The airstrip was oddly empty, only occupied by a few small fuel trucks and two decommissioned helicopters. There were a few husked soldiers in small groups huddled together as if they were engaging in conversation while the bomb was going off.
"It's so calm," Boulder said, looking at the laughing faces on the burnt corpses.
"They seem almost oblivious," Amanda said, watching as vines sprouted from the oozing faces.
"That's new," Ashure said, disgusted by the sight of the wiggling vines wrapping themselves around the faces of the husks. The three of them continued to slowly walk the perimeter of the landing strip searching for anything useful. The smell of jet fuel and burnt rubber was still noticeable even though nothing had been fueled or landed in days.
The concrete and the tarmac were broken apart by large sprouting trees that could've been planted hundreds of years before. Plants and flowers peeked up through the cracks the trees had created. Amanda stumbled over the cracks trying her best to keep her footing while simultaneously being trapped in her mind.
"Have you guys had any...weird dreams recently?" She asked, reluctantly. Boulder and Ashure stopped abruptly before turning back to look at her.
"What kind of weird?" Ashure asked, nervously.
"The stuck and can't wake up weird," She replied slowly. Boulder and Ashure turned to each other, not sharing the smallest of words and looking almost horrified.
"What?" She asked, confusedly
"My first was the night of the blast, we had narrowly escaped and made it to the barn. I was on edge and convinced I was dreaming so, the only thing that made sense was to go to sleep. As soon as I did I awoke in this dark room with a window in it, I couldn't speak but I could move around. I was...naked so I could feel a slow breeze brush across my body as I approached the window. Outside I couldn't see anything it was pitch black except for one lit street light, underneath it was a patch of grass with a man standing there," Ashure recalled.
"Who was it?" Amanda asked, leaning forward.
"I don't know, he was wearing an all-black suit, sunglasses, and a fedora. He just stood there staring at me. I watched him for a moment noticing he wasn't moving in the slightest. It seemed like the breeze that was moving the grass below his feet wasn't affecting his clothes at all. They were frozen where he stood no rippling, no waving. Then as I leaned in closer for a better look the light flickered and then completely turned off. It was off for maybe half a second before coming back on, when it did he was gone," He continued, getting shakier with each word.
"I stumbled backward confused and scared, I turned to search for anything else in the room and when I did he was standing behind me. I wanted to ask him who he was but I couldn't speak almost like my mouth was missing. So as I mumbled loudly and walked backward toward the cracked window he inched closer to me. Then once my back was against the cold glass he brought his face to mine and slowly removed his glasses. When he did I saw nothing but darkness, they were deep and empty I could see my face in them. More than that I could see my mouth wasn't missing, it was stitched shut. As I fumbled my hands across my lips I felt the stitches. I tried to scream but it didn't work they were muffled at best. The worst part at this point the man was grinning.
His teeth were sharp like daggers and stained red. Then before I could release another muffled scream he brought his hands to my face and caressed it. He opened the window behind me before leaning in and whispering in my ear, he said Speak. In a raspy voice before slicing the stitches keeping my mouth closed. Then he pushed me out of the window, I fell for what felt like an eternity before I finally smacked the ground and then I was awake," He finished, his hands trembling as he ended the story.
Amanda stood stunned by the story she had heard. She had hoped that she wasn't the only one who was having terrifying dreams but she didn't know they could be so bad.
"I...I'm sorry," She uttered, placing her hand on his shoulder. Ashure stayed silent for a moment, reliving the experience in his head and remembering the fear he felt at that moment.
"What about you Boulder?" Amanda asked, knowing Ashure needed his time to process.
"I'm not ready for that," He said smiling slightly.
"Okay, I understand," She nodded. She thought back to both of her dreams. Her mind searched for answers as she stared down at the floor, deep in thought. She wondered if the dreams meant something, if they were all experiencing some sort of radiation poisoning, or if this was all one big coincidence. Then it clicked in her head, her worst fear was snakes ever since she got bit by a rattlesnake on a road trip to Arizona when she was twelve.
"Ashure, what is your biggest fear?" She asked, hesitantly.
"I'm not sure, I guess being kidnapped is a big one. Why?" He said, curiously.
"That's it!" She shouted excitedly.
"What's it?"
"The dreams. They imprisoned us in the worst version of our biggest fear. You're terrified of being kidnapped, so they locked you in a room, you couldn't speak or call for help, and you didn't recognize where you were," She said.
"Okay, I mean I suppose you could view it that way, but I don't know if that theory works everywhere. What about everyone else?" He asked skeptically.
"She's right," Boulder said, softly.
"What do you mean?" Ashure asked, looking past Amanda.
"My worst fear, it's the ocean," He mumbled.
"So?" He replied, not understanding
"In my dream, I was stuck in a sinking ship and I couldn't get out. I drowned, and that's my worst fear," He said, shakily. The three of them looked at each other silently for a moment. The longer they thought about it the more the theory made sense.
"We need to bring this to the group," Ashure said, pulling himself from deep thought.
"We need to know who else is having these dreams, and how bad they are," Amanda added. As they began to turn back to head toward the command center she looked down briefly, noticing something odd beneath the cracked pavement.
"Holy shit, do you guys see that?" She asked, pointing between the cracks. Beneath them were the vines, but they were much larger than the ones wrapping the buildings. They were thick like tree roots and moved at a faster rate.
"Are those-"
"Vines," Boulder said, kneeling to get a better look.
"They aren't just consuming buildings. They're underneath the whole goddamn town," Amanda said, anxiously.
"We need to get back to the group. Now." Ashure said.