Barren Planet

This story (Polarities) is based in a post-apocalyptic world where the planet is getting closer and closer to the sun, so there is lots of radiation and almost everyone has died off already. The landscape is lifeless and barren, and the world is now mostly covered with loose, red dust. It's unknown when the planet will crash into the sun.

However, the story isn't about the trouble of the planet getting closer to the sun, it's about the internal struggles of the main character Corey. Before the beginning of the story, he had been bitten by one of the radioactive creatures, which caused 'corruption' to grow on him. This corruption constantly tries to take control of him, but he fights against it. The corruption causes him to see hallucinations to try to get him to give in. If the corruption takes control, he becomes violent and he acts like a rabid animal, killing everything in sight, so he must fight against the corruption in order to keep this from happening. In fact, when he was first bit, he lost control and ended up killing his family. In fear that this corruption will once again take control, he keeps himself locked in his cabin far away from civilization, lonely and constantly afraid. 

One day, he hears a knock at his door, and after this event he must leave his cabin in search of shelter with a strange travelling companion.