"Can you hear me? Kid can you hear me?" was what Tanaka could hear. Everything had gone blurry and misty as he tried to figure out the environment he was in. The last thing Tanaka remembered was the gruelling effort he had made to crawl towards the crashed vehicle, seeking the voice of the crying man. From there on everything went blank for him. All he could hear was the monotone voice of a man in his late 20s. The voice continued to say, "Kid wake up, can you hear me?" After a while, Tanaka eventually broke free from the binding grip of sleep and awoke to see the man behind the voice, surprised to see another survivor like himself. The man was 6feet tall with a craggy oblong face that had down turned eyes, large lips, a chiselled nose, noticeable cheek bones, and small ears. He had short hair that had a fade, the result of a haircut that most probably happened a day prior to the apocalypse. The man had a fit disposition: not being too muscular or athletic but having just enough flesh on his body to portray a grown man. His clothes were in tatters and heavily spoiled as a result of the new vile environment of death that stained the Avenues. The man was wearing a white shirt and a grey plaid blazer, which was both stained with red and greasy substances. His right hand had a wedding ring on the index finger and also held the torch with its long hairy fingers, darting it at Tanaka who was lying on a hospital bed. Tanaka had a tube that was connected to his right forearm, which was pumping in morphine. The drip was on a stand that was connected to the bed Tanaka was on, reflecting the light that came from the torch to the entire surrounding walls due to its silver like surface. Both Tanaka and the man had bandages on their bodies and had their wounds patched up. Tanaka had been bandaged on his left arm, temple, and lower lip. The man had a few bandages on his face and some underneath the veil of his clothes. Tanaka gazed at the man who at first appeared blurry in his field of vision, but later began to recognise the tangible imagery of the man. The man called out at him again saying, "Kid if you can hear me, just respond. We"re safe for now, um Daniel." As if he had woken up from a coma, Tanaka uttered slowly, "Daniel?"
"That"s right, my name is Daniel. You saved me back there and I returned you the favour." he said with a cheerful smug.
"Saved?" asked Tanaka who couldn"t quite recall having saved the man.
"Yah you did. I guess you can"t remember because you later pa.s.sed out." he said, getting off from the stool that was just opposite Tanaka"s bed. He walked towards him and said, "I don"t know what your mama feeds you but I gotta say that you"re one strong kid." Tanaka wondered what that meant and asked, "Strong?"
"You hardly remember do you? Well you won"t believe it, well even I wouldn"t believe it, but you ripped off the door like it was nothing."
"The door?" he asked, puzzled by what he was saying. Daniel noticing that what he was saying wasn"t getting through to the child, decided to abandon the discussion. He simply replied, "Anyways we"re safe now from those things. You pa.s.sed out after pulling me out of my car. I carried you and then took you to this clinic."
"Wait um in a clinic?" asked Tanaka who seemed a bit bothered, by what he had just said. Tanaka began to scrutinise his surroundings with a sceptical eye. He noticed the blue curtains and the peach coloured walls that his torch light permitted visibility. Tanaka soon realised that he was in a cubicle sized examination room, which seemed untouched. Tanaka who now fully realised his situation began to ponder over what had transpired prior to him pa.s.sing out. The violent and fretful memory of the flood demon coming towards him startled him and reminded him of what he had just survived. It gave him relief but at the same time a sense of uncertainty. Though he felt as if he was supposed to be alarmed, the morphine that was flowing into his body managed to nullify his temperament. After reflecting over past events he asked, "Are you a doctor?" Daniel was surprised by the question and quickly responded, "You mean the drip? Hmm, well at some point in life I did medicine and then left it for business management."
"Oh." said Tanaka who didn"t know what else to say to Daniel"s remark, "how long was I out?"
"Um not sure, it"s hard to tell without any light, but all I can say is that you kept me worried for a long time kid," he said, with a less jovial grin, "How did you manage to survive all this time?" Tanaka looked at the man whose naturally charismatic face suddenly became sullen and engraved with despair. The world of the infinite darkness had dawned on him and Tanaka could see that it had already sunk its crude teeth of fear in Daniel. Tanaka didn"t know what he was supposed to say and paused for a whole minute, checking to see whether he still had his watch on. Unfortunately for him, his watch was no longer there, which probed him to think about the appropriate answer he was supposed to give the man. Daniel just stood there, stricken with vexation and with a desperate need for the boy"s answer. His question had somehow triggered Tanaka into a moment of self-reflection, remembering the numerous occurrences he had almost died. Tanaka noticing that Daniel had his eyes drawn towards him quickly ended the silence by saying, "It"s all because of that torch in your hand, that"s why um alive."
"The torch?" he asked as he glanced at the torch, twirling it to confirm whether it had any special attributes. Though Daniel was doubtful, Tanaka"s fixed expressions made his own doubt seem questionable. Tanaka slowly rose from his bed and sat up right with his back against the wall and said, "That torch in your hand has kept me safe from those monsters."
"I thought I was going mad when I was hearing things until I saw something," he said, grimacing as he reflected on what he had seen, "but I guess there is nothing much we can do about it. I will be honest with you, um scared kid. A grown man like me is afraid." Tanaka noticed the man"s despair and wondered how he could help console him, but such a discipline wasn"t his forte. After Daniel"s display of emotional distress, Tanaka decided to delve into another matter at hand.
"I think I remember something. I remember a few things before pa.s.sing out. Your car was thrown by the wave." he said as if he was attempting a monologue as he fumbled his right thigh with his fingers. Daniel looked at him in a puzzled manner which made Tanaka realise that Daniel didn"t know much about what had happened.
"The wave?" asked Daniel.
"There was a flood. Well. A flood full of blood." he said in a nonchalant manner.
"Flood, you mean that sound of water was a flood in Harare? Kid what the h.e.l.l is going on? Um clearly confused and all this is hard to believe. What the h.e.l.l is going on!" said the man who seemed to have been overcome with anxiety. Daniel gnashed his teeth and clenched his left hand as the vexation coiled his frustration.
"I don"t know what I would really call it, but the closest thing that comes to mind is h.e.l.l. The world as we know it is over." said Tanaka in an apathetic tone. Tanaka knew that what he said had stricken Daniel with fear, but at the same time didn"t really understand why he was so blunt with his words. The morphine had surely worked its way into his system.
"So you"re saying that we"re dead and this is what h.e.l.l looks like?"
"No. I don"t think were dead, we are alive aren"t we? We are just the only survivors in this nightmare. You"re lucky to be alive. Before everything went dark, where were you at?" he asked with a tang of apathy in his tone.
"Where I was? Um..." he said, pensively reminiscing over what had happened prior to the night mare, "I was on my way to a funeral with my wife. She was initially against it, the whole travelling at night business, but I really felt driven to get there, but then, suddenly something happened."
"You couldn"t see anymore?" asked Tanaka who seemed curious to know how things had played out for Daniel.
"No, not at first but I was coming from the Bulawayo road direction and as I was driving into town, I began to hear voices and screams."
"That"s what I also heard before things went dark, but I never got a chance really to see what happened." said Tanaka who sounded poignant.
"You must have been asleep when... " he said before being interjected.
"I wasn"t actually, my whole family was killed, and I was kidnapped by 2 white people. I pretty much went through what happens on television." he said with his eyes drawn towards Daniel. Daniel by instinct felt like doubting what the boy had just said but with the way things had gone chaotic, the unthinkable now seemed feasible. He then went on to probe him with questions, "So have you noticed that no other light source works apart from the light that comes from this torch? Do you know where we can get more than just one torch of the same brand? And do you have an idea what"s going on?"
"There is only one. So, I guess I wasn"t going crazy after all when no other light was working. What did you notice? No. Actually I had asked you about what had happened to you before things went dark. Please tell me that first."
"Yah umm..." he said, pensively searching for vivid memories of the events prior to the darkness, "as I was saying, after pa.s.sing the Harare show grounds, heading into town, I began to witness a lot of things that me and my wife couldn"t believe."
"What did you see?" asked Tanaka who looked deeply into Daniel.
"I saw the moonlight disappear as if it was going to rain, but things slowly got dark to the point where the lack of visibility didn"t make sense. When things got dark and we couldn"t see a thing at all, I couldn"t see the glow of my phone and even the tower lights." he said frantically as if he was trying to withhold tears from pouring down his face. Tanaka"s empathy had now returned when he saw the man struggle with his words as he tried to divulge his tale. Tanaka recognised the gestures of the man and realised that the man"s sanity was hanging by a thread. Tanaka ended up commiserating the man by saying, "It"s alright Dan, just tell me everything."
"I heard screams after a couple of minutes and also heard explosions. But what I remember the most was my wife..." he said, pausing briefly to mourn as tears flowed down his cheeks, "my wife screamed, calling out for my help. I couldn"t see anything at all. Everything was just dark and I couldn"t help her. Something thing broke through the window and took her. It was all just fast and then her screaming stopped. All I heard was chewing and sick things. Before I could get out of my car to help her, I think an oncoming car hit my car and flipped it over. It all happened all too fast."
"So that"s what happened." hissed Tanaka as he thought to himself.
"I was wrong to have driven so late and now I don"t even know what happened to her. It was h.e.l.l in the dark kid. All I could here were things and screams. As I lay in my car with a severe cramp which lasted for a long time, I almost starved to death until I heard the rain water for the second time."
"For the second time? Hmm, it explains the flood."
"The flood? What do you mean by that? How can there even be a flood in Harare. It"s not possible kid so what are you saying?" he asked with great curiosity.
" Did you look at the rest of Leopold Takawira or anyone close to Parinyenatwa hospital?"
"No, I immediately picked you up and ran straight to this clinic, I didn"t bother checking."
"Daniel, there are things you haven"t seen that I have during the past couple of days, things I need to tell you about. Um not too sure myself what"s going on but I think what I have to share to you is important and you need to hear this." he said with a serious expression.
"You"re right, by the way, I managed to salvage some food whilst you were asleep here, at the Montagu spar. If you"re hungry I can go and get some food, it"s in the next room." he said with a feigned cheerful expression.
"Wait you left me here alone whilst you looked for food?" he asked with a hint of rage in his tone.
"Yah, I first came here to Westend clinic and used the drugs from the pharmacy to treat you. I was starving but I had to take care of you first. After I realised that there isn"t any food here in the clinic I decided to go the shops. I left you here in a safe place. Don"t worry, I blocked the room with a board and a number of heavy boxes so that nothing would get in."
"You idiot! Do you know that you almost killed me!" he said as he left his bed, prepared to pounce on Daniel, "do you realise that those monsters are only scared off by the torch you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You could have killed me!"
"Calm down kid, I said I blocked the entrance didn"t I, you were safe..." he said before a bloodshot eyed Tanaka grabbed his collar and pushed him back until he was against the wall, tipping over a stool as he struggled.
"Those things can"t stand the light. They can easily kill and slaughter people in the dark, you might have been cooped up in your car for a long time, but you gotta understand that these things will kill you. Nothing lives in the darkness. Everyone dies everyone!" shouted out Tanaka who seemed to have been spraying saliva as he uttered. Daniel looked deeply into the eyes of the boy and saw a terror unknown to him. The eyes of a dishevelled child were what came to mind when Daniel looked at Tanaka and he couldn"t help but wonder what had really happened to him. Daniel ended up pushing back the boy who landed backwards with his back, hitting the steel stretcher base of the mattress. Tanaka felt the sting of having struck the steel behind him but didn"t waver in his complaint. Daniel felt instant guilt upon having pushed the boy back and said, "Um sorry, I didn"t mean to..."
"That doesn"t matter dammit!" interjected Tanaka, "listen to me, never ever leave me in the dark and never leave that torch. It"s not just a light, that thing is the reason why I am alive and why you"re not dead!" Daniel was overcome by fright at what the boy was saying, conflicted by the mental dilemma of whether or not he was supposed to believe what Tanaka had just said. Having survived in the gruelling agony of being confined in his car and having also starved in there had already done its worst to him. The revelation of the creatures in the infinite darkness and what Tanaka was saying pierced through his layer of sanity.
"Your torch kept you safe because of its light and you could see in the darkness because of it, I get that." he replied.
"It"s not that simple, the torch has powers. It can kill those things!" shouted Tanaka who seemed irked by Daniel"s inability to take in what he was saying.
"I know you"re still woozy from the medication and your recovery, but let me tell you for a fact that this torch doesn"t have any special powers, it"s just a torch that seems to have the only working light in this d.a.m.n darkness!" shouted Daniel who wanted to make the boy hush. At one point Daniel wanted to believe him, but the torch having some marvellous power seemed quite absurd to him. Looking at Tanaka, he could only perceive a dishevelled boy who was dealing with his delusions. Daniel then took the initiative to say, "Kid stop, you"re not feeling too well, that"s why you"re saying the torch has power..."
"Listen to me, the world as we know it has been invaded by monsters from some dark place I don"t even know. All I know is that I have seen these things up close and I know why they are here. They want to kill us all, every single one of us! That torch kept me alive and scares those things." he said, emphatically as he rose up from the ground. The cord that was pumping in the morphine into his system had been yanked off by his advance before and was lying placid on the bed. Tanaka came towards Daniel and then asked, "You saw those things outside didn"t you, those sick things in the dark? The reason why nothing happened to you was because of the light! They hate the light, they are the darkness and we are in the light that protects us from them. As long as you don"t confuse the reasons then you will be safe!"
"Kid there is nothing super powerful about the torch, just listen to yourself... " he said before being interjected by an ominous sound. It was the kind that would give a person shivers down their spine. The sound was emanating from beyond the walls of the examination room cubicle. It sounded like there was a slithering creature, which made guttural growls that echoed its malice on the walls. Daniel halted for a bit and told Tanaka to shush, darting the torch at the entrance of the room. There was definitely something on the move near the receptionist area close to the corridor of the Westend clinic. Tanaka could hear the depraved thing in the darkness and instantly became alert. It was as if he had reverted back into a guerrilla warfare soldier. Tanaka quickly grabbed hold of the torch, s.n.a.t.c.hing it from Daniel"s hands and rushed to where he could hear the depraved abomination. Daniel pursued behind him and cried out, "Kid, what the h.e.l.l are you doing? Get back here before you get yourself killed!" Tanaka could hear the footsteps of Daniel who followed behind him, frantically catching up to him. The cramp that Daniel had mentioned in his anecdote had really affected his footing and made him get easily outpaced by the gaunt Tanaka who had just woken up from a mild sickness. The thumping of their shoes on the surface of the ground also echoed in a haunting manner, adding a sense of unnerving fright to the already terrifying atmosphere. Tanaka made it to the receptionist room just after the corridor and found a very disturbing imagery of walls painted red and organs having been lodged onto cracked walls and broken gla.s.s on the visitor seats. The diabolical ent.i.ty he was looking for had disappeared, evading the burning light of his torch just in time, and frustrating the boy in the process. Daniel who followed behind, running in a limp like manner, hissed at the boy, "You crazy kid, you"re gonna get yourself killed. Get back here." As Daniel uttered this, something demolished the right side of the corridor wall in front of him. It blasted the bricks and the plaster away, making its unsightly appearance. It was a crude looking sea lion sized maggot with protruding limbs of that of a centipede. The limbs were the upper bodies of deceased people. The necks of each body were bent in a manner that made the heads that were still attached to the bodies as a base for the lower part of an alternative foot. The orifices of each head had claws that sprouted forth, resembling that of toe nails on an elephantiasis infected leg. The head of this maggot was dripping saliva, which was mixed with a purplish green acid that foamed on its mouth. Its gums had serrated teeth and visible due to the lips of its mouth having been retracted backwards like the foreskin of male genitalia upon getting hard. Its abdomen had outer teeth and inner teeth that seemed to have been chewing on something with the way they were lodged with flesh. Like a washing machine, Daniel could see the meat of the dead being twisted and turned in its open belly, being churned into mincemeat. The inner bowel teeth were grinding the flesh at random and prettifying the man who could only see the cast shadow of the demon as a corona gleamed on the outlines of its depraved body. Tanaka quickly turned his head, saw the demon, and immediately screamed out, "Run!" However, the fear that the creature gave Daniel was hypnotic to the point that he remained stationary, cringing in fear and not moving a muscle as it came towards him. When Daniel quickly glanced behind him, he could only see the darkness ahead, the depths that were beyond the reach of the torch light. Upon witnessing his subsequent defeat, the creature began to speak, "At last, a fresh meal to fill me whole!" The demon said this as it regurgitated the dead bodies in its abdominal mouth. The flesh was vomited like a concise tidal wave of smog, desecrating the ground as it stained the pants of Daniel. The bodies that had been ejected had stomach acid all over them, but as much as the imagery was hazy due to the cast shadow of the demon, Daniel could see the corpses moving. As they crawled, they all uttered, "Help us, the pain won"t go away, he keeps on chewing us and burning us with his stomach. The teeth and the lack of comfort, end our misery please!" Daniel in that moment was driven out of his trance and made a run for it in the opposite direction. The demon pursued him, crushing the semi liquid state of the cadavers as it launched itself on Daniel. The pile of shrivelled corpses were flattened into gelatinous greasy blood, but as that happened the souls of the deceased left their respective bodies, disappearing into the infinite darkness as they wept in anguish. In conjunction to that, Tanaka"s torch had fully charged and immediately discharged a ray of burning hot light, which instantly destroyed the demon. Tanaka blew it away, spoiling the walls and found Daniel who had already reached the end of the corridor. Tanaka went on to fry the flesh with his torch, burning the remnants of the demon to the point of it smelling like burnt meat. After incinerating it completely, he ran towards Daniel and grabbed hold of the startled man. Daniel"s eyes were wide open, starring at Tanaka in great petrifaction. He was breathing heavily and looking intensely with every glance. Tanaka then said, "Its over Dan, I killed it. You"re safe man, it"s gone, the monster is gone." Daniel looked at Tanaka, huffed and puffed intermittently as he swallowed his saliva. He eventually calmed down and relaxed on the patient"s waiting bench. Tanaka sat next to him and said, "It"s okay man, its dead, I killed it. I killed it with my torch. We"re safe." Daniel just stared at him in bewilderment and kept quiet. Tanaka noticed that Daniel had been traumatised by what he had just witnessed and needed time to take it all in. Tanaka realising the situation at hand decided to sit on the bench opposite his. He sat there looking at the man who had a fixed expression of utter stupefaction, waiting for him to say something. After a while Tanaka"s stomach began to churn and his knee began to jerk as he withheld his urge to follow through with the call of nature. It had been a while since Tanaka had relieved himself since the beginning of the nightmare and his desire had just come at a wrong time. Daniel noticed the young man"s discreet struggle and said, "It"s okay, I will accompany you to the toilet, you don"t have to punish yourself waiting for me. It"s not safe when you"re not in the light of the torch. I get that now." Tanaka found the remark awkward but at the same time found relief in both the fact that he was going to ease his bowels and that Daniel had recovered or at least was mobile. As if driven by instinct, he began to think about whether the toilets had a mounted mirror and where he would place the torch to bounce back the light. Tanaka had not admitted it initially from his return to consciousness, but he was happy to have found another human being in this dreadful time. Old man Hambira had perished and he felt gravely disgruntled because of his death, but a new chapter in his life had presented itself to him in the form of Daniel. As they left, heading towards the restroom, Daniel asked, "What"s your name kid?"
"My name is Tanaka, Tanaka Manyika." he said as he led the way to the toilet. The encompa.s.sing darkness still had not changed, but at least the journey was no longer of that of a one man army. It was now the survival of this man and boy, in the world of infinite darkness.