“What is it?” Jenna demanded.
“Shh,” I whispered, placing my finger against my lips as I watched Barney. He had stopped suddenly; his withers were hunched up, his head tilted to the sky. There was something out there, I could just barely make it out, but if I concentrated I could hear a low humming noise in the air. I frowned as I lifted my attention to the sky. The ships were nearly silent; I had never heard them so clearly before, not even when they had been directly overhead, but I was certain they were there now, coming toward us, searching for us. Hunting us.
“Against the trees!” I commanded. “Now! Against the trees! Against the trees!”
They looked at me in confusion for a moment but followed my lead as I flattened myself against the tree. My back pressed against the trunk, my arms wrapped around it. I silently cursed the scraggly pines that sprouted everywhere throughout Plymouth and offered little shelter. I would have cut off my own hand for a giant oak or maple right now. Even a Locust would do. But all we had were the small rough trees and the little bit of protection they offered us.
I was trying hard not to shake, trying hard not to completely freak out and go fleeing through the woods as terror pulsed through my veins with every rapid beat of my heart. Especially as the sound of snapping trees continued to ring through the air as one of those things grew steadily closer. We were trapped, cornered beneath what was hunting us from above, and what was pursuing us from below.
“What the hell do we do?” Jenna hissed.
We all looked to Lloyd, but he seemed just as confused and uncertain as I was. What could we do? If we continued to run the ship would only track us from above. It would follow us through the woods, and none of us knew exactly what their defensive mechanisms were capable of. I thought of the bridge, of the blinding white light that had erupted from nowhere. I recalled Aiden’s description of the man, the one that had seemed to burn from the inside out. The one who’d had flames shoot from his mouth moments before becoming a crumbling pile of ash. The heat it had taken to incinerate a person so completely, in such a short time, was nothing short of amazing, and terrifying.
Though the ships had not been present at the bridge, there was no way to know if perhaps they had the capability of doing such a thing also. I shuddered, my fingernails dug deeper into the tree coming up with only rough hewn bark and sap. Not now, not like this. I did not want to go out like this. I was shaking, trembling so fiercely I was certain my legs were going to give out.
The sun slowly began to disappear. It seemed as if a solar eclipse was taking over the sun, than something straight out of a horror movie slid into view. It took over our world, encompassed everything above us as it moved slowly over. Barney cowered by my side, his head down, his ears flattened against his skull. I don’t know why he stayed with me, why he didn’t just run. He had a chance of escaping these things. He was faster than us, and they might not even want a dog. But then again I didn’t think they would discriminate against anything warm blooded, or cold for that matter.
The bright light of the afternoon had become dusk in a matter of moments. I tilted my head back; my heart ached with dismay as the ship crept over us. The sun’s rays shone around the edges of it, but the dusk of the day was absolute as long as the massive ship remained above us. Barney whimpered softly as he pressed against my wobbling legs.
A loud thump echoed through the forest. I tore my eyes away from the ship. Trees snapped in the distance, folding over like toothpicks beneath the encroaching beasts. We had managed to elude them this long, and they appeared to have lost our trail, but it wouldn’t be for long, and especially not if that ship spotted us.
I didn’t know if the ships had spotlights but I felt as if one was shining down on us, hunting us, locating us amongst the trees. I could hear Jenna’s rapid pants; her eyes were rolling in her head. Bret remained motionless against the tree next to her. Lloyd was the only one with his weapon in front of him, held tight against his front. His hand was pressed over the glass of the scope as he watched the tree line with narrowed eyes.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and bowed my head. I needed a moment to think, to be, to draw upon the courage I felt slipping rapidly away. Just breathe, I told myself over and over again. Just breathe.
Heat bathed over me. I opened my eyes, blinking against the sudden influx of light that flared against my irises. I gasped softly; momentarily frightened that it was the same bright light that had burnt the others alive. I forced my gaze upward, a strangled cry escaping me as I realized the sun was no longer blocked out. The ship was still visible over the tops of the trees, but it had moved on to scan another area of the forest, leaving behind its monsters to scour after us.
“They’re going to try and box us in,” Lloyd said softly. “Move parallel to each other, squeezing us together, and eventually pinning us in.”
“What do we do?” Jenna breathed.
Lloyd glanced rapidly around, and then heaved a big sigh. “You’re not going to like it.”
“Just tell us,” Bret said impatiently.
“We double back.”
My mouth dropped, my head snapped toward where we had come from. “But there are even more of them back there!” I hissed.
“They don’t expect us to go back that way though. They think we’re still running, still heading north. They’re going to move that way for awhile, and eventually they are going to realize that we’re not there. They’re going to come back this way, assuming that we found a place to hide. They won’t expect us to go back toward their other monsters.”
“Lloyd…”
“I told you that you wouldn’t like it. If we keep going this way they’re eventually going to squeeze us. If we go back we may be able to skirt them completely. We’re going to lose time, but it’s the only way.”
I glanced at the snapping treetops. They were a good two hundred yards away, but Lloyd was right they were moving inward, narrowing in on a point further ahead. A point they expected us to be at, as did the ship. I shuddered, my fingers dug tighter into the bark. It was only that, and the aching pain in my arms, that caused me to realize I was still clinging to the tree. I released it slowly, sighing in relief as I dropped my stiff, deadened arms back to my side.
I rubbed my wrists tiredly before me; my gaze scoured the forest for some escape other than what Lloyd was suggesting. “Can we stay here?” Jenna asked quietly. “Stay behind them, follow them out of here.”
“Once they meet up, they’re probably going to double back.”
“But we’re going to be back that way too,” Bret said softly.
“Not if we can cut across somehow, get back to an area they’ve already been through. We need to get away from them and make our way to the hospital.”
“That’s a big if.”
“If we stay here we die, and that’s a definite if.”
I slid down the tree, needing a moment to sit, needing a moment to recoup some of my waning strength and energy. “We should rest for five minutes, eat quickly, and then go,” I said softly. “We’re not going to have many other opportunities. We’re going to have to move quickly on the way back and we need the energy boost.”
“Oh God,” Jenna breathed, her hand flying to her throat. “I’m sorry this is my fault. I’m so sorry.”
Bret draped his arm around her shoulders in an effort to soothe her. “It’s no one’s fault, we all agreed to this,” I told her, my growing sense of urgency making my tone brisker than I had intended.
I pulled my backpack forward and tugged out a box of cheerio’s. Making a bowl with my dirty t-shirt I dumped some into it. There was a time when I would have balked against eating from something so dirty, now I gave it no further thought. I placed a couple handfuls on the ground for Barney who eagerly accepted the meager meal. I rubbed his ears gently as I passed the box to Jenna.
CHAPTER 7
It was nearly impossible to see once night arrived. A storm was looming, clouds had begun to roll in around s
unset, they now blocked out whatever light the moon might have provided. I strained through the dark, surprised to realize that I was able to make out far more details than I had expected in the inky night. Apparently we had been spending so much time moving at night that my eyes had become accustomed to seeing better.
And apparently I had also become more adapt at moving through the woods. I wondered briefly if Darnell’s training, and the fact that we had been living like forest creatures for the past month, had finally helped to break me of some of my clumsiness. Either way, I’d only tripped a few times and miraculously hadn’t fallen yet. Lloyd pulled out the GPS, consulted it briefly, and slid it back onto his belt. We’d been walking for hours but I had no idea where we were, not anymore. By now my blisters had blisters, and they were all angry and hurting.
“We’re almost back to the main part of town; we can cross under cover of darkness, and hopefully be back at the state forest by sunrise.”
The last thing I wanted was to go back through that damn ghost town again but I kept my fears to myself. We were all scared, voicing my fear wasn’t going to help us any. I kept my attention focused on my feet, trying to see where I was putting them to stay as quiet as possible. I ended up walking into a tree.
Lloyd shot me a dark look as I uttered a muffled curse and the tree shook slightly from my impact. Bret was biting his lip as he tried not to laugh, Jenna was staring at me incredulously, and even Barney looked as if he thought I was an idiot. Bret took hold of my hand, I tried to tug it free but he held tight. “Haven’t seen that yet tonight.”
“Seen what?” I muttered, angered and embarrassed by what had just occurred. I had been doing so well tonight, but apparently my clumsiness was more ingrained than even I had realized.
“Your inherent grace.” I scowled at him. “You watch your feet, and I’ll watch the trees.”
I couldn’t argue with that as he led me through the forest. I was ok with keeping my head down anyway, there wasn’t much I wanted to see right now. And in all honesty I thought that if he led the way I might actually fall asleep for a bit while walking. Though I doubted it was possible, I was exhausted enough to find out for sure.
My mind went blank, I zoned out as we moved. I was too tired to think about anything other than putting one foot in front of the other. I was pretty sure I was nearly asleep when Bret stopped moving and I walked right into him. “Sorry,” I mumbled as he righted me.
“It’s ok.”
I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my blurry vision and the sleepiness clinging to me. I shuddered involuntarily and couldn’t stop myself from taking a swift step back. We were back at the main road. The buildings, and their ruined remains, sprawled out before us; there was still no sign of life. All I could think of was every picture of all the old ghost towns I had ever seen. All it needed was tumbleweed rolling down the street and the creepiness of this town would be complete.
“We stay low and we move fast.” Lloyd was checking his gun as he spoke the words. His jaw was clenched tight, his gaze hard as he turned his attention to me. Beneath his hardened exterior I could sense his fear. I licked my lips nervously; my exhaustion vanished with the realization that Lloyd was terrified. He’d hid his fear well all along, but now it was blazing brightly from him. “We’ve made it this far.”
What he didn’t say, but I knew, was that we were lucky to be here, lucky to have made it this far. But how long could that luck hold out for? How long could we continue on fumes and chance?
I double checked my gun too, more to distract myself from my thoughts than with any real doubt there was something wrong with it. “Keep a close eye on that dog, he’s our best indicator. Our first alert to danger.”
“Barney.” I said more out of habit then with any real hope that Lloyd might start calling him something other than that dog.
Lloyd nodded before slipping from the shadows of the woods and hitting the street. We followed swiftly behind, staying close on his heels as we darted down the street far faster than we had moved down it last time. We stayed close to the buildings, in the darkness it was hard to see the bricks and debris in the way but I was able to avoid most of it by following Barney.
I found that I could hardly breathe, found that my heart was hammering with terror, but my feet continued to move and so far we were all still alive. So far. It wasn’t that hot out but sweat was running down my face and into my eyes. I had to juggle my gun to wipe my brow with the back of my arm. I felt ill. I wanted to vomit. I wanted off of this damn street and I wanted to go to sleep tonight and wake up in my bed, in my room, in my home, with my siblings and my mother. I wanted this all to be just one horrendous nightmare; I wanted Cade, and everyone that had been lost, to still be alive.
I wanted it all so badly that I could nearly taste it. Wanted it so badly that for a moment I almost froze. For a moment, I was so filled with longing and a desperate need for all of this to not be real, that I almost sat down on the sidewalk and lost myself to the memories and despair engulfing me. I grit my teeth as I fought against the waves of misery threatening to consume me. This was not the place, and this was not the time to completely lose control. In fact, there was no time for thoughts like the ones I was having. Not anymore. Not if I wanted to keep my sanity, not if I wanted to keep waking up every day. Not if I wanted to retain any measure of hope.
There was only time for survival in this world, and we had to survive.
I forced myself to take deep breaths in an attempt to ward off the panic attack I felt clamoring at my insides. “What is that?”
I turned, expecting Jenna to be right behind me, but she had stopped moving and fallen behind us. I stepped closer to the building, pressing myself flat against the cool brick as I searched for whatever it was she was talking about. “What’s what?” Bret asked quietly.
Though it was dark I could make out the fierce frown that marred Jenna’s pretty features. I just couldn’t see what was causing it. I stepped slightly away from the building to search the area that she was staring at, but I saw nothing. “Let’s go!” Lloyd hissed sharply.
“Jenna what is it?”
She shook her head, appearing confused as she turned back to me. “Never mind, it must have been nothing.”
Barney remained by my side, but he seemed unfazed as he lay down for a moment, his head resting on his paws. He wouldn’t be so relaxed if there was something out there. But there was one thing I had learned over the past month, it was never just nothing. “We have to go.”
Barney fell into step beside me again as I turned away and hurried after Bret. I wanted off of this damn street, I wanted out of this freaking eerie Godforsaken town. I wanted to find the hospital; I wanted to be with Aiden and Abby again. I wanted this whole experience over with and just to feel one moment of security, no matter how false it was.
Lloyd broke into a run as he darted across a side road. He was momentarily exposed before he reached the other side and plastered himself against the building. Bret bolted across next, with Barney following behind at a leisurely jog. I was about to follow after them when I heard Jenna mutter something.
I took a step forward at the same time that I turned toward her. The uncoordinated move almost caused me to fall on my ass as I stepped off the curb, but I managed to keep myself upright by falling against the building. Aggravation spurted through me as I shoved off of the cool brick façade. “Jenna!” I hissed.
But she was already moving away from me, creeping back the way we had come. I frowned in confusion. What the hell was she doing? Was she trying to get us all killed?
“Hello,” her call was soft, but it caused the hair on the nape of my neck to stand on end and my heart to plummet straight into my stomach. We had struggled to stay as quiet as possible and now she was calling out into the dark night as if it were the safest thing in the world to do. When it most certainly was not.
“Jenna!” Her name was grated from my lips, quiet in the night, but I knew that she could hear me.
>
“There’s someone…”
Goose pimples broke out on my body, the sweat coating me suddenly turned frigid. A sense of impending doom slipped down my spine, causing the hair on the nape of my neck and arms to stand on end. I was shivering, I was terrified; I was going to vomit, or run away. But before I fully registered what I was going to do, I was already doing it.
I darted down the street, racing for Jenna who was somehow already a good hundred feet away from me. She took a step closer to the road, her attention fixated on something across the street. I was finally able to see what had her so enraptured. What had entangled her so completely that she seemed to have forgotten all sense of self preservation. I inhaled sharply; my legs nearly gave out beneath me as I caught sight of the slender boy within the shadows of the buildings on the other side of the road.
Time seemed to slow, everything became crisp and clear. The world was stunningly vivid around me. I could make out every detail of the night, every different strand of color within Jenna’s red hued hair, and even the colored particles within the air. The lack of light was suddenly no longer a problem as I saw everything in brilliant detail, and recognized the death lurking within the shadows. It was a disconcerting feeling, one that left me shaken, but did not slow my onward rush as my legs pumped faster than I had ever thought possible.
Jenna stepped off the curb and into the street. I clearly recalled the young girl that had killed Sarah, the young girl that had seemed so real and vulnerable, yet harbored a hideous monster. A girl that Jenna had been told about, but had not actually seen.
“We can help you!” Jenna called softly.
“No Jenna!” I gasped.
I flung myself off the sidewalk, my adrenaline fueled mind was oblivious of the danger it was in as I lurched at Jenna. The young boy unraveled swiftly to reveal the hideous fiend within. The creature lunged forward, one of those awful tentacles whipping out with amazing speed and deadly accuracy. I hit Jenna with the full force of my body. Knocking her off balance, I shoved her out of the way of the deadly attack seconds before it would have demolished her chest. I stumbled, nearly fell, but the thing slammed into my shoulder knocking me back as it pierced my body.