Somewhere in the mountains of KwaZulu-Natal
Hidden beneath the new regal countenance of nature, stood a shrine, broken and turned to ruins.
Besides this shrine, sat a beautiful young dark skinned woman. Her hair, caught in the night breeze, was thick and voluminous. It glinted as if filled with the various gems hidden beneath the earth.
Her skin shinning with a dark brilliance under the stare of the bright moonlight, she stretched her body as if waking up from a truly long sleep. Her eyes were closed as her bones cracked and her muscles flexed. When she opened them, the land around her seemed to glow all the more brighter for her gaze upon it.
Her eyes were a deep hazel colour. However, within them seemed to stand a plateau of memories and experiences beyond her age. For she looked no older than 20.
She slowly stood herself up and walked around her vicinity. Touching each piece of nature around her, she seemed to play a silent symphony upon the glowing flora.
"Sawubona Mhlaba." she said with a joyful giggle. Her smile spoke of bliss, yet swirling in the depths of her brilliant eyes were dark thoughts.
"Bangixoshile abasekhaya. Now I find solace upon a distant mortal realm. However, even this realm is in disarray. Since my siblings think it better to just watch, I will act accordingly." she spoke to no one in particular, however, nature seemed to take a painful breath at her lament.
Slowly, her body rose from the ground. She floated in a serene manner, upwards. Higher she went, until she stood above the evolved trees. Surveying the land around her, she lets out a content sigh and holds her arms open as if to embrace a long lost lover.
"Sawubona Mhlaba. I have come to help you heal, O land of magic. Your painful plight I shall end with my own power. Makwenzeke!" came her resounding proclamation into the night.
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-Apollo-
My journey did not end in joy.
It took me about an hour to reach the house where my brother lived with his father's family. Or, more suffice it to say, the yard where the house once stood.
It was just rubble now.
Not one wall stood amongst the debris. I could see various items strewn all over the yard and the first thought that came to my mind was that nobody here could've survived this destruction.
During my walk I had encountered many a corpse on my path. It seemed a lot of humans had fallen victim to the destructive force of the earthquake. Death was at every turn and I had grown somewhat numb to it for now. The stench was the only troublesome thing, constantly hanging heavy in the air. However at that current moment, those images returned in ernest to me, each corpse face replaced with that of my brother.
I felt the bile rising again accompanied by nausea. I heaved once, bent over and vomited on the sidewalk in front of the yard. I felt disoriented as fear crept through me once more. What would I do if my brother was...
No. Now was not the time. I took deep breaths and tried to calm my thoughts.
Moving slowly, I wiped my mouth and entered the yard. It wouldn't help to worry without due proof right?
Trudging through the debris of bricks, cement, electronics and furniture parts, I carefully scanned the ground. Looking for any sign of human flesh.
There!
I hurriedly walked towards a finger peeking through the rubble, my heart beating painfully in my chest. I wasn't prepared on what to do if my brother was dead.
I reached the spot, knelt down and picked as much of the rubble away as I could, however it didn't take long to see that the hand that emerged, was quite feminine. Wrinkled, with the fingers slightly bent, the nail polish cracked and dusty, it definitely belonged to a woman.
"Dammit. One of the aunts probably." I sighed in a heavy relief. It's not like their death meant nothing, I just didn't have the time to worry about anything else right now. My mind adopted a straight plan and stuck to it thoroughly.
*********
I continued looking around, performing impromptu morbid excavations, which mostly uncovered old, wrinkled hands or feet. There was also a face that stared at me in terrified shock. I knew the person. A young man who usually visited the family. Devout Christian and the sort.
In total, I uncovered close to 7 bodies on the premises. None belonged to my brother.
The stench of blood around me was cloying, but I paid it no attention. I felt my resolve grow heavy at the amount of carnage I had witnessed. I wanted to just sit down and scream, but I knew that would not solve anything.
I left the yard and slowly traversed the destroyed streets, which were finally seeing signs of survivors as they came out of whatever hole they'd been in, anxious to see the aftermath of the earthquake.
'Welcome to the new earth' I thought, as I walked in the shadows, avoiding contact with these surviving spectres of humanity.
I had to figure things out, formulate a plan and pretty soon too. If this was one of the games I played, there would be an objective. Well, unless if it's Swords of Tsushima.
Thinking critically, during survival games it is usually important to gather resources as soon as possible after whatever apocalyptic event you have survived.
"Damn. This whole event does seem like an apocalypse. The trees and plants seem to think differently though." I debated with my own thoughts.
However, if the world were ending, there would be no need for new plants to emerge and for trees to grow. Not even mentioning the new mountains, it appeared as if the Earth had been evolved through some mysterious and supernatural means. What was making those peaks glow like that? I figured that was probably the energy that allowed the land to change. That sort of cliche thing seemed very possible at that moment.
So first, I set objectives for myself. Find my brother, gather survival equipment, clothing and food and find a nice sturdy shelter to figure out the rest of my plight in. Time was a precious commodity. The number of the dead would just keep rising and I had a nagging ominous feeling that more changes were still going to happen.
Then the solitary wail of a deeply hurt woman rang out amidst the whispers of the shocked people I walked past.
"Ooooooh umntanamiiiii. Yoooooh nkosiyam Kanti ngenzeni. Aweeeeh!!!" she wailed in mourning.
I felt my heart break a little. She wasn't the only hurt person. More would soon find members of their families, friends and even lovers dead.
Again I thought of my brother and with a heavy sigh I decided on my next destination.
*********
In a matter of twenty minutes, walking past dead bodies and a destroyed community, I was before the gates of Jabulani Technical, the school my brother attended. This structure stood with more parts intact than most. I felt a flutter of hope in my stomach but immediately quietened it. It wouldn't help.
Lightly jumping over the fallen metal gate, I walked up to the entrance of the triple storey building. I noticed more than a few windows had shattered and certain parts of the roof had collapsed. The glass crunched under my feet in the silent night as I progressed.
Silent.
Another revelation hit me. Aside from the distant chatter of people, there were no other sounds in the air. No cicadas, no night birds. Nothing. It was eerily quiet, as if the darkness was a veil under which only the voices of humans were left.
I stood still for a moment to confirm my suspicions. The silence only grew heavier and deeper in my contemplation. My breathing clearly audible and my heart began a furious hammering.
Where were the animals?
A cold feeling crawled up my spine as I hurriedly walked towards the building, noticing the suddenly loud echo of my footsteps in the surroundings. A theory slowly formulated in the back of my mind and I did not want to pay it any attention at that moment.
I opened the door leading inside the main building of the school and, with a deep breath, walked through it.
Thanks to the moonlight shining through the windows, I managed to make my way over cracked cement, peeking into classes and calling out for my brother until I couldn't go any further. I had scoured about 30 of the classes, which was all the ones left standing spread between two floors. Both wings of the school had fallen and the rubble I could see from the window showed no remaining structure.
"Dammit!" I screamed in exasperation, banging my fists against the wall and sagging to my knees. It was getting harder to keep my emotions in check and right now my heart felt heavy with worry.
I couldn't think of any other place my brother could be. I knew his friends usually visited him at home with his aunts, so he hardly went out. I also had been unwittingly diligent in checking the corpses as my fear heightened.
"Where are you bro?!" I whispered to the dark, my sobs finally echoing through the empty walls.
So far, this whole occurrence had been like a dream or a 4D movie. I hadn't suffered any real injuries so I felt somewhat removed from all that was happening around me, forcing my analytical brain to figure out the strange sequence of events.
At that moment, though, reality came crashing onto my shoulders forcing me to prostrate myself on the floor, paying no heed to the glass under me, in agony.
I felt the pain of losing someone to this event. I knew in the back of my mind that I shouldn't count him as dead yet just because I hadn't found him, however my anguish knew no bounds. I shed silent tears, my body racked in sobs, praying to find my brother.
Then I heard a shuffle of something moving next to me.
In an instant, I dived away, my heart hammering wildly. Driven by adrenaline, I quickly stood up and looked around. The tears in my eyes made my vision slightly blurry but that didn't matter. I didn't have to look far.
In front of me stood what appeared to be an overgrown fluffy toy. With a coat of white wool, like sheep, it also had various red markings on it's body and a pair of little horns on either side of its head. It was about 100 centimetres tall. This was a very weird apparition and I felt a dangerous, tightening sensation in the vicinity. As if the air itself was holding me captive, stealing my movement.
I was stunned at the disarming cuteness of the figure, staring into it's large glowing eyes. Wide open in apparent surprise, they drew me in, like the glow of hot coals after a fire.
My mind could not make sense of my current situation. The figure before me did not resemble anything that should be alive. It looked akin to an inanimate toy. Or the creepy cute character in an anime movie. I was unnerved and truly speechless, my tears and brother forgotten, to the sight of this creature.
The figure suddenly made a high pitched sound, intently staring at me. Was it trying to communicate?
My body temperature started to rise at that moment. I'm not sure if it was my confusion or something else that caused this reaction but my blood felt like it was being boiled in a kettle.
"What...!?" I tried to talk, but my voice faltered.
The little figure tilted its head inquisitively at my unfinished question. It looked so adorable, so fluffy and cute and it seemed harmless. My caution and anxiety seemed to slowly ebb away and I had the sudden urge to pet the little guy who just appeared all curious and...
In the next moment, the adorable little stuffed toy opened it's jaws wide with a horrendous tearing sound and let out a ghastly shriek. I felt my blood curdling as I stared into the dark depths of it's open mouth. Fresh terror seized me and my brain stopped functioning.
Then, in that manner, it jumped towards me.