Story #174 - A Quick Trip

A Quick Trip

Running wasn't doing anything except keeping him just ahead of them, but Tim Carlyle didn't really have the time to come up with a better plan.

Images flashed through his head: the car being swarmed by the things, their long, clawed hands screeching along the metal door panels, and Christie's face as the biggest one rammed a fist through her chest. It had been brutal, awful, soul-crushing, but Tim didn't have time to dwell on it.

Thoughts of the past few hours caused him to miss a step and sent him almost tumbling to the forest floor below. Behind him, he could hear the hooting catcalls of the leader of the pack, a smaller beast that had stayed at the edges of the fight at the car.

Though slaughter might be a better term for what had happened, Tim wanted to believe he had at least a chance of escape.

It was only the way the bodies of the things chasing him were put together that saved him from a quick death. Up close, they were incredibly powerful, with massive jaws, spike-tipped claws and stunted, almost grotesquely thick leg muscles. As soon as their prey managed to gain some distance on them, however, the best they could do was follow. Though Tim was no athlete, a solid run kept him ahead of him, and prevented them from trying a sprint to catch up. He had hoped they would tire as quickly as he was after pounding their large legs into the loam underfoot, but none of the five monstrosities behind him showed any signs of stopping.

“Why?” He screamed into the dim dawn-light as he scrambled over a large rock, a claw-swipe just missing his heels. He knew no answer would come – they had been foolish to drive into the back country, knowing what had been set loose out here, but believed that if they just drove fast enough, everything would be alright. Thrill-seekers who had made it through the woods unscathed several times, Christie and Todd had insisted he try it out, and were sure that he would love the rush he got from avoiding what was almost certain death.

“Becaussssse...” came a hissing answer from behind him, and he stumbled at the top of the rock, managing to catch himself with his hands on the pitted stone at the very last moment. What he had heard was impossible.

“Because why?” He screamed as he ran on. It was ridiculous to enter into a war of words with a creature that was trying to maim and eat him, and shouldn't have been able to speak in the first place, not in the least because such words lessened his ability to run quickly by taking up his air supply.

“Becausssse we can!” The words were clear enough this time, and managed to make an already terrifying situation worse. Not only was he being pursued by pack of ravening monstrosities, but they had an actual, thought-out scent for blood, a real desire to not simply eat him for food, but to maim him because they had the capacity to do so.

Despite his creeping exhaustion, Tim forced his feet to move more quickly, forced the pace of his stride to increase.

“Why little one – why do you run from us?” There was a mocking tone to the broken voice, one that said he had no chance of escape, and was simply making things worse.

“Is that some kind of joke?”

There was a pause in the forest, a silence broken only by his footfalls and the thump of his pursuers.

“Yessss,” said the leader, “issss funny.”

“It isn't!” Tim screamed. “This is my life you're talking about!”

There was no reply, and Tim considered climbing a tree again. He had done it once, at the beginning of the chase, and had almost forced the beasts to leave. Their heavy lower bodies prevented climbing, despite their large claws, as they were unable to heave their massive forms up the trunk, even when they had an excellent point to begin their ascent.

The trouble was that they could use those same claws to tear the tree down, and had begun to make short work of the tall pine he was in almost as soon as he had made it out of their reach. If he could find a large redwood...

He moved quickly as he spotted one off to his left, hope giving his feet a speed he was surprised he had left in him. Up the tree he went, leaving bits of skin and drops of blood behind, but he didn't care for the state of his arms or legs – he simply needed to get away.

The monsters down below could pound away at the tree for the better part of the next few days and not make a dent, and he hoped that from somewhere near the top he might be able to find cell service.

Below, the pack had come to a halt and was circling the tree, their leader squinting up at him from the ground. Their faces were almost human, save for eyes that were too large and a nose that was almost non-existent, and it was that human likeness that made them all them more frightening.

“Little creature!” The leader called from below. “I have sssomthing you want!” Extending a clawed hand, the thing waved something at him. His new cell phone. “Come down here and we will...disssscusss...itsss return.”

“Screw off!” Tim yelled. He needed time to think. The tree would provide protection, but only for so long.

“I don't think sssooo, little creature. We will wait, and you will get hungry. You will get tired. You will come down to ssseee ussss, and we will be ready.” The leader gestured to those around him, and all five of them stopped moving, each taking up a position at the base of the tree, eyes looking upwards.

Tim grit his teeth. He hadn't wanted to, but he was going to have to destroy them all.

- D