
I passed him by, and he in turn ignored my footsteps. Somehow, I knew that he was tasting freedom in his own way, even if it meant dragging himself the distance.
The further I walked, the calcified remains of others that had attempted to escape dotted the road in increasing numbers. White ooze seeped from the cracks in the road like fingers, grasping at the frozen bodies to digest them.
Something felt wrong. To be so close to the forest's edge, these people should have escaped.
Yet, like a fool, I ignored it.
I could see outlines of my town, just beyond the nearest wall of trees. I passed through them and, miraculously, I saw my apartment building just sitting there, waiting for me. I should have known then that it all was too good to be true.
Yet, like a fool, I ignored it.
I passed my neighbors, waving to them in exhaustion.
I entered my apartment complex and checked my mailbox that sat beside the entrance. It was then that I noticed it. Everything felt....synthetic. Almost like a dream. I remembered a radio of mine that was being repaired in the electrician's shop downstairs. I went to check it, a simple test of the validity of my world. The shop was empty, but the radio was there. I turned it on and cycled through the channels. It appeared to work, until I reached the last frequency.
"sleep...yo..ure tired..."
A hushed voice spoke through the static. Frantically, I ran back up to the first floor and to my neighbor's door. A homeless man sat in the hallway, begging for change. I rapped on her door, hearing a crying child inside. There was no answer. As I turned and went back the way I had come, her door suddenly opened. I peered back as she berated me for my disturbance and saw a fetus on the floor of her living room. I realized then what had befallen me.
My nightmare was just beginning.
I charged up to my room and threw open the door. The air stank of damp earth. I noticed discolorations on the walls and floors beneath my furniture. One by one, I moved everything, and behind them all, I found throbbing roots that grew up from holes in the flooring.
I went to the kitchen and pulled a screwdriver from my tool kit. I tore up the flooring of my entire house. Because it wasn't my house. It was a facade, a ruse set up to convince me to sleep. The roots beneath the flooring all came together and led into my bedroom. I investigated my bed and then pulled it away from the wall.
Beneath the flooring, beneath the bed, I found an opening. I tossed a coin into the pit, yet I did not hear it hit the bottom. Somehow, I knew, however.
I jumped into the pit.
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