Oh Death - A Short Story by Ryan-Ashley

I'm my dream, I see it every time. A wide open field, with bees, and flowers, and deer walking through the tree line. I sigh, in awe of it's beauty. It's nature. It's innocence.

I walk through the field, looking at the dandelions, and the lilacs, and roses. I kneel down and touch a pink flower that had just bloomed. I rub the pollen off my fingers and smell the sweet scent left over from the bees. I close my eyes as I take it all in. I open my eyes, and my heart sank to my stomach. The flower had wilted and died, and the blades of grass had turned brown. The deer were all dead, and the bees rained down from the darkening sky.

And that's when I heard it. The sickening crack and tear coming from behind me. I slowly turned around, afraid of what I might find. I looked down at the ground, watching it as the grass behind me swelled. The ground tore in the middle, and fingers sprouted out like fresh flowers. And with the fingers, came a hand, and then an elbow. A second hand emerged some seconds after. I watched in horror as the creature pulled itself out of the ground, rejecting it's grave. It stood up, it's back towards me. I willed my feet to move, but they wouldn't budge.

I trembled, watching it's head slowly turn around towards me, snapping it's own neck. It's face was hidden behind a black gas mask, although I swear it was glaring at me. I took in deep breaths, but the air escaped my lungs every time. The creature bent over backwards, still watching me. It's muscle spasms and twitches grew in intensity. I watched in horror as ran towards me like some supernatural being from hell.

I awoke right as it got to me. I took in some deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. I sat up, wiping the cold sweat from my brow, feeling the cold cement against my back. I was still here. Still in this prison. This hell, surrounded by monsters like the one in my dream. I didn't know why, but after I wake up, I always hope to be somewhere else, or maybe back in that field with the flowers.

Anywhere but here.

My right side had gone cold from the long hours of sleep on the floor. I brought my knees up to try and retain some body heat. I looked around the dimly lit room. There were still three of us left. A girls body was left on the right side of the room. She had been killed yesterday. Usually the monsters dispose of the bodies soon after they kill them.

One girl was on the right side of the room, next to the dead girls body. She had copper hair, and was laying down on the floor. I couldn't tell if she was alive or dead. The other girl was still alive. She was sitting up in the middle of the room, back against the wall and facing the door. She was beautiful, had long dark hair and freckles. Her face was emotionless as she sat staring at the door. I wondered what she was thinking.

Was she thinking about her home? Her family? Maybe she was thinking about when the monsters would come for her, like I was. When would I be just another body on the floor to be disposed of, like the girl on the floor? When would they come for me? Who was next?

All questions I hoped I would never get the answers too.

I sat there for a while longer, loosing track of time. Hours could have passed, or just minutes. No one would know. There were no clocks, and no windows to tell what time it was. Every day was the same. At the end of the day, when they came for you, you either lived, or you died. No one knows how they choose who to take, or why. They just came.

I could almost hear everyone's hearts stop when we heard the step echo through the halls. No one moved a muscle. The steps got closer, and I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping it passed our room. I heard them echo on the other side of the door. I prayed to myself, "Please, please, please don't stop. Keep going. Don't Stop. Keep going." I continued praying to myself for what felt like an eternity. Please, don't stop at our door. Just leave us alone.

The footsteps stopped. I visibly shuttered in horror as the doorknob slowly turned. I covered my mouth, eyes wide open, and tears streaming down my cheeks. Will it choose me? My heart raced at the thought.

The girl that was sitting in the middle of the room began to sing. Only my eyes moved as I looked at her. I was too panicked to do anything else.

"Oh death. Oh death.
Won't you spare me over another
Oh, but what is this that I can't see
with ice cold hands taking hold of me"

She sat still, and continued to sing. She had the most beautiful voice I had ever heard. The door slowly opened, scraping against the floor. Three of the monsters stood in the doorway, all wearing gas masks. One of them held a sledge hammer. But she continued to sing.

"Oh, when God is gone, and the devil takes hold,
who will have mercy on your soul
Oh death."

The monsters walked to the right side of the room, and looked at the dead body. They ignored it, and walked to the girl lying still on the floor. She didn't' move. maybe she really was dead.

"Oh, No wealth no glory, no silver no gold
Nothing satisfies me, but your soul
Oh death"

They slowly walked over and watched the girl singing. She stared ahead, devoid of emotion. I sat in the corner, trembling. I squeezed my mouth shut so hard it hurt. I didn't want to bring any attention to myself. I didn't want them to choose me.

They didn't move, but they turned their heads to look in my direction, and that was all it took to terrify me. Oh my God, they are going to choose me. They are going to kill me. My tears streamed down my cheeks even harder, and it took all my willpower not to scream out in terror.

I let out a sigh of relief when the looked away from me. Instead, they focused their attention at the singing girl. My heart raced again, but for a different reason. They had chosen her. They were going to kill her.

Two of the monsters grabbed her arms on either side and pulled her to her feet. I wanted to scream at them, to tell them to let her go, but I was too afraid. I didn't want to die. They lowered her on the floor, laying on her stomach. The monsters held her arms down on either side, but she didn't struggle. Instead she continued to sing.

"Well I am death, none can excel
I'll open the doors to heaven or hell
Oh death,"

The third monster stood in front of her, and gripped the sledge hammer. I turned away and closed my eyes, not wanting to watch.

"Oh death,"

I could escape the sight, but I couldn't escape the sickening sound of the crack when the sledge hammer met her head. Her throat gurgled as she tried to sing the last of the verse.

"My n-name is d-death,
and t-the end is-"

The sledge hammer came down one final time, and I heard one last crack. She fell silent. I could hear the blood pour onto the floor like a leaky pipe, as her hear split open and was crushed like a watermelon.

I pried my eyes open, summoning up the bravery to look at the scene in front of me. Her beautiful face was now unrecognizable. The blood dripped off the sledge hammer, leaving a trail on the floor. I watched, mesmerized as it pooled at the bottom of the hammer, and then fell on the floor. The drops made a path, as I now realize, directly towards me.

I looked up and stared at the monsters in front of me. I was too terrified to scream or cry. Were they going to kill me too? Crack my head open like a watermelon? I was the last one left, after all. Instead, it did something I never saw before.

It offered me the sledge hammer.

I stared at the handle presented to me, confused. Why would I pick it up? Did they want me to do something with it? I wondered about it for a few seconds until it hit me.

They were giving me a choice. Pick up the hammer, and join them, or die. Maybe this was what they did with the last survivor of the groups. Pick up the hammer, or they'll use it on you, and you'll die with everybody else.

Join, or die.

I took a deep breath, trying slow my racing heartbeat, and the tears stopped flowing. I had made my decision.

I closed my eyes and started to sing.

"Oh, death."