text: The soldier walked quietly up the empty street carefully stepping to avoid tripping on the broken pavement and the crumbling debris on the ground. All around him were tall gloomy buildings that towered above him so high they seemed to disappear into the clouds above. The clouds. The clouds had been there so long he had forgotten what the stars looked like shining bright in the sky like little lanterns. He couldn’t recall what the sun looked like when it climbed through the sky on its journey around the world bringing light and hope to those everywhere. He missed waking up early and watching as the sun traveled over the horizon lighting up the sky as if it were a giant glass dome. He longed to see the dazzling bright red and yellow light of the sun woven with the blue of the sky as it climbed higher and higher pushing away the overwhelming dark of night. He was wrenched back into the dark depression of reality when It started to rain. The soldier pulled the hood of his jacket over his head. He continued to walk down the empty street. The wind blew hard in his face. He heard the rumble of thunder and saw a flash as lightning streaked across the sky. A shiver went down his spine and he felt his heart start to beat faster as he got that sick feeling in his stomach. He knew this feeling all too well by now. It was fear. Something felt wrong. The buildings suddenly felt like they might just fall over and crush him. Every shadow looked like a gaping hole that would consume him in darkness and drag him into the depths of hell. Then a pungent aroma burned through his lungs. It was the stench of death. He knew what this meant and dreaded what would come next. He stepped into the darkness of an alleyway and put his back against the side of the brick building. The smell had gotten stronger, so He put his hand on the knife holstered on his hip. He prayed that nothing would happen, and the creature would move along. With his back still against the brick building he looked out into the street. He heard a deep moan. The rain continued to pour he saw another flash of lightning followed by a boom of thunder and then he saw them. A group of mangled creatures shuffled down the street towards him. It was the Reapers. Torn clothing and flesh dangled off their bodies revealing the white bone underneath. Their bodies were twisted and mangled like that of a twisted tree that had grown broken and tangled. The creatures looked slow and weak, but he knew from experience they could move very quickly once they saw a person and were much stronger than even the healthiest man. He tried to remain quiet. He heard the Reapers shuffle closer and closer as their stench got stronger. Another deep moan echoed through the street. Suddenly he heard a scream. The soldier looked into the street once more and saw a mother and child. He’d seen this situation unfold so many times he knew exactly what would happen. He looked towards the Reapers. They had seen the mother and child and the Reapers had started to move toward them alarmingly fast. The child started to cry. The soldier looked into the mother’s eyes and saw pure fear. The Reapers moved with incredible speed for their bodies condition. The soldier had seen this too many times he couldn’t watch this happen again. As a soldier it was his job to serve and protect, and he didn’t care if the world was in ruin and crumbling, he was going to continue to execute his mission no matter what happened. He knew what he had to do. He stepped out from the safety of the alleyway and the comfort of hiding from the fear he faced. Knowing that the reapers could see he knew they depended much more on hearing. The soldier took in a deep breath and yelled. He yelled as loud as he could projecting his voice through the street toward the reapers. The reapers froze. They slowly turned towards the soldier and away from the mother and child. The entire Reaper group lurched toward him. The soldier ran. Out of the corner of his eye he watched the mother quietly sneak away with her child into the darkness of the streets behind him. He knew the Reapers were much faster than him, but he refused to give up and continued to run. He cut left into another street pumping his legs as fast as he physically could fear powered his adrenaline as he ran for his life. He knew he had to get the Reapers as far away from the mother and child as he could to guarantee their safety. He cut through an alley way to the next street. one of the Reapers had gotten close enough to almost touch him. He saw out of the corner of his eye the Reaper bend its legs about to jump. As fast as lightning the soldier unholstered his knife twisted his body and swung at the Reaper. He felt the blade hit the Reaper and it screeched in pain stumbling back into the group. He continued to run. He cut through another street and into another alley way into the streets again. He cut into an alley way and looked back another Reaper was about to reach him he swung his knife and hit the creature it stumbled back like the last Reaper. He looked forward again. His pounding heart skipped a beat. Infront of him blocking the alley way was a large brick wall much taller than him. The Reapers had begun to slow they knew there was no where for him to go. The soldier stopped and turned around to face the creatures. For the first time he looked to see how many there were. He counted almost twenty and that was just the ones he could see. The creatures bright yellow eyes all watched him hungry for his new flesh and meat. Is this how he would die? he thought. He always imagined he would die of old age surrounded by his family and abundant grandchildren. He remembered his family he hadn’t seen in years. He thought about his beautiful wife and the first time they had met. He thought about the amazing times they had together. God he missed her. He thought about his daughter and what a sassy little girl she was. How she used to wrap her arms around him and say, “I love you daddy.” He remembered her first day of school and how he felt like she was growing up too fast and he felt like she would be all grown up and gone before he could even blink. The soldier remembered his brother and growing up together. He remembered the laughs and the fights they had together even back then he knew he would give his life for him if it came to it. He remembered his parents and how they always annoyed him with all their pestering about chores but they were always so supportive of everything he did. He remembered how his dad would always be there for him when he needed someone and how he held the soldier accountable for everything he did and told him how grandma always used to say you can do anything you put your mind too and how his dad never let him quit without making sure he knew that’s exactly what he was doing, quitting. Of course, the soldier had his moments but he never quit. Whenever the soldier got down and forgot who he was when he was young his dad always managed to be able to remind him. The soldier remembered his sister. He remembered how she always annoyed him but he would kick someone’s ass for her and would fight for her and die for her. He remembered his friends and the fun times they had together yeah, they did some stupid things sometimes, but he would never forget those times together. He snapped back into reality as one of the creatures launched itself at him. He swung his knife and slashed it. Another jumped forward and another and another. He swung his knife again and again. One of the creatures caught his arm in their mouth and bit down. He cried out in pain and the knife fell from his hand. Another creature slammed into his chest and knocked him to the ground. All the creatures rushed towards him. The soldier looked up into the sky above. the clouds had parted for a moment and he could see the stars for the first time in a long time. He saw his family in the stars smiling down at him. He saw his wife and her beautiful eyes watching as their little daughter skipped around her. He saw his sister, brother, mom, and dad standing with their arms across each other’s backs as if they were about to take a family picture. He saw his friends laughing and remembering the good times. The soldier thought about what an amazing life he had and all the good times. He knew this was his fate this outcome was his destiny he closed his eyes and embraced it. I wrote this story I hope you like it, I would love feedback.