THE GHOUL RISING

My lungs burn.

Each breath tears through my chest like broken glass as I'm pushing through the open field that is surrounded by dark forest.

The trees blur into shadows around me.

My hand presses hard against my abdomen, fingers slick and warm. I can't look down, because if I do, I might collapse from the sight of it. That's one thing I can't afford to do.

'Where is the exit?' I thought.

My foot catches on something I don't know that makes my face kiss the ground.

My palms slam against wet earth, and the impact sends white-hot pain radiating through my middle. I bite down so hard I taste blood.

The sounds are getting closer.

That wet, gurgling noise echoes between the trees in multiple voices.

My heart hammers against my ribs as I think it might tear through them. The darkness makes them sound like they're everywhere, converging, closing in.

'This is it.' I thought 'I'm going to die here.'

The thought of my little sister, Sommy, cross my minds.

Her face floods my thoughts. Oval-shaped, with those worried eyes that shouldn't belong to someone so young.

She's only seventeen. I promised I'd take care of her as her only guardian, but here I am, guts spilling between my fingers, about to become another body in the dark.

What will happen to her when I'm gone?

She'll be alone, with no security and support. But she's a minor, so hopefully, something could be done for her.

The gurgling gets louder.

They're so close now I can smell their rotten meat. My jaw clenches. I never should have taken this job.

I press myself against a tree, as if my thin body could somehow disappear into the bark, accepting my fate as my thought drift to the moment I should I walked away from it.

The guild hall reeks of rust and sweat. I watch Brixen, my sponsor’s shoulders hunch forward, his eyes tracking the floor patterns like they’re the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen.

“You’re a carrier.”

The words drop between us. My fingers curl into fists. A carrier is someone who carries and take cares of raiders items. In other words, a slave.

Brixen, who had been a great friend and support for me and Sommie since this virus freak show that turns humans into cannibals, plunged the world into chaos.

This happened for almost a decade ago, reducing one-third of humans population.

The Bulwark is one of the only few places that wasn't infected due to the prompt intervention of curtailing it before it spreads.

The walls built are to keep the infects away so no one goes out unless approved by the authorities. Despite world collapse, it still operates normally as a vibrant city.

Vehicles are driven, rush hours still operate and so is class structure.

Many even speculate that it's an agenda to keep them in perpetual fear, If only they know what's at stake if history repeats itself here.

“But, you never mentioned that to me yester—”

“Just for this task.” His voice speeds up, still refusing to look at me. “Next time, I’ll talk to them about upgrading you. I promise.”

“No.” The word comes out harder than I intended. “There won’t be a next time. Not if you keep deceiving me like this.”

His shoulders and eyes drop by an inch. He swallows hard as he nervously looks around, and then the words tumble out.

“I’ll give you ten percent of my earnings.” He negotiated.

“Earnings you still don't want to tell me about.” I scoff, “No thanks.”

“Come on, man, are you going to leave me hanging out like this?”

“How much do you earn from this?” he halts, beads of sweat forming on his temple. I'm the one that is going to risk my life beyond the wall so why is it so hard to tell me?

“I’m waiting.”

“I earn around five iras per piece.” He states, not looking at me. I urge him to go on. “Every raid brings no less than ten for me, and that’s done daily.”

I stared in disbelief. “You make five thousand daily?"

He places his hand over my mouth to keep me quiet.

“That’s what it was supposed to be, but I have to pay raiders or scavengers each time, and also buy additional sets of equipment to replace the old worn ones. I end up with a thousand at most.”

That’s still more than my wage.

“Fifty percent.” I bargain.

"Fifty percent?!" he exclaim "What are you? A thief?"

I glare. "You need to make up for all those years you've been hiding this from me."

Brixen sighs. "I just started it as a side hustle outside my job. My father doesn't even know about this. It's only you, man."

"Guess that's a rich man's problems."

“How about thirty?” The desperation bleeds into his voice.

“Fifty.” I frown. “Or should I top it up to seventy?”

Brixen shakes his head. “Fine, fifty. I’ll give you fifty percent of my own earnings. Please say you’ll join.”

I pause. Fifty percent. The number hangs in the air between us.

I let my breath out slowly through my nose. “How much are we talking about?”

“Between twenty and fifty thousand iras. Depends on what we bring back.”

My mind stutters. Twenty thousand. That’s food, bills, debts paid. That’s enough to set me and Sommy up properly.

“It’s not still much on my end of the bargain.” He must see something on my face because he's talking faster now, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Most of it goes to repairs and supplies.”

The pieces slot together in my head. “That's why you want me. To cut costs.”

He nods as his face flushes.

I open my mouth to tell him exactly what I think of being used like a pack mule, but then Sommy’s face flashes in my mind. Her ribs press against her skin. The way her eyes lose focus when she hasn’t eaten.

I swallow the anger that tastes like bile. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

He relaxes and starts explaining.

What to expect, how to distribute weight, which raiders have tempers, which one might show mercy. I listen and calculate. Fifteen thousand minimum.

Six months in a low apartment. Better than the shack. Better than watching my sister waste away.

The raiders arrive like a storm.

Their equipment catches the light that displays actual maintained gear, not the rusted scraps I’m used to seeing at my workplace. They move sharply and precisely with every step. Their gestures are sharp with confidence.

My breath catches in my throat as I watch them, wondering if there're any protectors amongst them? But then, Protectors are the highest paid in the whole of Bulwark, so you’ll rarely find one doing something as menial as raiding or scavenging.

I pick up baggage as the gate grinds open, a sound that echoes through my bones. We flood through into the world beyond.

The smell of rotten decay hits me first, making my eyes water.

On the walls were dark stains, with pieces of meat scattered around.

“Ugh, the cleaners didn’t clean the outer wall today.” A female hauls, holding her nose.

“Tell me about it,” another replied.

They mar the ground in violent patterns. Some are old, crusted brown and flaking. Others still hold a dull sheen, catching the light wrong.

Every full moon the infected swarm the wall in waves. The protectors keep them from getting over. Their methods? Trust me, you don’t want to know.

The builders are working frantically so that they don't meet a horde passing along. Who wants that?

The long walk is brutal.

The sun bears down without mercy. The weight on my shoulders stops being a burden and becomes part of my pain. By the time we stop, my legs feel like jelly.

I drop down, breathing hard, and someone’s shadow falls over me.

I look up to see a woman staring down at me.

“First raid?”

I nod. Too exhausted to speak.

“I’m Elsie. I’m a doctor in practice.” Her voice sounds like honey dripping onto a cinnamon roll. Calm and soft. She sits beside me. “And you?”

“Jid.” I replied

“Nice meeting you, Jid.”

As we rested, a scream came from the far side.

My muscles tensed instantly, ready to bolt, until I heard—

“There’s a cave!” A raider stands on a distant rock, pointing frantically. “I found items inside. They stretch deep, could be hundreds of pieces!”

Skepticism ripples through the group. Some voices argue for sticking to the plan. Others lean forward, eyes glittering.

The leader, scars crossing his face like old roads, stays silent a moment. ‘Alright, let's check it out."

The cave entrance yawns before us. Dark and hungry.

The leader’s voice cuts through the murmurs. “Keep your eyes sharp, especially at the entrance.” As we began moving inside.

Items scatter everywhere with some staying back to pick them up while I and another guy were told to continue with them until we came out.

Outside is stunning. Flowers in colors and shapes I’ve never imagined sprawl everywhere.

"It was only a tunnel," someone says, deflated.

"At least we see this," Elsie replies matter-of-factly.

Flowers bloom in impossible colors that were captivating to the eyes. I'm sure Sommy will love it if I pluck out some for her. She might not show it but she adores anything that is as fascinating as these flowers.

The air smells alive and growing, real in a way nothing beyond the gates ever does. Around me, everyone freezes, stunned.

Elsie crouches, running her fingers over a petal. “I’ve never seen these. Not in med school, not anywhere.” She plucks a sample, cradling it like something precious. “I have to study this.” and tucks a few in her bag.

We move deeper until we meet an open field filled with animals grazing in the distance.

Their eyes light up.

“Damn,” someone breathes. “All are worth months of supplies.”

"We should take down some while we can." another says and they all agreed.

They draw their weapons and open fire without warning. Weirdly, the animals don’t scatter.

“What the—?” One of them freezes, staring. "Are you seeing this?"

‘Yeah. Keep shooting before they run.”

I glance back and freeze. The path was closing as the flowers were folding inward, consuming the tunnel behind us.

My throat constricts. “We need to get out of here.” No one hears me. “The pathway.” I raise my voice. “It’s closing!”

They all glance back, confusion shifting to alarm.

“Just grab what you can. Let’s move,” the leader commands.

One raider approaches a downed animal with a knife. He’s about to make the first cut when the body twitches.

“It’s just reflex,” someone says beside him as he also crouches down before another animal to work on it. “Let's do this thing faster and get the hell out of here.”

But it’s not a reflex.

The animal’s eyes snap open. Its jaw unhinged until it slowly became too wide, impossibly wide. Teeth fill its mouth, more than should fit. They close around the raider’s head and twist.

His scream cuts off abruptly.

Another animal moves, then another. Around us, bodies that seemed dead are rising. Jerking upright with movements that no living thing should make.

It feels like we fell right into a trap.

“Defend!” the leader roars. “They’re not dead—they’re infected!”

“But how’s that possible?” Elsie asks. “Infected can’t turn like that unless bitten or their fluid touches an open wound.”

“Elsie!” One calls her name out with a harsh tone. “Now isn’t the time to educate us about something we all know.”

They attack from everywhere. Teeth find flesh. Claws rip through armor like paper. Raiders fall screaming.

I notice a path was finally opening, and I contemplate going or not. I don’t know what danger lurks in there.

It seems someone saw that because he breaks a run for it. Nothing happened.

I also hasten my steps only to meet four others ahead of me.

As the third one slips through, the passage gradually closes. The fourth isn't fast enough. Flowers seize him, thorns erupting from their stems and tearing through skin until he crumples, more blood than man.

I freeze inches from the thorns myself, only to turn and see an infected lungis at me.

Luckily, a raider shoots it through the leg, temporarily slowing it.

“Smash its head.” he commands, and I did exactly that with a rock that stood close beside me.

I need something better to defend myself with. I drop the bag and search desperately, but there are only essentials. Nothing useful.

They're getting closer. I run back to the raiders' shield bubble until the path opens again.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t among the three that successfully went through it again, and that made me realize there's a pattern to this.

For every twelve infected we put down opens the path enough for three to escape.

The numbers dwindle. Ten left. Then seven. Then four.

Elsie bleeds from her arm when the leader looks at her.

“You should go.”

“But—”

“Go. That’s an order.”

She looks at the rest of us two, me in particular, and then runs, leaving three of us. The leader, another raider and me.

The other raider looks at me, then at the path. Without a word, he runs. “I’m sorry,” he apologizes. “I have a wife and kid that need me. I can't abandon them.”

He makes it through, leaving only the leader and I.

We were getting cornered by them.

The leader turns to me. Something shifts in his eyes…….something cold.

“This is what we’re going to do,” he utters. “We are both going to make a run for it,ok?”

Ice water crashes through my veins. That was suicidal, but I understand what he means.

I nod before he raises his hands.

“Run!”

The path barely opens ahead of us. The leader’s beside me, stride for stride. Behind us tightens like a fist as the hordes get closer.

Gunfire cracks the air, making my leg detonates to my confusion.

Everything goes white. I lurch forward, slowing, as the man barrels into my back.

I tumble and fall flat while he pushes past me.

“I’m sorry, son,” the leader apologizes. “That it has to end like this.”

He slips onto the narrow path. It seals behind him with a sound like thunder.

I'm lying on the other side, gasping as I hear the infected approaching me.

I can’t kill them all and, sadly, don’t even have a weapon to defend myself.

My hands shake as I tear fabric from my shirt and wrap my leg. The bleeding doesn’t slow.

Around me, the infected draw closer. I struggle to raise myself up and drag myself to the other side.

I taste bile as I come to a conclusion that I have become the scapegoat for them.