The Long Crawl

With a crunch Kelsey landed and lay still.

A creeping agony from the cold floor followed, seeping into her bones and pressing into every jutted angle of her torso. A high pitched noise filled the air, its pulsating tone matching the throbbing in her head. Her back was twisted at an odd angle. She groaned quietly and tried to move, but only her arms responded. She couldn’t feel her legs. All around her she could hear shouting, screams, yells. Chaos of every kind. Why couldn’t she feel her legs? In front of her were dark wooden pillars; the bannister for the stairs. She was still on the first floor of the mansion, just a few feet from a bedroom door. Inside that bedroom was the window she’d climbed in to get here. Snake had gone in just moments before her, but she couldn’t see where he went. They’d called him that when they found him, thrashing around inside an elevator shaft. He’d been unable to speak, so they just named him after his new form, and he seemed to respond to it just fine. Snake… where was he now? Flexing her hands, she reached for the bannister and tried to drag herself along it. A weight held her in place. She turned to see the ruined face of her comrade on top of her. She yelped and writhed underneath the corpse, pushing it off. There was a flurry of movement to her right and she clamped her eyes shut, teeth clenched and heart pounding. The drumming of footfall passed by, and it was quiet again.

The only way was down. If she was going to escape, it would be the stairs or back out the window. The wisteria vines on the wall she’d used to climb up had been helpful, but for getting back… She continued to pull herself along the bannister until she reached the first set of stairs. There were two; a shorter set leading to a central platform, and a larger flight, directly opposite the large front doors of the mansion. With the bulk of her weight under her arms, she began her descent, shifting slowly from step to step. Dizzying agony shot up her spine with each bump. Sweat dripped into her eyes, burning and blurring her vision. She continued on, breathing in short, shallow gasps as she descended. There was a scream from somewhere outside. Suddenly, her arm gave way and she slipped, tumbling the rest of the way down. She landed in a heap and lay there, body exploding in pain.

After a moment she opened her eyes, and saw Hamza lying next to her. Hamza the stoic, she’d ironically called him before. Hamza, who would bring pastries to the lab on Tuesdays, and danced while he put on his PPE, and taught anatomy students at Kings College on his days off… Hamza, who had to watch his parents’ cognition decline faster than he could work to cure it. Blood dripped from his nose. His eyes were vacant, looking nowhere in particular. 

“Hamza?”

He didn’t answer. The tears returned, heavier now. Footsteps passed by her left and she froze, hoping whoever it was wouldn’t see her. She stayed there, listening to the voices of the small group of normies. That was her name for them, the unevolved. The weak. They were supposed to be weak. A voice rose over the rest of the group. It was the traitor, Samson, talking. Talking as if her friends were monsters, animals. As if he wasn’t a complete hypocrite. She could have spat at him, but in the moment that would be signing her own death warrant. If she died now, she wouldn’t be able to help the others. She couldn’t move yet. Just wait ‘til they’re gone.

Finally, she heard the normies leaving and with only her arms, she dragged herself closer to Hamza’s body. She pressed her face against his. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “They will pay for this.”

And they would pay. That bastard, Samson, would pay. Not just for Hamza. For everything. Kal would see to that. Kelsey searched Hamza’s pockets for his phone, but found nothing. With a frustrated sob, she pulled herself to the open front door, and, gripping its handle, tried to stand. But her hands, slick with sweat and blood, failed to find purchase, and slid, sending her sinking back to the floor. Panic rose in her throat and she coughed back a wail. Just breathe, she told herself. 

Dragging herself past the doors, she stared out into the expanse that was the front garden. Through the rain, past the gravel driveway and fountain, she could see the others fighting, dying. Dying to normies. Despair and horror swept over her. They were supposed to be weaker. 

I need to warn Lev.

Kelsey crawled. She still couldn’t feel her legs. They seemed twisted and heavy, like she was dragging two sacks of liquid behind her. She didn’t want to look at them and see how little time she had before the rest of her body gave up. But, she might heal. That was something. No. She would heal. Her legs could get better, hell, they could regrow if she needed them to. The new DNA came with gifts, didn’t it? It worked the first time, didn’t it? She’d never sit in that poxy wheelchair again. Never feel pain again. They’d never see suffering again. That’s what Kal had promised her, promised them all. She felt it now, though. In slithers and shards, in deep aches and something much stronger, something raw and tender, throbbing at the base of her spine. 

Icy rain pummelled her as she crawled from the dais to the driveway, hands slipping on the sharp gravel stones. She gritted her teeth and kept going. She’d done this before, she could do it again. When her mother would take her chair away to punish her, she would drag herself then. And she would drag herself now. Through this rain, through the gravel, through the mud. She would get back to Lev and warn him, warn the others. Something had gone wrong. That, or Samson had tricked them. What if he’d made something better? A better strain, used better DNA? What if her friends weren’t fighting ordinary humans? 

A car was sitting on the driveway, a little further along. She could rest there until the rain passed, and recoup. Yes, that’s what she’d do. Fingers gripping, tearing through the stones, she dragged herself to the rear passenger side of the car and climbed inside. She closed the door and lay down. From outside she heard screams, then a roar. A shiver ran its way down her body, and the tears returned. 

It’s not that he had lied. Kal believed in their goal. But, something must have gone wrong. There was no time to think about that now. The only thing she had time for now was hiding. She could figure the rest out. She sank into an uneasy rest, somewhere between sleep and passing out.