heavenward | n.scatorccio

The truck wheezed to a pitiful stop just outside Martinsburg, its engine spluttering one last breath before succumbing to the deterrent of more rusted cars and debris littering the road ahead. The sky stretched above them in an after-sunset haze, an expanse of deep, inky blue that had not yet surrendered to night. It was the kind of sky that looked like it was holding its breath, in a way that made the group glance at one another, and fall into a natural rhythm of hypervigilance.

Julianna adjusted the strap of her bag, the machete with its serrated edge clinking softly against the sheath at her hip. She trailed behind Natalie, who held her crossbow with practiced ease, the weapon like an extension of her arm. Javi stuck close to Julianna, the handle of his hunting knife gleaming faintly as he toyed with it nervously. Behind them, the others fanned out—Shauna clutching a shotgun she carried like a natural, Jackie trailing beside her with a hunting knife that looked far too pristine to have seen real use. Lottie's dagger dangled from her hand like a talisman, her movements serene despite the uncomfortable atmosphere.

And then there was Misty, striding with unusual enthusiasm, her fire axe slung over one shoulder like she was marching into battle. It glinted ominously in the twilight, its blade sharp enough to cleave through bone.

"Okay," Natalie broke the silence, her voice low but incredulous. She stopped walking, turning back to glare at Misty. "What the fuck is that?"

Misty froze, her head tilting like she didn't understand the question. "What?"

"The... axe, Misty," Natalie said, gesturing wildly to the monstrous weapon. "Where did that come from? Who are you, Paul Bunyan?"

"It's a fire axe," Misty said, her grin almost childlike, her voice buoyant with pride. She hoisted the weapon higher for emphasis.

"Yeah, no shit, it's a fire axe," Natalie spoke. "Why the hell do you have it?"

"Oh, we found it a few days ago," Jeff said from the rear, his voice dripping with the exasperation of someone who'd already had this conversation too many times. "Misty saw it sticking out of a fire truck and immediately claimed it like Excalibur. We were all too alarmed to argue."

"I mean, look at it!" Misty beamed, swinging the axe slightly for dramatic effect. "It's beautiful. And efficient! It can hack through anything. Infected, doors, trees—"

"People," Jackie muttered under her breath.

Julianna tried to suppress a laugh as she watched Misty's face light up even more, apparently taking Jackie's sarcasm as agreement.

"It's definitely something," Shauna said dryly, her grip tightening on her shotgun. "Maybe try not to hit one of us with it."

"I've never hit one of us." Misty protested, clutching the axe like it was her most prized possession.

Jeff raised an eyebrow. "You almost took off my arm two nights ago."

"That was an accident!"

"You were practicing swings in the middle of our camp," Jeff shot back, the faintest hint of a smile betraying his annoyance.

"I'm honing my craft!"

"Oh my god," Natalie groaned, rubbing her temples. "We're all gonna die. Not from the apocalypse, but from Misty's axe."

"Don't be so dramatic," Misty raised her eyebrows, skipping ahead a few steps. The fire axe caught the last of the fading light, flashing ominously.

Julianna shook her head, the corners of her mouth twitching. "She's got a point, though. It's efficient."

Natalie turned to her, exasperation practically radiating off her. "You're not helping."

Julianna shrugged, biting back another smile as she glanced at Misty, who was now hacking at a low-hanging branch for no apparent reason other than to prove her point.

The forest closed in around them as they walked deeper, the trees casting elongated shadows that rippled with the shifting light. Every step felt precarious, the crunch of leaves underfoot mingling with the occasional distant groan of the infected.

Jeff and Jackie whispered to one another near the back, their voices low but animated. Shauna occasionally shot them looks, her usual air of exasperation tinged with something softer when they caught her watching. Lottie walked quietly, her dagger held with a kind of ritualistic grace, her eyes scanning the forest as though she was searching for something unseen.

Julianna stayed close to Natalie and Javi, her eyes darting to the edges of their path, her machete ready in her hand.

The conversation lulled again, the group falling back into the rhythm of their footsteps, the occasional clink of weapons, and the distant rustle of the forest.

The forest thickened around them, its dim canopy knitting tighter with every step, as if conspiring to swallow the fading daylight. Shadows sprawled in warped and jagged shapes, curling and elongating like restless spirits, distorting the ground into a patchwork of eerie, shifting silhouettes.

The light bled out slowly, staining the air with a murky twilight that felt too extant, pressing against their skin with an almost sentient chill. Branches above twisted like arthritic fingers, clutching at the last traces of the star in the sky, their gnarled forms casting trembling fractures of darkness onto the forest floor.

The air gripped their lungs like a vice, stocky with a rancid perfume that coiled and festered in their throats. Beneath it, a keener scent threaded through, a notched margin of raw iron and brine, acerbic and masticating, like the aftermath of a lightning strike.

It disseminated the miasmic memory of something ruptured, something gutted and left to wither under a sun too indifferent to notice. Every breath felt purloined from a place that had long since succumb to gangrene, the ambience pullulating bilious of oxidation and demolition.

Julianna noticed it first, a faint prickle on her skin, like static, but she didn't say anything. Everyone was too focused on the way ahead, weaving through the hallucinogenic trees.

They halted before the fractured remains of a sign, its ends chewed by time and ruin. Tendrils of rust coiled over warped wood, mingling with a dark, dried substance that streaked its surface. Beneath the creeping decay, uneven letters carved out COGNITOX. The faded paint, once bold, had been stripped by wind and harsh rain, leaving faint ghostly traces behind. Below the name, the rest of the text had been obliterated, clawed away or swallowed by the relentless advance of moss and lichen.

"What do you think it says?" Jeff asked, his voice breaking the silence.
''Cognito... something?" Jackie squinted at it, stepping closer.

''Tox," Natalie said, her voice flat.
"Toxins, maybe? Great. Just what we need."

"Yeah, let's not find out what it means," Julianna muttered, tightening her grip on her machete.

Her stomach plummeted, and the faint buzz beneath her skin grew cuspid, like a thousand invisible needles pricking just beneath the surface. Her eyes darted around, the world suddenly acting in phantom movements—branches twitching where no wind stirred, shadows pooling unnaturally thick at the edges of her vision.

For the others, the sensation gnawed deeper, their skin crawling with the unbearable texture of something diseased—bloated and sagging in places, pulled taut like splitting fruit in others. It felt alive, a pulsing sheath slicked with imagined rot, as though something beneath was scratching to escape. Their flesh itched with a maddening intensity, not the kind that could be scratched away, but a sick, crawling burn that burrowed deep, festering in every nerve. The sensation was so grotesque they half-expected their arms to rupture, skin sloughing off in clammy, peeling ribbons to expose the raw meat beneath.

Something wasn't right.

They moved past the sign, stepping deeper into the forest. The air seemed choking here, almost and the silence was no longer comforting. It pressed against them, suffocating, as though the trees themselves were holding their breath.

Lottie had been walking ahead of the group, her dagger swinging idly in her hand, when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Her posture stiffened, and her head tilted slightly, like she was listening to something only she could hear.

"Lottie?" Julianna called, her voice tight.

Lottie didn't answer. Her dagger clattered to the ground as her arms went limp at her sides. She slowly turned her head, her eyes glassy and unfocused, a strange smile tugging at her lips.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, her voice hushed but frantic.

She nodded to herself.

"I hear it," Lottie whispered, her voice light, almost reverent. "It's so... beautiful."

"Hear what?" Shauna asked, stepping closer, but Lottie didn't even blink.

"They're here," Lottie murmured, her gaze darting around the darkening trees. "They're... waiting." She started to step forward, arms outstretched, as though reaching for something in the shadows.

"Lottie, what are you talking about?"
Natalie said, stepping toward her.

Before they could grab her, Lottie bolted. She darted into the trees, disappearing into the shadows.

"Lottie, stop!" Julianna darted forward, grabbing her arm. Lottie flinched like Julianna's touch burned, yanking herself free with a wild look in her eyes.

"You can't stop it," Lottie hissed, her voice trembling but eerily calm. "They said we don't belong here anymore. They said... they said we have to give it back."

"Give what back?" Shauna asked, but Lottie wasn't listening anymore. She began to hum softly, swaying on her feet, her head tilting at impossible angles as if trying to find the source of some invisible melody.

Julianna's stomach churned as Lottie dropped to her knees, clutching at the soil with shaking hands. Her whispers grew frantic, words tumbling out in a breathless stream of incoherence. "It's too late. Too late. We never should have—"

Before Julianna could help her up, Jackie screamed.

Julianna's head snapped up just in time to see Jackie stumble back, her hunting knife falling from her grip. Her hands were clutching at her head, and her breaths were short and shallow, like she was suffocating.

"No, no, no," Jackie whimpered, backing up into a tree. Her voice was small, like a scared child. "Don't make me—I—." Her gaze darted wildly, unfocused, like she was looking for a way out of a locked room.

"Jackie!" Shauna cried, running towards her, but Jackie recoiled violently, slamming her back into the tree. Her fingers clawed at the bark as her sobs grew louder.

"You said it wasn't my fault," Jackie wailed, tears streaming down her face. "You said—you promised! But you lied, didn't you? You always lie." Her tone turned venomous, the grief twisting into anger as she screamed at the empty air. "You wanted this!"

Julianna wasn't sure Jackie knew that was Shauna.

She felt like she couldn't breathe, her chest tightening as though iron bands were clamped around her ribs. Every direction she turned, the world seemed to fold in on itself, each scene worse than the last. The air itself pressed down, soured with an unbearable reek, her lungs rejecting every breath she forced down. It felt like drowning in a sea of ruin, where even the sky seemed smeared with violence.

"Jackie-
Jeff doubled over suddenly, clutching his head.

"No," he said, his voice trembling. "No, you're not here. You're not real—"

"Jeff?" Julianna took a step toward her brother, her heart pounding.

Jeff staggered back, his hands pressing against his temples as though trying to block something out. "Stop it!" he shouted, his voice raw. "You're dead. You're fucking dead!"

He'd sunk to his knees, his baseball bat forgotten on the ground beside him. His head was bowed, his shoulders trembling, and he was muttering under his breath, so fast Julianna could barely catch the words.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to leave. I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to—" His voice cracked, and he let out a dry, choking sound that might have been a laugh.

"Jeff, stop," Julianna pleaded, rushing to his side. She reached out to touch him, but he flinched away, his wide, tear-filled eyes locking on hers.

"They told me," he said, his voice hoarse. "They told me you were already gone. That I couldn't—. They told me—" His breath hitched as he buried his face in his hands.

Javi was next, trembling as he pressed himself against a tree. His lips moved soundlessly at first, but then he began muttering. He spoke like he was praying, his eyes darting to every shadow.

"They're coming," he whispered. "They're watching us. We should've never—" His words dissolved into a quiet sob, and he slid down the tree, curling into himself.

"Who's saying that?" Julianna asked, panic rising in her throat.

Shauna's shotgun slipped from her hands as she began pacing in frantic circles. "No, no, no," she whispered, shaking her head violently. "I didn't do it. I didn't—I wouldn't have—" She clawed at her hair, her nails scratching at her scalp, beads of blood congealing in small sticky pools until Julianna grabbed her wrists to stop her.

"Shauna, stop! Please!" Julianna's voice cracked as she held onto her, but Shauna's eyes were wild, her lips trembling.

"I see them," Shauna whispered. "I see them, and they're... they're—" Her knees buckled, and she dropped to the ground, sobbing into her hands.

"Misty, help me do something!" Julianna shouted, but when she turned, Misty was standing still, her fire axe discarded at her feet.

Misty had gone unnervingly silent, staring off into the trees with wide, unblinking eyes. Her lips twitched into a smile, but it was all wrong—strained, unnatural.

Misty's hands trembled as she reached for her fire axe, clutching it like it was the only thing keeping her grounded. "They said I'll never leave. They said they'll keep me here forever." Her voice cracked on the last word, her gaze unmoving.

"They said I'm special," she murmured, her voice childlike. "They said they're proud of me. But why are they laughing?" She tilted her head, like she was trying to hear something better. "Why won't they stop laughing?"

"They're laughing at me," Misty whispered, her voice shaky and small, but the way she said it was more of a realisation now. Tears began streamed down her cheeks as her lips quivered. "They're all laughing—I ruined everything." Misty's voice cracked as she wrapped her arms around herself, trembling.

"They said I'm why everyone—" Her sobs broke through, sharp and erratic. "They're right. Oh God, they're right."

Misty's knees buckled, and she sank to the dirt, staring into space, her hands shaking as she whispered apologies to no one.

Julianna felt like her lungs were caving in. She was surrounded by something she couldn't control, her friends unraveling before her eyes, their screams and sobs echoing through the trees like a twisted symphony.

Her chest tightened as she spun in circles, unsure of who to help first. She clenched her fists, her nails biting into her palms as she fought back the rising panic.

Julianna's chest heaved, each breath tearing through her like jagged glass. The panic wasn't just in her throat—it was everywhere, coursing under her skin like venom, squeezing tight around her limbs. Her pulse hammered in her ears, a wild, unrelenting rhythm that made the world tilt dangerously. She clenched her fists until her nails bit into her palms, the sharp pain grounding her just enough to shove the panic back down where it belonged. It lurked there, though, seething and restless, waiting for any crack in her resolve.

The forest was alive with chaos. Jackie was screaming, Shauna was banging her head against a tree, Jeff was rocking back and forth, and Javi was muttering incoherently. Lottie had collapsed completely, her face buried in the dirt as she whispered to someone who wasn't there.

And Julianna stood in the center of it all, her heart pounding so hard it hurt.

She paced frantically, muttering under her breath as she tried to figure out what to do.

"This isn't happening," she whispered to herself. "This can't be happening.

Natalie was the last to crumble. Her crossbow fell to the ground as she stood frozen, her eyes wide and glassy.

Her lips parted, trembling, as she whispered, "He's here," Natalie said, her voice hollow. "He's saying I should've—that i let—."

Her hands went to her head as she started to cry, her body shaking violently. "I didn't mean to—I didn't mean to—"

"Natalie, no." Julianna rushed to her, grabbing her shoulders. "It's not real, okay? None of it's real. Look at me!"

Natalie's glassy eyes flickered toward her, but the despair didn't leave her face.

"Please, Natalie," Julianna begged, her voice breaking. "I'm right here. You're safe. Whatever you're hearing—it's a lie. It's not real."

Natalie sobbed, her fingers digging into Julianna's arms with a desperate, almost bruising grip, as if letting go would mean slipping into an abyss. Her breath hitched in sharp, broken gasps, each one rattling her chest like it might crack her ribs from the inside out. Tears streamed down her face, carving raw, glistening paths through the grime on her cheeks, her whole body trembling as if the weight of her fear had finally shattered her. Her nails pressed into Julianna's skin, frantic, unrelenting, like she was clinging to the last solid thing in a world that was falling apart.

Julianna pried Natalie's trembling hands off her arms with a gentleness that belied the urgency thrumming through her body. She stood, her legs shaking beneath her, and moved with frantic purpose from one person to the next. Her hands gripped their arms, her voice breaking as she shouted their names, her pleas sharp and uneven. She begged them, her voice ricocheting off the suffocating ignorance. Each face she touched was a mask of wide-eyed fear, of vacant stares and quivering lips, and Julianna's panic only deepened. She had a wild desperation rising in her chest as she tried to pull them out of whatever nightmare had swallowed them whole, one that gnawed at their minds like a rabid beast, leaving them hollow-eyed and slack-jawed, and their souls seemingly trapped in some unreachable void.

"Come on," she muttered under her breath, pacing as she looked between them. "Think, Julianna. Think."

She paced, her movements frantic and uneven, like a caged animal searching for an escape that didn't exist. Her boots scuffed against the dirt, kicking up small clouds of dust that clung to the air. Her arms twitched at her sides, hands flexing and curling, as if she needed something to grab, to break, to steady herself. The ground felt wrong beneath her feet, too soft, too unstable, like it might give way at any second and swallow her whole. Her steps grew faster, almost erratic, each one fueled by the suffocating pain building inside her chest.

"It's not real!" she shouted, her voice sharp and breaking. "None of it is real! You're breathing in something, I think—it's messing with your heads!"

She crouched in front of Natalie again, her hands gripping her shoulders. "Natalie, look at me," she pleaded. "It's not real, okay? Whatever you're hearing, whatever you're seeing-it's not real.
I'm real. I'm right here. Look at me."

Natalie's glassy eyes flicked to her for a moment, but the blankness remained.

Julianna felt tears stinging her eyes, but she blinked them away, her mind racing.

The whispers in the forest grew louder, a cacophony of murmurs and phantom sounds that seemed to press against her skull. She could feel the pressure building, but it wasn't affecting her like it was affecting them. She wasn't hallucinating.

She glanced again at the ruined sign they had passed and cursed under her breath. Cognitox.

"It's the air. It's the fucking air." she muttered to herself, her voice trembling.

"Okay," she mumbled, running a hand through her hair, pacing again. "I just have to get them out of here. Out of the zone."