Snippet #1852575

Sir William fell asleep after Gwen went to wash herself and Damion went to check on the girl. He had a surreal, nightmarish, dream that involved him being chased by the abominations through the empty ghost town. He saw everyone he once knew and loved be taken by the beasts as they marched towards him mercilessly. His fears enveloped him as the monsters cornered him and made their way for the kill. He awoke quickly as soon as the darkness had fully taken him.

Drenched in sweat, and being the first one to awaken, he looked over at his armor that he had haphazardly thrown in the corner of the small room. He decided to wear a light tunic and leather armor instead of his cumbersome steel. He still carried his sword and kite shield with him though. He said not a word to anyone as he left to find the place in his dreams. He knew that some dark secret was revealed to him through them, at least he thought so anyway.

So, pushing open the doors and breathing in the light air and bright sun, he made his way through the town. He walked through the square into the housing district and stopped outside the home he had left aflame late last night. His heart grew heavy with sadness as he looked upon the smoldering embers of his beloved home. Knowing that the women he had left was not the same women when he returned killed him on the inside. He walked away slowly as his mind continued to fill his head with thoughts of her.

He walked a little further to his neighbors’ home, which had been nearly untouched by the flames, and knocked heavily on the door. There was no answer from inside, just the light breeze in the air. He tried to open the door but came to find that it had been locked quite securely. He had no idea whether it was to keep something locked up, or to keep someone out.

Knocking again, he heard a rustling around from inside. A slide on the door shot open and he was looking into the light eyes of a scared female. He did not recognize this lady but knew that his neighbors had a young daughter when he left for the war. He assumed it was her as she looked deeply into his eyes, seeming to not trust anyone or anything.

“Are your parents here, Madame? It’s William, from next door. I wanted to be sure you all were safe. I’m trying to find survivors to maybe take refuge at the church.” William said this, but knew he had more in store for his adventure out in the streets.

“William? Yes, I remember you. I’m Isabella, if you don’t remember.” said the young lady, now revealing her name to William.

William then spoke with kindness saying, “Ah, yes. Isabella, it is nice to see you are safe. May I speak to one of your parents? I need to know what happened here.”

Isabella grew pale with further mentioning of her parents and then coldly said, “When they went to find Marry… Well, in your home… They… They never came back.”

William’s heart further filled with sadness for Isabella at the loss of her parents. He looked deeply into her eyes with compassion for her loss and told her to go to the church for protection, and that he would meet her there later in the day. He hoped she would agree to go, but she refused to leave her home. William knew what she was going through and said that he’d make sure she was safe and supplied every day.

William further went down the road to each consecutive home, only to find them broken into, or abandoned. He knew that entire families had been in each home and could only imagine how many infected were about, running through the shadows and whatnot. So, he went deeper into the small town, looking for the hidden entrance to the catacombs. He knew he would find answers down there.

He neared the edge of the graveyard and looked on in horror at the amount of graves that were dug before the plague took full effect. He saw mounds of decaying corpses littering the now abandoned field, and make his way through the awful mess, towards the entrance he desired to find. The smell of the rotting carcasses was almost unbearable, but he pushed through it. The sight of dead bodies was nothing new to him, but it still made him feel uneasy and sick.

In the middle of the graveyard, he found a small mausoleum jutting out of the ground in a true medieval sense. It was disturbingly old fashioned and almost eerie to view up close. He opened to heavy door as it creaked loudly. He noticed that the door had been opened recently and felt it weird that someone would lurk in the city of the dead beneath their feet. He hoped that whatever was down there wouldn’t be too much for a knight such as himself to handle.

As he slowly closed the door, he was only warmth by the light of a recently lit candle pathway. He knew that the light wouldn’t be enough to deter the abominations from hiding inside, but might be able to buy him some time if he’s caught in a struggle. The visibility inside the catacombs grew to only be feet as William furthered himself down into the long forgotten tunnels that were dug to house the dead in his ancient hometown. He hoped that the others wouldn’t find their way to this ancient dark place, because he knew that the journey ahead would be perilous, if anything.