Alyson stared up at the creature. Her eyes were locked on to it. Unwavering. Not out of fascination but out of pure, unadulterated fear. Its single eye was a matted red. No pupils and no reflection. With the exception of its torso, most of it was decorated with holes of varying sizes, and its mouth was similar to that of a car’s front grill. Alyson felt a chill of terror run down her spine. She couldn’t even prevent Connor from turning his head and seeing what she saw. The trauma in his eyes would have broken anyone’s heart. But all this happened within the span of a few seconds because before they knew it, it had drawn its half-pincer back and was about to bring it down upon them both with force. Alyson clenched her arms around Connor and closed her eyes in anticipation, but all she heard was the resounding sound of something akin to cracking ceramic. Alyson opened her eyes to find Dwayne standing before them.
His back was facing them, and his arms were up in an ‘X’ shape, blocking the half-pincer. The pavement underneath him was cracked, and his feet were a good half-inch into the ground; gray-blue shards fell through the bottom of his pants. He gave a quick glance to Alyson and Connor then looked back to the creature that was staring him down. With all his might he pushed the half-pincer in the air, then dropped down and rolled through the creature’s legs. As he stood back up, more shards fell from the sleeves of his sweater. Dwayne grabbed Alyson’s helmet that Connor had dropped and chucked it at the creature’s head.
“Go! Get them out of here!” He yelled as the creature turned around and bellowed at him.
Before Alyson’s brain could fully process what had just happened and question it, a hand grabbed her forearm and yanked her to her feet, along with Connor.
“C’mon, move it!” Sky hastily shouted and began leading them away from the creature… And Dwayne.
Upon hearing Sky’s voice, the creature reared its head towards the trio and bellowed its challenge at Sky.
“Damnit…” Dwayne mumbled during the creature’s signature call and hurriedly searched for something else that he could use to distract it again. His eyes then landed on the sheared stop sign a few meters away that had been taken out by the minivan. Perfect, he thought and ran for it. Once between his hands, he pointed the sharp end of the sign pole to the side and ran up to the creature right as it finished bellowing, then stabbed it through the side of one of its forward facing knees.
The creature cried out in pain and fell on its uninjured knee. It darted its head at Dwayne and bellowed; the red coursing through it becoming darker than before.
Dwayne donned a regretful expression and raced towards the nearby fitness center on campus.
Meanwhile, as Alyson was being pulled to safety by Sky, her thoughts were scattered into a dozen related questions. None of which had a clear answer. Sky? What? How did Dwayne…? What’s going on? She wanted to stop running; to take a moment to clear her jumbled mind, but that luxury was for those who had long since fled and found refuge somewhere. Therefore, Alyson kept quiet and left Sky to continue pulling her and Connor away. However, the direction they took was one that passed by the car wreckage. Before, when looking for Julian’s whereabouts, Alyson was too far away to really get a good look at it, but now she could see how heart wrenching it was.
Those who were only maimed howled and cried in pain, or dragged themselves along the ground. Those who were dead, though, were sprawled out on the ground either crushed by the weight of the minivan, or hung out from the minivan’s windows in unnatural positions. Their blood in pools around them; their eyes opened and glossed over; their lives ripped from them without a second thought.
Alyson’s heart and stomach couldn’t take it. She had seen images of death and ruin before, but through a screen or hearsay; far from danger. And although it still bothered her then, this was different. She was up-close and personal with it this time; seeing that amount of blood with her own eyes and knowing that some of it belonged to people she knew. Alyson’s stomach churned and boiled until she finally gave in and threw up.
Sky did Alyson the courtesy of stopping, despite the rush, to allow Alyson to catch herself. Even Sky wanted to throw up, but she couldn’t hinder herself. Not now.
“Alyson, please, we have to go,” Sky pleaded, but Alyson wasn’t moving. She didn’t even see the usual glimmer in Alyson’s brown eyes that she was used to. “Aly, I’m begging you—“ Sky was then caught off guard by a yell from further away.
“Dwayne!” Julian cried out from by the birch-trees.
The creature had caught up to Dwayne and used its half-pincer appendage to swat him away like it had done to the minivan. Dwayne went flying into the fitness center’s brick wall, crashing right through it, followed by the creature’s signature bellow to signal that it had dealt with its threat. It then turned away from the building and directed its attention at the residence, specifically anyone who was still in its vicinity.
The mastiff that was still hiding underneath the pickup truck began violently barking.
Connor let out a yelp before ripping his arm free from Sky and making a frantic dash towards the back of the residence.
Scared, worried and frustrated, Sky could no longer wait for Alyson to come to her senses and forcibly pulled her in the same direction as Connor. The rubble of the collapsed part of the residence hadn’t completely covered up the pathway that connected the residence to the college. If it had, they would’ve been forced to take the long way around, which would have put them directly in the creature’s line of sight; not that it mattered, but it would definitely save time. As soon as they passed the residence’s back exit and got to the pile of rubble, Sky tried to rush Alyson to climb over first, but it was as if none of her words were getting through to her. And although Alyson was a naturally small person, Sky wasn’t strong enough to lift her over without Alyson helping with the leverage. Sky took a glance behind her in a panic and saw the approaching creature, and without even thinking about it, her hand swiftly went across Alyson’s cheek.
“Climb, goddammit!” Sky yelled and clenched Alyson’s shoulders.
It wasn’t a harsh slap, but it was enough to snap Alyson out of her shock. Alyson gave a quick nod then turned to begin climbing over the rubble, following behind Connor and directly followed by Sky.
At that same moment, Brendan burst through the residence’s back exit; his arm sticking out as an invisible Vicky pulled on it. He looked in the direction of the pile of rubble and saw Alyson and company climbing up. He opened his mouth to shout to her, but was cut off by Vicky’s voice.
“Aly!” She shouted. She was relieved to be out of the building and to see another familiar face. Vicky suddenly became completely visible again.
They saw Sky and Alyson abruptly pause and look towards them. A light smile seemed to grow on Alyson’s face, but it was brief as Sky spoke up.
“What are you doing? Get out of here!” Sky yelled at them.
From where they stood, Brendan and Vicky couldn’t see the destruction nor the creature that had caused it.
“Wha—“ Vicky was about to ask when she noticed Brendan take a step back from the corner of her eye. She turned to look at him and saw a disturbed expression upon his face.
“What… What is that?” He murmured, and soon after those very words, the creature came into their view.
Chapter 6 will continue...
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