One Small Step

A normal day, Charlie is out shopping, looking forward to a night out with his mates, and lunch with his girlfriend. What happened to him, he could never say; one minute he was happy and carefree, the next he took one small step into a nightmare. The nice buildings of his home town had gone, replaced by rot and decay. The place was lifeless, seconds ago people thronged the shopping area with a constant buzz of talking and traffic noise. Now nothing stirred, not a sound except for dripping water and crumbling masonry echoing in the silence.
Fear, panic and despair reduced Charlie to a nervous wreck, he tried but couldn’t get back, was he trapped in this nightmare forever? His mind raced with imaginary terrors as panic swept through him. He had nothing, just the clothes he stood up in, nothing to keep him warm, nothing to eat or drink, and no transport. All the things he took for granted, gone in less time than it takes to draw a breath.
Nothing of his life was left, he knew it with a sinking cold fear as he took in his surroundings. What had happened, where was he? Just two of the questions he needed an answer to. Where was his family and friends, had they gone or come here with him? Or where they all dead? His despair turned to grief as he searched what was left of his old home, he wanted a keepsake, a photo, anything to remember them by, but nothing remained, where he had once lived, had like everything else gone, rotted or decayed, leaving behind a dark dank smell of neglect, and a heart full of empty despair.
Danger soon rears its head as he is followed by a pack of dogs, hungrily looking at him. Snarling and barking, he is their next meal unless he finds a way to defend himself. Loneliness set in, bored and dejected, he walks all over North Wales desperate to hear the sound of a human voice, when it came, he wished for the loneliness back. One nightmare he comes to terms with, another is just beginning.