Chapter 6: The Empty Town
538 Words
The town appeared just after midday.
At first, Elias thought they had found a miracle.
There were houses.
Dozens of them.
Some were still standing almost perfectly.
A church stood at the center of the settlement, its bell tower covered in vines.
Smoke rose from one chimney.
Noah stared.
"Someone lives here."
Elias immediately raised his rifle.
"Maybe."
They approached slowly.
There were no guards.
No walls.
No warning signs.
That made Elias uncomfortable.
A settlement that had survived this long should have been defended.
He opened the door of the nearest house.
"Hello?"
Nothing.
Inside, everything looked normal.
A table had been prepared for dinner.
Four plates.
Four cups.
A pot sat on the stove.
Dust covered everything.
Noah touched one of the plates.
"They left in a hurry."
Elias examined the room.
"No."
"What?"
"If they left in a hurry, something would be broken."
He pointed toward the chairs.
"They pushed them back."
The beds upstairs were neatly made.
Clothes hung inside wardrobes.
Books remained on shelves.
A child's drawing was pinned to the wall.
It showed a family standing beneath a yellow sun.
But there was something strange about the drawing.
The family had no faces.
Lena stared at it.
"Don't touch anything."
They searched several houses.
Every one was identical.
Food remained on tables.
Beds were made.
Personal belongings were untouched.
There were no bodies.
No blood.
No evidence of violence.
It was as if forty people had simply stopped existing.
Then Noah found the basement.
The door was locked.
Elias broke it open.
A cold smell rose from below.
They descended.
The basement was enormous.
Their flashlight beams moved across the darkness.
Then Noah screamed.
Elias grabbed him.
"Quiet!"
Figures stood throughout the room.
Men.
Women.
Children.
Dozens of them.
They were alive.
Their eyes were open.
Their bodies were perfectly still.
Noah covered his mouth.
"What happened to them?"
Lena approached the nearest person.
She examined the man's eyes.
His pupils reacted to the light.
"He's conscious."
Elias frowned.
"Then why isn't he moving?"
"I don't know."
A woman suddenly turned her head.
Everyone froze.
Her eyes moved toward Elias.
Her lips opened.
"Mara."
Elias felt the blood leave his face.
He stepped forward.
"What did you say?"
The woman stared directly at him.
"Mara."
Another person turned.
Then another.
"Mara."
"Mara."
"Mara."
Within seconds, every person in the basement was looking at him.
All of them whispered the same name.
Noah grabbed Elias's arm.
"Elias..."
The lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the basement.
Something moved.
Elias fired.
The gunshot echoed through the room.
Screams erupted.
He heard footsteps.
Dozens of them.
Then silence.
The emergency light on his rifle activated.
The people were gone.
Every single one.
Only the empty room remained.
Lena grabbed Elias.
"We leave now."
They ran upstairs.
Outside, the town was still.
But something had changed.
The houses were no longer empty.
Figures stood behind the windows.
Watching them.
Elias stared at the nearest house.
A little girl stood behind the glass.
She raised one finger to her lips.
Then she smiled.
Elias understood.
The town had never been abandoned.
It had been waiting.
And somehow, the people inside had known Mara's name long before Elias arrived.
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