Above the World

Victoria could hear the demons coming long before she saw them. She darted quickly behind a small dented garbage can, holding her knees to her chest. The demons weren’t coming this way, she knew, but it didn’t hurt to stay out of the way until they were gone. It had been a while since the last demon incident, which meant that everyone in the tenement where she lived was becoming more and more cautious. They could strike at any moment. Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to ease the pressure the demons’ presence inflicted on her sinuses, but like always, it didn’t work. Staring out at the grey street before her, Victoria tried to figure out another way to get to the bar on Main Street. She had a small sack of food waiting for her there, but the demons were heading in that direction as well. If she went back toward the tenement, but kept walking, and then made her way past the old firehouse, she could climb up to the small catwalk along the long row of apartments. That would keep her out of the demons’ sight for a while.

Soon, her head felt clear again, and Victoria peered out from behind the garbage can. The street was empty except for a trio of magpies and an empty can of soup, rolling and clattering as gravity pulled it along. Somewhere in the distance, she heard a beeping. She wasn’t sure what it was—she wasn’t sure what caused half of the noises she heard—but it was probably nothing to worry about. She stood up, readjusted her messenger bag, and started off on her detour.

There was a bell in the firehouse belfry. Once, the bell had rung endlessly as the demons’ attacks increased. Victoria was too young to remember much, but she remembered this bell. How after a while, it became background noise to the constant sirens and screams, the explosions, the metallic buzz of demons flying through the air or the sharp sound of their claws on asphalt. And one day, it fell silent, and she knew that the city had fallen. The streets had seemed emptier then, and every face she came upon seemed just as devoid of life. It hadn’t rung since, not even in a gust of wind. This was probably a good thing. The remaining population had nerves of spider’s silk. Well…that wasn’t entirely true.

Victoria spotted the ladder of the fire escape that would lead her to the catwalks. She moved a milk crate beneath the ladder, stood on top of it, and pulled on the string to release it. The ladder caught her on the shoulder. She hissed at the sting, and climbed up. Shadows of people moved on the other sides of the windows behind thick curtains made of bedsheets, and Victoria tried not to let her footsteps fall too loudly on the metal grating. She circled up and up, past attempts at a city garden, long withered, past laundry that consisted mostly of socks and t-shirts. Hanging anything too valuable was a bad idea. The apartment building was seven stories high, and Victoria had to hold her head against the dizziness. When she made it to the top, her breath caught at the view.

It wasn’t anything beautiful, unless the silhouette of singed buildings against a ghastly-looking sky could somehow be beautiful, but there was just so much of it. She knew the city was big, but she had never actually realised it. She laughed half-heartedly to herself as she spotted her tenement. There was also the demolished water tower far off in the distance. She saw dark spots that she knew must be demons, or places where they had stayed for extended periods of time. The bar was further to her left. She saw a figure walking down a main road. He had the recognisable gait of someone whose soul was about to eat him alive. Victoria didn't really understand the disease, as some of her mates were calling it, but she pitied the man.

A sudden gust brushed past her, and she realised that she was almost sticking out up here. She continued along. The catwalk was unstable, and at several points, the metal supports looked completely separate from the crumbling brick holes around them. Victoria looked down at the debris-filled streets, completely empty. She jumped across a gap between buildings, her heart racing as she grabbed for the railing to keep herself from falling. Jumping still wasn't her strongest talent. But, she was walking above the rest of the world, and for a moment, she thought that even though the world went to shit, and even though the world was literally hell on earth, how cool was it that she was above it all?