Nick searched around town, no one else survived the massacre that took place. Nor could anyone find a way to escape the town safely without possibly walking for hours in the open desert. No one was insane enough to take that risk, not when the monster was out there.
Every car and truck were damaged beyond use, their engines and fuel compartments torn to sunders. There was no phone signal, nor did anyone have a clue on how to fix anything that would aid in their survival. For all Nick knew, they were in a dire situation that would only get worse over time.
But the dead still lay there, they had to do something about it. Nick changed into something more appropriate back at his place before he could help Jamie pick up the piles of meat, or what remains of the people and lay them out respectfully under the shade of the abandoned gas station near the convenient store. Afterwards they would put a tarp over them. They hoped for help or at least someone would arrive soon so the people could have a more dignified resting place than the town of Cue.
‘What do you think that was?’ Jamie asked.
Nick paused, he tried to rationalise what happened but every time he remembered the smell, its claws. All he could see was death incarnate. He shook his head in a vain attempt to forget. ‘I don’t know, I don’t want to think about it.’
Jamie agreed, he knew it would be wise to stay quiet about it. Memories of horror were best left behind and not delved into.
The other survivors took some time fortifying the police station in case the monster attacked again. They broke into the armoury and armed themselves with whatever they could carry. Nick was offered a gun, but he turned it down out of anxiety. He never liked firearms and he didn’t desire to learn how to use them.
‘Hey! I found a bike!’ A Wajarri man pushed a dirt bike down the hill and to the group of survivors. ‘Not just that.’ With a turn of the key the engine roared, ‘bob’s ya uncle. Bloody thing works!’
Everyone felt relieved, it was a sign that they were saved at last. Even though everyone had to stay behind while one rode off. While the survivors talked amongst themselves, Nick couldn’t help but feel confused. Why would this creature destroy the phone tower, our cars, the gas pumps? Why?
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He knew that the creature thought about all of this, that it knew what to destroy. It was all planned, it just had to be. ‘Wait, where did you find the bike?’ Nick asked.
The Wajarri man pointed at the location of the scrap yard with his thumb. ‘O’er there, mate. Just near a few tires.’
‘We shouldn’t take it. Something isn’t right.’
‘Nah, what do you mean?’ Jamie chimed in, worried about what Nick meant.
‘Every car and truck is destroyed by that thing. It is strange how this bike is the only thing left untouched.’
‘Maybe the spirit didn’t go there. Maybe it was only focusing on us.’ Everyone faced the Wajarri man, he shrugged as he couldn’t figure out what they wanted from him.
Nick rested his hands on his hips. ‘What do you mean by spirit?’
‘Well you know, something ain’t right with it. It ain’t no animal I e’re seen before. Nah, something wrong with it.'
Nick never believed in the existence of spirits, so he ignored the Wajarri man’s pointpoint to continue making his own. ‘Either way, we shouldn’t use it. We can’t go when that thing is still out there.’
Jamie disagreed, ‘someone has to, we can’t stay here like this. Mate, no one knows what the fuck happened here. We have to get help, get the army if we have to!’
Everyone agreed, except for Nick who conceded. He felt it would be best to let them decide on who should leave the town. Deep down he thought he could be wrong, that maybe he was just trying to reach for an answer that wasn’t there.
They decided that the Wajarri man would take the bike and ride south to Mount Magnet. It would be an hour away, but they all hoped the town was not attacked like theirs.
As the man left, everyone cooked some food and collected water to hide out in the police station again. Nick refused to eat; he couldn’t muster the will to have anything. But as the day grew darker, he just prayed that the monster didn’t turn up or that help arrived sooner rather than later.