Writing Prompt @ Cam
The prompt: Returning from the Great War, Pvt. 1st Class Maddy Carmichael anticipated his beloved childhood hamlet of Watership-On-Tyne would give him a hero's welcome. Instead, he found zombies...lot's of them.
Maddy's stop was one of the furthest out for the train that ran out of the city. It was barely a stop at all, not much more than a deteriorating shack by the railroad which passed several miles outside of Watership-on-tyne, the small community that he had grown up in.
The train didn't quite come to a complete stop, but more appropriate would be to say that it slowed to a crawl so that he could jump from the car he had traveled in to the wooden platform.
His heavy ruck sack slammed into his back ungracefully and knocked the wind from his lungs momentarily. He adjusted his rifle which had also been jarred by the jump and had begun to dig into his side.
He was only slightly surprised that there was no one waiting for him when he arrived. He was glad now for the time he spent in the army as he contemplated the miles between the station and home. At least he was prepared this time, he hadn't quite been when he had first ventured out to this place when he embarked on his mission to help fight the war. He had rations in his pack and his waterskin was full.
He had never really understood why they called the town "Watership" when it was practically in the middle of a desert.
As he walked towards town Maddy supposed that the post he'd sent to his mother and father must not have arrived ahead of him or surely they would have sent someone out on one of the horses to meet him.
The first mile passed steadily and by the second Maddy was wondering why he hadn't yet seen anyone out on a trip somewhere, the road was long but usually there were people about heading somewhere.
The fences of the livestock pens came into view ahead of him and Maddy suddenly felt anxious and he wasn't quite sure why. As he got closer the reason for his anxiety become more clear. There was no activity around or in the pens, he hadn't heard any of the familiar sounds of cattle or horses. Fences ran along both sides of the road here and he still hadn't spotted any livestock. He knew the families that tended these areas and they usually kept large herds, even it being fall they'd not have sent so many to slaughter that it would be so quiet, he began to fear that the hamlet had come upon harder times during the war than he'd imagined.
That was when he noticed the smell, only moments before he got the first glimpse of a rotting carcass. The sight made his stomach churn. He'd seen his share of wounds and the dead during his service but this was different, this was home, and there certainly must be something amiss if the livestock were dying off.
He dropped his pack near the fence tucking it inside the large pen so as to hide it as well as he could and brought his rifle around in front of him. He picked up his pace the last mile to the nearest house. His childhood friend Jimmy had lived in that house with his parents whom Maddy had known well.
The windows of the house were broken and there was debris littered around the porch of the house. Maddy knocked on the door but got no response, he looked in the windows only to see that the house had been torn apart, furniture was everwhere and nothing seemed to be left intact.
He had no idea what to think but knew he was getting nowhere here, and headed further into town. He passed more homes that seemed to be in the same state as the first and his fear grew as he saw each it was only when he reached the town square that he saw the first corpse. It was hanging over the side of the well, the place stank, though his adrenaline had mostly kept him from acknowledging it until now.
He heard a groaning and looked towards it, it was coming from the general store, which looked to have been boarded up completely. Maddy was near panic, there was someone in there, there had to be, he pulled at the boards blocking one of the windows that seemed to be the least barracaded. He saw movement through the gaps as he pulled the boards away using his rifle for leverage when needed. He'd almost fully cleared the opening when he began to comprehend what the movement he had seen was. There were more corpses, tens of them, if he'd had time to count he might has suspected it was the entire village, they were rotted and decomposing but yet, they were moving towards him. He could hear their groaning but the horror of the sight froze him in his tracks. It seemed to happen in slow motion, as he stood there in space he had cleared, the hands of the vile creatures grabbed him, tearing at him, his world went dark.
Maddy's stop was one of the furthest out for the train that ran out of the city. It was barely a stop at all, not much more than a deteriorating shack by the railroad which passed several miles outside of Watership-on-tyne, the small community that he had grown up in.
The train didn't quite come to a complete stop, but more appropriate would be to say that it slowed to a crawl so that he could jump from the car he had traveled in to the wooden platform.
His heavy ruck sack slammed into his back ungracefully and knocked the wind from his lungs momentarily. He adjusted his rifle which had also been jarred by the jump and had begun to dig into his side.
He was only slightly surprised that there was no one waiting for him when he arrived. He was glad now for the time he spent in the army as he contemplated the miles between the station and home. At least he was prepared this time, he hadn't quite been when he had first ventured out to this place when he embarked on his mission to help fight the war. He had rations in his pack and his waterskin was full.
He had never really understood why they called the town "Watership" when it was practically in the middle of a desert.
As he walked towards town Maddy supposed that the post he'd sent to his mother and father must not have arrived ahead of him or surely they would have sent someone out on one of the horses to meet him.
The first mile passed steadily and by the second Maddy was wondering why he hadn't yet seen anyone out on a trip somewhere, the road was long but usually there were people about heading somewhere.
The fences of the livestock pens came into view ahead of him and Maddy suddenly felt anxious and he wasn't quite sure why. As he got closer the reason for his anxiety become more clear. There was no activity around or in the pens, he hadn't heard any of the familiar sounds of cattle or horses. Fences ran along both sides of the road here and he still hadn't spotted any livestock. He knew the families that tended these areas and they usually kept large herds, even it being fall they'd not have sent so many to slaughter that it would be so quiet, he began to fear that the hamlet had come upon harder times during the war than he'd imagined.
That was when he noticed the smell, only moments before he got the first glimpse of a rotting carcass. The sight made his stomach churn. He'd seen his share of wounds and the dead during his service but this was different, this was home, and there certainly must be something amiss if the livestock were dying off.
He dropped his pack near the fence tucking it inside the large pen so as to hide it as well as he could and brought his rifle around in front of him. He picked up his pace the last mile to the nearest house. His childhood friend Jimmy had lived in that house with his parents whom Maddy had known well.
The windows of the house were broken and there was debris littered around the porch of the house. Maddy knocked on the door but got no response, he looked in the windows only to see that the house had been torn apart, furniture was everwhere and nothing seemed to be left intact.
He had no idea what to think but knew he was getting nowhere here, and headed further into town. He passed more homes that seemed to be in the same state as the first and his fear grew as he saw each it was only when he reached the town square that he saw the first corpse. It was hanging over the side of the well, the place stank, though his adrenaline had mostly kept him from acknowledging it until now.
He heard a groaning and looked towards it, it was coming from the general store, which looked to have been boarded up completely. Maddy was near panic, there was someone in there, there had to be, he pulled at the boards blocking one of the windows that seemed to be the least barracaded. He saw movement through the gaps as he pulled the boards away using his rifle for leverage when needed. He'd almost fully cleared the opening when he began to comprehend what the movement he had seen was. There were more corpses, tens of them, if he'd had time to count he might has suspected it was the entire village, they were rotted and decomposing but yet, they were moving towards him. He could hear their groaning but the horror of the sight froze him in his tracks. It seemed to happen in slow motion, as he stood there in space he had cleared, the hands of the vile creatures grabbed him, tearing at him, his world went dark.