An Average Day
It was an average day; everyone was outside, doing their daily chores. The children were playing down by the water pipeline; the ravens were soaring through the air, emiting a subtle but true crowing sound; the breeze was a warm, relaxing kind of breeze. The kind of breeze that felt like a wet lukewarm rag was slowly being wiped across your chest. As everyone was carrying on with their usual duties, there wasn't even a slight distubance. The children would play loudly, but they new not to interupt the adult's duties. By the midday, there was a slight chill in the air. The wind started to act up, as if god himself was blowing on us. Old man Carlo was having trouble entering his house, so a few of the younger men helped him. By the time the wind stopped being so harsh, the clouds had begun to form. At first it was just a drizzle of sky water, but it later became a deluge. As we dug our irrigation ditches, and put our valubles indoors, we waited for the rain to stop. And it did. Everyone then continued on with their duties; gathering food, getting water from the pipeline, scrounging the nearby area for weapons. You know, the usual.
As it was a few hours from dark, the children were brought inside, as is custom. We then did our last duties; checking the countryside wall, and repairing any breaches; calling the hunting dogs to come home; looking for any nearby survivors; and lighting the fires.
We aren't a community of leisure, our dwellings are but practical huts, with doors, windows, and solid brick walls. A few of us have fireplaces, but these are only for look, we do all our cooking on grills. It was starting to get dark, all of the women and children were inside, eating dinner and telling stories. A few of us would check the local area for any wall breaches. By about 7:20, the shrouded veil of darkness was almost completely apon us. The fauna began to flee, and the air turned freezing cold. We were all afraid, but it was nothing we hadn't seen before. As our wives and children watched us from indoors, protected by layers of brick, they had fearful expressions on their faces. It was Tommy Mathew's first time on duty, as he just turned 13. He didn't know what to expect, but we reasurured him that nothing would go wrong, as the day was average so far. Suddenly, in the distance, we could hear the terrified screams of wild dogs and mountain lions. We knew what was coming. As we said our prayers, and made our peace with god, Jeremy Adams began to panic; he broke out in blood curdling screams, and made a run for his house. He knew that once the doors are sealed, they can't be opened until morning, but his nerves got the best of him. We all smiled at him, because we knew what happens to those who panic. They make their presence known. It was 9 PM, the sun had just about left us, we could all feel the chill, as was usual. Finally, we heard the sound of flesh coliding with brick, as was usual. Eventually, the brick colapsed in the distance, we knew what would happen next. They began to move fast, we could hear their distorted footsteps as they drew near. The inhuman sounds of high pitched cries were becoming louder, and louder. All of our hearts were beating out of our chests, and Ricky Enfield urinated in his pants. I just kept smiling, because this was nothing out of the usual.
Yes, it was an average day...
But now it was night.
The lurkers began to charge, we fired our rifles as fast as we could, but we weren't able to stop them all. Henry Davies was the first to go, we could only gaze at his shocked expression in horror, as they dragged him away. Tom Madison was feeling brave, so he pulled out his knife, and charged them. He was taken within seconds.
While this was going on, I just kept smling and thinking to myself. This was nothing I hadn't seen before. Nearly 2 hours passed before they finally left. A period which seemed like years to us. The sun started to peer out of the dark shroud at around 4 o'clock, and we told our families that they could commense the long, tedious process of unlocking the doors.
And so we all carried on with our daily life cycle, the children went out to play by the water pipeline, making their usual noises. It was Joey Edgarson's 13th birthday today. The women prepared meals, and cleaned our dirty clothes. Those of us that weren't tired would look for breaches in the wall, and repair them over a period of hours. Yes, all was well in our little community.
As this average day continued, we knew what to expect. We always knew what happens after the sun sets.