It didn’t take too much effort to get the fire started. It burned to life, crackling and sparking before us. The hardest part was watching the chicken as it hung, impaled over the fire while slowly cooking. After an hour and a half of sitting around and carefully adjusting the chicken, it finally looked done.

The two of us were able to tear through nearly all the chicken in a matter of minutes. Even though I ate half of the chicken, my stomach still slightly rumbled in hunger. I threw some small bits of bones into the fire, watching it sizzle and crackle under the heat.

“We should get going soon,” said Cleo.

I looked down at my watch. Through the dusty, cracked glass, I could just barely tell the time: 12:49. It would take another twoish hours to reach Ogden.

“Yeah. We should get going. With hope, we’ll be able to reach Wyoming by night.”

We sat down for another solid minute, trying to catch our breath after basically inhaling an entire chicken. We then begrudgingly got up, bringing our stuff with us as well. As we walked back to the car, the horse’s attention shifted to us. It followed closely behind, and though I couldn’t see it behind me, I knew she had her eyes peering right at me. And I hated it. I knew for a fact that she had her eyes deadlocked on me, and me only. Not Cleo, not at the tons of grass or hay bales waiting to be eaten, just me. I picked up my pace, ready to just leave this house behind us for good.

In one clean swoop, I threw my things in the back. “I’ll drive again,” Cleo said, walking to the driver’s seat. I nodded, getting in the passenger seat. I leaned back, looking out the window. My eyes were met with that of the horse. That… thing…

“Hey, can we get going?” I asked impatiently.

“Yeah - wait, is something wrong?”

I looked back at the horse, which was now trotting across the field, seemingly minding its own business.

“N-no,” I stammered. “I think we should just hit the road as soon as possible. Before it gets dark.”

With that, we drove away from the house and back down the path we came. The car bumped its way back down the rocky dirt path as we found our way back to the asphalt. I rested my head on the door. Despite it being only noon, I couldn’t help but feel kind of tired. My eyes grew heavy as I leaned further back into the chair, yawning as I did so.

**************************

The light blue station wagon pulled up into the driveway. It was nearly getting dark. They were fifteen minutes late, but that’s nothing to worry about. They don’t come around much anyway, so it’s easy to get lost.

The kids were the first ones to come leaping out of the car. One by one. First James, the eldest and self-proclaimed “ring-leader” of the three. Then Janice, the middle child. And last was Henry, the youngest. By his side, he carried some antique lantern. I forgot where he got it exactly, but he seemed to love it. Whenever I saw him, it was either grasped in his hands or dangling off his belt. The energy they kept pent up seemed to be endless. Somehow, they never got tired. Never wanted to sleep, or sit down.

Next came the parents: Hank and Janet. Through their smile, a faint bit of exhaustion peeked through. With the amount of time they were driving for, who can blame them?

“Markus! Long time no see!” Hank called out in his usual chipper tone, going in for his tight bear hug. The kids trailed behind, excitingly babbling about their day. Honestly, there was no way to make out a word of what they were saying. Their sentences jumbled together into a mess of words and syllables.

Hank, who was carrying the kid’s bags, handed them to Janet. He then turned around, facing the kids. “Hey, how about you three go run around a little?”

And they did so without question. Before they ran off, Janet yelled out, “Stay in the street lights! And don’t go too far from the house!”

As the kids played outside, Janet and Hank were led inside. It was a moderate-sized house, with enough room for everyone to stay in for a few nights. After they got everything settled, the vodka was brought out. The bottle had been sitting on a ledge for months, basically just collecting dust. Three glasses were poured. We drank shot after shot, talking about life, work, kids, all that small-talk nonsense.

We laughed a little, talked a little more. Time passed without us knowing - as if all our worries and weights were just erased for a short time. Suddenly, Janet remembered how late it was getting.

“The kids should come inside,” she said.

“I’ll get ‘em,” Hank replied.

“Nah,” I interjected, “I’ll get ‘em.”

They nodded in agreement. I walked over and stepped outside. My eyes adjusted to the night-time darkness as I scanned left and right for them. Nowhere. I walked further down the pathway, calling out their names. Only, I got no response.

Hank stepped out too, “Everything alright out here?”

“Can’t find them…” I muttered.

Hank called out their names again, but to be met with no response. We went quiet. He looked calm, and I tried to as well, but my heart couldn’t help but pound in my chest. Not only were the kids gone, but something felt off. Different, even. Something I couldn’t place my finger on.

“Do you hear that?” Janet whispered behind us.

“What-” Hank was about to ask, only to be quickly hushed by her.

I listened closer. Voices. No, not voices. They were loud. Very loud. Were they… Like shouting. Were they screams? And not just voices too, but what sounded like gunfire.

“Where could the kids be?” Janet shuttered.

“The park,” I blurted out. They loved going there whenever they visited. Something told me they had to be there. It wasn’t too far away, either. Eight-minute run tops.

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“Then we gotta go,” said Hank. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it.”

As we made our way to the park, the screams only grew louder. And louder. And louder. I looked up into the sky. There was something in the air… Smoke. It looked like smoke. It wasn’t too far away, either.

“Good God, what’s happening?” Janet panted as we ran. We turned a corner and continued sprinting.

“I don’t… I don’t know-” I was about to finish my sentence when Hank, who was in front of us, stopped suddenly.

“What -” I nearly hissed.

Annoyed, I was about to ask him why he stopped, but then I saw his face. It wasn’t the calm one he usually had on. No. It was an expression of shock and fear. Janet stopped too, and like Hank, she stood frozen.

“What in the…” she muttered, but her voice only trailed off.

I heard it before I saw it: not only were the screams of help loud enough, but I also heard the sounds of destruction. Glass was being broken. Doors were being smashed through and ripped off their hinges. Cars were being clawed through like paper. And then, I saw it. No. It wasn’t just an “it”. Them. The horde was descending upon the town like a pack of hungry hyenas. The yells and shouts of people begging for help were cut out sickeningly short as they were either dragged away in some dark crevice or mauled in the streets like some small, insignificant animal.

“Other way! Now!” I shouted.

I lead them in the opposite direction. The other way wouldn't take much longer if we were quick, but it was the only other way I knew of. We ran as fast as we could, hoping and praying those things wouldn’t notice us. In the streets, a police car speeded up towards us. It then suddenly stopped to a halt. The door opened and a cop came jogging towards us.

“Find shelter immediately,” she began to say. But, I wasn’t paying attention. Something caught my attention behind us. I could’ve sworn it was a faint growling. I turned my head around. The sound seemed to be coming from an alleyway. It was too dark to see if anything was hiding in the shadows. I slowly stepped backward, squinting into the darkness.

“-Our kids are at the park. Please, you need to help us.” I heard Hank say.

“Fine,” the cop said, “but afterward you all need to -”

I think the officer heard something too. She pulled out her gun, glaring into the same alleyway. “Step back,” she demanded.

We did so without question. As the cop stepped forward, gun pointed towards the shadows, the growling grew louder. And then, it stopped. My heart stopped dead as it did. At an instant, it launched, basically flying, from the shadows. The officer shot three times at the beast, but the bullets only seemed to deflect right off. Instead, it still flew towards us. But, it didn’t go for me, Hank, or Janet, instead went for the cop.

There was no groan of pain or sudden gasp. The monster sunk its teeth into her before any of us could react. As the monster threw the cop to the ground, her gun slid over me. Janet let out a shrill shriek of fear as we watched the thing sinked its claws into her chest. I felt puke rising up in my throat as the sound of flesh and bone being gnawed on filled my ears - but I forced myself to swallow it down. I staggered to the ground, picking up the gun. I froze as it turned its head to Hank and Janet.

The thing howled. All the blood in my body ran cold as it stood up on its two bony legs. My first reaction was to run. The other two seemed to share my reaction. We twisted around each corner, I ran in front of the others, robotically following the way to the park.

“This way!” I shouted. “Not much further!”

Behind us, I heard loud, heavy footsteps trailing not too far away.

“Quick!” I shouted again.

Suddenly, I heard another growl. I squeezed my eyes shut as I ran, expecting the worst. Instead, however, I heard Janet shriek out, “HANK!”

I twisted around. I saw her running towards the streets. “Wait…” I thought. “Where’s Hank?” I looked for him, but a holler of pain struck my attention. I looked to see where the sound was coming from. It was him. A leathery black claw was wrapped tightly around his shin. Its talons dug into his shins, causing a pool of blood to flow out. I followed Janet’s steps, running after Hank. I shakily lifted up my hand, trying to get a good aim. I took a deep breath in and out. I squeezed the trigger. One. Miss. Twice. Miss Third time. Hit. Or, at least, I thought it hit. It remained unaffected and uninterested. Instead, it sunk its teeth into Mark.

I froze. I don’t know why I did. I don’t think I ever will. The hand holding my gun dropped to my side. Time around me slowed down. Moment by moment passed, yet I stayed frozen solid. Every single sound around me was deafened out. No more screams. No more destruction. Only what’s going on in front of me. My brain couldn’t seem to process what was going on. I don’t think it wanted to, either.

“Markus, get the kids!” I heard Janet scream. All my senses came flooding back. First was the smell: A metallic smell of blood as well as smoke. Then, I looked at her. I only nodded as I lifted my hand towards her, gesturing for her to come along. But before she could move, it leaped. Another one of those things. It ran on all fours, tackling her to the ground. With one swoop, the thing’s claws dug itself into her chest. With one hand, the monster then lifted her up into the air. It gave her a look of hunger, as if it hadn’t eaten in days.

Something - some kind of force - made me turn around. I forced myself to drag my way to the park. My mind, no, every single part of me focused on saving the kids. I started to run faster and faster, until I knew I couldn’t go any faster. I could hear growling getting louder around me, yet my legs still moved automatically.

I could see the park in view. Not much further. Yet, something else caught my eye. Fire. A pile of cars were flipped on top of each other. From the wreckage erupted a massive fire. I stopped in my tracks, hands on my knees, I heaved in and out as I looked around me. People lied dead and discarded in the streets.

“Have to keep going,” I thought.

Crunch.

I twisted my head to the sound of gravel crunching. My eye-sight met with one of those things. I could tell it had its eyesight directed right at me.

Hissing. From my left. I looked, only to find my reflection from a glass window. I looked up, to see another monster glazing down at me.

“Greeeat,” I thought again.

I backpedaled as fast as possible, before turning around and running towards the car wreckage. I looked over my shoulder. They were catching up. Had to keep going. The park was getting closer. As I moved past the cars, I felt something on my ankles. Not like a claw, but instead a hand. I unexpectedly tripped over, getting a face-full of asphalt. I looked to see what grabbed me: a hand. It was burned beyond recognition, but I could tell it was human. I leaned forward, swatting the hand away. As I tried standing up, I looked at those things. They looked back. I took in one more breath, which I thought would be my last. But instead, they stopped. They began hissing. But not at me - at the fire.

It took a second for me to put two and two together. They didn’t like fire! I stood up on my own two feet. I laughed to myself a little, turning back around and running off. I found my way to the park. To my luck, the park seemed to be unaffected.

“Janice! James! Henry!” I shouted out at the top of my lungs.

I heard a faint voice call out my name. I could tell it was Henry. I followed the sound of his voice. Eventually, I saw them. They were cowering behind a slide. I called out his name, walking forward. But then, I heard it. That faithful sound. A low, guttural growling. And then, I saw it, dangling from a tree.

“No!” I shrieked but to no avail. The monster jumped.