The world has ended.
252Please respect copyright.PENANA17QWRihHdb
It was a silent end gifted by beings beyond human comprehension. Things that fed off any emotion it could find. Every light and joyful thought was consumed. Every shadow and depraved thought was savored then devoured.252Please respect copyright.PENANAoKkVyzyuvF
252Please respect copyright.PENANArrQv7bN3vO
All things were dragged screaming into the black mist.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAKdB3xV6mZg
Now, only 2 humans remain.
252Please respect copyright.PENANALur4CYvYtH
In this wasteland filled only with misery lies a mother and her male child. Both leaving behind names. For what use are names in this ash-filled hell?252Please respect copyright.PENANAwDyc06L0zI
252Please respect copyright.PENANAA1d7KgoQ89
The only thing to make this bearable was most animals. Beings driven by pure instinct weren’t dragged away. The only ones taken were the ones closest to us.
252Please respect copyright.PENANATFIuzeXcPi
“Don’t cry child, lest you bring doom upon us.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANA0fwxZl6ZGU
“I promise mother, I just…”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAScsuLwcI8M
“Enough, we’re lucky enough to be able to bare Rex. He was…a brave dog.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAHAADFvLAnw
“…He was.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAZ64LZyZcML
The two say one last prayer before that too was detected and devoured. Hope had no place here. It couldn’t and shouldn’t exist.252Please respect copyright.PENANAJDCiH21tPI
252Please respect copyright.PENANAwRLqWL0FqQ
So they left it behind. The grave built by sticks and dirt. The last thing tying them to a happier time.
252Please respect copyright.PENANA6kCSYjoKTf
“Don’t dwell on the past. That happiness will only bring pain. Either will endanger us.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANA02pMNf7Z4q
“Yes, mother.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANALpmyLTelNQ
The rest of their days don’t matter. It was an endless cycle of the same gray day. Scavenging, eating, shitting, and sleeping.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAi9mzUopC5K
Emotionlessly existing for its own sake. Their tale unworthy of telling until they couldn’t scavenge anymore. Until eating became painful. Until there was nothing to shit out. Until sleeping brought only nightmares and whispers from the mist.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAuOqd3OuNbg
As usual, the only story worth telling is one filled with pain and tragedy.252Please respect copyright.PENANAAbkp5ZOM1i
252Please respect copyright.PENANAL2g8gFsfSP
“I’m-
252Please respect copyright.PENANAEFPb83KV90
“Don’t say it child, I already know. We will find something edible at the next town. But to get there we need to…sleep.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAzcAbOqvYmR
“…I understand.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANA5Gg5l18xf1
“Close your heart off to it. It will pass.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAYMlXn6bYDt
“It never does.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAqRkyES1aUB
“Be silent!”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAQAhOJNpx0h
Her voice reverberated throughout the city and instantly she realized her mistake. The mist begins to shift and writhe. They smell the anger, desperation and despair.
252Please respect copyright.PENANApeWIbJq4yK
“Mother?”
252Please respect copyright.PENANA6oYFR2kJ1L
“Calm child, give me a moment.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAZ01FBmPu5c
She closes her eyes and within a few moments opens them again. Within those brown eyes lies nothing, a void of emotion. A lifeless husk that refuses to die just yet. Satisfied with the death of her true self, the mist stills.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAPSfw8ZfV1f
“Like that child. Do as me and we’ll survive.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAZd3OURxakS
“But I want to live.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAZPC9tOGNee
“We can’t afford that. Think rationally and get rid of that light in your eyes. It’s time for you to grow up. I won’t be here forever and you’ll need to survive the world long enough to find another survivor.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANA5EIWGezETT
“…I’ll try mother.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAyxMWbyHwAO
“Don’t try, do.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAiavTD02bL5
As many times before, the child closes his eyes. After a minute, he opens them again. Within those blue eyes lies…something, a dying ember. A husk that wishes for life but is denied it. Unsatisfied with the performance, the mist slightly stirs.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAxjbph9esPL
“I’m…sorry.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAc3CjWwf2kp
“…It’s fine, you’ll get one day.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAyWs52rYN87
The 2 escape the city before they lose what they assume is daylight. Luckily, they find a dead tree to sleep against a few yards outside the city limits. They take out their worn and torn blankets out of their bags. Out of the child’s school bag comes a blanket with Sonic on it. Out of the mother’s backpack comes out a plain gray blanket.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAnkKpAAlGlp
They get into position against the tree and close their eyes. Eventually, they’ll go to sleep.
252Please respect copyright.PENANA2SOYZGMlBn
…252Please respect copyright.PENANAMndpTNKJnt
…
252Please respect copyright.PENANAn9kkdSFiJu
“I have no choice.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANARuq6JAmXOb
The child wakes up to see his mother’s dead eyes looking down on him and her hands around his neck.
252Please respect copyright.PENANArmLNkUSkd5
“I can’t make it to the next city with you endangering me. It’s the logical choice if I want to survive.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAQPT5LXawpG
The boy kicked, scratched, and fought back against his mother. But it was to no avail.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAzD56AXCgn9
“Shh, just go to sleep child.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANA7hGINUmIbK
He wanted to live. He didn’t want to die because-
252Please respect copyright.PENANADrmOwV8Ld8
Wait, why did he want to live?
252Please respect copyright.PENANAyZWwsHUxUR
The child looked to the right. The child looked to the left.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAjBLHS2X0Iq
There was nothing.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAlTp3TPe5lq
Only pain and devastation. Why live in such a world?
252Please respect copyright.PENANA8roZFyEEVr
As those thoughts consume him, his hands slack as he accepts death. It could even do some good. His mother is getting too skinny after all…
252Please respect copyright.PENANAIajl4CgrvS
So he gives in and waits for his mother to choke the life out of him. But something else broke first.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAYDuV9m19Qz
A tear.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAe8B06Ygins
Her mask slightly crumbles as tears begin to fall from her left eye. The child caresses his mother’s cheek in her time of need.
252Please respect copyright.PENANATL5KV5RJrr
“Don’t cry for me mother. You need to eat and pain will only bring doom upon you. You’re right, I will only endanger you.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAEX4H1gFvx2
Her grip weakens and her eye fills further with water.
252Please respect copyright.PENANA4lJbCyo4LZ
“Don’t stop mother. Kill me, please.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAqA4dhY4Qjp
“Why should I live anyway.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAwvjDWwnIt5
The embers in his eyes slowly evaporate, leaving a lifeless void in his eyes. That change in her son was all she could take.
252Please respect copyright.PENANA7Ej1ypfmuH
She removes her hands from his neck and embraces him.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAeqiXYdab2K
“Because hope still lives within us!”
252Please respect copyright.PENANABlbkZuZcRm
“W-What?”
252Please respect copyright.PENANARiyN8NcFXp
“I’m sorry son, I…was wrong. This is not the way.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAu8LCr0Fge6
“Even if we must end, it won’t be by my hands. We’ll go as humans, not the living dead.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAu6YvFlJPdV
The child’s eyes widen and he returns the hug with renewed warmth.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAqQ2i8cRm0K
“I love you, Zachariah.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAAlOiSYLvuD
“I love you too, Abigail.”
252Please respect copyright.PENANAYDXiEKofId
The lifeless husk regains the light in her eyes and the embers of the child explode into a kaleidoscope of color. All of their bottled-up emotions resurface and manifest in warm tears.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAGgINqODKQq
But it matters not.
252Please respect copyright.PENANA0R6m1dhs9H
The creatures of the black mist feel this and move to consume the last living light. It slowly encircles the pair. Their ravenous hunger can be felt in the soul.
252Please respect copyright.PENANArZDZPdCV6T
Their world was about to end but they choose to accept it. Not out of despair but because they finally found the truth.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAgKEAq1uvG3
No more words were necessary. The mother and son ignore the madness, finding peace in each other’s eyes. Within them lies love and warmth that drowns out the voices all around them.252Please respect copyright.PENANAZoy5faAH9a
252Please respect copyright.PENANAKJuKAGriFW
The creatures of the mist feel this and fully envelops the last ones. Devouring all that they were and could be.
252Please respect copyright.PENANAkkTMLHIabo
The only victory they could claim? They didn’t scream and they finally lived a moment worth living. A story truly worth telling.252Please respect copyright.PENANAv2gvdWNOFY