text: My name is Lacy Kreen. I am hiding from the end of the world. That might sound like something from a sci-fi horror story,but for me it is reality. I’m hiding with my little brother. God save us from those monsters. I don’t want to die,please save us. A small girl walked forward. Her eyes darted around,like an animal hiding from an apex predator. A young boy clung to her back,trembling. The two glanced back and forth. The first thing you'd have noticed about them is that they're covered in a sticky onyx gloop,and that they're both out of breath. We’re scAred. I’m scaRed. WherE are our parents? Where is everyone? Please,anyone. Those things...they're like leeches. Or ravens. Or snakes. All of them. They turn into us,steal our forms,like the Wendigo. Or like some kind of skin-stealing vampire. The girl poked her head out,looking around. She stared at the streets,quiet and empty. The streets looked lonely. Woeful,almost. Her hands shaking,she held the boy’s hands. No one in sight. No cars either. Not a single animal called out,daring to break the hush that covered the town like a thick wool blanket. She stepped out of a thorny bush. They walked,house after house. Most smaller,some larger. Some smashed open as if a hand had reached down and shattered them. Windows broken,doors ripped off their doorways. A normal neighborhood transformed into a ghost town. No one in sight. A cloud of dust swirled through the town. Both of the sibling's clothes were torn and ragged,and covered in an oily,inky substance. Another thing to note was the state of the road. A cracked old thing,with hunks of it missing. A few old,worn,and all-together battered vehicles rested on the road,like lazy and wounded animals. I miss theM. Please....I don’t want tO die. Josh doesn’t deserve to die. Why are so Many people transforming into those monsters? Or better yet,why are those monsters turning into people? Why? It hurts my head to think about what happened... The small boy shook,arms holding on to the young woman firmly. He glanced at his sister,and shut his eyes ,his face screwed as if scared something would hit him. Dark copper stains showed on the massive maroon hoodie he wore. The pair looked dejected and lost,like kids in a corn maze. The girl pressed her back against the wall of a small,cozy-looking brick house. The boy looked sunburned. The girl put the young boy on her lap,squeezing him close. Her faded pink hair hung in greasy,curly,tangled strands,tickling the boys neck in feathery swishes. They whispered softly to each other,words too faint for anyone else to hear. Everything Hurts....why won’t someone save us? SomEone save us! I don’t want to be the hero! I don't want this! I didn't want to be tossed into this game of cat and mouse,Life and death. I just wanted a haPpy sumMer with my friEnds. The girl took a deep breath. She ran,eyes fixating at a small spot in the distance. The boy hugged her back,eyes flitting around. Every few minutes,a dark shape would blur the sky. The girl slowly stood up again,carefully putting the tiny boy on her back. She slowly walked away from the wall,constantly watching the sky. The brother and sister pair soon were walking on the sidewalk,towards the small spot in the distance. The day was lovely,but rather spoiled by the catastrophic look of the town and the haunting quietude. Those things will kill us if someone won’t save us! Please,I don’t want to die. Josh is hurt,I'm hurt. Those things will kill us and trick others. Like they did to Liv and Ellie. Like they did to the town. The ones who didn't run were killed so quick it's like it didn't happen at all... Her legs were shaking,bleeding,and scarred. Bitten. Scratched. She looked like she’d fall at any second. Her fingertips were stained a pitch black,and dripping with something like blood. Both looked tired,both silently crying,the tears streaking her face. Their eyes were bloodshot and red. Mom. Please come back for us. We can’t do this any longer. Please. Someone. This feels like a bad dream,always running. Run run run,or die afraid and a failure. Maybe it's a dream and I'll wake up at home and have mom's pancakes and go to school,and everything will be just fine. The two hopped into a faded red truck,clutching a worn,black bag. They sat there,gulping for air. No human in sight. Blood and gummy charbon ichor clung to their clothes. The small boy held the bag tightly,clinging to it as if it would save him. The girl hopped out,shambling into the dense woods that were close to the truck they both sat in. Clearly in pain. “Josh....I saw one of those things....stay here.” The boy nodded,mouth agape. I hold this notebook,and look at its pages in hope or despair that one day,someone will save us. Please. I’m hiding. They’ll hurt us if we go on any longer. I don’t want to die. Please. Someone,anyone. She came back,hood hiding her face as she held something. “I.....I got it. They tried to kill me but I managed to kill it.” The small boy nodded,still clinging to the bag. She carried a little girl,hair as golden as the sun. Bright blue eyes staring up at the sky,as if still pleading for her life. Her chest ripped into,black ooze everywhere. A still-beating heart rested in the pool of pitch-black gunk,like the older girls fingertips. The girl looked at the small boy. “They won’t hurt us,alright?” Empty face. A skull exposed,flesh peeling off it. Worm Eaten hands,like an old-school zombie. The boy looked at her,all four eyes staring at the girl's face,all of them different colors. The girl heaved the body into the thick knot of pine trees,turning to the younger one of the two. "Look,it's gone. Rest." She muttered,pulling the boy into a bear hug. His curly chestnut hair smooshed itself against the teens filthy white hoodie. She lead him to the floor of the truck's bumpy metal truck bed,the sun's heat against their skin. They both soon drifted into a light slumber.