Day 401

The carpark has never been taken care of properly.
Government cuts made sure that it was barely staffed, everything else wasn't their problem.
The lights were flickery at best and more often than not they were off entirely.
The tarmac was cracked in some places and collapsing in others.
Still, people needed somewhere cheap to leave their cars for a while and so it remained open.

Aside from the lights, floor and varying other architectural issues there was one other thing.
One large thing, I should say, its impossible to ignore even from the outside.
Ivy, you see, is one of those vicious growers - damn plant never stays gone.
You can cut and hack and cleave away at it and it'll be back same time next week.
In the carpark it covers the entire back half of the building from ground to roof.

They tried to cut it back completely a year or so ago, they haven't tried since.
It was clear from the beginning that the ivy had well and truly devoured the wall.
Starting from the roof they used a mixture of weed killer and wire cutters for those sturdy roots.
It seemed impossible at first, the damn stuff just wasn't budging but after three hours it gave way.
Slowly but surely they were able to peel it away from the wall, torching the bricks just in case.

The more they removed the stranger the scene before them.
Where bricks should be there was a large passageway that didn't seem to lead to the next building.
It should have been a plain wall between the carpark and an office block but these bricks looked
far older than both of the buildings and the musty air that rushed out confirmed this.
The two carpark employees thought to call the manager but they were too understaffed already.

If they called him then there would be nobody to run the place - head office would cause havoc!
They were tetchy enough as it was, always nagging them about the damn ivy.
This had to be taken care of by the two of them and quickly, before it caused trouble.
There were holes in one side of the passage which allowed faint slivers of light through.
Checking the time to see how long they could spare for this they both walked in.

The manager came up to the roof that evening, having spent all afternoon calling their mobiles.
He expected to see them slacking off, maybe drinking but instead he found only their tools.
All of their equipment was on the roof by patch of ivy that looked brighter and fresher than the rest.
Thinking they hadn't done their job and just gone home he headed down the stairs.
Cursing to himself he noticed that the ivy had broken through the stairwell in several places.

He thought he was the only one in the building so talked aloud to himself, the place was eerie alone.
Pausing by a large-ish patch of ivy on the third floor he lit up a cigarette.
As he exhaled he heard a loud cough coming from the plant covered wall.
Whipping his head around he saw a faint white blob moving through the ivy and towards him.
He pulled the remaining leaves aside to reveal a familiar face, ghastly pale and eyes shut.

He called their name, asked how the hell they got there, why hadn't the answered their phones.
The face didn't respond, just coughed and continued to wriggle forward.
He grew so angry he slapped them, yelled at them to answer him.
The face opened their eyes and ivy vines came tumbling out, slapping against their skin and hanging.
They coughed open mouthed and thick, wet leaves fell to the ground in clumps.

The staircase was so narrow from the fast growing plants that he soon had nowhere to go.
He was trapped, surrounded by ivy, ivy and the possible corpse of his employee.
They began to walk towards him, reaching out with a sickly pale green hand, trembling and weak.
Pity and guilt flooded him and he stepped towards their open arms.
It was surprisingly painless to be among the vines and leaves, it felt more like home every day.

The carpark has never been taken care of properly.
Government cuts meant that it was barely staffed and they never stayed for long, vanishing regularly.
The lights were flickery at best and more often than not they were off entirely.
The tarmac was cracked in some places and collapsing in others.
Still, people needed somewhere cheap to leave their cars for a while and so it remained open.