Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are
The land was barren, the sky was black and everything they had ever known was gone.
She looked over at Shad, and grabbed his hand, squeezing it in the gathering darkness. It didn't matter what happened now, all that mattered was that they survived this. He looked at her, his eyes searching for some semblance of hope to cling to.
She had none to give him.
They made their way down the hill, the broken and charred brambles and earth ripping at their raw flesh and shredded clothing. They had lost their shoes long ago; their feet were raw and cracking with sores and blood. If they could just make it down to the valley, they might survive.
"Rita, I can't do it. I can't go anymore. Leave me."
She looked at him, her face taking on a fearsome form. There was no time. No matter what had come before, she needed him now. She couldn't let him go. Not here. She pulled his arm angrily.
"It doesn't matter anymore. Do you hear me? We move on. We don't stop now. We've come too far."
They made their way down through the burnt and twisted wasteland.
When the shadows had come, no one had known what was happening. There had been panic and fear - absolute chaos. It was the screams she remembered more than anything. The blood that had come next. They had watched as everything they knew and loved had been destroyed, root and stem. It was a miracle they had made it this far. The air was thick with the smell of corruption. She shivered.
Suddenly, in the darkness behind them, they heard a noise, the snapping of a twig. They ran.
They fled down the hill, their bodies possessed by a new fear-induced ability. They no longer felt the bleeding sores on their feet or the branches that ripped at their clothes. Behind them they could feel it, the breathing, the stink. Rita's stomach flooded with fear, her heart racing in her ears. Just let go, something told her inside, just give in. Let it have you.
No. Another voice screamed inside, this one louder than the last. Run. Run. It can't have you today.
She heard a scream behind her, and the thud as Shad fell. Even as she ran on, the unmistakable smell of blood filled her nostrils. Ahead, in the growing gloom, she saw the shape of a small, weather-worn and dirt-crusted cabin. She made a line for the door, the hairs on the back of her neck rising and the warm stink of her pursuer hot on her neck.
Rita threw herself onto the porch and through the door of the cabin, slamming the heavy oak door behind her.
She heard its screams of frustration as she sank into the dirty, dust covered floor. Her breathing was coming fast, ragged and heavy. Her heart thundered in her ears.
She had made it one more day.
Tomorrow came the next fight.