Finally the forest had engulfed him.

Finally the forest had engulfed him. He stopped walking. His whole body was itching and he felt like his right ankle, on the inner side of his left thigh, on his left biceps, behind his right ear, in his hair, were bitten by some bugs and that made his skin red and the infected place was pulsating. “Get your self together! Fuck them, you are dying anyways.” Since that Day (the beginning of the end! Help me.), in the doctor’s cabinet, a lump has stuck in his throat (tumor Fear). Dannie could not swallow it and it made his all body shiver. He could not explain that to Terra. He could not explain it not only to her – all of his friends and relatives became aliens, strangers with that disgusting pity in their eyes. One odd transparent wall rose between him and the rest of the world and Dannie remained in the center. Only Polski understood. Polski, his friend, passed the wall and stood with him there in that circle right in front of the Purgatory. He never needed words to explain what was happening with him to Polski, he shared it with his very being, with gestures, thoughts, mutating cells. 

Dannie forced himself to continue his journey through the forest following the path. It has become even narrower and a few small steps ahead he saw a bold spot – the trees were thinning and he could see a little piece ripped grey sky. He had to admit to himself in the name of fairness that the sky above him was the exact same sky from the world outside the forest, but surprisingly it looked so much different – like a background on an alien planet –Planet Death, one sinister place indeed.

Dannie shivered although he realized he was not cold. His flesh was goose due to his reluctance to be there, at that moment. Alone. I HATE YOU! He was hearing the little insects crawling around; something moved the grass and dived in it. Dannie inhaled loudly and noticed that he no longer hear any birds’ songs, cars, or any other familiar and typical noises. He was now in the deep. Yes. Polski was right. That sneaky dog. The old crook. Dannie smiled. He tucked his bag near his body, inhaled once again and started walking straight to the hole in the City forest. He was going to reach the bottom. Anyways life is just a movie.

Moving ahead Dannie felt with his tense senses that at some point everything has turned with its wrong side – the branches of the trees were scratching his face and chest while the roots were apocalyptically high in the sky, sprinkling masses of earth. The world there was upside down, turned glass, aquarium that never runs off. At that moment of his journey Dannie has already been clenching his teeth hard and nothing really mattered. He was walking through the forest so confidently, towards the unknown, completely terrified by what the outside world was offering (painful and quick death with no parole), that even the germs and the dirt were gone. Someone set the known world on fire and the only way ahead was into the hole in the City forest.

Dannie just had the feeling that he was wandering endlessly in the branches, when the verdure thinned and muddy and greasy path turned right in front of him. He calmed his heart beating and made a big step ahead. And another one – a bridge appeared on the level of his eyes, while the greasy path climbed down under the bridge, and disappeared into a spot of pure darkness. There was no light down there, no movement - quite murky place it seemed to be. The lump in his throat hardened and he could not swallow properly. Along with the lump an exotic anger grabbed his trachea, squeezing his neck from inside. Dannie once again clenched his teeth and started climbing down the path. The abandoned bridge rose in front of his eyes with its tall and curved electric poles that were turned off long time ago. These poles did not even remember what electricity was, – absolutely useless remains of a decaying civilization. A stone rolled down the path and the darkness below engulfed it. It seemed to Dannie that the darkness below engulfed even the sound. God, why are we so afraid of the dark? And why haven’t we evolved the mutation to see the dangers that live in the dark like so many animals did? It looks like a conspiracy against humanity, – conspiracy aiming at the full extermination of all human beings in one go – perhaps a back up plan for the survival of the Earth, in case we completely fuck everything up. Or because of the monsters.

Dannie approached the dark spot and fetid coldness was exhaled. The daylight faintly pierced the darkness under the bridge as he was reaching the spot under. Something kicked him in the kidneys and he jumped terrified. By the force of his instincts he tossed his bag on the ground and moved away from it and from the cold offensive darkness under the bridge. Either his eyes were already sick or the bag was slightly jumping. Fucking rooster, Dannie thought, fucking thing! He felt hatred towards the dead animal and that made him feel even worse – some brainless dead animal was causing such extreme emotions. His eyes filled with angry tears. Moreover he did not want to go under there. Dannie sat on the muddy path that was lading straight to the darkness and left his head in his palms.

-Help me, he whispered despite his certain knowledge that he was not alone, typical feeling for the city and odd in the forest, even in the City forest. Most probably down there under the bridge a bunch of reeking drug addicts and alcoholics were living, digging in the garbage for anything that can be sold or eaten and then they lean their junkie boney backs covered with scratches on the cols walls of the abandoned bridge, there, one forgotten place, godless desert, one filthy scurvy shroud. Just for a second, hypnotized Dannie imagined how the wretched pitiful human remnant lying with its forehead touching the moist wall; its hands crossed over his breast and with that trembling mouth slowly covered by the eternal darkness, it wrapped the remnant and the engulfed it.

Yes, it engulfs them, Dannie said quietly, and probably wants to engulf me as well.