Continue on leads 7 to 1. Updating.
2. Benny wasn't lying. It's too dangerous there. Continue on.
"Let's go. Head to the friend's house."
Jesse nods slowly and puts the truck in gear. As you roll gently back onto the road, You turn to stare out the window. The fog is as thick as ever, but you can vaguely see what looks to be a large, sloping meadow opposite the parking lot. Sycamores and Oaks dot the landscape, along with a few low cattle fences. You don't see any carcasses.
The truck begins to pick up speed, leaving the parking lot and meadow behind. The land begins to rise even more steeply as you head back into the hills. Again, a sense of tiredness steals over you. The pain in your arm and leg is less sharp now, but spread wider.
"So..." Jesse says. "What is this fabled little girl, this Nicole, what is she like?"
You turn to look at Jesse, smiling. "Oh, she's a bit weird. But sweet. She didn't talk much, at first, but she seemed to open up a bit. Probably just shy."
"So... a sweet little girl who has some connection to the infected. Or some sort of weird power."
"I guess," you say. "She seems unaware of it, though. And most of the time she's just a little kid. You know. Scared."
"Do you think maybe... maybe she can 'feel' the other infected like you? For that matter, uh, do you know for sure if she is infected?"
"I don't know," you reply. "The power was cut before we got to X-ray anyone but me. As far as 'feeling' goes, it doesn't seem the same, from what I remember. Her stuff happened right as shit was going down. There wasn't any lag."
"Could it just be a weird sort of coincidence? Maybe she's normal?"
"I seriously doubt that," you reply. "Something is definitely... different, about her."
Jesse falls silent, and you turn once more to the side window, watching the misty hills and trees roll by.
"I have to say this now," Jesse says suddenly a few minutes later, as if she had finally made up her mind about something.
You turn back to face her, startled back to full consciousness. "Yes?"
Jesse pulls the truck over once again, next to a large oak tree by the side of the road. A small gravel lane winds it way up the hill from the highway nearby.
"I'm not going to lie. You're into some weird shit. Seeing you with... Benny, arguing, fighting the air... it made me realize... you're not entirely in control of this."
You stare at her, then slowly nod. "You're right."
"I... I may leave, if I decide I'd be safer on my own," Jesse says, flatly. "I hope you understand. I like you, and ... well, I hope things work out. I don't want to leave, but... if things get too weird, I will. I stuck around when my dad was going through this. I... don't want to see that again. I don't want... to have to do to you, what I did to him. I'll just leave before it gets to that point."
Her words are hurried, forced.
You reach out with your good arm, and she clasps your hand with hers between you. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to warn you. I felt like you saved me from that cabin. I owe you for that. But I'm not willing to ... lose myself, not again."
"I understand," you say. "I can't really blame you. In fact... well, David may have left me with Nicole for precisely these reasons."
"Yeah," Jesse says.
or maybe it was because of what you did with that poker
"Anyway, I'm glad that's off my chest," Jesse says. "Let's get going."
She throws the truck back into drive and gets back on the highway. Around the next bend is a pile up, but you're able to drive halfway off the road to get around it.
You continue to climb. Suddenly Jesse slows. "This is it," she says. She turns off the road onto a smaller, one land paved street.
The street winds up the hill, passing by a few vineyards with houses nearby. Suddenly you drive into a heavily wooded area. Darkness closes around you, and Jesse turns on the headlights, miniature suns in the mist.
Another turn off, this time a dirt road. it winds down the opposite side of the hill, still in the trees. It dead ends into a gate, standing open.
Beyond it, a wide dirt parking area, faced by a low, long slate gray house. A low porch wraps all the way around the front. A beat up old pickup, the engine block removed and set next to it, rests near the edge of the parking area, up near the trees.
"Well, here we are," Jesse says, turning off the motor. You and her both peer out the front windshield at the house. Everything looks still. Even the mist simply hangs frozen in the air.
"Looks empty enough," you say, starting to open your door. Behind you, Max suddenly stands bolt upright, and barks a single time.
"Shit," Jesse says in a hiss. You follow her gaze to see a single Cavine standing near the edge of the house. From this distance, you can barely make out the tentacles emerging from the remains of the head and jaw.
Time seems to slow to a crawl. You fear moving or speaking further will break this glass-like stillness that has descended upon everything, keeping you safe.
Then the Cavine lowers its head to the ground, and gives off a low hissing growl. The sound raises the hairs on your arm.
With a sudden burst of velocity, the Cavine springs forward, rapidly closing the distance between it and the truck.
"Give me the shotgun!" Jesse yells wildly.
*******************************
1. Do it.
2. No. She's still seat belted, her door is locked and shut. You have wounds, but you're holding the weapon already and your door is open. Slide out, and take out the Cavine.
3. Tell Jesse to floor it.
*******************************
Poll
4 (66.7%)
Author
Topic: The Ends (Read 59149 times)