The Gait

It started suddenly. Autumn was coming to an end, the weather was rapidly deteriorating. Busy streets turned into canals filled with icy water and debris. Thin streams ran along the dirty walls and mixed with the long-term patina of rust. An atmosphere of decay, a thick, viscous feeling.

It started early in the morning. A piercing sound fell on the sleepers, awakening them from a fragile, painful sleep. Steel, glass, concrete chips, crunch of bones. This lasted about a minute. The insides, turned inside out, tried to gather back into a heap, previously called a man. The eyelids refused to open, in an attempt to save the already shocked mind. Bright. The harsh light hit my eyes and forced me to squint. It seemed like all my strength was spent on this, but the white veil did not disappear. The first thought is the worst hangover you can imagine. I don’t know how much time has passed, it seems like an hour, maybe more. My eyes stopped hurting and shedding tears. The ringing did not stop but became monotonous.

Another attempt to “see” was crowned with great success. The outlines of the room, blurry but recognizable. Having collected myself, I stood up and went to the window. The neighboring houses are intact, not a single new crack on the facades, not a single broken window. The rain still washed the roofs, walls, and stairs. Is there something wrong. A moment later, the window stepped aside. Small drops rushed into the room, cold, invisible. Numerous goosebumps covered his gray skin and his hair stood on end. The wind rustled the curtains. Not a single sound. The lips duplicated the thought. Not a single sound…

Years later, no one has received an exact answer to the question “what happened?” There were different rumors: some talked about testing new weapons of mass destruction, some furtively mentioned the invasion of extraterrestrial civilizations, while others believed in divine punishment. In any case, the “rumor” was silent. Everyone who survived the “Gait” and remained sane could no longer speak or hear. In any case, they were lucky to be alive.

The footfall affected two-thirds of the entire country, with epicenters in the most populated residential areas. Previously busy streets, dotted with kilometers of markets, glass office buildings, and apartment buildings are empty. The sounds of continuous life, the clatter of subway wheels, the conversations of workers, the hum of air conditioners: fell silent. The strangest and most frightening thing was the fact that there was no destruction. Every brick remained in its place, the doors also held tightly to their hinges, not a single glass turned into fragments, everything remained motionless. The changes affected only the flesh.

The first remains found resembled a sickening, purple mass. Convulsively writhing lumps that have become victims of an invisible, cyclopic press. Bone fragments, muscle fibers, a picture reminiscent of a terrible car accident. But the most terrible thing remained the fact that all this mess was heart-rendingly begging for death.