The Innkeeper

Lex’s speed instantly picked up once he exited the park onto the cobblestone road. The style and architecture of the buildings was dramatically different from what Lex was used to on Earth, but he couldn’t be bothered with that now. All he cared about was getting to some place safe.

The road, a wide single path cutting through the city, was littered with large rectangular objects Lex could only assume were vehicles, though he saw no tires. There were no windows in the “cars” either so he couldn’t look through them and didn’t know how to open them, so they were automatically disqualified as a hiding place.

The buildings, which were only a couple stories high, seemed as if they were cut out of large rocks as they had no joints or seams, and most importantly, no doors or windows! How was he supposed to get in?

Lex continued limping in the darkness, further and further away from the park. Fortunately there didn’t seem to be any living zombies roaming the roads. He said “living” zombies because the roads seemed to be littered with dead, rotten bodies he could only assume were zombies. That made him feel at ease as that probably meant there were living humans clearing the…

A loud crash attracted his attention, which was followed by more banging. It seemed someone was fighting. After thinking for a moment, he slowly started moving towards the sound, doing his best to stay out of sight. If he found a few people he could possibly consider joining them.

In the few minutes that he had been walking his pain had reduced, however slight. That at least proved Botlam Dew seemed to be effective, for now. Leaning against the cars for support and cover, he peeked around a corner to see if he could get a view of the fight.

What he saw was not humans fighting zombies, instead he saw an eight feet giant monster that looked like it might have once been a lion viciously devouring a small horde of zombies. The zombies, moving with their usual slow pace, gathered around the lion and tried attacking it. They scraped and bit the lion but seemed to be doing no damage, while the lion casually bit the head of a zombie and seemed to be sucking something out of its body. The already decayed zombie shriveled up before the lion flung it away, crashing it into a nearby car, and bit the next one.

Lex was horrified. Then he slowly started moving backwards. Although his steps were already light, he did his best to not make even the slightest bit of noise as he retreated. Every time his backpack would rustle he would be horrified! This world was too scary! The situation, however, did not seem to be improving. When he turned around, he saw several zombies walking towards the lion from the distance, and he was directly in their path! The loud noise of the fight was too prominent in the silent night. He had to get out of the line of sight immediately!

Quickly he changed his direction and walked down a different street gripping his knife tightly, as if it was the only thing giving him courage. Lightning flashed through the sky again, and the thunder that followed seemed to signal the start of a devastating storm. The rain started spontaneously and fell with such speed and ferocity that it would put a charging army to shame.

It was around this time that he finally saw a building with a small portion of the wall collapsed. Thanking his miserable luck finally turning, he stumbled towards the building and entered it. It was completely dark now, and except for the few flashes of lightning occasionally Lex had no other source of light. He was a little fearful; he didn’t want to enter the building without being able to see. What if he walked right into a zombie? It was then, like a revelation from the heavens, that he remembered that he had packed a flashlight. Stumbling through his backpack, he searched for the light and turned it on. Not wanting to attract too much attention in the darkness he immediately entered the building into what he assumed was once a living room. Broken furniture and shattered glass covered the floor like rubble and the room showed clear signs of a fight. A few skeletons lay on the ground, broken and dismembered. The one thing the room did not have, however, was a door that led deeper into the house. The people of this world must have had some other way to enter and exit, Lex would have to figure that out somehow. For now though, he needed rest.

Lex stumbled to a corner in the room and dragged the remains of a couch to cover him as he sat to rest out of sight. He closed the torch so as to not attract attention, but remained vigilant in case he discovered zombies coming towards him. The knife was still gripped tightly in his hand.

*****

A woman stood nervously in a large drawing room, dressed in a very formal looking suit, gripping her son’s hand tightly. Her son, a small boy who stood beside her, looked around the large room in wonder and awe. Once the child had been in rooms much more lavish than this, but he was young and memories even a few months old were too ancient for him let alone those from further back. His left hand was a little uncomfortable – his mother was squeezing too tightly, but he did not say anything as he knew his mother would only do that when she was not feeling well. His mother was often not feeling well these days, she thought he didn’t know but he could tell. He didn’t know how to make her feel better though, he was only a child. Sometimes he would share his cereal with her, or save some candy he got from school to give to her.

In his right hand the child was holding a golden key. It was a toy he’d gotten from somewhere, he couldn’t remember where, and he really liked it. Holding the key made him feel stronger, and sometimes when he was cold it would keep him warm. He tried to give his mother the key so she would feel better, but she was usually busy with other things. He kept the key with him always, so that when his mother was less busy he could give it to her.

While the child was lost in his own thoughts, an old man entered the room with a male nurse helping him walk and a female nurse pulling an IV pole with a drip that was attached to the man’s hand. The old man looked weak, but his eyes were filled with energy as he looked at the woman before him.

“Hera my child, it’s good to see you, it’s good to see you. What an age it’s been since we last met. Come closer, let me get a better look at you.” The man spoke jovially, and waved at the woman to come closer.

“I remember your wedding, such a happy day. Much happier times, those,” the old man said while reminiscing.

“Yes,” Hera said softly, trying her best not to let herself think back to then. Her husband had died, along with the rest of her family, and thinking back to happier days brought her more pain than relief. The old man in front of her was not really that old. He was in his late 50’s, and at her wedding he had been strong and healthy. A rare disease in recent years had sapped most of his strength, leaving him in his current predicament. He was also an old family friend, the only one so far who had agreed to meet her. It was funny, so many of the people who she used to think were close to her had suddenly become distant after her family died and she was left destitute. Even when this old man, Will, agreed to meet she was scared he had some ulterior motives. Still, she had no choice but to give it a shot.

“This must be young Jimmy. Such a handsome young boy,” the old man said, looking at the child. But Jimmy suddenly moved behind his mother, as if hiding from him.

Hera smiled weakly at the old man, as if to apologize about the child’s behavior, but Will didn’t seem to mind and only looked at them fondly.

“I was very surprised to hear from you. I hadn’t heard about your family…I’m…sorry to hear about them,” the man uttered with a forlorn voice. “I would have reached out to you myself if I had known. My health keeps me occupied, I barely meet anybody these days.”

“It’s…alright,” Hera said with some difficulty. “You have troubles of your own. Just agreeing to meet with me is a great favor…”

“Nonsense!” the old man interrupted. “You’re like family, child, like family. How could I let you stay out there all alone when I heard about what you’re going through? You will stay with me, and I will help you get back on your feet. It’s settled.”

“No that’s not…” the woman tried to speak, it was not her intention to accept handouts, but the old man would not have it.

“None of this ‘no that’s not’ business child, none of it. There’s not much that this old man can do anymore, but that doesn’t mean I will let family suffer out in the world alone. Your father was like my brother, your mother was like my elder sister. How would I face them if they were to find out I let you suffer so much? No child, you mustn’t treat me like an outsider. You must stay, and keep this old man company. It’s been so gloomy in this house these past few years, your presence will liven the place up.”

Hera almost teared up, though she controlled herself quickly. The old man was insistent and stubborn, but she felt from him a caring warmth she hadn’t in a long time.

The child, who had been listening to everything so far, kept looking between the old man and his mother. It seemed like they would be living with him now, and somehow that made his mother happy. The child thought for a bit, then slowly crept out from behind his mother and approached the scary looking old man. He was skinny and wrinkly and had veins showing all over his body, but he was a good guy if he could make his mother happy. Finally, he held up the golden key to the old man and mumbled, “for you.”

The old man was taken aback by the shy child’s gesture, but smiled and reached out to take the golden key. When he touched the key though, he was rocked to his very core as he stared at it in horror and excitement!