The Hours of Creeping Night - a Collection of Dark Speculative Short Fiction Read Online Free PDF Page A

Denton drank from the dripping tap at the sink, lapping at the cool droplets of water, too afraid to turn it on fully and attract unwanted attention with the noise.
    Someone across the block started sobbing. ‘Help us!’ he screamed. ‘For the love of God, help us!’ He continued to sob as the creatures attacked the cell, tore through, and ripped his screaming body to pieces.
    All the dead meat was beginning to rot. The block swarmed with flies. The rats were multiplying, but the creatures chased and smashed them when they scuttled across the block, so they took shelter in the cells. Every time Denton fell into unconsciousness, the rats would sneak up in the darkness and try to take a chunk out of him.
    Ren’s stomach rumbled. The gurgling echoed around the cellblock. Shadows turned their heads. A grunting figure began to shuffle towards their cell, sniffing the stale air. Denton held his breath. The creature drew closer – the closest one had been to them. Denton could see its eyes, wide and white and dead in the darkness. It leaned closer to the bars, trying to listen. Ren’s stomach rumbled again.
    The creature cried out and raised its arm to bash at the bars, but as it did so, another arm reached out from the cell to the left. Marv grabbed the creature. He twisted its arm until it dislocated with a thwop and pulled it through the bars, dragging the creature with it. The creature wailed as Marv fed on its flesh.
    This commotion excited the rest of the animals. They began scrapping with each other, some of them ran round the cellblock, jumping at the bars and shaking them, like rabid monkeys. Denton heard someone cry out in the darkness and the creatures flooded towards the sound. Their cries and howls escalated. Metal banging, people screaming.
    ‘... so hungry,’ Ren whispered. ‘I can smell roast pork.’
    Denton raised an eyebrow. He looked over at his cellmate. In the gloom he could see that Ren was shaking. The dim light reflected off the drool running down his chin.
    ‘They’ll come for me, eventually, Dent. Not for you, but maybe for me. I wasn’t so bad, what I did – it was an accident, everyone knows. I got family out there. They won’t come for you, not after what you did. If I can just survive – survive till they come and get me. But I’m starving , Denton. I’m gonna die if I don’t eat. I need food.’
    Denton stood up, adrenalin shooting through him. He stood facing Ren, fists clenched.
    Ren stood, uneasy on his feet. He looked down at Denton. ‘You know, I heard once that human flesh tastes like pork.’ He lunged at Denton, hands as big as meat hooks reaching for his throat.
    Denton sidestepped Ren and landed a quick punch on the right side of his jaw. Ren swung clumsily at Denton in the darkness, but Denton sprung onto Ren’s back. He grabbed Ren’s head and tried to twist his neck to break it, but Ren’s thick muscles were too strong. Ren rammed his weight backwards, crushing Denton against the concrete wall. He repeated this again and again, before Denton got a better hold on Ren and dug his fingers into his eyes.
    Ren began to scream, but with a now tighter grip on Ren’s head, Denton twisted hard. Crunch . Ren fell to the floor, limp. Denton was still clinging to his back, his fingers still embedded in his eyes. He pulled them out of the warm gunk with a squelch.
    Most of the commotion in the cell had gone unnoticed by the rioting creatures. Denton looked down at his cellmate, now just a lump of meat cooling on the concrete. He thought about what Ren had said. About staying alive until help came. He had water from the tap. And now he had meat.
    Blood began to trickle out of Ren’s downturned face.
    Denton climbed onto the top bunk and pressed his spine into the corner of the room. He had done some bad things in his time. But he’d always had his reasons.
    He listened to the howls echoing off the walls. He listened to the sound of ripping flesh and wet, bloody slurping,