Recurrence

I wake up in this world. Again I’m here. I don’t know why, or how, but I got here when I closed my eyes. This whole world has weird colors. Blue is red, red is green, green is yellow… Nothing is right, nothing is straight. Buildings tilt at impossible angles, boxes litter the street. It looks like a street from Traverse Town in Kingdom Hearts, but much creepier. I start walking.

The streets are crowded with the weirdest people. Normal people, as well as what I can only call zombies. Half rotted corpses walk around, like Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, conducting their own business and such. It’s the oddest sight, yet strangely normal. Maybe I’m just messed up. I walk further, taking everything in. The green sun in the sky marks the time as evening. I trudge onward, trying to find my way to what I assume is my goal.

All of a sudden, I hear a “Watch your step!” from my feet. I look down and stare. Half a body is lying there, skeleton visible for the most part, still traces of rancid skin sticking to the ribs and face. They eyes are glaring at me with what I can tell is anger, but it doesn’t show. The odd thing is that I’m not repulsed, not even creeped out. It seems normal to me. I kindly step off of him and apologize. And I move on. I walk down the crooked streets. I make my way down stinking alleys and corpses hanging from balconies, ruefully asking each other “Hey, how’s it hanging?” I can’t laugh, I don’t find it funny. My nerves are tingling, like I can tell something is going to get me, yet there’s nothing that can. It’s very disconcerting. I continue walking.

Finally, I come to something that resembles a place to stay. It’s like an open area, walled off but not really closed. I walk in and lie down, resting my head on the small, flat pillow. I’m almost asleep when I hear someone talk. It doesn’t have a rasp to it, so I can tell it’s a human.

“You’re here.”

I get up and look around. And standing there is someone I hardly remember. His face is blurred to me, but I know his name.

“Karan. Why are you here?”

Karan Patil. I haven’t seen him since military school. He was one of the only people who stood up for me. I respected him, but we lost contact. Now why is he here is this place?

“I’m the door-keeper here.” He says. He’s speaking perfect English, something he couldn’t do. And he’s very stoic, not like he used to be. It’s odd. So is the weapon he carries. A sword. To me, it looks like a katana. Something a samurai would carry. Well, I guess that’s the way here.

“You shouldn’t be here. Night time is not the best time for outsiders to come here.”

“I didn’t come here on purpose. I wound up here when I closed my eyes.”

“Well, you are here now. And as gate-keeper, I have to make sure you get back. I hope school taught you something. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

“I can pull my weight.”

“I hope you can move.” Is all he says as the sun sinks. The minute the sun sets, a whole change comes over the place. There’s no twilight, no sunset. It goes dark like it’s Silent Hill. But it’s not totally dark. I can see everything. But it’s all different now. The colors have all gone dark. Dark blue roads, the shadows are grey, the buildings are dark red, like they’re dyed with blood. This is now really creepy.
And the floodgates open. The zombies come out, and now they look and act like actual zombies. They still talk like normal people, but they’re different. They’re violent now, like with the loss of daylight meant the loss of rules. I see them killing each other in alleyways. This isn’t safe. This really isn’t safe. One of them turns to us. He points at me, but addresses Karan.

“Gate-keeper, the rules stand. He’s in our territory.”

Karan defies him. “He’s a friend. He leaves now, and he leaves safe.”

“He’s in our territory. Unless you wish to become sport with him?” The corpse grins lopsidedly. I can feel icy fingers going down my back, the fear chilling my bones. This isn’t good. Karan hefts his sword and tells me, “Now we run.”

So we do. We leave the rest area, dashing around the corner and skidding into a building. I bounce off, grunting as my shoulder slams into the wall. I dash down the alley, weaving around the stacked boxes and barrels that line it. Sometimes it seems like I can’t make it, but I force air into my smoked-out lungs and run. My muscles scream, they beg for rest. I haven’t gotten very far. I curse my weight and continue running. Karan stays ahead of me, slicing through some of the corpses that try to cut us off. They don’t die, though. They grab at our ankles. We hop over them, step on crunching bone, and run.

We finally come to something that resembles a town square. It’s not empty, unfortunately. There are many bodies trundling around. Karan shoves me behind a box, and tells me to shut up. He tries to usher them away, telling them that the square is off limits. I clutch my chest, a stitch in my side, and I try to catch my breath without making too much noise.

“Ye cannae hid from us, lad,” I hear a strong accent behind me. I think it’s Irish. Can’t tell for sure. With a deep rasp, like a very old man. I turn around, and see two eyes set in a burned skull staring at me. “Ye cannae hid, ye cannae flee. We have ye, lad. May as well let us do as we will.”

“Over my dead body, sir!” I say as I slam my fist into his chin. His head snaps to the side, crooked at an unnatural angle. His lower jaw goes flying out into the square. The irony of my sentence isn’t lost on me, but I have more important things to worry about. Like my survival. I run while he’s stunned, bursting into the square. Karan turns to yell at me, then blanches. I don’t want to know what’s back there, so I run towards him. He turns and runs, leading me to, what I can only hope, is the door out of this place, the gate he’s supposed to guard. I have no idea where it is, but I follow him, forcing myself to run. I won’t last much longer, though, not with my current health. I bounce into a wall, my strength failing.

Karan turns around and says, “I guess it has to be here.” He stabs the sword into mid air, Vedic, Latin and Celtic chants coming from his lips. The hole gapes open, looking like a Garganta from Bleach. He turns to me. “This is the best I can do, Manav. I hope it takes you back to where you’re supposed to be.”

I don’t tell him he’s supposed to be there. I can tell he won’t come with me. There’s no one to close the gate, I guess. I walk through it, hoping it goes where I’m supposed to be. He grins at me as he closes the gate. “Take care.”

“You too.”

And I’m in my bed. I sit up, wiping the sweat from my brow. Damn, but that was some fucked up dream, I think to myself. I try to get out of bed. Something cold is wrapped around my arm. I look down and see a skeletal hand. Karan’s face grins from the bed beside me.

“I’m here for you!” He cries out. My eyes snap open. I’m back in bed. Now what? I look around my room, using my cell phone as a light. My room-mates are all asleep. There’s no one else in the room but us four. Sweat drips down my brow. I can’t sleep for the rest of the night.

(NOTE: Previously Posted on Facebook)