Chapter 8
I watched in silent horror as a small, fleshy-looking creature crawled out on four legs. It was roughly the same height as the hole it’d just come from, but its limbs seemed oddly elongated.
The creature was slimy looking and veiny, and it had a bulbous, shield-shaped face. There were no eyes I could see, but most of its ‘face’ was made up of two small, slit-shaped nostrils and a mouth that looked like it opened far too wide.
I could see round holes on the side of its head that looked like reptile ears, and though this creature was small, something told me to be absolutely silent.
I watched in fearful fascination as all the other metal panels along the wall produced identical creatures, and there had to be at least a dozen of them.
The creature closest to me seemed to sniff at the air and cock its head as if it were listening for something.
I tried to keep my breathing as silent as possible.
Suddenly, I heard screaming echo from across the store, followed by loud snapping sounds, and the little creatures sprang into action as they rushed toward the source of the noise.
They were so incredibly fast.
While they were distracted and running away from me, I took my opportunity to reach up and snag the earrings. I closed my hand around them, but the motion caused me to lose my balance, and I tumbled forward before sliding partially down the clothing pile.
The sound wasn’t particularly loud, but it was enough that one of the weird alien creatures paused and turned back to face me.
I stopped breathing.
I was laying on the side of the clothing pile at an awkward angle and totally exposed. But I didn’t dare try to adjust to a better position and risk making more sound, or worse, slide even further.
I stared at the creature as it slowly took a step in my direction.
Then another.
And another.
It continued to move slowly toward me. It kept pausing to sniff at the air, and it even opened its mouth as if it were tasting for me. The creature’s open mouth revealed rows of razor-sharp fangs, and all of them were angled back, almost like a shark’s.
I’d hate to get bitten by one of those things.
I watched the creature warily as it moved ever closer to my spot on the clothing pile.
My lungs had begun to burn, but I didn’t dare take even the smallest of breaths because that thing was far too close to me, and I didn’t have any sort of weapon to defend myself against it.
Suddenly, there was another loud scream, and the sound seemed to draw the creature’s attention again. It paused for a moment before it finally turned away and sprinted down the nearest aisle.
I released my held breath and quickly let fresh oxygen fill my lungs.
Breathing had never felt quite so good before now.
I clambered off the pile as quickly as I could while I kept an eye out for any more of those weird creatures, but none came.
Then I glanced down at the little jewelry box in my hand, and the sapphires gleamed in the light.
Somehow, through all of that, I’d been able to hold onto them.
I silently snapped the box shut and pocketed it.
I had my jewelry piece, but now what?
I thought of Tyler and wondered if he’d found any jewelry items yet. I needed to find him so I could help him. I didn’t want him or Claire to risk getting disqualified.
But I wasn’t about to go wandering around empty-handed. Not with those little monsters out there.
I looked around for a weapon, and after a moment, I spotted a metal baseball bat partially hidden in a nearby toy pile.
It wasn’t exactly the greatest defense. I’d much prefer to have my gun right about now, but at least the bat was something.
I hurried over to retrieve it, and then I started my search for Tyler. As I moved, I could hear more screams up ahead, and when I rounded the corner, I found a trail of dark red blood on the ground, as well as two dead creatures.
One of the creatures’ heads looked like it had been bashed in, and the other creature was ripped into two pieces. Both dead beasts had a strange, thick, blue liquid that seemed to ooze out around them.
Was that supposed to be their blood?
I glanced at the red blood trail on the floor again.
Someone had been attacked here, and even though it looked like they’d won the fight, it also looked like they’d been badly injured.
I quietly crept along the aisle, following the blood trail, and when I turned the corner, I saw…
“Tyler!” I quietly hissed as I rushed forward and knelt beside the injured man.
He was slumped on the floor against one of the massive shelves. His glasses were slightly cracked and crooked on his nose, and he clutched at his left arm, which was bleeding heavily.
I didn’t waste any time as I pulled off my hoodie and ripped off one of the sleeves, and then I split it again, into two long strips of fabric.
Thank God the hoodie was old and worn, otherwise I’d have had to waste even more precious time trying to find something to cut the fabric with.
I guess my unwillingness to part with old clothes finally came in handy.
I forced Tyler’s hand aside to reveal seven gleaming red holes in his arm where chunks of his skin had been ripped out. Though it was a lot of painfully exposed flesh, the wounds didn’t actually look too deep, which was good.
Right now, our biggest concern was ensuring Tyler didn’t lose any more blood, but once we were out of immediate danger, we’d also need to worry about possible infection.
I began to wrap the injured man’s arm, all while I kept an eye out for any other creatures.
“What happened?” I muttered as I dressed his wound, and even though I was trying to be as gentle as I could, Tyler still winced with every motion.
“Fucking Kyle,” he growled in a low voice and then grunted as I made another pass with my makeshift bandage. “As soon as those things appeared, the bastard shoved me over, ran away, and left me alone to defend myself.”
I was going to kill that asshole.
It was bad enough we had to worry about dangers from the aliens, we didn’t need to be a danger to each other as well.
“Did you kill the two dead ones I found back there?” I asked as I jabbed a thumb back the way I came.
“Yeah,” Tyler said with a nod before he winced and swallowed hard.
“How?” I asked as I continued to work the cloth around his arm.
I wanted to keep him talking and distracted from the pain, because the last thing I needed was for him to go into shock.
“There were originally five of them,” Tyler said. “Three of them pursued Kyle as he ran away. I beat one of them with a frying pan I found before it could attack me.”
That must have been the one with the smooshed head I’d seen.
“The other one got my arm, and the pain made me drop the pan,” he continued. “It took some wrangling, but I finally got the thing in both hands, and I just yanked it apart.”
I was stunned.
“All those injuries are from just one of those things?” I asked.
“Their teeth and claws are like little razors.” Tyler nodded. “And they’re insanely fast, but once you actually get them, they aren’t particularly durable.”
At least they had some sort of weakness, I supposed, though there were a lot more of them than there were us, and if only one of those creatures could do that sort of damage…
We were in big trouble.
I got Tyler’s arm bandaged the best I could, and it wasn’t perfect, but at least he wouldn’t bleed out.
“Can you stand?” I whispered as I studied Tyler’s face.
He was clearly still in pain because his eyebrows were furrowed, he was very pale, and there was a light sheen of sweat on his face.
“Yeah,” he grunted as he shifted to sit up a bit straighter.
Tyler’s arm seemed to be the only injured part of his body, but I wasn’t sure how well he’d be able to move through the pain. Not to mention we still needed to be quiet because those other creatures were still alive and well.
“Come on,” I said, and I got to my feet and gripped his good arm. “We still need to find you a gift for Claire.”
My mention of Claire seemed to snap his brain into focus, and he let me help him up. Someone else started screaming in the distance, and the sound gave us enough cover to help Tyler fully stand, though it wasn’t without a lot of grunting and effort.
Once Tyler was on his feet, it took a few moments before he was able to steady himself. I tried to wait patiently, but I was painfully aware of the time we were losing. Every second that ticked by was another moment the other contestants could find their prizes.
“Wait, what about you, though?” Tyler asked as we began to move through the store. “Don’t you still need a jewelry piece, too?”
“I’ve already got it covered,” I said, and I slipped the velvet box out of my pocket and opened it to show him the earrings.
“Damn, you work fast,” he mused.
I grinned at him before I snapped the box shut again and replaced it in my pocket.
Tyler had to keep his injured arm cradled to his chest, but I handed over the metal bat I’d found so he could hold it with the other one.
I didn’t have to move very far down the aisle before I found a replacement weapon for myself.
The fireplace poker seemed a little out of place here, but I wasn’t about to complain.
I still would probably have to do most of the fighting due to Tyler’s injuries, but at least now we were both armed.
The store was almost completely still and silent again, and we both creeped through the aisles as quietly as we could.
I wondered about the other screams we’d heard earlier. Had the person responsible for the distressed sound made it away safely? Were they injured somewhere, too?
Or had they met their demise?
I also wondered which of the contestants it was, and had their interaction with the creatures been chance, or had Kyle caused those as well?
A small part of me wanted one of those screams to actually belong to Kyle, and it certainly was a possibility if he’d been chased down by three of those things.
But as much as I wanted his downfall, I couldn’t root for it right now.