Death

It had been almost two years since the grocery stores had emptied out.He had grown use to eating on a subsistence level.It was just him ,his wife and two sons 15 and 9,it was all the family he had left.The sickness and starvation had killed the rest.

His oldest son was slowly dying from his lack of diabetes medicine.His wife looked like a skeleton.She did not thrive on a diet of roots ,bugs and worms.Any food to be found in the hollowed out town was not worth fighting for.He had tried to grow his own food but the seeds never seemed to grow and what they did produce was puny at best.


The meditation he practiced kept him going.He could sometimes go for weeks on no food.Ian she said ,"why do you bother with that silly new age crap"?
His wife Andrea mockingly asked on occasion.He would teasingly answer back ,"get back in the kitchen bitch and cook my dinner",then they would laugh.They had learned over the years to not take each other too seriously,Ian tried to keep it all a fun game even with all the death and pain around him.He new no other way to live his life,even with those he loved in pain he new he had to stay optimistic.The day his wife and sons died was the day the game ended and the hunt began.He would hunt the underground bunkers of the world til he found those responsible for the deaths of his loved ones and the billions of the others.He had heard rumors that the powerful had all moved underground.He would find them and have a little talk with the elite.

He buried his family and took off on foot to the south.The weather was warmer there,he could find food and stay warm.As he traveled he started witnessing the devastation.He traveled with no thought of his own comfort.He was a madman consumed with hate and pain.So many questions to ask.But to who would he ask them?The media blackout was final and complete.No radio,no print,no TV,no internet.He would have to rely on word of mouth news,rumours and heresay.As he walked out of town he pissed on the last standing church,then set it on fire.As the only priest left alive ran out of the building Ian hissed,"where you goin holyman"?He gutted him with his machete before the priest could answer,Ian didn't care where the lying hypocrite was going.

As Ian watched the flames die a stranger appeared from the smoky churchyard."Hello my name is Stuart" he said,"I saw what you did to the priest,do you think he really deserved that"?Ian replied,"I think I let him off easy".Just then they heard some muffled cries coming from under the altar.They kicked the embers away and found a trap door.Opening it they discovered a spiral staircase.They began their climb down towards the cries.They were led to a large chamber with hallways leading to 7 smaller rooms.Each room contained the dead bodies of emaciated,tortured and raped children.They rushed to the corner of the main chamber and found a 10 year old boy crying out for help.Ian gave him a drink of water and held the boy as he lay dying."Thank you" the boy said,then he whispered with his last breath,"please stop the horror".