Ellis and Byron ran like the wind. They watch were the carrion birds were situated to find them the best path, but fate would not be so kind. The monstrosity behind them was fast and slammed through the few cars that Ellis and Byron had to either run around or vault over. The distance between them was growing shorter. Ellis tripped as the creature leaped. It flew over his head and slammed into a house, breaking through the front wall.
Screams of terror filled the air and Byron grabbed Ellis. They ran again, trying to drown out the screams, until the screams of children were heard. Ellis stopped, knowing he was about to do something stupid. Without thinking he ran back to the house.
He ran through the destroyed wall and found the large creature feasting on the remains of a couple who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It ripped off the arm of the woman and ate it, bones and all. It let out a belch that racked Ellis to his bones. The cries of the children distracted it for a moment. They were on the other side of it. Ellis gripped his kukri tight and charged the monster.
The first slash sunk into it and cut deep. Black ichor gushed out and covered Ellis's arm. The monster roared in pain. It swung around and tried to bat at Ellis. It was big and fast, but it was not agile. Ellis was able to duck under the swing and slash again. This time across its belly. Its response was to body slam him with the force of a freight train. Ellis flew back out of the house and hit the pavement hard. His shoulder popped out of its socket and white pain took over his vision. When his vision cleared, he saw the thing lumbering after him. It was bleeding and it sounded pissed. Gunshots were the only thing that saved him.
Byron had turned back and saw Ellis wounded on the ground. The creature was crawling out after him. He had taken the opportunity to fire two shots into the beast's side. It was enough to get its attention. "You are a fucking idiot you know that!" he called out to Ellis, "I'll draw it away! Get those kids out of there!" The beast had stopped bleeding. It looked noticeably thinner and charged after Byron. Byron turned and ran for his life again, taking a less direct route to maintain distance from the monster.
Ellis took a breath and winced. The force from the slam had cracked, maybe broken a few ribs. He groaned in pain and effort to stand. He was dizzy from the force, but it didn't seem serious at first. The walk into the house was longer than he expected. He walked past the remains of the mother and father in the living room. They had both been crushed under the weight of the monster. in the kitchen, he heard soft crying. He followed the sound to the pantry where the children were hiding. He opened it, leading to more screams and he collapsed to his knees.
There were two kids hiding there. A boy and a girl. The boy was older and held a knife. The girl looked to be no older than two. They boy held the knife in shaking hands, determination blazed in his eyes. "Don't come near us," he said. Ellis couldn't help but laugh at himself at what he probably looked like. Covered head to toe in black goo and acting like road kill's least talk about cousin. "Hey, monster's gone," he said biting through the pain in his side. The boy pulled his sister deeper into the pantry. Ellis held out his hand weakly, "I'm Ellis, what's your name?"
"Gabe," the boy answered. "Nice name," Ellis replied, "What is your sister's name?"
"Mary."
"Well, Gabe, I need to get you and Mary out of here. My house is not far from here, we'll be safe for now.," Ellis explained and painfully shrugged off his backpack. He asked, "Mind putting some food in there for me? My arm isn't working right?" Gabe seemed to relax and he put down the knife. While the young boy packed Ellis's backpack with food, Ellis found blankets in the rubble and covered the parents with them. Kids that young did not need to see that. When Gabe was done Ellis said, "Get a bag for you and your sister together, you might not be coming back for a while."
"Mum and Dad said not to go with strangers," Gabe said. Ellis knelt to where he was at eye level, "And they taught you well, but right now I need you to trust me. They would want you two to come with me." Gabe looked around the room and his eyes fell on the blankets. Pools of blood were seen forming under them. Ellis watched the young boy set his jaw and stifle any tears he would have shed. Ellis recovered his kukri where it fell as Gabe got his sister into her outdoor clothes. The young man was impressed by the maturity of the boy. Mary was still crying, not understanding fully what was happening. Ellis took a moment to remove his shirt and craft a makeshift sling for his arm. The pain shot through it almost made him cry out, but he gritted his teeth and tied up his arm. He found a towel and cleaned himself off as best as he could with one arm. Ellis pulled out his phone and texted Byron in the house's group chat that he was making his way home with the kids. He didn't want to call and accidentally give away Byron's hiding spot if he managed to get away. He received a text back from Byron confirming and that he was going to wait things out.
When they left, Gabe carried his sister while Ellis limped beside them. A wave of nausea hit him and he buckled over, vomiting. "Are you alright?" Gabe asked. Ellis waved him off, "The adrenaline is just wearing off. I'll be alright." A concussion was likely. The world was bright and he was dizzy. But, the a cool breeze blew past him and he became more aware of his surroundings. It felt nice, like someone was caressing his cheek gently.
They walked back towards Ellis's home. It was a long walk, fraught with its own dangers. Ellis had to pull both children into the cover of a hedge at the first sight of another creature. This one was bigger than the other one Ellis had tried to fight. Its mass was void of all clothing. Where it sat, was in another ruined home. A house that looked to be almost too small to house its massive form. It had a rhythmic tone to its breath and a deep rumble came from its chest, in tune with its breathing. Another murder of crows gathered around it. Their heads were up and aware of their surroundings. A large raven landed next to where Ellis and the children were hidden.
It looked different from the others. It was certainly larger than any raven Ellis had seen. It had sky blue lines along its head in a stripped pattern and they were along its wings.
Mary clapped with glee and tried to pet the bird. It jumped back at her out stretched hand. She screamed in protest and both Gabe and Ellis just barely managed to quiet her down before the creature took notice of their position. The thing slowly lifted its head and sniffed the air. It was slow, as if just waking from deep sleep. It lowered its head and shifted its weight before snoring once more. "It looks to be sleeping," Gabe said. Ellis replied, "Yeah, we may be able to sneak by it."
"Is there another way to your house?"
"Yes, but this route has the fewest ravens and crows. It is at an intersection like your home and we need to go left. Maybe this bird here can lead us." Ellis said and the raven cocked its head at him. And then flew off to sit on a light post. It cawed once at him and Ellis gave it the stink eye. "Lil' bastard told me off," he said and looked at both children, "Mind my language." Gabe gave him a funny look, "You understood it?" It took Ellis aback. He did understand the bird a bit. Not the actual words, but the intent behind them. "Yeah, I guess I did," he said and watch the massive mound of flesh sleeping almost a block away. "let's wait for a little bit for it to fall deeper asleep." he said and sat down on the ground.
They had hidden themselves behind a line of hedges that someone had added to their lawn. Ellis looked at the house itself. Someone was watching them from behind the curtains. Some scared soul who was smart enough not to leave their home. Ellis thought about knocking on their door, but decided against it. He didn't know them and doubted they would let him in.
He put his good hand to the lawn, a soft warmth was felt. He pulled his hand away and looked at the spot. Nothing seemed to be amiss. He put his hand back to the ground and he felt the warmth again. It traveled up his arm, through his chest and settled where ribs and shoulder were injured. His breathing stopped hurting. A deep breath confirmed. The cracked and broken bones either nit themselves back together or the pain around them had been wiped away. His confusion was added to when he heard a pop come from his shoulder and the swelling began to die down. He moved it and it worked properly, the sling no longer necessary. Gabe and Mary watched it all.
Ellis removed his hand from the ground, the earth was softer and the grass in a two foot radius had turned brown. Mary waddled over to Ellis with that gate all two year-olds had and touched the ground. Gabe opened his mouth and whispered, "How did you do that?" Ellis shrugged, "No idea, but I feel a lot better. Getting past that thing is going to be a lot easier now." He moved to look back over to the creature until something caught his attention. He didn't see it, but he knew it was there. Ellis's head snapped around to where it was. It was Byron. He was on the other side of the street and Ellis threw up his hands and flagged him down.
Byron saw him and waved to know he saw the other man. Ellis pointed to where the sleeping creature was and made a motion to be silent. Byron nodded in response and began to move in the direction of the creature. Ellis picked up Mary and looked at her. "We need to be quiet okay," he said. She seemed to understand and the three of them began to slowly make their way down the street. They met up with Byron who held his gun in his right hand. "You seemed to be doing better," He said in a quiet tone, noting Ellis's healing injuries. Ellis nodded, "I'm a bit stiff, but I feeling better. We can talk after we're home." They both looked at the massive creature and Byron nodded, "Agreed."
Mary looked at all of the crows around them and pointed. "Bird!" she shouted. Ellis covered her mouth, shushing her and everyone stiffened. The creature's snoring halted a moment. There were fifteen feet from it, staying as far away as possible. It shifted in its sleep, causing a portion of the house to collapse. It continued with its slumber. They made their way quietly along the street, skirting the edge some more. It was not easy. The building the creature was sleeping in sat on the left side of the street, the direction they needed to go. There were other building that have been caved in, their occupants most likely eaten to fill the belly of this massive thing. When they were almost out of sight of the thing, a loud gurgle was heard and it passed gas. It sounded about as disgusting as the hints of it smelled. Ellis gagged and plugged Mary's nose. Both Byron and Gabe did the same thing. All of the crows flew away, some of them died on the spot, their feathers falling off and their corpses turning into liquid. The group of humans ran. Ellis felt his skin burn and Mary's screams would've woken the creature if Ellis did not prematurely put his hand over her mouth. They made it a ways down the street before they stopped. "Oh god," Gabe said, breathing hard, "That was nasty."
"Worse than that," Byron said, holstering his gun on his right thigh, "What did that thing eat, uranium?"
"What ever it was," Ellis said, "I do not want to be near any of it." The three continued their walk back to the house. The strange raven appeared again and watched them. "Wanna help us now?" Ellis called up to it. The Raven cawed. "If I didn't have my hands full, I'd be cooking you up for supper." Ellis responded. The Raven cawed again. "You know what!" he handed Mary back to her brother and found a rock, "I don't care how many sibling you have! I am going to grill and eat you, and enjoy every bite!" He threw the stone as hard as he could. It missed, causing the raven to chortle and caw again. Ellis flipped it off and turned to see a confused Byron. "Are you okay?" he asked, "Did you hit your head too hard somewhere?" Ellis shook his head, "No, I'm just finding out that I can understand Raven. The cocky lil' bastard is just making fun of us."
"Don't be too hard on it. Some of its cousins just died from chemical warfare."
"True, doesn't give it an excuse to take their grief out on us," Ellis said and kept walking. The house eventually came into sight and Byron increased his pace. Ellis kept his eyes open, but found nothing. They reached the front door and Byron knocked on the door. "Hey, its Byron, let me in," he said, "I've got Ellis and kids with me!" There was no answer. Ellis caught up with him and used his key, "Did you forget about your key?" Byron patted his pockets, "I must've dropped it somewhere." When Ellis tried opening the door, he felt resistance. "Girls, it's us, let us in!" he called. There was movement and Gabby responded, "Sorry, this was Lisa's idea." There was the sound of something being removed from the door and the group was allowed in.
Ellis, Byron and the kids entered the house. Ellis dropped his backpack on the dinning room table and began to unload it. Lisa turned her nose up at him. Ellis remembered he got covered in black ichor. The substance wasn't sticky like blood when it dried. It was still slick and smelled bad. Like rotting fish. The smell wasn't overpowering, but it was still there. "I'll wash off as soon as we get settled," he said. Gabby was with the kids, checking on their welfare. Byron gave Lisa a hug, she furrowed her brow afterwards and turned to Ellis, "What happened out there?"
"That is a long story," Ellis said and made his way to use the shower. A knock sounded at the door. It was in the agreed upon pattern before Ellis and Byron left. The sound of a key being used was followed by the lock turning. Ellis was at the door before it was opened and blocked it. "What the hell?" came Byron's voice from the other side. "Byron?" Ellis asked, "Is that you?"
"Yes, it's me. Open up."
"How do I know it's you?"
"Goddammit Ellis. I knocked the right way and I used my key. You got those kids out right?" came the response. Ellis turned back to the house. Gabby, Lisa and Byron had gathered to see what was going on. "Yeah, well, I am looking at you right now," Ellis said, "How do you explain that?"
"Jesus fucking Christ, THAT'S NOT ME!"