Darkness Fell at Noon

 I pull out a used second war gas mask – don’t want to breathe in the smog - it saved my life more times than I care to remember. I take a few steps into the unknown.

London’s been like this for a few days now. But it'll hopefully clear before Christmas. I look at my watch. With the little hand pointing at one, anybody would assume it’s the middle of the night, but I know better. That is what happens when you live a life like mine, you feel time. You feel the seconds pass by into minutes, the minutes pass to hours. I know it’s only been a mere few hours since I woke at my scheduled 9 o'clock start.

You can never guess the destruction caused by unforeseen situations. Bustling London has now become desolate. Smog clouds covering the whole of Westminster, from the shattered footprints in the ground to the tip of Big Ben. Boats left abandoned on the River Thames, London buses parked up at the exact location they were in when the smoke started. The illogical, optimistic part of my brain couldn't help but notice how picturesque it all looks.

On the radio, we were told to stay at home, but I needed to make sure my sister – Catherine – is safe. So, I booked the earliest taxi I could, I called around ten different places before someone finally agreed, why he agreed is a question I never asked, one I think I didn't want to know the answer to.

I haven’t seen this much smoke since the war, the same war that left London in ruins. Buildings still need to be rebuilt after the blitz. The ones remaining were corroding, about to fall apart. The city I knew, the city I grew up in, is now empty. Hundreds of people used to walk around here, the constant sounds of buses, cars and trains’ left with the people, leaving it now in silence. I have to use the sides of buildings to find my way.  I’ve been walking for ten minutes, losing track of both space and direction as the street signs are almost unreadable.

A shadowy figure in the distance emerges from the smog. The closer we get to each other, the more features I notice, I can even see his rounded hat. I walk over to him, being careful where I step. He’s just standing on the end of the street, wearing a gas mask with a crack across the eyes. That’s all he’s doing, standing. He isn’t moving, not even a twitch of his finger. I get behind him. “Can you help me, officer?” I touch his shoulder.

The officer doesn’t respond but turns slowly to face me. The longer he stands there, motionless, staring at me, the more I can feel the tension build. His unusual eyes glare back at me. He steps forward suddenly giving me a good look at his yellow pupil-less eyes that are filled with so much hatred. As suddenly as he steps forward, I fall to the floor, my head just missing the curb. The policeman lunges toward me, grabbing at my arm. I am trying to push him away but my shove does little to no good, he doesn't even stumble. He is too strong. I grab at his mask, pulling it off. His face underneath looks like that of a gas victim – black patches and popped blisters with puss oozing out covers his face. His fingernails dig into my arms, relieving me from my initial shock. I quickly grab hold of something that brushes against my fingertips and swing as hard as I can, cracking it across his head, knocking him into the smog-filled distance.

I climb to my feet, hearing the cries shrieking from the, once, policeman in the distance. I can’t tell where it’s coming from all I can hear is the faint gurgling noises and the raspy breathing.

I slowly walk forward, dropping the object.  I come across a destroyed building; bricks caved in so recently that I could’ve tasted the dust if I didn’t have my mask on. That's where I finally saw it, the monster, a spike piercing through his chest, blood pouring onto the floor, still swinging his arms at me.

What have I done? Did I just kill someone? What is happening? That couldn’t have been a person, he was almost animalistic the way he flailed his arms around trying to kill me. The noise coming from the policeman stops as I stand over him in shock. 

I didn’t have much time to think before hearing the same screeching noise again, this time in the far distance. The panic is starting to build again. How many of these things are out there? What about my sister? What if she is one of them? I need to call her.

I go to leave before remembering I need something to protect myself. I walk towards the coat of the policeman, and grab for his truncheon, wiping the blood off it on his coat.

I take slow steps, white-knuckling the truncheon. The further I get towards the city the darker the world seems to become, looking down I can barely even see my feet.

A few steps later my shoulder barges into something. I move my arm back, swinging the truncheon towards it, but hearing only a large metal clank in return. I quickly notice it isn’t a person, but, in what some would consider an act of faith, a phone box.

I walk around to find the door, swinging it wide open, climbing inside and making sure the doors shut behind me. I feel around for the phone, making sure to keep my hands on it while I search for money. I put the money in, dial my sisters’ home number and wait for a reply. My fear for her safety only heightens when there’s no answer.

 I need to leave; I need to make sure she’s safe. But as I open the door, the phone rings. I turn around, picking it up. “Catherine?” I say with fear in my voice.

A child’s voice responds “Help me. I need my father, he told me to call, he should be here.”

“I’m sorry, there’s nobody around it’s just me.” As soon as I reply, I hear footsteps coming from outside.

“Can you help me? My mother isn’t feeling well, she is coughing really badly” I hear the fear in his voice, the verge of a breakdown highlighted in his tone. The slow footsteps outside scrapes on the ground, nasally breathing getting closer and closer by the second. I take a look around but can’t see anything.

“You have to get out of there!” I scream, still looking around to see if I can see anything but I can't see much further than a few feet in front of me. I can’t leave him though; he can’t be more than a boy. “Something is happening, I can’t explain it, but you are not safe there.”

“It’s just the flu, that’s what the man on the radio said” he tries convincing me. “I need someone to get her to bed”

“It’s not just the flu, I don’t know what it is but you need to trust me.” I look back outside the phone box, I can see a shape slowly forming from the thick yellow smog, walking towards me.

My heart is now racing, I can feel the beating echo throughout my whole body. How am I going to get out of this? Do I have the time to help this kid out? I don’t even know who he is, whereas my own sister could need my help.

I check I have the truncheon still in hand, I thought I wouldn’t have to kill someone again, but I will if it keeps my family and I safe.

I can just hear the constant coughing and raspy breaths. I take another look around and jump back as I notice a person is now standing outside the phone box, peering in. The smog, which is getting thicker by the minute, is covering most of his features.

“Mummy!” The boy shouts, making me jump out of my skin, the silence built for so long that the sound of someone else's cries sounded frightening and almost foreign to me. “Help, please! My mummy is getting worse!”

“Get out of there, I will come and find you,” I say in a panic, I have to get that kid out of there. “Do you know where you are?”

“No.” He says, he sounds so disappointed. “Wait! My mummy says pica… pica something”

“Piccadilly?” I say with haste, the person still looking in. “You have to hurry kid. I can explain when I get there. Anywhere near you that is safe?”

“Yeah, Piccadilly that’s the one,” He says.  “There is a play park next to the house that me and my friends go to.”

“Okay great, go there now.” I almost yell at him nearly forgetting to tell him something important. 

“Oh, and put a mask on, don’t breathe in the smog.”

He agrees and goes to put the phone down before I remember to ask what his name is.

“Danny,” He says sounding more panicked now than when he first spoke over the phone.

“Okay Danny, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I say more convincingly than I mean, god knows how long I will be. “Oh, and my name is Peter.”

I hang up the phone just as the creature bashes through the door. I quickly hold it back with all my strength. I have to get out of here, I need to get to Danny. But my arms are getting weaker from the force of holding back the door.

I need to think fast. So with the last bit of strength I have, I push the door open, knocking this thing back with the sudden impact. I quickly make my way towards the shadowy figure, smashing his head with the truncheon. I follow the noise of the body hitting the ground and carry on hitting him. I keep swinging and swinging until the raspy breathing stops. I finally take a look at him, just like the policeman he’s covered in blisters with yellow eyes.

I can’t stay long, so with one shaky breath, I leave him lying there and take off. After keeping to the walls and trying to decipher the signs, I finally find the park Danny told me about.

I walk into it, hearing the old, rusty roundabout creaking. I call out “Danny” as I continue walking. Yet nothing but the rustic creaking calls back to me.

After a while, a figure starts to form in the distance, the figure of a boy. I quickly walk towards him, calling him again. I slow down my walk, fearing the worst when he still doesn’t answer. When he's finally within arms reach, I stop. “It's me, Peter.” He cautiously walks towards me, I held onto the truncheon until I saw his face. He’s fine.

“Why didn’t you answer me?” He just shrugs his shoulders. I notice he doesn’t have anything covering his face. “Where is your mask?! I told you to put on a mask!”

“I don’t know.” He says calmly. “Couldn’t find one.”

I go to take off my mask to give it to him, maybe if we share it, we will be able to both stay safe but before I even lift it slightly, Danny falls to his knees in a coughing fit, black sot clinging onto his face.

Oh God, please don’t tell me I'm too late?! I kneel to take a look at him and as I fear, his eyes are now yellow. I take one last look at him, blisters start to form on his once innocent face before I grip onto the truncheon.

I leave the park realising Catharine lives just down the road, so I am close now. I now know I can’t afford to make any more stops.

I finally reach her door about an hour later, a five-minute walk on any normal day but the smog only allowed me to find my way after a few lame attempts. I slowly open the door, careful to not make any loud noises as I walk in. The house is darker than the outside, so I have to use my hands to brush along the wall to guide myself around. The only sound coming from the radio in the Living Room.

“It’s day three of the London smog, there are no signs of it clearing. In other news, there’s been a horrible discovery, a young policeman was found dead this afternoon.” I creep in cautiously, fighting all instincts to call out her name. “and there has just been news of another body being found. It’s believed to be the father of...” Suddenly a loud explosion comes from outside the house, knocking me backwards towards a shelf, knocking the radio onto the floor and cutting it off.

A figure in the smog rose up running towards me, screaming. It’s my sister, she’s alive.

“Who’s there?” she says. “Leave now!”

“It’s me, Catherine, Peter,” I say, quite happy and relieved. “I had to make sure you’re okay.”

I look towards the door, the smog is now coming through thicker, I get up quickly.

“Please tell me you have your mask!” I shout, scaring her.

“No, what is going on Peter? Have you heard the news? Someone’s out there killing people.” She says, walking towards me. Once she gets close enough and looks down towards my once white shirt that is now coated in blood, she falls backwards.

“I can explain!” I plead.

“That’s blood! You didn’t?” She says almost crying.

“I had to; I’m trying to tell you, something is happening out there!” I walk towards her as she moves further back. “There are these things! These creatures, they’re trying to kill me! They look wrong, like a gas victim!”

She just stands there, shaking her head. “Look I know you've been to war; I can’t imagine what that was like...”

“It’s not the war!” I shout. “There are these things out there, whatever this smog is, it’s turning them into monsters.”

“For God's sake Peter, nothing is out there. Please just calm down!” She says.

“You haven’t been out there have you?” She shakes her head “It even turned this little kid right in front of me.”

She starts crying, unable to look at me. The smog rises towards her as she starts to breathe it in. She takes one final step backwards before she coughs.

I stand in silence, the world around me now has gone silent again as I grip on to the truncheon. Tears start to form, as violent and sudden as the smog, in my eyes. I can’t do it, I can’t. I raise the truncheon.

End.