Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

“Just keep going north, I can’t go with you,” he says, she smiles faintly, and grips her arm, tearing at it nervously as she bits into her bottom lip. He cups her chin with a hand and raises her eyes to his. “You’ll be fine, trust me, I’m dead anyway.”

“No your not, we can still make it, I can’t just walk away, I can’t just leave you, not after everything!” She cries grabbing him tightly,  he forces her away and she goes crashing to the ground. Her eyes widen with fear, as she digs her fingers into the dirt, grabbing a large handful in each, ready to use as a weapon.

“Don’t you get it, don’t you realise what’ll happen to me? I’m going to turn into one of those things, and there’s nothing either of us can do to stop it! So do me this last thing, let me save you.”

“What if there’s a cure, what if they come in time? Don’t give up on me.”

“I’m not giving up on you, it’s just too god damn late Sarah, I can already feel it eating at me, churning my stomach, changing me. It’s best if you go alone,” he says, hanging his head towards the ground, he feels the tears escape from his eyes, and watches as they drip from his face, and splash to the ground. he feels the panic surge through his body, and looks towards her. She takes a deep breath in, the red streams that cascade from his eyes signal the viruses final, fatal, effect. “Please, Sarah, run away from this place, I’ll go back, I’ll keep them away long enough for you to get far from here, to somewhere safe, please.”

“B-B-But, they’ll kill you, I-I-I can’t le…”

“Sarah, LOOK AT ME! You see what I’ve become, we both know what’ll happen next! I might as well be dead right now, because I’m worse than dead, I’m one of those things. So just stop it, get up and RUN!” He yells, grabbing her by her arm and pulling her to her feet, she throws a handful of dirt in his face, and smashes him across the head with a rock that’s in the other. He hits the ground with a thud, while she stands over him, gritting her teeth, tightening her grip around the blood stone. Her lungs scream out for air as she, fraught with panic and desperation, breaths in and out at a heightened rate, he spins around to face her, and lets out a growl, low, inhuman.

“I wont let you die by their hands,” she says softly, almost calmly.

“Then you’re going to have to kill me yourself, I warned you, I told you, you should’ve listened!” he yells as she scrambles towards her, she pulls a blade from her jeans as he leaps at her and drives it into his chest. They both crash to the ground in a heap, and, for the moments that follow, there is only silence. Then the growls, the snarls, and movement come from the distance. She forces his lifeless body off her, scrambles to her feet, and hurries forwards, northward, towards hope, salvation, survival. She feels the tears run down her face, and wipes them away, then, everything freezes, time, movement, life, as she notices the red smear on her sleeve and falls to her knees, knowing, it’s too late for her.

END

You can read the original 50 Word Story HERE.