The Extinct

CHAPTER
45

Eric awoke to William’s nudging. It was dark now and the moon was only a crescent in the sky. The air was warm and had wafts of dust in it from a strong wind. Eric grudgingly rose and saw William gazing into the valley before them. A small fire was built in front of him but provided little light or warmth.

“What is it?” Eric said.

William’s gaze was unmoving, his voice steady. “It’s here.”

Eric watched the darkness, the trill chirps of thousands of crickets aggravating him and increasing his fear. There was nothing he could see and he wondered if William was just too fatigued. But gradually, as his eyes adjusted, he could see two small glowing lights. They were slits of red, and they were circling them. The lights stopped, fixated, and began a silent approach.

“Run,” William said.

Eric ran, William right behind him. The wind was loud in his ears but he could still make out the crunching of tall weeds and grass behind them. He looked back only to see the slits of red closing in.

“Up there!” William shouted.

There were large boulders piled atop one another and Eric sprinted for them. He leapt onto the first one and grabbed William’s hand and helped him up. They began to climb on the rough, dry surface of the rock and only stopped when they reached the top. Eric’s breathing was labored and his heart felt like it would explode. He took out his handgun and held it in front of him.

“Did you see it?” he said.

“No, just its eyes,” William said, crouching to one knee for better stability. “You watch behind us. Shoot for the head if it charges up the rocks.”

Only the sound of their breaths filled the awful silence; the crickets had stopped. And, somewhere out in the dark, laughter.

The laughter could’ve been human. Eric thought it was the type of laugh that someone who was insane would have; menacing and meaningless at once.

“Why isn’t it attacking?” Eric said.

“I don’t know.”

William saw the slits of red glowing like embers in the dark. He pointed the rifle, trying to steady his shaking hands. He aimed and pulled the trigger. The eyes seemed to disappear in the night. William couldn’t keep the rifle steady. “Did you hit it?” Eric asked. “I don’t know, maybe.” “We should run.” “I don’t think we’d get very far. At least from here we can see around us.”

They sat on the warm stone through the night. By morning, Eric’s legs and back were stiff and throbbed with pain. His eyes were blurry from a lack of sleep and he found it difficult to think. The sun came slowly and ignited the colors of the plains before them. There was nothing surrounding them but vegetation.

William stood up. “Stay here.” He made his way down the boulders and out to where he thought he might have hit the animal. There was trampled ground and deep paw prints, but he didn’t have enough experience to say what animal they’d come from. There wasn’t any blood that he could see. Eric climbed down and stood behind him. “Let’s get going.” “I’m not sure if it was… it.” “Who cares? Let’s just get the fuck outta here.”

They walked back to their supplies and saw with horror that their food was scattered and mostly eaten. The remaining water bottles had been ripped open and the plastic containers were slowly tumbling in the wind across the valley. They walked off without saying a word.

It had the makings of being another scorching, dry, day and Eric feared what it would feel like in a few hours without any water. He surveyed his surroundings in detail and came to the conclusion that none of it looked familiar. “I don’t think we’re going in the right direction, Will.” “Me neither. But there’s got to be people somewhere around here.” “We could go back to the village.” William hesitated. “No, those people have Satan in their souls.” “You don’t really believe that do you?” “Of course I do. They have no regard for human life.” “That doesn’t mean they’re possessed by Satan. I’ve done evil things, am I possessed?” “No, you’re confused. But they’re evil.”

Eric had never seen this side of William and he didn’t like it. He didn’t really want to go back to the village either, but to think they were possessed by the devil was madness. In a way, Eric could see Thomas’s point; they did what they had to to survive. An uneasy feeling came over him and he wasn’t sure why.