Soon I am being woken up, Thomas lightly kicking my feet and telling me to get up. “Get up Rookie, it’s your turn for watch.”

Reaching down, he takes my hand and helps me to my feet before handing me a protein bar. “Two hours, then you switch with Sanders and get some more sleep.”

“Thanks Thomas, you get yourself some sleep.”

He smiles and pats me on the shoulder, his giant hand easily covering the armored guards that cover them. I get pushed a bit as he pats me, but I stand my ground, not wanting to get embarrassed over being knocked down by a friendly pat.

This guy is freaking huge, he could probably wrestle a bear. Well, a normal bear… I heard about the one the convoy came across some time ago. The way they described it was as if an armored house had woken up and chose violence. They blew its arm off with an RPG though, so it should have blead out in the woods somewhere and died. Hope I never have to deal with something like that…

Watching Thomas find himself somewhere to rest, I move out of the kitchen and take my spot behind the counter, laying my heavy marksmen rifle atop it and within arm’s reach.

The windows that would have shown outside have all been covered with tarps by the previous team that set this place up, preventing any curious horrors from peeking inside while also keeping out the elements. The tarps are thick enough that I can keep a small light going on the counter to keep the restaurant lit without it leaking outside and drawing attention.

The small light ends up casts a lot of shadows all over the restaurant and sets my paranoia up, but I try to ignore it. The only way in is through the front door unless something tears its way through the tarps.

I just can’t help but think about the Shadow that I saw.

After seeing it in the trees, I haven’t managed to catch sight of it again, but I can’t shake the feeling of it hiding somewhere nearby. Just waiting for a chance to jump someone unawares.

Not to mention the constant feeling of being watched as we marched, the weight of someone’s gaze on my back.

I shake my head and try to focus back on watch the building.

After some time of just standing behind the counter, I get bored and decide to patrol. Walking around the abandoned restaurant and checking the tarps to make sure they are holding well.

As I am walking around, I spot some movement. My heart leaping in my chest, I reach for the knife strapped to my chest plate and go to draw it, but I stop when I see what startled me. Left hanging on the back of a chair is an old, tattered jacket, one of its arms is waving in the wind coming through one of the tarp-covered windows.

“Fucking hell, what am I, six? Mistaking a jacket on a chair for a freaking monster…”

Walking over, I take it off the chair and lay it on top of a nearby table.

There, I killed the shadow monster, maybe they’ll give me a medal for my heroics.

Going over to the window, I peel back the tarp some and peek outside.

Can’t see shit through all this darkness, I can barely even see the building next door through all the trees and the rain.

Squinting my eyes, I try to peer at the other building, trying to pierce through the darkness and spot, well, just anything really. Looking out a window is more entertaining than standing behind a counter for two hours and doing nothing after all.

As I am looking out the window, a bolt of lightning streaks out across the sky and brings some light to the night. In a short flash of light, the building opposite us is lit up. Standing behind a window in the other building, the Shadow stands there.

The light, only lasting but a second, quickly fades and the world returns to darkness alongside the call of thunder.

Letting go of the tarp, I quickly step away from the window and draw my sidearm, pointing it at the window and waiting for the shadow to come bursting through.

Five seconds, ten seconds, twenty seconds, I stand there waiting and listening, trying to catch even the slightest sound of its arrival over the noise of my heart banging hard against my chest.

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But nothing happens.

Letting out a shacky breath, I back away from the window and make my way towards the kitchen, sidearm still drawn and at the ready.

Collecting my rifle and slinging it across my back, I head into the kitchen and wake the Sergeant with a kick to the feet. I’ll let him decide if we should wake everyone else.

Within moments he is up, only needing to glance at me to know that something has happened.

“What is it Rookie? Report.”

“The shadow, opposite building on the north side, I saw it standing behind a window.”

The Sergeant is up and moving now, silently walking out of the kitchen as I follow. “How did you see it? It should be pitch black out there.”

He’s not asking out of doubt, but simply for answers.

“Flash of lightning sir, it was only for a second, but I saw it. I know I did.”

“Don’t worry, I believe you. Can you describe it, whatever you can tell me.”

“Like a blob of shadow, but vaguely human shaped. Shorter than me, but I can’t be certain because of the distance. I got the feeling that it was looking back at me, but I could be wrong.”

“Best to assume that it was… It didn’t try to enter the building and attack when you spotted it?”

“No sir, I prepared for an attack, but one never came, I went to get you as soon I could.”

“Hmmmm…”

Standing by the window in question, he peels back the tarp a bit and looks through, knife held at the ready, but soon he gives up and moves away from the widow.

“Can’t see a damn thing.”

“Sir… Why do you think it is following us? If it’s a monster, shouldn’t it be attacking us instead.”

“You’re right, these things aren’t typically smart enough or have enough self-control to stalk something. Although, that’s just going by what little we know about them. There very well could be types out there that are smart enough to employ alternative hunting tactics.

“It could simply be waiting for us to tire out deep in the woods, or for something else to get us first so it can scavenge… You said it was small, it might not be very strong, relying on stealth to get its meals rather than brute force…

“The fact that it didn’t attack while one of us was alone on watch means this could be a high possibility.”

I think about what he says and respond, “Maybe it’s smart enough to know that attacking the guard would just attract the rest of us, so it held off? It might be waiting for one of us to wonder away or fall behind. Like a big cat wanting to pick off a lone member from a herd?” I ask.

I continue, “I keep getting the feeling that it is watching me; maybe because I’m the smallest of the group?”

“That’s certainly a possibility, out of the five of up, you and Sanders would look like the easiest targets…”

I throw in a joke, trying to lighten the mood, “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about it going after Thomas; he’s huge.”

He breaths out a laugh, “Your right, the man goes to the gym like the faithful do church. Alright, going with the assumption that this thing is targeting you, you are to stick close to Thomas and Sandy. You’re not leaving the middle of the formation, and I’m certain that I don’t need to tell you not to wonder off. Our mission was already dangerous, adding a stalker into it just means that we need to be more on guard than usual. Continue your watch and stay away from the windows, if anything happens, anything at all, yell and wake us up.”

“Yes Sir.”

He turns about and walks back into the kitchen to join everyone else. Inside, I can hear some whispers, someone woke up and is asking what happened. I ignore them and return to stand behind the counter.

Pulling out the protein bar Thomas gave me; I slowly munch on it as I wait for the time to pass.

Never thought I would be popular enough to have a stalker… Who knows, maybe the Shadow doesn’t want to eat me and instead just has a crush on me? Wouldn’t that be funny…

Letting my mind wonder to try and lessen the terror of being stalked and hunted, I take another bite out of my protein bar.

Ah, this thing tastes like crap, why do people eat these things? I can’t wait to go to that tavern again, they had good food…

----------------------------------------

My shift passes by, and soon Sanders is replacing me. I warn him to stay away from the windows because of the Shadow and then quickly get back to sleep.

In the morning we pack up and resupply for our walk into the unknown. Topping up our water from rain catchers and packing some of the MRE’s that are stashed away.

I’m not looking forward to having our team being responsible for setting up a camp. Carrying all the supplies out here would just suck, I’m already loaded down as it with my normal gear…

Finished packing, we step outside and sweep the area. The sergeant has us head over to search the building that the Shadow was in, but we find nothing inside.

Heading east from there, we enter the warehouse district and move under the cover of the large buildings. Cutting open fences as we pass through, and peeking into warehouses wherever we can, exploring those that we determine to be safe enough.

All the while, Sanders keeps out a map and camera, marking locations and recording the path that we take as we explore.

Some of the massive buildings we avoid like the plague, creatures coming and going from inside, and in some cases nearly covering the building as they rest atop it. Sanders marks them on the map as nests and takes a picture of the creatures before we sneak away.

All the while as we explore, are attention never shifts from the dark corners, the rooftops of the warehouses, and the canopies of trees. We never spot the Shadow anywhere, but I’m certain that it is somewhere, silently watching and waiting for something.

It takes some hours but eventually, the area is mapped and marked, four nests found and a path for avoiding them charted. Two warehouses had the potential for making camps but are still rather close to the last one, so they might not be used.

For one of the nests, a cockroach nest, I had to ask if we could burn the building to the ground. The Sergeant explained that as much as he would love to do so, we can’t, as the last time someone tried that, it resulted in a swarm of flaming giant flying insects going in every direction. Three people died as a result and the remaining two members of the team where traumatized.

I politely retracted my request for the use of fire and apologized.