| abstract | - Today was a year since the Earth had stopped spinning. The tides were no longer controlled by the Moon, and cities that once held millions now lay in a watery grave. Life in the mountains became impossible, as the air was too thin to breathe. I lived in a farmhouse I had come across awhile back. Supplies were constantly running low, and I had to always return to the murderous town I once thought was the safest place in the world. I had been hungry for three days now. My food was completely gone, and the water I drank was down to melting snow. Downtown was the most dangerous place I could go. The suburbs still had people, but much less so. The houses inside still held many canned foods and preserved meats. They were the last places to be raided. I grabbed my pillowcase, along with my pistol, and walked down the road to the decaying houses that held my only chance of survival. Bodies were strewn along the road in large amounts as I continued towards population. The causes of death were vast, as there was now so many ways to die. Some people simply collapsed from hunger or cold. Others fell victims to the many bands of raiders that would kill and steal whatever they wanted. Law became a thing of the past. The house I came to was desecrated to the point of nearly collapsing. The windows were busted and boarded, and the door was wide open with snow and rot taking its home inside already. I lit my torch, as batteries were now nearly impossible to find. The house was two stories, and was not lavishly furnished to begin with. A closet was to my near immediate right upon entering, and not too far ahead of that was the entrance to the kitchen. Straight ahead lead into a living room, with a staircase on the left leading to the basement, and another one going upstairs. I stared at the knob of the closet. I shakily sent my hand to it, and turning the knob I found it unlocked. When I opened the door, a man had pounced upon me. His hair and beard was mangled, his clothing torn to shreds. Blood doused his entire body, and he sent a knife straight for my neck. I grabbed his arm and struggled to keep the knife from my neck. With my free hand, I reached for my pistol and pulled it to his head. Upon pulling the trigger, the man immediately collapsed on me. I pushed the corpse off to the side, and noticed my pillowcase still in his dead grasp. I walked into the kitchen where the smell of rotting flesh began to greet my nose. It was a smell that had become familiar to me, as sometimes it would be all I would smell at night. I looked into the pantry. It was open, but nothing had been taken from it. It was full of canned dried foods, and looked largely untouched when compared to the rest of the house. I looked inside my pillowcase. It was empty, but held so much sentimental value to me. It used to be on my bed every night when I was a kid. I took it out on Halloween every year. Now, I used it to filter my water before I boiled it. It was one of the most important things to me, since people were no longer in my life. It would be with me until I died, more than likely. This pillowcase was soon filled to the top with food. The cans were at the bottom so they wouldn’t crush the boxes. I knew I couldn’t stay here, but I still wanted to explore a bit. My torch had dropped on the floor, but had not caught anything on fire. I pick it up and pointed it towards the living room. Several cracks of light illuminated the room, and it was bare and uninteresting. I pointed my torch towards the basement. I knew if there were any more supplies, they would be down there. A feeling didn’t sit well with me. As I descended the stairs, the smell of rotting flesh became stronger. At the base of the staircase, two closed doors were in front of me. I opened the one straight ahead first. It was a family room, with a large guest bed in the smaller room next to it. The putrid smell of decay was so strong at this point I nearly ran out of the house. I walked into the bed room, a mirror was on the wall. I looked to it and noticed what happens to your appearance when it is no longer important to you. Dried blood doused my clothing and hair. I had begun to grow a beard, and I looked exhausted. I was, as sleeping was very difficult under constant stress. I looked just as bad as the psycho who tried to kill me. While examining myself, I had turned my back on the bed. A woman had gotten from it, and stood behind me. She made no movement and spoke no words. Turning around to her my heart nearly jumped from my chest. The way she was staring at me, I knew she had something wrong with her. She had long, straight black hair and wore a flowing white nightgown. Her eyes focused to my pillowcase after almost a full minute of staring. She wanted what was in it. When she snatched at it, I jerked my hand back. A frown came across her face. I slowly walked out of the room, not turning my back on her. Suddenly she left out a piercing scream. She charged at me, knocking me to the ground. I reached for my pistol once more but she threw it to the side with incredible strength. I sent my steel-toed boot straight to her stomach, slamming her against the wall. As she made for another charge, I sent the heavy bottom of my pillowcase into her head. The cans made a heavy clank against her skull, sending her sprawling to the ground in a bleeding mess. I rushed out of the room, being sure to lock the door behind me. I ran up both flights of stairs, now being in the hallway upstairs. Towards one end of the hall was darkness, possibly more doors. Not trusting closed doors, I walked into the master bedroom. I was frozen in fear by a set of eyes staring out to me in the bedroom closet of the hall. A naked albino man with a long, white beard came from it and pointed a gun at me. There was nothing I could do as he slowly got closer. When he reached me, he snatched the pillowcase from my hand and emptied the contents onto the floor. He stared at the contents for a moment before looking back up to me. I was still frozen in fear, knowing I could lose my life. He took the pillowcase and threw it over my head. I couldn’t breathe. I fought hard, but eventually the life slipped away from me. I died, collapsing onto the bed. The pillowcase that had given me so much life was the weapon of my murder. I guess I was right to think it would be with me until the end. Someone will hopefully get as much use from it as I did.
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