Mad Land

The sunlight was melting into the horizon dimming the horrific images in front of me. Suddenly, the designer outfit I had spent 20 minutes choosing this morning seemed out of place. I closed my eyes tightly - willing the images to fade but when I opened them the chaos remained the same.

It was probably smarter to stay hidden and locked behind the doors of the observatory where my meeting was being held but confusion and terror took over my logical senses. This type of violence and destruction was something I’d see on the news, in other countries - not in the middle of downtown. The heat from the flames licked up around me and sweat started building up along my pores. Soon I felt as if I was surrounded by a pool of my own sweat, boiling on the surface of my skin.

What was I even looking at? What had happened? It was hard to tell where the fighting might have began, or who the enemy even was. It all looked like a basic riot - man vs. man fighting for today’s top issues. But there were too many military police, tanks and gun fire. My ears felt a bit like they were bleeding, I never imagined fun fire to be so loud….

As I walked I tripped on something and stumbled, breaking one of the heels of my Jimmy Choos. Normally, that would send me into such a rage I’d cause I scene but even if I were to scream now no one would hear me over the chaotic, violent noise of a localized war. I looked down and lost control of my gag reflexes when I noticed it was an arm, the arm of someone much younger than me. I barely missed the arm as I let the vomit burst from my mouth onto the blood stained street.

What the hell was happening? I looked up at the sound of a woman screaming. Her hair was a mess and filled with glass, her body and clothes were spattered with blood. There were tears in her panty hose that clearly came from scratches and her shoes were just gone. I worried for a moment how much damage she was causing her feet to run barefoot in this mad land. She whisked past me at an unbelievable speed and I turned back just in time to see what she was running from: a man with bleeding eyes and foam from his mouth chasing after her. He was obviously sick with something but it was hard to understand what. He was screaming violently and carrying a machete racing toward her. I sat froze to the spot just staring at this unexplainable chase scene.

“Are you hurt?” Someone asked in front of me. I turned to see a woman in a military uniform, blood on her forehead and an automatic weapon strapped to her back.

“No… I don’t think so,” I whispered. My voice was still a little raw from all the projectile vomit.

“Show me your teeth.” The woman demanded. The confusion I felt only intensified along with my fear. I pulled back my upper lip and showed off my teeth. She nodded as if satisfied and held out a hand for me. I took it and tried not to wince from her strong grip. She pulled me up into the open bed of a military jeep and instructed me to hold on tight to the upper railing.

“What is happening? What is going on?” I asked timidly. She looked at me harshly.

“As soon as I get you somewhere safe, I’ll explain ever -“ before she could finish her sentence the jeep exploded and I flew back onto the city street.

As I regained myself I looked around to find this woman trying to help but I saw nothing but the fires from the explosion. I looked around for a good place to hide until I saw someone else offering help. There was a pile of smashed cars on the other side of the street. I ripped off my shoes and ran as fast as I could, not bothering to care that I was tearing my skirt a little bit. I slid quickly behind the cars and sat for a moment to catch my breath.

I pulled up on my knees to look around the cars when I heard a noise behind me. There was the man with wild bloody eyes and foam at his mouth. I noticed now this teeth were missing - except his canine teeth, top and bottom, which were huge and longer than normal. It was strange to see. Little tears started to roll down my face as this man stared at me without any comprehension. He held up his machete and swung.