What are we holding, Friday?
You don't really have time to check at the moment. Anyway:
2. Tell her to help you close the door."Quick! Give me a hand!" you yell, trying to throw your weight above the handle.
Jesse drops the shotgun and grabs the other end of the handle, bracing her legs and pulling down.
"On three! One... two... THREE!"
You both strain and the shutter creaks downward, the opening about halfway closed.
"Again! One, two, THREE!"
You feel the muscles in your arm and back scream as you pull as hard as you can downward from the side of the ramp. Across from you on the other side, Jesse grunts as she strains.
The door pulls shut just as two crawlers claw their way out of the gap.
They both roll down the ramp with their momentum, towards Max, who dances backward away from them, baring his teeth.
Jesse bends for the shotgun as the two crawlers reverse course in a half circle and begin to climb back up the ramp toward you. Their vines shoot outward.
Jesse blows the one headed for her to bits, a smear of blood across the ramp. Everything seems to slow down as the remaining crawler leaps into the air toward you, two vines extending like arms toward your face, a relative rushing to give you a nice big hug.
You duck under it, trying to roll away. You feel a sharp sting in your shoulder and you scream. The crawler has passed over you, smacking into the wall with a sound like a wet fish flapping against pavement. One vine has wrapped around your shoulder blade like a vice. You can see blood welling up through your shirt.
You feel another sudden flare of pain in your thigh. You scream again and scoot away backward from it. The vines around your shoulder and upper leg tighten, and the crawler begins to reel itself in like a grappling hook toward your face. The center of the fleshy ball opens outward, revealing a lamprey mouth, rows and rows of tiny, gleaming sharp teeth smiling at you like death.
Try as you might, you can't close your eyes.
Suddenly the crawler mere inches in front of your nose vanishes, a blur of metal passing through your vision.
The vines around your leg and shoulder shudder, and then release, limply falling to the ground and slowly retracting.
You turn your head to see the crawler impaled against the wall, some five feet away. Jesse's hunting knife has skewered it right through the mouth. A small waterfall of green is dripping down the brick to the dirt ground. Running opposite the flow are the two vines that had grabbed you, disappearing into the main body.
Jesse vaults over the ramp and retrieves her knife, wiping the blood off on the ground, then running it over her pant leg. She sheaths the knife on the back of her waist, and turns to you to offer a hand.
"Th... thanks," you say, taking it.
Jesse smiles and helps you to your feet. You wince as weight is put on your wounded leg, limping slightly. Your arm is starting to really feel it. You rotate it around a bit, grimacing as the pain flares up.
"How is it?" Jesse asks, looking at your shoulder and leg.
"Not good," you say. You take a few steps. The limp is pretty bad. It hurts to put any weight on the leg or move the arm. "Hurts to walk or move my arm."
Jesse comes up next to you and puts her arm around your back. Max comes up and licks your hand.
"Don't... don't forget the booze," you say, turning around to look at the two bottles you dropped in the dirt.
Jesse helps you to lean against the wall and goes to retrieve them. You look around. You're at the end of a small alley, maybe ten feet or more wide. It dead ends into the ramp and metal shutter. Up ahead, the alley is blocked by the back of a small delivery truck. About one foot of clearance on either side.
Jesse returns and helps you walk up to it. "You alright on your own?"
"Yeah," you say, leaning up against the wall on the driver's side. "Go the other way. Meet you up front."
You squeeze your way down past the side of the truck, your leg giving you a lot of trouble. Those vines really cut into you.
"Where'd you learn how to throw a knife like that, anyway?" you call.
"I didn't!" comes the reply from the other side.
"You could have thrown that into my ear!" you say.
"Lucky for you!" Jesse says back.
You shake your head and smile, continuing to slide along between the truck and wall.
You reach the driver's side door and the smell of decaying flesh hits your nostrils. You wrinkle your nose and peer through the window.
There's a body in the cab, still strapped into his seat belt. His lips have peeled back, revealing a mirthless grin. Looks like your standard trucker. His beard is long and unkempt. Out the opposite window you can see Jesse's face peering in.
You crane your neck and look at the ignition.
"The keys are in there!" you yell.
Jesse nods. "But what killed him? And I wonder why his body is still here if they take everyone?"
You shake your head. "I don't know. Maybe they couldn't get to him. Seems awfully tight back here."
"Still leaves the question of what killed him," she says.
Max presses up against you from behind, and whines. You pat his head with your good arm. You twist around and try the door. "Locked," you call.
"This side too," Jesse says back.
**********************************
1. Break a window, get inside.
2. Continue past the truck down the alley. Whatever killed him might be still inside.
**********************************
Poll
4 (66.7%)
Author
Topic: The Ends (Read 59143 times)