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Tim too had gotten to feel more like a fatherly figure to me while I began to see Avery as more of an equal than anything else. It was like once I realized his feelings (or lack thereof) toward me and started interacting with everyone else, my silly infatuation with him began to dissipate. Had my crush on him stemmed from the fact that he’d been the only boy around me, the only person to really show me any kindness until now?
I was mulling that over when Jake abruptly brought his horse to a stop, causing Sadie to skirt around him. I pulled back on the reins and looked dead ahead to where Jake’s unwavering focus was.
The smell of rot hit me before my eyes picked up on it. Far up the path, in the middle of the snow, lay a body, lifeless and immobile. Its skin was pale, though not as white as the snow, and was clothed in what looked to be animal hides.
“Are they dead?” Jake asked me quietly as the rest of the group came to a halt behind us.
“Smells dead,” I said. We exchanged a meaningful glance. Even though it looked different from what I’d seen before, we were still too far away to properly check, and the smell was still the same as before: rancid and unforgettable.
“Don’t you think we oughta go over there and check?” Tim asked. “They could need our help.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Oh, goodness me,” Do
Jake raised his hand to motion for her to stay put. “We don’t know that just yet.”
She shook her head, her blonde curls springing. “But they could be alive. We have to go check on them.”
“We’ll have to ride past, at any rate,” none other than Isaac shouted. “We’ve got guns if anyone tries anything.”
Do
And then she clucked to her horse and started off toward the fallen body.
“Do
Do
“I think he’s alive!” she cried out excitedly.
Jake was so close to getting to her, just a few feet away, when the fallen person lifted up their head, and with an open, snapping mouth, engulfed Do
It was alive, indeed.
My hand flew to my mouth in horror as Do
Before it could even move, however, Jake had his revolver out and shot the man through the chest. The man slowly looked down at the bloody hole with idle curiosity before chomping down the rest of Do
Meanwhile Do
I immediately kicked Sadie over to them and jumped off of her into the snow, ru
Jake was trying to hold her in place, but Do
“What the hell was that thing?” Avery shouted. It was rare to hear him curse but I’d be surprised if we weren’t all cursing now. “What was that? A person?”
I shook my head, tears of horror and frustration threatening the sides of my eyes. “I don’t know. It looked like a man, but no man could do this.” And that was true, not only on the moralistic side of things but physical as well. Do
“Demon!” Do
“Please don’t let her die,” I said out loud, though I wasn’t sure to whom. I liked Do
Jake felt along her neck and gave me a nod that looked exceedingly grim considering his face was streaked with her blood. “Pulse is weak, but it’s there.” He looked to his coat I was holding around the stump, how the blood kept pooling out underneath. “We need to stop the bleeding right now or she will die.” He looked to Avery. “Avery, I need you to go get the first aid supplies from the mule’s pack. Bring everything we didn’t use on Merv.”
Avery nodded, happy to be useful, and took off back toward Meeks and the mule. Only the crunch of his footsteps stopped right away.
I looked over my shoulder to see Avery standing still in his tracks. Further down was Meeks on top of his horse. Both of them were staring at something that was crawling slowly out of the forest, heading right for them.
Chapter Seven
While the man who attacked Do
Now he was pulling himself forward on his hands and knees as he came out of the snowbank, struggling to get up. I couldn’t help wondering if he was hurt or dying, even though there was no blood on him. Was this some sort of ruse that these creatures put on, pretending to be wounded or dead to gain sympathy? Surely they had to be smart enough to know it wouldn’t work a second time.
“Meeks, get out of there!” Jake yelled at him. But Meeks seemed too scared to even get his horse to move. Avery reached behind him for his knife, not taking his eyes off the creature who was still crawling forward toward Meeks.
I looked to Jake. “Throw Avery your gun!” I said frantically.
His eyes widened. “I don’t reckon a gun will do the trick.”
“Jesus Murphy, that just can’t be,” Tim swore and brought out his revolver. “This will at least scare the horses away.” He fired a shot at the creature and hit it in the shoulder, the snow around it quickly growing red with blood.
It didn’t stop him but it did scare the horses, so much that Meek’s palomino reared up, and with Meek’s useless hand, he was unable told on. He went flying off the back of the horse, landing in a puff of snow just a few feet away from the creature.
We all held our breath as the creature raised its head to look at Meeks. Then with one last burst of energy, the creature lunged and landed right on top of him.