The old man sat, waiting. For what, he no longer knew. Nor for how long. Months? Years? Centuries? He had no idea.
And he did not want to know. This small dark room was his home, was where he belonged. He moaned as he clenched his stomach and released another prize into the ragged mess of cloth that was once his pants. He smiled and cackled to himself, oh how sweet life was!
He felt along the sides of his walls with his hands,searching for anything of interest. His eyes withered along time ago. He cawed in surprise as his bony hands
came across what appeared to be a small worm. Carefully he grasped it and brought it before his face.
"Of what do you seek in my realm, worm!" the old man enquired in his thin, frail voice.
The worm emitted a high frequancy hum of such force that it vibrated the confined metal surroundings around it.
THe old man had not come across this language before, and was baffled. He noted some similarity to the dialect
of the Uzank tribes.
"Ah friend, you must be from up north. A refugee from the wars for sure."
He held him up close and whisipered into his ear.
"I will keep you safe friend, it is dark times indeed. But i will keep you safe and warm."
He unzipped his satchel, kept on a strap around his bare chest, and placed the little worm inside. Right next to the old man's mothers placental sack. No harm will come to him in here he thought.
Suddenly the sound of metal scraping filled his ears! He felt warm light his his flesh. He screamed, a painful terrifying scream. Voices he heard.
"Woah man, theres a dude sitting in this bin! Holy shit it smells fucking horrible."
"That is just freaky, c'mon lets leave him alone. He is scaring the shit out of me."
The noises stopped. His room returned to its normal darkness. The old man's quickened, panicked breaths began to return to normal. What are these creatures that keep appearing he wonders, what are they saying? Why wont they leave me alone?
The old man sobbed and moaned for hours, until he fell into a nightmare filled sleep. He would not awaken for 10 more weeks.