Greed (14)
I could feel the smoldering heat of Cade staring at my back. I don't know what to say or what to do, thank goodness I don't have time to worry. These snake-like tentacles suddenly escaped from the woods, which proves that this creature has excellent timing and fierce killing.
It feels so good to pull the trigger, and I finally made my position clear. The gun slammed back, I was ready, but it still knocked me back, at least a foot away. The bullets roared through the woods, and the gunfire was deafening. I keep my balance, hold the gun tighter, and spread my legs farther apart to get better kickbacks.
The second shot didn't hit the creature, but it didn't almost knock me down either. I adjusted myself a little bit, and the target was a little more to the left and a little higher. I fired another shot and immediately felt like a cat that only ate a canary; I thought I hit the monster, but it was hard to tell because Cade, Aiden, and Bright continued to fire at the monster. They seemed to be doing better shooting, but the thing still rushed towards us quickly, step by step with an impulse that I thought would never stop.
I was caught by the urge to turn around and scream and run into the woods. However, I am a lot of things, but a coward is not one of them. I will not abandon them now, no matter how much my survival instinct tells me to do so. If they decide to retreat...
I will run with them like a hell dog chasing me. Looking at this thing, I am sure they might be.
It's getting closer and closer, now it's only fifteen feet away. It galloped towards us through the woods. It folds the smaller trees in half and circumvents the larger trees with an almost charming grace. I found myself fascinated and impressed by this thing almost as much as I was disgusted by it.
I'm shooting slowly, I don't know how many bullets are in the gun, and I don't know how to load the bullets. I have to make sure that when that thing is on our head, and soon, there are at least some bullets in my gun.
Fortunately, Cade's marksmanship is very accurate. He is the only one who is not biased, and the only one who causes sustained damage to it. Hardly any damage.
Ten feet away, I fired another shot. At eight feet, I could feel my heart beating into my throat. At six feet, I was a little worried that I would pee my pants. Four feet later, I fired another shot and saw that a tentacle had been pierced.
I didn't see it until it slammed into my face. My head jerked around, my teeth bit my tongue, and blood spurted into my mouth. I tripped over the force of the blow and yelled. My eyes moved, the stars bloomed before my eyes, and the darkness was about to swallow me.
Someone called my name, I don't know who it is. There was a buzzing in my ears, and I couldn't hear the sound. Arms wrapped around me, pulling me back, as if something was tangling my legs. As I struggled with the unconscious trying to claim me, a scream of strangulation came out. "Kill it! Kill it!"
Brett's cries of horror became blurred in my ears, but I now know he was holding me. He wanted to save me from the claws of that terrible thing. The guy wanted to pull me away, Brett's arms were tightly around me. I know he won't let me go. Aiden appeared beside us with a knife in his hand. I held my breath, closed my eyes, and cheered up. I know what these things look like when they are stabbed. It's not pretty.
A deafening scream cut through the air. I covered my ears with my hands, and the scream almost ripped away from me, but I suppressed it in time. When Brett leaned over, his breath was warm against my neck. When another gunshot sounded in the air, my fingers grabbed the stiff muscles of his arm. The terrible screams grew louder, blood splattered over us, and broken tentacles waved in the air. When Cade fired two more shots, more blood spurted out of the bullet holes.
The scream stopped abruptly.
Brett's breathing is now harsh in my ears, and I can feel his heart beating wildly on my cheeks. The thing wrapped around my leg loosened, but it didn't let me go. I want to close my eyes, knock on my heels together, and go back to the past year. Things were not easy at that time, but they are far better than this never-ending nightmare.
"Bethany?"
"I'm very good."
"Then why are you trembling?" I almost asked Brett why he was trembling, but I realized that he was not trembling, it was my tremor that made him tremble. Knowing this makes me very upset, but I can't help myself. "It doesn't matter, we are safe for the time being."
I reluctantly nodded and bit my lip. It was Cade who untangled the remaining tentacles on my legs. Brett helped me to stand, and for a moment, my trembling legs couldn't support me. Brett hugged me in front of him and rubbed my arm. "That thing?" I finally couldn't help but jailed.
"Dead." Cade stood beside us, holding my revolver in his hand. He slid a bullet in, turned the cylinder, slammed it shut, and handed it to me again. "can you accept?"
"Maybe she shouldn't have it," Bright protested immediately.
"Bethany?" Cade asked.
I swallowed heavily and forced myself to nod. "Yes."
"I need something to protect us Bright."
"We are fine now," he protested.
"For now," I emphasized.
I can see concern in his gentle green eyes, but I can also see love. When he walked towards me, his fingers were as slender as butterfly wings on my cheeks. Cade stuffed the revolver between us and smiled coldly. Brett shook his head, but did not protest further because I took the gun from Cade again.
I staggered into the door of the antique shop. When I fell on the floor, my stomach churned. I could barely breathe, I tried my best to control my trembling body, my lungs seemed to be on fire. When my hand grabbed me, I jumped up. "It's okay, Beth."
This is not good, Aiden and I both know this, but I do not intend to protest. He pulled me to my feet, pulled me to his side, and led me through the store. Fortunately, Aiden is more elegant than me. If he hadn't led me, I would have knocked over everything in the store. My stomach rolled again, bile burned my throat, but I refused to vomit, I would not lose the poor contents of my stomach here.
"Bessie, where are the stairs?" He breathed in my ear.
I managed to raise a trembling arm and point it in the direction of the stairs. He suddenly turned right towards the door. He helped me up and opened the door. The stairs were hidden in the shadow, but neither Aiden nor I turned on the lights. We fumbled along the wall, trying our best not to fall off the steep steps. When I vomited, we were halfway down.
I can't hold it anymore. Terrible screams, sights and sounds haunt every movement of me.
Aiden leaned against the wall, hugged me to his chest, stroking my hair. I was shaking and almost vomiting again, when Bright walked into the stairwell, Cade followed closely behind. I jumped up and left Aiden, struggling to get out of the car, when Cade began to close the door. "No, wait!" I stumbled a few steps, then fell to the ground. "and many more!"
"Beth."
"Let go of me!" I almost screamed when Aiden pulled me towards him with his arms around my waist. "I can't stay here! Aiden, let me go!"
Instead of letting me go, he pulled me down the stairs. Brett and Cade followed, I fought in Aiden's palm, and limped away. Cade found the wire and pulled the light switch. I lowered my head and dared not look, my eyes were still hurt by the harsh light earlier. When I tried to concentrate, I blinked quickly.
I am covered in blood, some of which are mine. This is not the case in most cases. Not everything comes from that creature. I want to deny this fact, but I can't. I know deep in my heart that most of the blood comes from my neighbors, my friends. The thing was stuffed like a fat tick, and it was full of blood from people we know.
"Where is the room?" Brett asked.
Cade strode towards the back wall. There was a kind of coldness in him that I had never noticed before, and this coldness made me almost as shocked as the massacre we just witnessed. I think I'm going to throw up again.
I'm dizzy and vomiting again. I briefly wondered if the blow on my head was worse than I thought. I heard Abby’s panting in fear, and felt relieved when the unconsciousness fell on me.
I don't know when I woke up. All I know is that everyone else in the room is asleep, and I must get out of here. My head throbbed dullly, but the nausea had subsided, and I felt much better than before I fainted.
When I found the door switch and pushed it open, I breathed a sigh of relief. I stumbled out and managed to catch up with myself before hitting something. I turned to face the people in the room. Abby is curled up next to Aiden; she looks younger and more vulnerable in her sleep. Jenna was sitting in a ball, her head resting on an old blanket over the crate. Cade was the furthest away, sitting with his back against the wall, his chin against his chest. Brett was close to where I slept, and I thought he was closer to me, but he rolled over in his sleep.
I looked at them one last time, and then closed the door carefully. I tiptoed up the stairs, much more secretive than I thought. But then again, I did a lot of things today, and I never thought I would do it or could do it. I never thought I would shoot, let alone use it to kill.
I opened the door by a note, and I held my eyes against the crack, trying to see something clearly. When I was looking for noise, my ears were tense. I felt brave enough and safe enough to open the door a little bit before sliding out of the cellar completely. The sun shines through the blinds, and it is a new day; at least the world has not completely frozen overnight. (To be continued) (End of this chapter)