PICKERING COLLEGE

Kristen Munro

67°51’00”N and 20°13’00”E MONSTERS OF MEN

IN ORDER FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE CIRCUMSTANCES that have beginning. There used to be four of us in the shelter of the cave… Jeannie, Grant, Veronica, and myself; yet, I watched one by one as they abandoned our safe haven and stepped into the chaos. For that is what our world had become - complete and utter chaos. I cannot pinpoint the exact moment when our world collapsed into anarchy. It could have been when they began the experiments, the mixing of DNA designed to create human hybrids. These creatures - these monsters of men - were given the strength of a tiger, the binocular sight of an eagle, and the speed of a cheetah. Or maybe the destruction started the night of the dark howling. Kiruna was plunged into such absolute darkness. I could barely see the cracked pavement beneath my feet as I raced from the city. That very same blackout caused security to fail everywhere. It led to the escape of dark howling.

I remember that cold dark night all too well. I was seated on the Number 52 bus heading home after the late-night shift at ICA, the low-budget grocery that was my last peak at normalcy. An hour before my shift was supposed to end, a power outage plunged the store into darkness. I decided to leave. There was no reason to stay. Thinking back, I wonder what would have happened if I had stayed in the store until closing… a lone human in the middle of a canned hunt.

But that is beside the point. My head was resting on the cold windowpane and my eyes were threatening to close as I watched a hazy blur of cars and buildings pass by; but in that very next moment, I was suddenly jolted awake by a spray of thick red blood that splattered onto the windowpane. The bus screeched to a halt and my body was thrown out of my seat. I raced out of the bus and the others followed. I watched in horror as the blood oozed down the glass and plopped into clumps onto the cold pavement. That was when I noticed it - the echoes of screams piercing the night, the dark howling that was both human and hybrid. I listened to the cries of the dying pleading for could see the vibrant glow from the burning buildings - just a halo of red light that enveloped the city in a haze of suffocating smoke. The smell, oh how shiver at the thought of it. We all knew that there was no hope for survival if we stayed in the city; but the bus driver had other ideas. He bolted for hearth and family. Good luck, hero. sprinted across the stone streets of the ruined city. I was the leader, guiding the four of us away from the destruction. Soon, we were running up hills skirting cairns and pygmy boreal. I cannot be sure what time it was exactly when we found the cave; yet, I know that the sun had risen, fallen, and risen once again. The cave was embedded in the side of a mountain and - although I am not quite sure - I am fairly certain that it was Mount Kebnekaise. and voles – and collected water from the stream close by. At night, we huddled by the had found us. We could hear them moving outside the cave. They communicated in low guttural sounds – consonants with few or any vowels. With the creatures outside, we were left with few options; so, for three days, we survived off rabbit carrion and rainwater that was soupy with algae. We were hungry. It felt as if my stomach was eating the rest of my body from the inside out. On top of the stabbing pains from the hunger, the thirst was unbearable. Each breath felt as if pieces of shale were scraping their way down my throat. and to be overtaken by the creatures of the darkness. I remember it clearly. She was walking on tip-toes, like some kind of cartoon animation (as if nothing would be real if she were not) and her long, blond ponytail bobbed with each tiny step. She was clearly scared of what was out there and, yet, she believed that if she pleaded with thembegged their humanity - that they would not hurt her. You see, Jeannie was the type of girl with a strong belief in the goodness of all creatures. She did not last ten seconds before the blood curdling screams began. The next day was when Grant and Veronica, the starbold strides with his arms pumping. Veronica had begged him not to, but he didn’t listen. I watched as Veronica timidly crept from the cave with a look of indecision presaging both her resolve and the likely outcome. I did not hear their cries or the crunching of their bones. They were out of earshot. I was blessed. Then, for days, it was only me. I was lonely and scared – on the precipice of famine

You were simply a shadow, but you, like me, were fearful and evasive. So, I am begging you, come out. I have told you my story. I do not have much time left, with no food and no left. I can see your shadow, as elusive as my own, mimicking my small advancements, mocking my small retreats. I am begging you to come out of the darkness. I am standing in the mouth of the cave. Don’t make me do this alone. Come with me, please. Please. Come with me and step out into the night. You know I don’t want to do this alone.