Derrick kept listening. The scratching continued, starting off slow, and quiet. But slowly, and overtime, it grew louder and louder, like more of whatever was out there joined in, and began using more force. The others could hear it now too, coming from other sides of the room; other walls and windows. They didn’t dare make a sound, and Derrick desperately tried to think of what to do as they were progressively surrounded.
“Look,” he whispered, “we could sneak upstairs, barricade a door, and wait out the night,” He explained. “Seems like our best option to me.”
“Do we know if these are… you know… them?” Nolan asked.
“I would go with yes; they’re acting way too strangely,” Cody responded. “But, the thing is… we’ve never heard of anything like this…”
“Cody, this is just like the trees, remember?” Luke said. “With the body.”
“You guys saw a body in the woods?” Jeremy asked. “When?”
“Long time ago, but it was surrounded by fallen trees, with huge claw marks on them,” Luke explained. “Seem familiar?”
“Maybe,” Cody said, “but it still might not be the same thing, right? If we don’t know for sure what could happen here, locking ourselves away might be the worst thing we could do.”
“Oh and sitting here talking, not moving at all is the best?” Adam retorted, though still in a whisper.
“No dude, I’m just saying we need to think this through… you asshole,” Cody spat back quietly, annoyed at Adam’s tone. Under high stress situations, Cody could sometimes get a little snippy with people when they weren’t cooperating, so it came as no surprise to Derrick. All it meant was a tell of how stressful the situation was to him, and therefore to the others.
“Well where do we go if we do leave?” Chris asked. “I mean I’m not saying we do, but if we had to?”
“We have to keep going in the direction of the grave,” Luke said. “We could go around it left, which is an open field from what I can remember, or right, which is all forest-infested. Either could be an advantage to those things. Worst case… it is only a few feet deep, we could… cut through.” The others all gasped and groaned at that. “I’m not saying we should, but if we had to. This is how people survive guys, remember? Sometimes that means doing something like this,” Luke reminded them.
“Well we gotta leave at some point, right? Who knows how long whatever it is will be out there?” Jeremy said, gesturing out the window, and grabbing his notebook reflexively. “Morning or night, does it really make a difference when we go?”
“A little, man, yeah,” Nolan replied. “We need to see where we’re going, and nighttime with a thunderstorm isn’t ideal.”
“No, but the grave is to the right of the house, and we’ll be able to run alongside it. We’ll be able to see that, I’m sure,” Jeremy explained, looking around at the others for some kind of acknowledgement in his idea. They all paused again.
“Look, why don’t we try and–” Cody said, then interrupted… by total silence. The scratching had stopped, on every side of the house. They all gazed toward the windows in horror, and Derrick backed away as slowly and carefully as possible.
It all happened so fast, it was hard for Derrick to remember it clearly. And it would become much harder to do so a moment later.
Something… one of the things outside, burst through the front window, shattering it into millions of now-cascading shards of glass; they twinkled ever so slightly as they fell to the floor.
It leapt through, almost pounced, and landed right on top of Derrick, slamming him onto the ground, hard. One of it’s talon-like limbs slashed down the side of his face, splattering blood by the others’ feet.
“Shit!” Jeremy shouted.
“Derrick!” Luke yelled, raising his gun. He fired instinctively at the monster’s side, and Cody soon did the same with his own gun. The shots dazed it a bit, but only when Adam, Nolan, and Jeremy ran at it with their weapons, swinging and shoving, did it fall off of Derrick and recoil. All the while it hissed wildly, and extended its four talon-tipped limbs.
They couldn’t see it clearly, but through a sudden flash of lightning protruding from the window, it was red– dark red. It wasn’t just blood, it was skin, all leathery and plated. It had a long tail, with pricks and points all along it, and its eyes were almost indescribable. Pupils that went both horizontally and vertically, like a cross, and holes that flexed on the outer ends of its eyes, leading to the sides of its head. It was shaped similar to a wolf, but with all the plating and red skin, this was surely no such animal.
Luke was the only one who really got an eye on it though, and only for a moment, the group then quickly grabbing Derrick– him in a dazed and confused state– and fearfully leaping out of the now-shattered window. Chris and Jeremy noticed the rest of the creatures bursting through the other windows just as they had jumped out theirs; it only gave them a moment or so more of fleeting time.
They sprinted blindly through the seemingly monumental darkness, and nobody could see. Not where they went or even who they were with. They all saw outlines, heard shouting, growls and howls, and bullets flying and screams wailing, but they couldn’t see. The only real light– scarcely provided as it was– came from sparse lightning strikes, and even fewer gunshots– quickly there being only the jaw-clenchingly dreadful sound of clicking, and a distinct lack of bullets. No more light, no more sound but the heavy rain, monstrous thunder, and ghastly sounds of howls and gnawing; they just couldn’t see.
They were terrified, they were confused, they could do nothing but run, and they couldn’t see. No matter how hard they tried, they just couldn’t see.
Day 502
“The Split”
It was insanity. It was a shitshow. It was a living Hell. Cody remembered what they had looked like. He remembered bursting out the window, and running. Luke was firing his gun, and he pulled out his own. Nolan called for Cody, and he barely saw him gesturing for the pistol, being farther away from Luke than he was, and so he tossed it to his friend in shared and obvious need. The gunshots were the only form of light he could use to track Nolan. He remembered that they ran toward the hole, and paused for half a second– though it felt like a (quickly ceasing) lifetime– then jumping in. A mile of traversing bodies was something Cody hoped to never even think of experiencing again, to say the least.
He remembered that he followed the sound of Luke’s shouts, but he heard the others as well, not to mention the howls and growls of whatever the hell was behind them. He leapt in, and maneuvered his way through the rank, leathery husks of bodies, still following Luke’s voice as best he could. Cody heard Adam shout, and the next thing he knew he ran right into him. He’d got his foot caught in a small crevice between the bodies, unable to break free. Cody helped to pull him out, and they continued to run. Then, Cody remembered looking back, and hearing the growling subside a bit, and the sounds of chewing– gnawing– growing stronger, but all the same, more distant. They… those things, must’ve gotten sidetracked by the bodies, Cody assumed; he hoped. He had to hope.
Cody and the others kept running though, as fast as their adrenaline-pumping bodies would allow; he certainly did anyway. They ran until their legs were dead-weak, and they were unimaginably out of breath; it must have been at least 30 minutes of pure, unadulterated sprinting, if not more. It sucked; Cody was getting really tired of running.
They finally reached a sign that said: Welcome to Illinois: The Land Of Lincoln, stained with growing rust on every corner, and dark blotches all around that looked like old, splattered blood. A small gas station was nearby, and so they ran into it and just sat there, pressed hard up against a wall. Someone barricaded the door while Cody wiped away tears and caught his breath.
Then, totally drained, and completely overwhelmed by it all, he blacked out, and woke up where he was now. And what he saw was one of the most terrifying sights he had seen yet, including all of the horror of they had seen just day– and night– before.
>
Only four of them had made it to the gas station, himself included. Luke, Adam, and Chris all laid around him sleeping, but as he got up, Cody couldn’t see any of the others.
Frantically, he shoved his friends awake and stood there, trying to stop himself from shaking, which on the outside he did quite well, at least he thought so; it was the inside that was hard to calm.
“Guh… Cody?” Luke asked, rubbing his head. “What’s up?” He slowly regained more lucidness, and suddenly became very panicked himself. “Oh God, is everyone okay!?” He shot up, looking around wildly.
“Luke, they’re not here!” Cody shouted, waving around. “Nolan, Der, Jeremy, they’re all gone!”
Chris jumped up as well, suddenly very awake and frightfully aware. He paced around a bit, but there was very little area in the rather empty and decayed gas station to search.
“Do you…Do you think…?” Chris said, getting very quickly choked up. Cody didn’t blame him, he was getting there himself. He was so tired of how often that feeling kept hitting them all. That feeling like they couldn’t do anything. It killed him.
“I don’t know,” Luke said, facepalming in grief, “I couldn’t see a god damn thing out there. For all I know they could be…” He trailed off, losing his composure. “God damn it!” he shouted, rearing back and punching a wooden door leading to a closet, which cracked and dented against his fist, immediately scraping and probably bruising up his knuckles fairly well.
“God, how did this happen!?” Chris questioned, still in disbelief. “What the hell even did happen!?” He was about to blame himself, Cody could see it coming.
“We got attacked, and we ran. Chris it was all we could do,” Cody justified, trying to console his friend, though he imagined it did little to help. As proven by Chris just muttering to himself in shame and sliding down against a wall, cupping his face in his hands. “It was too dark to tell, and after all, I could hardly keep my eyes open.”
“I could,” Chris admitted, ashamed. “I didn’t sleep for like an hour, neither did Luke. We just sat there, and all I thought about was myself. I just… was so afraid I was still going to die. I didn’t even think about whether or not they were here…” Chris clenched shut his eyes, and his chin began to wobble.
Chris could be very self-judgemental sometimes, Cody knew that well enough. And there wouldn’t be much anyone could do to tell him otherwise, but he’d come around eventually, Cody always believed that. Everyone came back around, eventually.
“No,” Adam said, getting up.
“No?” Luke asked, looking back to him, trying to get the anger off his face. He was holding his right hand loosely in his left, the knuckles of his punching hand already bloody and bruised.
“No,” Adam repeated. “You guys all think they’re dead. They’re not.”
“Adam, I appreciate the sentiment, but what could have happened?” Luke argued, his positivity and optimistic outlook washing away right before their very eyes.
That was pretty rare. Sometimes in the past, especially way back, he would act this way to Cody– whenever they’d have talks and deal with each other's problems together– but he rarely did this now, and very rarely in front of the others. It was surprising to Cody. Shocking, even.
“They could’ve gone left, or right, or just kept moving; maybe they didn’t see the gas station,” Adam explained. “To just assume they didn’t make it is an asshole thing to do. I mean you really have that little faith in them?” he finished.
Adam stared at Cody and the others for only a moment more, then marching out of the gas station door, and putting on his hat, previously held in his hands.
Cody noticed he did that when he was sad, or nervous; hold his hat down by his lap, or at his chest. He’d hold it with one hand, keeping it centered there like it was his mission. It was, at least to Cody, a dead giveaway to Adam’s fear, as well as his pain. But watching him put it back on, Cody didn’t expect that. Adam really did refuse to believe that their friends were gone, or at least he did a damn good job of putting them on that way. Either way, Cody respected him for it. He was glad someone was positive. Well, maybe not positive, but brave. Optimistic? It didn’t matter, he was something they needed, Cody knew that much.
He followed Adam out a minute or so later, and stood next to him. Adam stared out at the land they came from, his arms crossed firmly. It was sunrise, and the roads, the fields, and even the woods were all still damp, and coated in dew. The morning sky scattered with thin and parting clouds. It was cold, but in the moment, it didn’t seem to matter all that much. At least, not to Adam, and if it didn’t bother him, it couldn’t bother Cody.
At first, they didn’t say a word; they just stood there, looking out. Still, Cody knew by then what Adam was thinking; perks of knowing him since middle school, and seeing him almost everyday, being a good friend, all that stuff.
He knew that Adam was nervous, and that he probably didn’t believe half the shit he had just said to them. He knew that he probably was pissed, at himself, as well as the world in general for what went down last night, and wouldn’t be able to get over it unless they found them. But, he also knew that he wouldn’t just let the rest of the guys here be so focused on what happened that they all stopped moving. He’d drive them all forward, especially if Luke couldn’t do it himself. And sure he might complain, be a little blunt, but he’d be doing what he believed was best, for all of them. Adam was a complicated person, in the simplest of ways.
“So,” Cody said, breaking the silence, “here’s the thing… Nolan, Derry, and Jer are out there on their own. I’d bet they’re together, but still, that thing pounced on Derry, hit him real hard, made a real loud bang; I bet he’s got a serious headache to say the least.”
“Assuming that they’re alive,” Adam muttered, staring outward.
“Right, assuming,” Cody said, looking back out himself. “But– assuming they are– Nolan was gonna try to be a doctor, or a… foot surgeon? Something like that, right?”
“Something like that, yeah,” Adam responded, giving a light scoff.
“Right. So maybe he can help him, somehow…” Cody suggested. “And Jer is way too stubborn to let Derry just die, right? There’s no way he’d allow that.”
“Probably not, no,” Adam said, once again chuckling a little. Then they paused, regaining the ever-dreadful, ever-serious tension they could never seem to fully escape. Cody longed for it to just fade away. For some semblance of their normalcy– at least, what used to be their normalcy– to come back. To take its place.
“Hey,” he said, looking to Adam again, Adam now glancing back. “That was good, what you said back there. Whether, you know, you actually believe it or not.” He smiled, trying his best to be supportive. Adam attempted to hide a small grin, but failed to do so in front of Cody. Cody was always good at spotting things like that. He thought so, anyway.
“Yeah well, someone had to keep all your heads on your damn shoulders,” Adam insisted, trying to maintain his tough-guy composure; not that it worked on Cody though. He just smiled, and patted Adam on the shoulder, turning back to head inside the gas station.
“Right, of course,” Cody said smugly, hearing Adam huff as he walked away.
“Cody,” Adam called out solemnly, stopping him in his tracks, and turning him back around. “Seriously though, we are going to find them,” Cody paused, and he looked back toward the road they had so recently, so desperately travel on.
It was already mid-morning; God only knew how far the guys could have gotten, if they managed to get anywhere at all. Cody and the others really didn’t have any time to lose.
“I know we are,” he said, giving Adam another small smile, and returning to the gas station. Once he entered, Luke and Chris were just about done rounding all their supplies together.
“Find anything new?” Cody asked.
“Yeah, some old snacks under the counter,” Chris said, showing off a twinkie in his hand. Cody smiled again. Chris
still seemed… verklempt? No, not that. Emotional, self-deprecating– whatever it was, Chris still seemed it, though less so than before; that was always a start.
“Breaking news! Twinkies as survivors’ last food source! How cliche does our heroes’ story get? More in just a minute!” Cody mocked, Chris not being able to help but smile a little.
“Okay, that one was kinda good,” he admitted. “But no one gets to know that.” Cody just laughed a little, happy to have made Chris smile. Then, Luke stoically came out of an office door, zipping up a backpack.
“Where’d you find that?” Cody asked.
“In there. Must’ve belonged to the owner or something,” Luke explained. “At least we got one more to help carry the load. Ah–!” He winced as his right hand struck out in pain, he then having to finish zipping the bag up with one hand. It looked really messed up, surely from hitting that door earlier. Cody didn’t think they had much to help it heal, so hopefully Luke could manage, for the time being.
“So uh… not to be that guy,” Chris said, “but to address the elephant in the room: Where do we go now?” The Cody didn’t say anything at first, and Luke grew somber. Cody was hoping this wasn’t going to be another relapse into just a few weeks ago.
“Well,” Cody said, “maybe we could–”
“We follow down the road,” Luke interrupted, slinging the backpack onto his shoulder, and heading toward the door. “If we follow down that way, we’ll still be going west; Derrick has the compass, so even if they did get sidetracked, they’ll know how to get back on track too. They may already be back on the road for all we know, and we don’t have time to go back and see if they are.”
Cody and Chris glanced at each other, surprised, and then quickly followed Luke out, him having already started heading back down the road. Adam just then grabbed ahold of what they were doing.
“We’re moving out,” Cody said, signaling toward Luke. Adam just looked back toward the road already traveled, then turned, nodded, and joined them. The three of them caught up to Luke, and they continued their trek down the road.
The Way Back (Book 1): The Way Back Page 17