literature

CC Round 1 Pg.1

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Literature Text

A peculiar quiet enveloped the dreary ruins of Pripyat as the dim glow of pre-dawn light lit the sky and earth alike with a monotone sheen of light gray-blue. It appeared as if a blanket of finely woven cotton had been cast upon the winding threads of narrow streets, silencing all beneath its delicate embrace.

Erx drifted awake beneath the shelter of an overturned bus, its long-shattered windows admitting a faint breeze into the cavernous space. He stirred and peered through a crack in the rust-stained roof. Months of hard experience had taught him to survey his environment before making a conspicuous move. His eyes flitted about as he searched through the dull shadows. Flickers of yellow twinkled from the darkness as the wind stirred the lifeless dust.

Having assured himself of his safety, he stumbled upright and slipped through the broken skylight. The biting cold of late autumn greeted him in full as he shivered and hurried across the street, forcing him to retreat to the shelter of the crumbling apartment complex that he called home. He passed by a rusted chunk of rebar, shrinking away from its thirsty edges. Presently, a null odor hung in the air. He nosed through the debris without interest, idly searching for signs of intrusion.

A faint cry attracted his attention. He snapped his head up and listened intently as the voice repeated itself and drew closer by the second. The call echoed down the lonely streets, its words lost to the distortions of the dusty walls. Incited by its presence, a number of low murmurs sprung up all about. They spread with the vigor of a forest fire, bringing the ruins alight with hurried conversations and hushed whispers. Erx strained to make some sense out of the discordant cacophony as disjointed fragments sorted themselves into a loosely ordered narrative.

Something about an assembly near the Ferris wheel.

He leapt through a broken door and scaled the shaky fire escape steps, peering down upon the whispering streets below. One by one, miniature forms emerged from their haunts and converged upon the fairgrounds. The gray avenues were alive with shuffling curs.

Some appeared more alive than others.

Erx shivered in the icy wind and swallowed nervously as he made his way down to the streets. He slipped through the narrow alley-ways between the towering ruins, coming across a familiar avenue- the avenue of his broken dreams wherein the worst of his phantasmal horrors manifested themselves to torment his precious sleep. Uneasy as he was to remain in the foul place, he found himself attracted by its mystique. For a moment he glimpsed a frozen scene from the vision of two nights's ago- the running, the falling, the cries, and the silence. He shuddered and shook the rust-stained image from his mind.

Erx flinched as he bumped up against the decaying fence that marked the boundaries of the solemn fairgrounds. He edged around the rusted barricade and made his way towards the center of the dreary place. Beneath the hulking Ferris wheel stood the impatient Beyra, who observed the growing crowd with distaste before turning back to mutter at a timid-looking dog to her left. It nodded meekly and backed away.

A hush rippled through the crowd as Beyra loosed a harsh bark. Erx shrunk back and crouched down on the frigid pavement, fixing his wary eyes upon the dog atop the platform.

"Alright, pipe down you lot. You didn't expect that you'd get to lie about did you? This ain't a holiday, it's a tournament."

Her last word caused Erx to shudder as the illusions flickered back what seemed to be a brief second. He blinked and nearly yelped in surprise, but the sensation was gone as soon as it came. Time had passed at an accelerated rate, as the crowd in which he stood seemed considerably thinned; he noticed a number of dogs vanishing into the maze of the ruins. Beyra stood impatiently, watching them until the last of the lot departed.

"Boys and girls," she snickered, "round one is officially underway."

An explosion of voices burst through the assembly of a score and a half of dogs.

"What's going on?"
"Where'd they go, then?"
"What're we doing?"
"Is she serious?"
"But aren't half of us gone already?"
"The hell?"

Erx whimpered as the racket pounded at his ears. To his relief, the noise quickly settled down and yielded to Beyra's imposing voice.

"You'll be given the name of a member of the hunting team," declared Beyra. "Your task is to return with their prey. If they get back with, they have won. If you can take it from them, you win. And don't think you can just catch something random along the way. It must carry the scent of your opponent."

Blast.

"You have the element of surprise, but they need only avoid you and make it back. Prove yourself now, as taking and defending your food is a vital thing in these hard times."

A tactician's gambit, it seems. Perhaps there is hope after all.

"And remember this. You aren't on holiday- there are no rules on how you steal their catch."

She paused and swept her weary eyes across the ragged assembly.

"Try not to die."
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Sorry for the slow progress ^^;

I've been spending a lot of time editing and making sure everything is in order. Hopefully, I'll get one page up every other day.
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Songdogx's avatar
Oh, not to die? Ooh boy, nearly made a huge mistake there. Alright, not dying then!