Jimmy picked up Timothy and bolted towards the forest with John hot on his heels. The elderly were already headed in the same direction with Ben riding on the back of the grandfather’s rattling scooter. The decision to escape to the forest for safety wasn’t a well thought out plan since the storm was still raging wildly through the ripped apart forestry causing gnarled branches the size of full grown men to fall recklessly to the ground. However, between having a branch pin you down and crush your vital organs and being eaten alive by hundreds of mutilating, bloody monsters making disturbing hellish howls, the forest option seemed like a more reasonable way to die.
The trail into the woods stretched along the cliff that was raised above the beach which presently seemed like the mouth of hell. Gravel was being kicked up and sprayed as the elders’ scooters raced down the dangerous aisle. Their tires skidded as they constantly swerved around fallen branches and trunks of trees that couldn’t withstand the seemingly malicious winds. Jimmy, who was carrying Timothy, had so much adrenaline driven by fear he was bounding over the huge debris with his frail, skinny legs.
John was suffering behind everyone else for he could not go as fast as the others. The malicious swarm of pine needles were shooting at him from all directions causing a cloud of shooting pain. He could not see very far ahead of him in the haze of stinging pines, so he closed his eyes to avoid permanent blindness. It was like running into thousands of tacks in the night, aimlessly moving forward, inflicting more harm. John found himself suddenly face first on the forest floor, tripped by an unforeseen log that was rolling down the path. In the midst of the scar inflicting poking he tried opening his eyes just in time to reveal his next challenge.
In an enormous blast of green and orange needles and splinters of light brown bark, a giant sea lion smashed through a fallen tree in a fit of rage. It stretched nine meters from the belly to the torn off stub of the tail and stood about three meters tall. Its head swung violently up in the air as it let out a menacing roar that shook the earth around it. It then lowered its rock hard head down to John’s current level and began inching forward threateningly with a toothy snarl on its scared face and a low victorious growl growing from its stomach. John was paralyzed by the experience, staring directly in the blood coloured eyes of the beast as it lunged towards him with fatal intentions. Its jaw snapped open just before reaching John, showing off the deranged creatures jagged teeth and revolting smelling breath as the sea lion let out another breathtaking roar a few short inches from his face. Its neck began to curl back like a cobra’s and it was apparent the predator was about to devour its prey. John braced himself, gripping the branch he had pinned himself to and once again closed his eyes to hide from the terrifying image forming before him. All he heard next was a deafening thud, crackling of branches, and another demonic squeal.
He took a second to replay the sounds in his head before opening his eyes at the touch of a familiar hand. Ben pulled him up and shoved him in the right direction away from the barely avoided murder seen. The scooter whizzed beside him and he could now connect what he missed. The grandfather and Ben had turned around and rammed the sea lion in the neck while it was in a vulnerable position. The quick action caused it to fall on its side and roll down the small cliff which it had previously climbed up. There was no time for thanking the two heroes for more trouble was already brewing ahead.
Jimmy just barely jumped out of the way as Angus and Ben’s scooter turned abruptly around for something that didn’t seem important at the time. He was still launching down the rugged trail like a toy rocket on steroids with Timothy clinging on his back like a baby squirrel monkey does to its mother. He turned his head to the left towards the forest being destroyed by the thrashing winds to make sure the old lady was still riding next to him. He felt safe with her there. Even though she was thin and wrinkled with snow white curly hair and couldn’t really save him from something that could potentially kill him, she still provided a bizarre form of comfort. Jimmy turned his focus forward, catching a glimpse of something shocking in his peripherals. Wait, I didn’t just see that. He coaxed himself into believing the image was just his imagination. He looked directly in the direction of the beach but, the bushes were being moved so much by the wind it was impossible to get a clear shot. He kept running, noticing the silence that had fallen across the earth and praying that his eyes were just playing a cruel trick on him. Finally he reached a break in the greenery, revealing the true horror that awaited him.
The eight foot cliff was the only obstacle that stood between them, and the thousands of blank-staring, glowing, red eyes that looked right at them. The demented sea lions had stopped fighting amongst themselves and all were now locked on their new targets. The humans.
The stoic sea lions remained in this outrageously chilling state for what seemed to be an eternity when suddenly, they all rushed the cliff in unison. Hundreds of blood soaked mouths were lunging towards the puny humans, hungry for some fresh flesh. The paranormal sounds still rang from their vibrating vocal chords making the nape of the humans’ necks tingle from the creepiness of the tones.
There was no time to waste. Jimmy’s heart skipped beats as he sprinted like he had never sprinted before. He glanced back momentarily to see where the rest of the men were and caught them just as they were realizing the seriousness of the situation. John’s face had turned stark white and he picked up his pace even more than his already insane speed. Ben began hitting the grandpa with his hat demanding him to speed up but, the scooter was at max speed.
It was a race that would be unlikely won by the humans. They had to run perpendicular to their blood thirsty opponents, who in addition had to go a shorter distance, and also had to break through the soaring blankets of pine needles. The sweat poured down their faces as their bodies took the most pressure they’ve ever had to endure. The trail began moving upwards and the beach seemed to get lower but, the terrifying sea lions wall of horror was not broken by a simple raise of a rocky sharp cliff. Heads began to rise up and take gluttonous nips at the innocent groups ankles. Soon necks were forming and were swinging violently with thick veins protruding through the dense, torn skin. Ripped flippers were slapping against the gravel, hauling a full ton of weight over the cliff side. The humans’ efforts looked pathetic compared to this display of utter determination for blood.
The bipedal group was pushed up against the side of the trail, trapped in a brutal crossfire of flying sharp objects and one ton residents of hell. Onka could see safety relaxing teasingly ahead. The cliff began to get too steep for the sea lions to shuffle up and therefore would be the finish line. Jimmy was the closest to it. He was a person’s length away when a smaller but still mighty sea lion plopped its full body onto the trail heavily and let out a defiant bark of doom.
There was a split second of a feeling of loss which engulfed Jimmy. The game appeared lost and surely death would soon accompany the loss, stealing them all away in its cold bony hands of sadness.
Jimmy was about to slow down and allow the twisted minded monsters to win the game with the prize of his flesh and blood. Then he took a very awkward step forward as he tried to decelerate which ended up having remarkable timing. With this motion he just barely missed being struck by what saved their lives.
The torn apart forest’s slightly elevated ground crumpled under the force of the wind, pushing down a shaved evergreen tree. It toppled helplessly onto the trail landing on the smaller sea lion’s right shoulder, pinning it to the ground. Jimmy stomped on the whelping sea lions back and glided over the tree trunk smoothly.
He and Timothy were safe. Upon landing in the safe area Jimmy felt as if he were walking on a heavenly cloud. Thanks to Jimmy they were too high up on the trail for the sea lions to reach them. Jimmy collapsed to the ground in a fit of joyous laughter, pounding his fist into the ground in celebration. The world had spared him and at that moment he felt he was king. A
gentle tap on the shoulder was all it took to chase the happiness away, as a worried Timothy looked into his dark brown eyes and choked.