Chris Instincts surged again, quickly telling everyone to get down. As he dropped the monsters claws seemed to slash where his neck was at before he dodged forward, he quickly planted the iron rod up as he fell letting the monster acceleration do the work for him. The rod skewered through its stomach splashing Chris with its blood.
Jess's wrench came down from behind, again and again against the monster while screaming at it ."to stay down."
The monster shrieked. Launching sideways to the dark side of the store.
"Dev!" Chris shouted. " we need Fire!"
"What fire?" Dev shouted back, voice breaking.
" find some cleaner and a lighter now!" He yelled. Jess one step ahead of Dev was already on the way. She remembered where she saw it. Skidding on the ice barley making it to the counter, her fingers searching through the lost and found for something to to turn the tide! Finally finding it as valez and Chris were shooting wildly. She unscrewed the rubbing alcohols lid, and jammed a strip of rag into it. Finally the Molotov was ready, their one chance at survival. The monster began to charge at Jess, sensing the flame in her hands determined to end her life.
She threw it at the last possible second, landing on the monsters shoulder began to spread. Sadly it didn't work out like it in the movies with a cinematic blaze. Just a small ugly flame seemingly to be barley ablaze on its pale skin. The creature howled in fright, swatted the flame with its hands which only spread the puny flame.
The monster seemed like a puppet whose strings were cut, not knowing what to do. Until
Valez stopped shooting looking down in horror. The slide of his pistol locked back with a metallic thunk that echoed too loud. The monster turned towards him already moving towards the sound.
Valez shoved Dev behind an aisle. Dev at the last second grabbed his arm, yanking him in the process to safety.
Jess tried go step back out of the creature's path, too slow, Chris's Instincts screamed deciding to trip her sideways on reflex; the monsters claws slashing the space Jess had been, catching only her coat.
"Go," Chris grunted, and hit the thing again, where the kneecaps should be. The rod found the creatures joint, resulting in its kneecap seemlying explode under its skin. Making the creature fall. Valez and Dev pushing the shelf they were hiding behind ontop of the monster.
"Chris!" Jess shouted. She flung another bottle of antiseptic at him. He squeezed it on the creature's chest and shoved the lighter on its skin. The flames started instantly. The monster screamed louder, ripped its arm free of the crumpled shelf, and hurled itself backward through the opening it had made.
For a heartbeat, it hung there in the broken frame. Antlers flexed. Torso working into overdrive. Then it ran, its jagged silhouette crossing the lot and melting into the dark beyond the pumps in mere seconds.
Every sound that had been held back dumped into the store at once. Their breathing. The fizz of a burning puddle on tile. The low grind of the highway wind. A small steady drip.
Chris stood with the weapon still raised unfortunately now bent. Lowering it slowly as the seconds went by.
"Everyone okay?" Jess asked, not looking, hands shaking around her wrench while peering into the darkness.
"I'm fine," Chris said lying. He felt as if he just ran a marathon with his arms and legs feeling like jelly. Trembling as he checked his pistol sliding the mag out. Empty.
"Shit," he said.
Valez laughing dryly at the scene his magazine too. "I'm dry also welcome to the club."
They both looked at each other, a brief ugly laugh with no humor in it. Jess pressed her palms into her face. Dev leaned on a shelf and let his head hang, shoulders trembling.
The cold didn't leave right away. Frost still crept where the Wendigo had stood, veins of it spreading and then fading like spilled milk under heat.
Chris felt the shard under his skin seemingly sigh. He closed his eyes trying to see what that meant, and he saw, the creature again in his mind. It's pale ribcage , the tendons pulling, its claw like appendages, the way it stopped to listen for their breathing. The shard recognized this monster seemly trying to convay its feelings to Chris. Both the monster and it were cursed to eternally be hungry.
"Does anyone need a bandage?" Jess said,
"Not me, so that counts as a win in my book. Dev muttered.
Valez seemingly sweating bullets said "the monsters claws barely slicing sliced my vest in half."
Chris tried to flex his hands still hardly responding to him, either from the shock or bitter cold given off from the monster.
They soon began to working in silence. Pushing the shelves back into place, and trying to barricade the door the best they could. The store now smelt of singed flesh, sadly they were already use to that from their travels.
"Tell me that use to not be a person," Dev said openly.
"It was and it wasn't," Jess said. "Look at your notifications, it's like the world pulled something out of a horror story."
Chris stared out at the parking lot, at the place where the frost hadn't melted yet, like a print in snow. He called out in his mind for his status to see what she meant. He stared in horror at the notification wondering if this was all some cruel joke.
+4 XP — Wendigo (Wounded)
"If this was true then what else that was fantasy is now haunting our world." He muttered
Chris began to wondering if it was because of the shard that the creature targeted him. It was oblivious with how it kept launching after him. Only snapping out of it after Valez spoke.
"The Sun should be up in a few hours,"
"If we can even call what we experienced yesterday the sun," Jess responded with.
They then sat without speaking wondering what else they will have to face in the end.
Meanwhile, A few miles away, the Wendigo was howling in rage feeding on a group of mimics to help it recover. Swearing within its fragmented mind it will feed on those who hurt it.
Jess tightened her coat and wiping her eyes. "I just want a bigger bottle of anything that I can use to make fire."
Dev cleared his throat. "Aww our little pyromaniac , I just want coffee."
" I'll add both to our grocery list," Valez said while winking.
Chris slowly closed his eyes, trying to sense the shard.His body and mind barely holding on until he nearly collapsed.
He has now seen what hunger does to those who get consumed by it. He knows its shape, shape, its savagery, he knows the urge that possesses its mind. He can only hope the shard will not lead him down a similar path.