They Walk

Chapter Six

They made it too the car, Kyle and another guy Adam are at the driver’s side door. The windows are tinted and they can’t see inside. I can barely hear them call out to someone inside, and by their faces no one responds. Austin and his friend Alex, make their way to the passenger side, tapping the windows. Abruptly the horn goes silent. The scratching becomes more persistent, and someone can be heard from inside but the voice is inaudible. Instinctively they all step back and look at each other questioningly. Before anyone can stop him, Kyle sprints up to the driver’s side door and pulls it open. Something heavy falls to the ground, in a sickening clump.

Kyle leaps back, and I get a good look at what it is.

It’s a body, so badly mauled that I can’t tell if it’s male or female. There is blood everywhere, but it seems to ooze from a gaping hole in its chest. It’s so still, I don’t know if it’s alive or dead. I hear shouts of alarm and some screams of horror, but I’m too shocked to do anything. Matt holds me tighter, and I can feel him trembling. Dan pushes his way to the window, while Maria lingers closer to me, she’s pale.

Quickly I look to the tree where the car is stuck, and I wonder how a small crash could cause the damage to the body. That’s when I hear the scratching again, or I should say a slither. Shifting my eyes to the body, I feel hope that maybe it’s alive, but it’s still. The guys around the car are looking inside. Kyle walks closer again, and he bends down to get a better look.

Slowly an arm reaches over the driver’s seat followed by another with his head held low a man pushes across the seat. He must be hurt pretty bad, he’s shacking and making these low gurgling moans. Kyle reaches for him, and the guy raises his head and snaps his teeth at him. His face is covered in blood, and some falls from his mouth. He pushes himself up on his arms, and I notice that his right shoulder is missing a chunk so large I can see bone. Startled, Kyle stands up straight and Adam makes his way closer to him with his posture tense with alarm.

I hear hushed voices of terror all around me, but I don’t understand what’s happening. Why aren’t they helping this stranger, and that’s when I feel it, Fear. He oozes it, like the blood from his mouth. But I can’t take my eyes off this man, who by all appearance killed the driver and might have even caused the accident.

He’s still crawling over the seat, and leans out onto the body below. He hovers over it, and rubs his face in the whole in its chest. The body below him jerks and he stops. Raising his face he looks up like he smells something. Snarling, he leaps off the still jerking body and crashes into Kyle. Who at the last second tried to get out of the way, but only succeeded in throwing himself of balance. He falls to the ground yelling, with the man biting into his throat.