Chapter 1
Last night I dreamt I was at home again, It seemed to me I stood by the front door leading to the hallway towards the stairs. For a while I could not enter, was it fear or was I barred by the front door key not being in my hand. I called in my dream to my grandmother, there was no answer, peering through the window on the door I saw the hallway was untouched.
The chairlift didn't move or make a sound, then by some unseen force, the door creaked open, I called out again but again no response, even my voice seemed to make no sound in the hollowed hallway, it still looked the same as it always had done since I was little, the coat hangers on the right with the family portraits on the walls. But as I had advanced I was aware that a change had come upon the house; coats littered the floor and the portraits stared at me with their cold, lifeless eyes.
At first I was puzzled and did not understand, it was only when I bent my head down to the calendar on the wall that I realised what happened. It was the day everything went wrong not just for me but the whole world.
The hallway gained life as the evening light moved in filling in from the dining room just beyond the door on my right, the door stood there guarding its secrets but only letting me peer in.
The dining room would bear witness to our laughter, our sadness and our worst days, the soup bowls stayed there cold to their touch but would be ready to return to, the chairs turned and discarded like steady and chaos whipped through room. Then darkness filled the slit into the room as I witnessed my body crashing into the table.
"Grandpa stop this madness, what has happened to you? " My body called out as I heard gargling until I saw my grandpa charge into the room and tackle my body onto the table.
I tried to shield my eyes from reliving this horror, this nightmare again but the unseen force prevented me from it, my scream could be heard echoed through the whole house until there was silence, the only sound was my grandpa being pushed off my body with a kitchen knife in his head, onto the soft carpet bellow.
Soon my body started to shed tears and wail loudly as she held onto her arm with teeth marks in it, my body kept going until she rolled off the table and walked towards the kitchen.
The evening sun started to be shrouded in the darkness of the night sky and the moon. I do not speak about what happened on that day, in the house as I do not want to relive or wish to be brought back to the day I lost my family.
I woke up that morning, sweat covered my body but tears didn't roll down this time, I can tell that I keep trying to forget it but the past haunts me like a shadow clinging to a candle light, its just out of reach. I rolled out of bed looking at my wooden and metallic prosthetic arm, the physical reminder even though I don't need one as I have the emotional one.
The room wasn't much but there was nothing wrong with the mundane after the world falling apart at the semes, as I walked out of my bedroom, I arrived at the radio room, a bunch of people with their headphones on listening to radios and other devices trying to find survivor distress signals or settlement signals.
But to me that was all boring, dull and very repetitive , I was dealing with survivor group arrivals and any trade routes between survivors.
" Anika this is group 2, we have more survivors and you might want to see to this personally. " A member of group 2 called to me, I looked at the radio before looking to the blinding light of the world.
"Lets hope they are not psychos this time." I say as I grab my jacket and walk towards the door and opening the door before stepping outside into the community that is Hilltop.
As I walked down stairs, towards the bottom, I lean over the banister and look at the group of survivors next to the settlement guards.
"Well come to Hilltop, I will be down momentarily." I call out before walking down more stairs until reaching the ground and arriving at the group.
"Names ?" I ask as everyone seems quiet until a woman in a worn down fire fighter uniform raised her hooded head slightly as she is wearing the mask and hat of the Duckworth city fire department.
"Names Dawn, former firefighter" She says, her voice slightly muffled from the gas mask but i can spot her hazel eyes through the mask.
"Nice to meet you Dawn" I say before writing down her name and looking to the next person but it doesn't take me long to recognise her, it wasn't by her clothes or facial features it was her voice. That distinguished northern voice.
"Mary" I say before hugging her, she hugged me back as we looked at each other. I thought she had long since passed or escaped but seems like she was here.
"Hello operator, still doing that job I see" Mary says as she's still in her police department uniform just not as formal, I nod my head as i take her name onto the list.
"You can say that, we really need to catch up " I say before walking to the other people in the group, as I take their names i look at the group.
"Now we have plenty of beds and jobs for you so just look for job boards and talk to the person who posted it but with all that said, I would like to welcome you all to Hilltop and our little community."
As the group disbands and walks up the mountain of stairs to the huts and bunk beds, I know I need to talk to Mary about everything and catch up with her at least.
As I watch them, I reach into my jacket pocket pulling out the id card of my life before the end of the world with the photo of my grandpa and grandma stuck to it.
" I will make you proud grandpa" I tell myself before putting it away and starting to make my accent up the stairs back to the radio room.
