Art: Created By Moi VvV

Contest Name: Short Story

Contest Creator: LaniMalfoy12
Limit: 800-1800 Words

Theme: Dystopian (Self-Chosen)

(Sorry but I feel inclined to put this here for personal reasons - I'm writing a story that's about the audience helping to forge your own path, so if you'd read the first bit and help with character design, I can get started! That's all! Thanks!)

The young man thumbed through the old forgotten pages of a phone book that seemed ancient, but was only a few years old based on the cover date. It seemed almost mystical, in a spectral sort of way.

Particles of dust and ash could be seen as the cracked windows scattered scarce light from the dying sun into the room. The further the sun fell, the more difficult it was for him to find what he sought after. "Where are you?" Lucas whispered, having now abandoned the yellowed and tattered pages of the phone book from before.

This was an unfamiliar building to him, so unfortunately he didn't know where it was he was searching. He only knew that he had to be gone before nightfall. He wasn't supposed to scavenge after dark; and now the sun was almost completely set.

"Lucas!" A young woman's voice echoed through the room in his direction. The young man made a small grunt, then turned his head just enough to face the front door. But he didn't say anything just yet. "Lucas, come on! We have to get a move on before the Nightcrawlers come out!" The woman blurted, now impatient. Once again, Lucas groaned, though this time it was in defiance. He slumped his shoulders, and turned toward the entrance, slumping the whole way along. It was a childish move, especially given the Nightcrawlers were a serious threat; but it had been a long day and he was frustrated. Fair enough?

On his way out the door, however, Lucas tripped. He fell with a loud yelp and a 'thud' on the ground. Cursing, he glared wickedly in the direction of whatever had caused him to trip. The small creature was shivering and hissing at him, hardly able to manage a proper spit. The little kitten was covered in muck, and shaking on its tiny feet.

Lucas perked up his head, then glanced around in search of perhaps the mother; but based on how the kitten looked, as well as how thin it was, he could make deductions that the humans of this house weren't the only ones who were dead.

"Lucas! Hurry up!" The girl outside snipped again, now a hint of aggravation and fear in her voice. "I am! I just wanted to get you a lil' somethin'." Lucas responded gruffly, then clambered to his feet, and scooped the tiny orange tabby in one large hand. "Here. He's a fiery one. If you name him Tiger, I swear I'm taking him back." The man smirked when he approached his little group, and dropped the little critter right in the large duffel bag of the woman standing before him.

The woman's eyes dropped to the bag, and then she gasped, and tugged the kitten out. They had the same hazy blue eyes and red hair. "He's so handsome! Much better looking than you, Lucas. You're very uncouth compared to...hm... I'll call you Ember." The woman purred toward the shivering kitten, and started trying to brush out his dirty matts with her fingernails.

Together, Lucas and the young woman walked past the decimated house he'd just exited from. They traveled down the streets, following the falling sun and yearning secretly that it would stay just a few hours longer, though they should have been grateful it was even giving them a few more seconds.

"The Nightcrawlers will be waking up any minute. Let's get in the hole." The woman muttered when they stepped into the middle of the street. Together, they struggled to move one of those worn, heavy, rusty manholes. It grated against the asphalt, a noise that would send shivers up any spine for no real reason other than it didn't sound right.

"Coming?" The girl asked when she started climbing down into the foul-smelling hole. "Yeah. Just give me a minute." Lucas smiled purely out of politeness toward her. She nodded in understanding, then disappeared into the darkness underneath.

Lucas rested his hands on his waist, and faced away from the manhole and the sun. He watched as the horizon was slowly falling dark, far off in the distance before ever daring to reach this neighborhood.

The neighborhood wasn't anything special, for sure. He was scarcely sure it was anything special before The Blast went down. Now, it was in shambles. To be succinct; it was a wreck worse than the Titanic. The wasteland wasn't desolate, but the houses, each and every single one in shambles and barely able to support its own weight, could have been argued as worse. The sky was forever-painted grey, everywhere except where the sun was setting in the background, and slowly turning things darker and darker as time went on.

As far as the eye could see, it was just a layer of ash. It was only very close to Lucas where some of the housing units were still standing. The trick to having lived in the suburbs rather than the city was that there was always at least a slight more of a chance of surviving a fallout situation.

Lucas truly felt sorry for anyone who may still be struggling to survive in the city. All he and the woman here had to fear were the Nightcrawlers; and they had a place to hide. The monsters themselves could only hunt via scent and hearing, and there was no way for them to swim, either. That was why the sewer, with its stench and running water, was such a safe place to hide.

All the days were spent scavenging for weapons, food, and water. Not to mention that they weren't the only ones here. If someone couldn't outrun the monster, that was okay... because if one was faster than the person before them- it's still an escape.

Lucas couldn't afford any time for thinking; he heard a hooting, howling sound off in the distance. It was a sound of controlled chaos. That was the call of the creatures themselves. The hunting cry, rather. Lucas knew it was time to go into the hole.

"How are we doing on population control?" Lucas asked when he stepped through the door, having wiped his feet on the scorched doormat outside which said 'Wipe Your Paws!' The redheaded woman was sitting with her legs crossed on top of the nearest table, and another man, much darker in pigment, sat beside her, typing furiously away at a laptop.

It was powered by the waterwheel they had outside; as were the lights. Even when it was midday it was impossible to see down here, so they'd had to get some energy; even if it was the sewer that powered them. It was a safe and effective system that was much more comfortable than anyone might expect, considering that this was the apocalypse for them.

"I predict that the Nightcrawlers will take out another twenty survivors hiding somewhere in the neighborhoods tonight. They usually do. I still haven't figured out how long it takes them to starve, or even digest a human." The dark man revealed the stats of his monitor toward Lucas. It wasn't anything that Lucas could understand. He wasn't the brains of this operation.

"I meant population control on them, Tyson." Lucas murmured impatiently, trying to ignore the flashes of orange in his vision as the now-clean kitten was playing and swatting its little white paws at the woman's hand.

"Oh. Uh... I think any gestation is complete by now, if their mating season is in April. It's been five months, correct?" Tyson asked, and switched to another set of graphs and charts on his computer. "I estimate that it takes two years for them to reach maturity, and they live for about ten years at their maximum. The closest known animal I can compare all of that to is likely the impala, but I really do think it's just its own crazy life cycle." Tyson sighed, almost in exasperation, and rubbed his temples uncomfortably.

"Again," Lucas began impatiently, "Population?" He asked, and Tyson just stared up at him. The little redheaded woman just snickered, and smiled at the dark man. "He wants to know how many you think there are, Ty." She explained in a much softer, sweeter voice, and Tyson perked up. "Oh!" He grinned at her, cheeks growing warm. "Uh, I'm going to say that I think there are around... six thousand-ish? Stretching from here to the city, at least." He gave one firm nod, then turned around and looked up at Lucas. "Is that adequate for you?" He asked, though not really caring for Lucas' angered expression.

"How come you only ever listen to her? I said what I wanted pretty clearly!" He snipped, and the woman and Tyson glanced at each other with frowns. "Lucas, you should get some sleep, I'll come to rest with you in a little bit. I just want to play with Ember for a short while." The woman smiled, and began petting her new kitten. Lucas let a short breath fly through his nose, then nodded. "Alright... Goodnight, Lydia, Tyson." He uttered, then traveled over to the rooms to rest.

When Lucas' eyes flew open, he was met with a near heart-attack. This was because the little orange monster on his face was lapping at his face and getting a good taste of his salty flesh. "Ack! Get it off!" He barked, which immediately caused the kitten to arch up in fear, and dart off in the other direction.

"I'm going out to hunt. The sun should be up by now." Lucas proclaimed while walking out of the room. It was both polite and protocol to say wherever one was going, just in case they didn't return in a timely manner. Then there could be either a search party or at least a gamble over who got what was left of that person's belongings. Perhaps it wasn't the greatest system, but it was all they had resolved at this point.

When he made it up to the streets, the young man allowed the warmth of the sun to spill over him. He shivered, shedding off the last of his cool. Lucas traveled past house after house, briskly surveying the land. He knew the area well, and almost wished he hadn't. It still hurt to see the place he grew up torn to shreds and strewn all over the place.

It had been long enough now that grass had returned with vibrant fertility due to the ash that had once been littering the ground a foot high in all directions. A few years after any sort of disaster, there's always a blooming spring of life, a hope to hold onto that tomorrow will be better than today. And Lucas was ready for it.

Then, he heard the growl...