Through the Looking Glass Ch. 05

Story Info
A world all to themselves... literally.
15k words
4.6
8.8k
2
Story does not have any tags

Part 5 of the 8 part series

Updated 10/14/2022
Created 09/18/2011
Share this Story

Font Size

Default Font Size

Font Spacing

Default Font Spacing

Font Face

Default Font Face

Reading Theme

Default Theme (White)
You need to Log In or Sign Up to have your customization saved in your Literotica profile.
PUBLIC BETA

Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.

You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.

Click here

Mitch heard Lisa's question, but was still staring at the remains of the city, too shocked by what they saw to answer.

Buildings were worn and crumbling, abandoned cars were rusted and strewn about the streets, trash and debris scattered everywhere... and not a single person was seen... anywhere.

Looking behind them, they got a look at the building that topped the basement levels they had just emerged from. Done up in off white marble, with tall broken windows and a couple of pillars flanking the huge double doors, the overhang of the facade had the words, 'Historical Archive Society' chiseled into the stone. The rotunda in the middle of the structure was topped with a dome of copper, now dulled from its former shiny burnt orange tinge to a bland oxidized mixture of light and dark greens.

Taking Lisa's hand, Mitch started walking down the sidewalk, mesmerized by the level of decay and the absence of anything living. They carefully picked their way around trash and junk that used to be people's belongings, and avoided areas where shards of broken glass and metal were splayed over the cement walks.

They passed store fronts with smashed windows and faded plastic signs and posters affixed to whatever solid surface was still intact. Doors to buildings, be they businesses or apartments, were missing or left open and plastic bags and crates of personal items were lying about in front of the structures.

The whole section of the city looked like a ghost town, unused and uninhabited... for years.

"Mitch?"

He finally turned to Lisa and answered her question, "I don't know. It looks like..." He wasn't sure how to describe what he and Lisa were seeing; he had never seen the like before, except in old photos of ruin cities after a war destroyed them. But the buildings didn't look like they sustained any type of damage from weaponry; none of them were hit with any bullets or shrapnel from grenades or bombs. They just looked deserted, as if abandoned years ago.

Mitch stepped ahead of Lisa and, taking a deep breath, shouted, "Helloooooo!" The echo of his shout ran down the street and bounced off the buildings, and he listened carefully once it died.

Nothing.

Lisa turned in the opposite direction and shouted, her cry bouncing back at her as well, with the same result. She edged back over to Mitch and curled her arm around his, shivering.

"Mitch... there's nobody here."

Mitch noticed something else. Not only did no one answer his call, not a single living thing was scared out of its roost. No birds, no dogs or cats, not even a single mouse. He looked up to see if anything flying could be seen, but the only thing drifting above them was a dingy sky. The light blue of the atmosphere had a tinge of light tan to it, and what clouds could be seen were tinted in sickly shades of brown and ocher.

"Let's keep looking," he said, holding Lisa close to his side.

They continued down the walk and peered into smashed windows and opened doors, looking for any sign of inhabitants and, so far, seeing none.

Lisa jerked her head to the side when she heard something; the sound of something fallen or kicked. Mitch heard it, too. It came from one of the rusted vehicles in the road. Hoping there was someone still in the city, Lisa darted towards the car she thought the noise came from. Mitch tried to stop her, but didn't reach her until she was already at the vehicle's side window.

He saw her face, frozen in shock, and her chest heaving up and down with every labored pant. He looked into the open window of the car, and saw...

In the back seat, two skeletons were lying next to each other. One was cradling the other, the smaller one obviously belonging to a child no more than seven, maybe eight years old. The larger of the two, a parent no doubt, was trying to protect their child from... what? The sound they both heard was the clatter of bones collapsing in on each other.

Mitch backed away from the horrid sight, but Lisa was still frozen in place unable to avert her eyes from the ghastly scene in the car.

"Lisa," he said, touching her shoulder. Then, more forcefully, he squeezed her arm and made her look at him, "Lisa..."

"They're dead," she whispered, a tear running down her face.

Mitch nodded, "I know, Honey; they're dead. Come away from there; c'mon, right now."

Stiffly, she moved away from the car and let Mitch guide her back to the sidewalk. He idly noticed that the car didn't have any tires; in fact, none of them did when he looked more carefully and saw thin strands of wire around the hubs where rubber should be. Lisa clung to his arm as they went on with their search, tightening her grip when they came upon a few more skeletal remains lying in the street and across the walk.

"There has to be somebody around here," Mitch remarked, still searching around the cars and structures, "They can't all be dead."

Lisa only heard half of what Mitch was saying, for she was still scared at the scenes laid out before them. Views of abandoned building and cars seemed endless as they made their way through the city, and the remains of people scattered about like so many leaves from a dead tree.

Mitch stopped in front of a store and scanned the interior, Lisa cautiously trying to see what caught his attention.

"Let's go in here," he said, heading for the open door with Lisa still clinging to him.

The store was a clothes shop, or at least it used to be. Empty hangers hung from walls and floor racks, with equally empty shelves along the back. Mitch went over to the counter and saw another skeleton lying on the floor behind it, old and partially crumbling. The register was open, but the only thing in it was change and what looked like tiny red and blue fibers.

"Hey," Lisa called out, getting his attention, "looks like we caught a break."

Mitch went over to her, seeing her point to the shelves. There were a few pairs of shoes and sandals still on one of them; the rest were empty. They both donned pairs of tennis shoes that were close to their sizes, and relaxed a little knowing they didn't have to worry too much about stepping on something with their bare feet and getting hurt.

Mitch felt a little more at ease when he heard Lisa snicker, and turned to her waiting for the reason.

"We look a little silly, walking about butt naked with only a pair of shoes on."

Mitch smiled back at her, "Well, you're the one with the exhibitionist's streak in her; now's your chance to show it all off."

Lisa laughed, feeling a little better about the situation they were in, but added, "I wonder why there aren't any clothes around."

Mitch shrugged, "I don't know. We were lucky to find these," he lifted a foot, indicating their shoes, "At least we'll be able to get around a little faster now; we won't have to worry about stepping on anything."

Lisa nodded, then said, "I think we should head towards the lab; we might be able to get some answers there."

"Exactly my thinking; let's go."

They left the store and proceeded down the walk again, this time heading towards the area of the park they tried to use the last time. It was close to the lab and, hopefully, they would avoid anymore grisly remains. As they walked, Lisa dug out her camera from her bag and started taking pictures while Mitch retrieved the recorder from his pack and started dictating...

'April 6- We've arrived in the next dimension a little over an hour ago, escaping from a gang of women who were against the sexual goings-on in their world. One of them, who was apparently raped, took it farther than just mere protesting and tried to injure me like she did with six others. We got away from them in time to jump into this universe.'

'However, it seems that we've jumped from one nightmare to another. In this dimension, it appears that Lisa and I are the only two living people here; so far, there has been no sign of any other human being, nor anything living. We've seen no people, no animals...' He paused to look around again, '...and no vegetation of any kind. The city looks deserted and left to rot, and the only thing we've encountered that shows that this city was inhabited are the skeletal remains of humans; dozens of them, so far.'

'We're heading to the lab in this dimension. If it's still there, hopefully we'll find the answers to all of this there.'

Mitch clicked off the recorder and stuffed it back into his pack just as he and Lisa came within sight of the park, or where it was suppose to be.

But when they arrived, all they saw was an expanse of dirt and rock with indentations in the bare ground suggesting there was something there, but not anymore. A deep dent in the dirt indicated a pond that was now a large puddle, its exposed sides showing signs of erosion. Any life under the water line was gone, leaving only mud and gravel exposed at the pond's bottom. There weren't even insects buzzing around the still and stagnant water.

"I don't get it," said Lisa, confused, "The park doesn't exist in this dimension?"

Mitch started to answer, but stopped himself when he saw something familiar, "It was a park," and pointed towards what he saw. Looking more closely, they saw the rusted metal frameworks of three or four benches, their wooden seats and backs gone.

It finally dawned on Lisa.

'...like so many leaves from a dead tree.'

"There's nothing alive here," she said, her voice shaking a bit, "No people, no animals, and no plants. The trees are all gone, even their roots," she pointed at the various holes in the ground where trees were suppose to be, "There aren't any bushes or flowers or pond reeds," she looked at the ground around her, "not even grass." She looked at Mitch, the tears threatening to well up again and her breathing becoming erratic, "It's all dead."

Mitch reached for her and held her close, "I can't believe that; I won't believe it, until I have proof. Not everything could be dead; there must be something here that's still viable. There's still water here," he waved his hand at the small pond, "the sun is still shining through the clouds and, as far as we know, the air is still good. Where there's water and air and sunlight, there must be life; we just have to find it."

Lisa let his words calm her, and she started breathing better, saying, "Okay, then let's get to the lab and find out what's going on."

Hand in hand, the scientists walked through the desolate park and headed in the direction of the laboratory, still seeing remnants of decay with every block they traversed. Houses that lined the streets of nearby neighborhoods were nothing but piles of rubble, with glass, metal and ceramic pieces, and piping fixtures buried underneath as if the homes simply collapsed in on themselves.

Nearing the area of the facility, they saw something that wasn't in the previous universes: a large church, grimy and unkempt like the other buildings they passed.

Curious, they both wandered up the cement steps and paused for a moment before pulling on the huge metal door handles. The thick slabs of metal opened slowly, their hinges creaking with age, and revealed an entrance foyer. The pair cautiously entered the holy building and looked around, Mitch heading off to the side to check the staff's offices and Lisa edging towards the chapel.

Dirt smudged the pieces of stained glass in the windows surrounding the chapel doors, oddly still intact and unbroken. The doors, also made of light metal, groaned open at Lisa's push... and her whole body froze on the spot after she took a few steps inside. Her eyes bugged out and she stopped breathing as her entire body started quivering.

Her head jerked downward when she heard a crackle sound, and something rolled towards her feet. When the object came to a halt, Lisa opened her mouth wide, but nothing came out.

It was a skull, sans jaw bone, its lifeless eye sockets staring up at her before it cracked and broke apart, disintegrating into chunky white powder.

And the scream stuck in her throat finally leaped up and exploded from her mouth in a blood curdling shriek.

"Lisaaaaaa!" Mitch yelled out as he raced like a bat out of Hell from the offices to the chapel, his feet pounding down the corridor. He found her just inside the doorway, and she immediately jumped into his arms, wrapping hers and her legs around his body and didn't let go. Her whole body was quaking, and Mitch felt some drool from her open mouth run down his shoulder as she panted and cried in pure hysterical terror. He felt warm wetness on his groin and running down his leg as Lisa, terrified out of her mind, lost control of her bladder and urinated on him. Ignoring it, Mitch absentmindedly wrapped an arm around her waist and petted her head trying to calm her down, unable to tear his gaze away from the sight that dominated the chapel.

Skeletons of people were everywhere; dozens of them... hundreds, some of them side by side in rows, others scattered here and there, and all of them lying on the carpeted floor. There were a few others lying on the altar, one where the pulpit was suppose to be standing, and just behind them was a tarnished golden statue of Jesus, the arms spread out as normally seen during his crucifixion, leaning against the back wall as though it had fallen off its cross.

Mitch knew what he was seeing. In desperation, people flocked to their places of worship and prayed to their deity of choice for salvation and deliverance from whatever it was that threatened their lives... and failed, their prayers not answered, their God not listening.

With Lisa still clinging to him and sobbing uncontrollably, Mitch backed away from the chapel and left the church, slowly shutting the doors and closing off the terrible sight of death.

"It's alright, now," Mitch whispered to her, "It's alright; it's over. We're outside now. Lisa... Lisa..."

She was still quivering, unable to let go of Mitch, and only hearing half of what he was saying. He felt him grab her legs and gently push on them, forcing her to release her leg lock on him and stand up.

"Lisa," he said, taking her tear stained cheeks in his hands and made her look into his eyes, "Lisa, look at me; look at me!" Her eyes darted to his and focused on him, "We're out of it; it's over."

"They're... they're... they're..." she panted, her eyes and nose still running.

"I know, Honey. I know; I saw it. You need to calm down."

Leaning away from Mitch's hands, Lisa paced a step or two and bent down. Breathing hard through her mouth, she realized that her hysterical crying made her sick and, gurgling and holding her stomach, she gagged and threw up all over the church steps. Mitch, letting her get it all out of her system, removed the wipes container from her bag as she gulped and coughed out more vomit.

Finally finished, Mitch pulled her away from the mess and cleaned off the remaining vomit and drool from her mouth and chin. He used another wipe to wash away the tear stains from her cheeks and wipe her nose. Once he was satisfied that she was okay for now, Mitch used another wipe on himself, cleaning away Lisa's urine from his crotch and legs, then cleaned Lisa using a wipe on her vagina and thighs.

Finished, Mitch took Lisa in his arms again and hugged her, rubbing her back and rocking her gently.

"I don't... I don't... I don't..."

"Lisa?" Mitch softly spoke, hearing her try to speak.

"I don't... I don't want... I don't want to be here. I don't want to be here, anymore," her erratic breathing returned; she was becoming hysterical, again, "I don't want to be here, anymore."

"Lisa..."

"There's nothing here; there's nobody here. I want to... I want to go; I want to leave," her words started to blur together; her tears started leaking from her eyes again, "I want to leave; I want to go home."

"Lisa!"

"I don't want to stay here; it scares me. Take me away, Mitch; I'm frightened! Take me away from here, please; please, take me away from here! Please!"

Mitch forced her to face him and shouted, "LISA!"

She was startled into looking at him, her lips trembling but her eyes focused on his again, more tears dripping down her face.

"Listen to me," he said in a calmer voice, "I know you're scared; so am I, but we need to be focused and clear headed. We need to get to the lab, do you hear me? We need to go."

Lisa nodded and sputtered, "We... we... we need... to go."

"That's right; we need to go," Mitch laid his palm on her wet cheek, "It'll be alright. We'll leave tomorrow morning, and everything will be fine. Okay?"

Lisa nodded as she got control of her breathing and calmed down after a few minutes of sniffling, then her face twitched into a small smirk with her cheeks turning red, and said in a small voice, "I'm sorry I peed on you."

Mitch tried to hold back a chuckle, but couldn't and said, "It's okay; that's the first hot water that's hit my body all day."

She let out a small laugh and wiped away her tears, "I'm sorry I got upset. It's just... all of this..."

"Don't be sorry. You were frightened and had every right to be upset. We're going to find out what happened, and maybe we can do something to fix it."

"Fix this?" Lisa waved her hand at the devastation around them, "How?"

Mitch sighed, "I don't know. I'm not even sure we can do anything. We'll find out what happened, and then go from there."

"Okay," Lisa agreed, then looked at the church, "Let's get out of here; I don't want to be here, anymore."

Mitch agreed wholeheartedly, and the two shuffled down the steps and away from the holy house, leaving behind the unholy scenes of death within it.

Trudging across barren lots of earth and in between empty buildings, Mitch and Lisa finally arrived at their destination, grateful to be near familiar surroundings.

The lab was still there, though different than what they were use to seeing. The sign on the front of the building still said 'Ener-Dyne Technologies', but the lettering was altered and looked older with a few of the letters missing. If the vegetation was different than last time, there was no way to tell. As with the rest of the city, the land around the facility was devoid of anything green.

The pair made their way down the gradual slope of the surrounding hillocks and walked up the main drive to the parking lot. Again, rusted out hulks dotted the pavement as they went up to the entrance, the glass doors shattered. Mitch stopped Lisa before they went in.

"We'll probably see more... remains inside. You know that, right?"

Lisa nodded and followed him inside, carefully easing around the glass bits still stuck in the door frames. They both needed to be careful, especially there. Even though their feet were protected by their shoes, the rest of their naked bodies weren't and neither of them knew what they'd find in the lab.

As Mitch predicted, they found a couple more skeletal forms on the floor of the main foyer, one of them behind the guards' security desk. He crouched over the remains and removed the guard's revolver and belt from it, trying not to disturb the bones.

Lisa watched him check the gun and asked, "Do you really think we're going to need that?"

Knowing what she meant, he answered, "Do you really want to take the chance that we won't?"

She shrugged a shoulder as he removed the bullets from the belt's pouches and dumped them into his pack, then headed for the main lab with Lisa beside him.

Mitch gently opened the lab doors and looked inside, aiming the gun in front of him. They both entered and couldn't see anything very well; all the lights were out and the window shutters were down. Mitch clicked on the flashlight and headed over to one of the windows, then pushed up on the shutter forcing it open. The outside light streamed in and gave them a better view, but they saw that it wasn't exactly their lab.