Lurkers

"Lurkers" is a short Cthulhu Mythos story by British author David A. Riley.
== Synopsis==
Johnny, a bank robber on the run, decides to cut through a bad area of town in an effort to evade the police officers who are hot on his heels. However, he picks up some new pursuers in the form of a group of hideously deformed youths who chase him into a derelict housing estate. Finding his new hidey-hole to be inhabited by more of the creatures - even more devolved than the others - he attempts to escape through a tunnel, only to emerge in a future Earth overrun by a multitude of hideous abominations, including the dreaded Shoggoths.
Encountering a small group of near-feral humans, Johnny rises to become their leader, hunting other groups who soon become their food source. As the nearby tribes are wiped out and the group begins to starve, he realises that they must attempt to return to his time. Successfully navigating the tunnel, they emerge into a more civilised time only to discover that they have become exactly like the creatures inhabiting the estate.
== Publication History==
"Lurkers" was first published in the collection of Riley's own works The Lurkers in the Abyss and Other Tales of Terror by Shadow Publishing in August 2013. It also appeared in Vol 5, Issue 1 of the Lovecraftiana zine in 2020.
Category:David A. Riley works
Category:Expanded Mythos Works