Well, this was hell on earth.
“Bethany!” Bret hissed. I ignored him as I slipped a few feet deeper into the woods. That thing was out there, somewhere. I strained to see it through the darkness. “Bethany get back here!”
I bristled over his commanding tone, but I didn’t obey him, I didn’t know why he thought I would. There was some commotion, and then someone was grabbing hold of my arm, trying to pull me back through the woods. “Bethany,” Bret hissed in my ear. “Come on, we have to get out of here.”
“I know that.” I tried to tug my arm free, but he refused to relinquish me. “Bret!” I snarled, impatience tearing through me. He didn’t release me as he pulled me forward, tugging me behind the others. There was no way that we were going to be able to outrun that thing, it was impossible and if we didn’t stop it, it would only follow us to the store. “We have to stop it, it won’t go away!” I panted. “We can’t outrun it Bret, it will only catch us.” It was true, we were already wearing down. Other than Bret, none of us were exactly athletes, though Cade was a lot stealthier than I had ever thought possible.
“Finally!” I shouted when he continued to pull me along, ignoring my protests. “We have to finally stand up for ourselves! Bret, stop!”
My voice was nearly hysterical, my heart was hammering painfully, I could barely breathe, but I was right. If we didn’t take a stand we were going to die. There was no way for us to outrun it, no way for us to escape its steady, ruthless, approach. And no way that we would lose it before we made it to the antique store. “This is it Bret,” I whispered. “This is it.”
His eyes were dark in the night, but I knew their clear green color well. I also knew that stubborn set of his chin well, and the muscle that was twitching in his cheek. He was torn, annoyed, but beneath it all I could sense his fear for me, for himself, for all of us. “Bret.”
He turned away from me. “Do you have any more guns?” he asked Cade.
Cade’s eyes were dark, hooded as they slid toward me. They had stopped running with us. The plywood sat on the ground between him and Aiden. I could not see Abby and Jenna but I sensed them in the darkness, waiting breathlessly for us to join them. “Cade?” I inquired softly.
He pulled his bulky duffle bag forward, tugged open the zipper and tossed something to Bret. It was only when the dim light of the moon flashed across it that I realized it was another gun. I wanted to ask him where he had acquired the weapons, but now was not the time. He pulled the shotgun from his shoulder while Aiden motioned Abby and Jenna forward.
I dug the key from my pocket; my hand shook as I handed it back to Cade. “Take mom.” Aiden had a hold of Abby’s shoulders as Cade handed the key to Jenna and explained how to get into the room. Jenna was pale and shaking, Abby looked about ready to cry as she tremulously hugged Aiden, and then me.
“Come with us Bethany,” she whispered.
“I can’t. Go on now Abby, get to safety.”
“I think you should go Bethy,” Aiden said softly.
I shook my head, refusing to relent, refusing to cower and hide. I had been hiding for a long time, slinking silently through my life, trying to remain hidden in the world. I would not be silent tonight, and I would do anything I could to keep my little sister safe. I had to. If we couldn’t all escape, I was at least going to help buy Abby enough time to get to relative safety.
I hugged Abby tight, turned her away, and pushed her toward the plywood still holding our mother. I couldn’t watch her walk away. It was too painful. The two of them would struggle with our mother, but they would get her there, that much I knew. Abby was one of the most stubborn people I had ever met, she wouldn’t fail.
“Bethany…”
“I’m fine Bret.”
“I love you.”
I felt my mouth drop, my heart plummeted in much the same manner. I knew how he felt about me, knew he dreamed of things that I never had, mainly because I rarely dreamed of anything. Life was too precarious for dreams that may never come true. But he had never said those words to me before, let alone announced them in front of my brother, and Cade.
I gaped at him, my eyes wide, and my heart thumping painfully in my chest. His gaze was tender, sincere, and so unbelievably loving that it made me want to run screaming into the woods after my sister. This was one of the worst situations I had ever found myself in. I could feel Cade’s hard gaze upon me, feel the smoldering heat of it. I didn’t know what to say, what to do, and thankfully I didn’t have time to worry about it. The snakelike tentacles burst free of the woods, proving that at least the creature had excellent timing along with its fierce urge to murder.
It felt good to squeeze the trigger on the gun, to finally take a stand. The gun recoiled fiercely, I had prepared myself for this, but it still knocked me back a foot. The guns cracked loudly, bullets exploded into the dark. I steadied myself, holding the gun tighter and bracing my legs further apart in order to take the kickback better. I had no clue what I was doing; I was only trying to mimic what I had seen on TV and movies.
The second shot did not hit the creature, but it didn’t almost knock me over either. I adjusted myself, aiming a little more to the left and slightly higher. I fired again, a bolt of satisfaction jolted through me; I was fairly certain I’d hit the monster, but it was hard to tell as Cade, Aiden, and Bret continued to fire upon the thing. They seemed to be doing better with their shots, but that thing was still coming rapidly toward us, skittering forward with a rush of momentum that I was beginning to think would never stop.
I wanted to back away, wanted to turn and flee screaming into the woods. However, I was many things, but a coward was not one of them. I never had been. I would not abandon them right now, no matter how much my survival instincts were telling me to do so. If they decided to retreat…
Well I’d be running like the hounds of hell were after me right along with them. And looking at this thing, I was pretty sure that they just might be.
It was getting closer, only fifteen feet away now. It barreled through the woods at us, snapping smaller trees in half, darting with an eerie, almost mesmerizing grace around the larger ones. I was almost as entranced, and impressed by this thing, as I was repulsed by it.
I was taking time with my shots, I didn’t know how many bullets the gun possessed and I sure as hell didn’t know how to reload it. I had to make sure that when that thing was on top of us, and it would be, that I at least had some bullets left in my gun.
It was a good thing that Cade appeared to be an excellent shot. He seemed to be the only one that hadn’t missed yet, the only one doing consistent damage to it. Damage that was hardly making a dent.
Ten feet, I fired another shot. Eight feet, I could feel my heart jump all the way into my throat. Six feet, I was half afraid that I was going to piss myself. Four feet, I fired off another shot as a tentacle lashed out.
I never saw the thing until it slammed against the side of my face. My head snapped around, my teeth clamped down on my tongue so hard that blood spurted into my mouth. I cried out, stumbling back beneath the force of the blow. My vision swam, stars burst over my eyes as blackness threatened to consume me.
Someone shouted my name, I didn’t know who. I couldn’t make out the voice over the loud ringing in my ears. Arms encircled me, pulling me back as something wrapped around my leg. A strangled scream escaped as I struggled against the darkness trying to pull me under. “Kill it! Kill it!”
Bret’s frightened cries were muffled in my ears, but I knew now that it was him holding me. That it was him trying to keep me from the clutches of that hideous thing. Bret’s arms were tight around me, gripping hold of me as the creature tried to pull me away. I knew he would never let me go. Aiden was suddenly upon us, a knife in his hand. I held my breath and closed my eyes as I braced myself. I knew what these things did when they were stabbed, and it was not pretty.
A loud, ear splitting shriek rent the air. My hands slammed over my ears, an answering scream of pain a
lmost ripped from me but I managed to suppress it in time. Bret ducked over me; I could feel his breath against my neck, the shaking that rocked his hard body. My fingers dug into his arm as another shot rang through the air. The awful screeching grew momentarily louder, blood sprayed over us as the broken tentacle whipped through the air. Blood spurted from the bullet holes as Cade fired two more shots.
The screaming ended abruptly.
Bret’s breath was loud in my ears now; I could make out the frantic beat of his heart. The thing wrapped around my leg went slack, but it did not release me. I wanted to cry, wanted to curl into a ball and sob, I never wanted to move again. I wanted to close my eyes real tight, click my heels together, and go back to a year ago when things had not been easy but they had been far better than this never ending nightmare.
“Bethany?”
“I’m fine.”
“Then why are you shaking?” I almost asked Bret why he was shaking, but I realized that he actually wasn’t shaking; it was the force of my tremors rocking him. It was unnerving to know this, but I couldn’t stop myself. “It’s ok, we’re safe right now.”
I bit on my lip as I managed a brief nod. It was Cade that un-wrapped the remains of the tentacle from my leg. Bret helped me to my feet, for a moment I was terrified that my wobbling legs would not hold me, but they did. Bret rubbed my arms gently as he held me before him. “The thing?” I managed to croak out.
“Dead.” Cade was beside us, my revolver in his hand. He slid a bullet into it, spun the cylinder, and slammed it shut. He studied me for a long moment, his eyebrows drawn together as he handed the gun toward me again. “Are you going to be ok with this?”
“Maybe she shouldn’t have it,” Bret protested instantly.
“Bethany?” Cade inquired.
I swallowed heavily and forced myself to nod. “Of course I will.”
“Beth…”
“I need something to help protect us Bret.”
“We’re fine for now.”
“For now,” I reiterated.
His soft green eyes were dark, hesitant. I could see the worry and fear in them. I could also see the love. He touched my cheek lightly as he took a step toward us. Cade thrust the revolver in between us, I took a startled step back as it was pushed in between Bret and I. Bret shook his head but didn’t protest further as I took the gun from Cade again.
CHAPTER 8
I staggered through the door of the antique shop. My legs were shaking, my stomach heaved as I slumped to the floor. I could barely catch my breath; my lungs were on fire as I struggled to keep control of my shaking body. I jumped when hands seized hold of me, trying to lift me back up. “It’s ok Bethy.”
It wasn’t ok, both Aiden and I knew that, but I wasn’t about to protest. He hauled me to my feet, pulling me beside him as he led me through the store. It was a good thing that Aiden was more graceful than I was, I would have knocked everything in the store over if he hadn’t been leading me. My stomach rolled again, bile burned the back of my throat but I refused to vomit, I would not lose the meager contents of my stomach here.
“Stairs Bethy, where are the stairs?” he hissed in my ear.
I managed to raise a tremulous arm and point in the direction of where the stairs were. He took a sharp right as he headed for the door, holding me up as he pulled the door open. The stairs were dark, neither Aiden nor I wanted to turn the light on. We felt our way through the dark, struggling not to fall down the steep steps. We were halfway down when I vomited.
I simply couldn’t hold it in anymore. The awful screams, sights, and sounds haunted my every moment.
Aiden paused, leaning against the wall as he held me against his chest, gently rubbing my hair. I was shaking, on the verge of vomiting again when Bret stepped into the stairwell followed swiftly by Cade. I pulled away from Aiden as I leapt forward, scrambling to try and get back out as Cade started to close the door. “No, wait!” I gasped, stumbling up a few steps. “Wait!”
“Bethy.”
“Let go of me!” I nearly screeched when Aiden wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back toward him. Panic was clawing at me, tearing through me in unending waves of horror. “I can’t be here! Aiden, let go of me!”
He didn’t let me go; instead he pulled me further down the stairs, dragging me into the darkness. Bret and Cade followed slowly behind as I struggled within Aiden’s grasp and then went limp. Cade found the cord and pulled the switch on the light. I ducked my head, unable to look; my eyes were still wounded from the bright light of earlier. I blinked rapidly as I tried to focus my gaze.
I was covered in blood, some of it was mine. Most of it wasn’t. And not all of it was from that creature. I wanted to deny that fact, but I couldn’t. I knew deep in my heart that most of the blood was from my neighbors, my friends. That thing had exploded like a fat tick, ripe with all the blood of the people we knew.
“Bethy you’re safe, be glad.” I couldn’t be glad; there was no way that I could ever be glad again. I barely knew how to breathe anymore, let alone be happy I was still breathing.
Aiden was practically carrying me now. “Where is the room?” Bret asked softly.
Cade was suddenly before us, his eyes dark and distant. There was a hardness to him that I had not noticed before, a coldness that left me almost as shaken as the bloodbath we had just witnessed. I thought I might throw up again.
I was stumbling, staggering, my head was spinning. I heard Abby’s gasp of fear, relief filled me as darkness descended over me.
***
I didn’t know what time it was when I woke up. I did know that everyone else in the room was sound asleep, and I needed to get the hell out of here. I was silent as I stood; I tried hard to control the frantic beat of my heart, and the rising panic trying to claim me. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found the switch for the door and pushed on it.
The door swung slowly open. I stumbled into the darkness, managing to catch myself before I crashed into something. I turned back, staring at the people within the room, my friends, my family. Abby was curled against Aiden; she looked even younger and far more vulnerable in her sleep. Jenna was in a ball; her head rested on one of the old blankets that had been draped over a crate within the room. Cade was further in the back, sitting with his back against the wall, his chin on his chest. It was obvious he had fallen asleep while trying to keep watch. Bret was close to where I had been sleeping, I think he had been even closer to me, but had rolled away in his sleep.
I took one last look at them before I slid the door silently closed. I crept slowly up the stairs, being far quieter than I had ever thought I could be. But then again, there was a lot that I had done this day that I hadn’t thought I ever would, or could, do. I had never dreamed I would fire a gun, let alone help to kill something with it.
Opening the door just a sliver, I stuck my eye against the crack as I struggled to see anything. My ears strained as I searched for noise. I felt brave enough, and secure enough, to open the door a little further before slipping completely out of the cellar. Sunlight filtered through the blinds, another day had risen; the world still turned, and I was still in hell.
The first thing I looked for was the bathroom, which I found in a small room behind the counter. I was horrified by the blood that streaked my face. My blue eyes were shadowed by dark circles; my long hair was a tangled mess I was half afraid I would have to cut off. There was a dark bruise forming on one side of my face, it took up most of my cheek. Beneath the bruise was a jagged slice about three inches long. I touched it tenderly, wincing as pain lanced through the area where the creature had struck me.
I turned the water on, and to the best of my ability, scrubbed the blood from my face and arms before ducking my head to wash as much of the blood out of my hair as I could. The water ran red and the sink was a mess by the time I was done. Fresh nausea turned through my stomach as I washed the blood splatters from the basin. I was able to keep from throwing up this time though.
I felt marginally better afterwards, but not much. I longed for the backpacks full of toothpaste and clothes that had been abandoned at my house. I longed for a hairbrush and conditioner as I struggled to unknot the tangles with my fingers. It took awhile, and I ripped out a lot of hair in the process, but I finally managed to get most of it unknotted.
Sighing softly, I made my way to the front of the store. The blinds were still drawn, but the sun crept in around the edges of them. I inhaled deeply, taking a moment of joy in its soothing warmth, and reassuring presence. All hell had broken lose, the world continued to turn, some form of life would go on. Even if it wasn’t human.
My hand trembled as I reached forward and pulled one of the slats down. I peered cautiously out at the street. It was eerily quiet out there. Even eerier were the things left behind. Bicycles, papers, coffee cups, wallets, purses, and even shoes were scattered about the street, with other possessions, like discarded causalities of war. There were no bodies out there though, there were no people left at all.
I shuddered as I stared at the desolate scene. It almost seemed as if it might be safe to go outside again. I knew it wasn’t. I may not be able to see them right now, but they were out there. Somewhere. But we couldn’t stay here forever either. We would eventually have to move, they would find us if we didn’t.
Or maybe they wouldn’t…
“Bethany.” I jumped slightly at the hissed whisper. Releasing the blind I turned as Cade stepped out of the cellar. His eyes narrowed in displeasure, his full lips compressed into a tight line. The blood that had coated him last night was gone, and now that I thought of it, I realized that they had all been cleaner than me. They must have washed themselves after I had passed out last night. “What are you doing?”
“All of the people are gone.”
“If you don’t take better care of yourself you’ll be gone too,” he muttered so quietly that I almost didn’t catch it all.
“I’ve been taking care of myself for awhile now,” I retorted, trying hard not to lose my patience. I had thought that he was different than Bret, that he had a little more confidence in me. Apparently I was wrong.