Chapter 2
They hadn't gotten far from the crash when Scooter hear a sound. He looked at the others, but none of them seemed to have noticed anything. He raised his hands and told them to stop. He placed one of his fingers to his mouth to tell them to be quiet.
"What is it?" Julie asked nervously. "Did you hear something? One o
f
the
m
?"
Scooter wasn't sure. He pointed to his hear
.
Listen.
Nothing.
They waited.
The sound came again. Screaming.
"Shit," Scooter said. He had tried his best to keep from swearing in front of Emily, but it didn't seem all that important at the moment. "It'
s
the
m
."
"Do you know where they're coming from?" Julie searched around, trying to find an answer to her own question.
Scooter shook his head.
"What should we do?"
Scooter looked back at the cars they had just passed. He thought about going back to them and finding one to hide in. Then he realized that they were too far. John wasn't the fastest at the best of times. There is no way that they'd make it in time.
He looked to the side of the road. "Into the grass," he said, pointing at the long reeds. "Hurry."
They all did as they were told.
Scooter took hold of John's elbow and helped him lower to the ground once they were hidden. The old man had some difficulty with bending his knees and keeping his balance. Yet Scooter had to admire him for trying his best. He also had to admit that they could be in serious trouble if the creatures attacked. There was no way that John was going to be able to get back up quickly enough.
Don't think of that
,
he told himself
.
He'd deal with it if it happened.
The others were crouched down as well. Their heads swivelled from side to side as the creatures continued to scream.
"Are they close?" Julie asked, panic rising in her voice.
Scooter mouthed that he didn't know. Then he motioned for her to keep quiet. She looked ready to ask someone else, but didn't. She lowered her eyes and wrapped her arms around Emily. The little girl held her back.
All Scooter had in his hands was his axe. But that was enough
.
If those creatures came, he'd give them one hell of a fight
.
There was a lot depending on him.
Only Marianne looked ready to fight with him. She had her knife pulled out of her purse. She had taken her sunglasses off. She kept her head cocked, listening to the sound.
More screaming.
Scooter could hear something else as well. At first, it was hard to make out. But once he caught a hold of it, it was impossible to miss. Heavy breathing. Grunting. It reminded him of animals searching for their prey.
The creatures were definitely close.
He tightened his grip on his axe and wished that he could lift it up over her head. The problem was that he couldn't move. He didn't want to risk being seen.
He'd deal with it if it happened…
The grunting continued, as did the screaming.
Then it all came to a stop.
All that could be heard was a faint breeze blowing over the top of the grass. Scooter couldn't even hear his own thoughts. Or his pounding heart, for that matter.
Silence.
They waited.
Another scream filled the air.
Scooter was sure that they had been found. It would only be a second before the creatures pounced. And it was only him and Marianne who were going to be able to do anything to hold them off.
He didn't hesitate. He raised his axe over his shoulder and stood up slightly straighter, one foot behind him for support. He gathered all of his strength and readied it for his first swing.
It would happen any moment now. They'd burst through the grass and attack. He'd do everything he could to protect everyone…
Nothing happened.
The screams picked up their intensity. Though they also began to grow faint. The creatures footsteps followed suit.
They're leaving
,
he told himself. He didn't lower his axe until he was certain.
When the screams faded further, his tension eased and he seated himself to the ground.
"That was close," John said.
He was right. I
t
wa
s
close.
To
o
close.
Chapter 3
The waited a moment longer to make sure that the creatures had gone. Back and forth, they exchanged looks. It wasn't until Scooter decided that is was safe that everyone got up from their spots.
Scooter had to help John with that. The old man's knees cracked as they straightened. He grabbed a hold of his back.
"You okay?" Scooter asked. He spoke quietly.
"I'm fine," John said. "Just need to stretch out a bit."
They walked onto the road. The others were waiting there for them.
Alice rushed over to her husband and hugged him. Julie still had her arms around Emily. Marianne still had a hold of the knife. Buster sniffed at the air, though kept close to everyone.
"I was so scared," Alice said.
"There's nothing to worry about now," John consoled her. He patted the back of her head, pulled her in tighter. "Everything's going to be fine."
Scooter heard Julie and Emily begin to whimper and thought of giving them the same type of reassurance. He stepped toward them. He didn't feel comfortable putting his arms around them like John had his wife, but he could say a few words to make them feel better. "It's okay," he started. "Everything's…"
Wham!
He felt something slam into his back and knock him to the ground. His face hit the pavement. His axe fell from his hand.
Unsure of what had happened, he rolled onto his side. He heard screaming. He saw feet shuffling around in front of him.
When things started to make sense, he could make out two people lying on the ground. It was one of the creatures…and it was on top of John.
"No!" Scooter shouted, pushing himself up off of the ground. He picked up his axe and charged forward. "John!"
He raised his axe, but then worried that he might miss the creature and hit the old man
.
He'd have to kick it off first
.
He'd strike when John was free.
But John would never be free.
The creature let out a wild scream as it brought its mouth down to John's neck. It bit deeply, aggressively. When it pulled back, a thick piece of John's skin came off in its mouth. Blood squirted across the pavement, covering the creature along the way. The creature went in for another bite, its fingers scratching at John's face.
"No!" Scooter shouted again. He lifted his foot and and slammed the bottom of it into the creature's shoulder.
The creature didn't notice. It kept its face buried in John's neck. It grunted as it tried to pull free another piece.
John tried to shout, though his voice came out weak and garbled.
Scooter raised his heavy boot once more and kicked out with all that he could. This time, the creature fell off of John and rolled onto the pavement.
Now, hurry
!
Scooter lifted his axe up overhead. He focused on the creature. A woman. Her hair cut short. Her face covered in blood
.
John's blood
.
He screamed as he slammed the axe down into her shoulder. There was a soft thud as it sunk in.
The creature screamed. Scooter did as well.
He pulled the axe free, knowing that he hadn't done enough to stop it. It reached out for him. He stepped back.
He lifted the axe back above his head. He focused on the creature's face. Its wild eyes glared at him. Its mouth remained open. Blood sprayed as the creatures shouted once more.
NOW!
Scooter took a deep breath and swung. The blade fell and zeroed in on its target.
With another soft thud, it split the creature's skull apart. It dropped to the ground. The screaming stopped. And a pool of blood quickly formed on the pavement.
Scooter turned. He noticed Marianne beside him, the knife held out before her. She looked about to jump on the creature if it got up. Though Scooter knew that it was never going to attack them again.
His thoughts went on the old man. He ran to him.
Alice was kneeling down beside her husband, begging for help. She held hold of his hand as she screamed out.
Scooter went down beside her and pressed his hands against John's neck. Blood seeped through his fingers; the heat with which felt as though it burned. He pushed down harder on the gaping hole.
"You'll be okay," Scooter said. "Just hold on."
But hold on for what? There wasn't an ambulance coming to help. A doctor wouldn't simply appear.
As Scooter continued to keep his hands on John's wound, the old man's eyes turned from his wife and focused on him. Scooter could see something in the gaze.
I'm sorr
y
, the old man was saying
.
I'm so sorry.
No
,
Scooter thought
,
I'm the one that should be sorry. He had promised Alice that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to him. Yet here John was, lying on the ground, bleeding to death.
It was only when he started gasping for air that Scooter knew it was nearly over. He watched John's mouth quickly open and close. He saw his chest rise and fall.
And, with a final exhale, he died.
Chapter 4
Scooter kept his hands on John's neck even after the old man had taken his last breath. He could hear crying beside him. Julie and Emily had joined in. But now none of it made much sense to him.
What was he doing
?
What had happened
?
He could barely see his hands in the blood that had covered them. His clothes were soaked as well. Especially his jeans. He had been kneeling in a pool of blood.
John
?
Is that you?
It was Marianne who snapped him out of it. She grabbed hold of his shoulder and shook him. He turned to look at her and noticed the concern in her eyes.
"You did all that you could," she said. "But we have to leave."
"Leave?"
"We have to go! Those creatures, they'll be back!"
At first, he hesitated to take his hands off of John's neck. Though, in the end, he knew that Marianne was right. The creatures would have heard the screaming, could probably now hear the crying. He released the pressure he had placed against John and sat back. He tried to ignore the fresh stream of blood flowed out of the old man.
"We have to go," Marianne repeated. "Now!"
Scooter got to his feet, picking up his axe as he did. Julie and Emily were standing not too far way. Buster was beside them.
"Come on!" Marianne pulled on his arm. She wanted him to help with Alice. The old woman was still on the ground beside her husband. She was rocking back and forth, holding John's hand. "Grab her!"
Scooter reached under one side of Alice while Marianne took the other. They tried lifting her.
Alice swatted at them. "What are you doing?"
Marianne replied, "We have to go."
"Go? I'm not leaving my husband here. We need to help him!"
"There's nothing more we can do, Alice. Your husband is gone."
"Gone? He's right here! We need to find help. He's hurt!"
"He's not hurt. He's dead. And we have to go."
Alice stared a Marianne, mouth open, until realization set in. When it did, she turned to Scooter. "You!" she screamed. "This is all your fault! You said that you'd take care of him, wouldn't let anything happen!"
He let go of Alice and took a step back. "I know," he said. "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry? Look at my husband. You got him killed!" The old woman began sobbing again.
Scooter stood there, unsure of what to do. Her words had spoken some truth
.
He had gotten John killed
.
He looked down at the axe in his hands and wished that he had used it sooner.
Marianne spoke to him next. "Scooter," she said. "You have to be strong right now and help me with her. The creatures will be here soon."
She was right
.
Scooter forced himself to push all other thoughts out of his mind and went back beside the old woman.
As soon as he touched her, she began to struggle. This time he didn't let go. He pulled her to her feet.
Standing, she continued to scream, "Leave me alone! I told you John was too old for this! You promised you'd keep him safe! You can all leave me here. Thos
e
thing
s
got my husband. They can come and take me too!"
"We can't leave you," Marianne argued. "W
e
won't
.
"
"You will! I won't go with you. I'll stay with John. I'm not going to…"
"No!" Another voice joined the shouting. It was a high-pitched squeal that got them to stop their fighting. They looked at Emily. It was the little girl that had spoken. "You can't stay here! You have to come with us! Please!"
Tears streamed down Alice's face, though now she looked torn as well. She glanced between her husband and the little girl, then came upon a decision. "I love you," she said to the corpse. She bent back down and kissed her husband on his bloodied lips. When she raised her head, red droplets fell from her chin. She turned to look at the little girl. "Let's go."
As she got to her feet, Scooter reached over to help her. He stopped when she shot him a look that told him to leave her alone.
She walked over to the little girl and put her hand out for her to hold. "I know that John wouldn't have wanted me to stay."
Emily grabbed it.
"Where are we going?" Julie asked. It was the first time she had spoken since the attack. They could barely make out her words, they trembled so much.
"We keep going in the direction we were headed," Scooter replied. He had no intention of heading back to the cars to find a place to hide. He also didn't want to go back into the grass. If the creatures came back, they'd see the dead bodies on the road and would search frantically for anyone else who might be around.
He started to walk. The others followed.
It wasn't long before they heard screaming from somewhere out in the fields.
"It's them!" Julie said. "What are we going to do?"
Scooter tried to keep his voice under control, "We're going to keep walking."
He picked up the pace, though it wasn't so easy with a grieving widow and a child to deal with. He went back to pick up Emily. "Marianne and Julie," he said, "help with Alice."
The creatures continued to scream, and sounded like they were coming from every direction. Scooter could only hope that that wasn't the case. He pushed on.
When they came to an intersection, Scooter suggested that they turn off the road they were on. "If the creatures come out, they won't be able to see us," he explained.
They went to the right.
However, before Scooter got very far, he turned to look back down the road they had just come up. It was impossible to make out anything in great detail, but he could see John's body lying out in the middle of the road.
How could they just leave him there like that?
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I'm so sorry."