Day 17: The Heat of Silence
Eli woke in a sweat, his skin slick with moisture as if he'd been running for hours. His breath came in short, ragged bursts, and the air around him felt stifling, like it was pressing down on his chest. Heat waves shimmered in the air, distorting the broken walls of the shelter and making the light seem to dance across the ground. Every movement felt heavy, sluggish, and the oppressive warmth only intensified his disorientation.
He wiped his forehead with a trembling hand, glancing over at Luke, who had woken up in much the same state. Luke was breathing heavily, his face flushed, and his clothes clung to his skin, soaked with sweat. The air in the room was suffocating, and every breath felt like drawing in fire.
"What the hell…?" Luke muttered, sitting up slowly, his eyes wide with confusion. "Why is it so hot?"
Eli shook his head, still trying to gather his thoughts. "I don't know," he whispered, his voice hoarse. The heat was unbearable, and it seemed to be coming from nowhere. The red sky outside was still thick with clouds, but there was no sun to explain the sudden rise in temperature.
He glanced toward Cass, who lay motionless where they had left her. For a second, his heart clenched with fear. She still hadn't woken up. Her face was flushed too, but she wasn't moving, wasn't reacting to the heat that was quickly becoming unbearable.
Then, without warning, Cass stirred.
She sat up slowly, her face pale and drenched with sweat. Her breathing was labored, but her eyes—clouded before—were sharp again, filled with an urgency that made Eli's blood run cold. She glanced around the room, taking in the shimmering heat waves, the suffocating air, and her expression hardened.
"Stay quiet," she hissed, her voice barely above a whisper. "Don't move. Don't even breathe too loud."
Eli froze, his heart hammering in his chest. Cass's tone sent a shiver down his spine. There was fear in her voice, but it wasn't fear of the heat—it was something else, something unseen.
Luke opened his mouth to ask a question, but Cass shot him a look that silenced him immediately. "Shut up," she snapped, her voice low and filled with tension. "You make a sound, and we're dead."
Eli's breath caught in his throat. He looked at Cass, his mind racing. 'What does she know? What's out there?'
Cass slowly pushed herself up into a crouch, her leg clearly still hurting from the injury, but she moved with a grace that seemed out of place for someone who had been unconscious just hours before. She didn't wince, didn't show any signs of pain, her focus entirely on the world outside their shelter.
She held up her hand, signaling for them to stay still. "It's here," she whispered, her voice almost inaudible. "Don't move. Don't even breathe too loud. If it hears us, we're finished."
Eli's skin crawled. His eyes darted around the room, scanning the empty streets outside, but there was nothing—no movement, no sound. Just the oppressive heat. The shimmering waves in the air made it hard to focus on anything, but he couldn't see what Cass was so afraid of.
Luke, too, seemed confused, his brow furrowed as he looked around. "What's here?" he mouthed silently, his eyes wide.
Cass didn't answer. Instead, she pressed her back against the wall, her eyes fixed on the entrance. Eli could feel the tension radiating off her, and his pulse quickened. Whatever it was, it was close.
Then, Eli heard it—a faint, rhythmic thudding sound, like something heavy walking across the cracked pavement outside. His breath caught in his throat as the sound grew louder, more deliberate, each step echoing through the quiet streets.
Cass tensed, her fingers curling around the hilt of her knife. She didn't move, didn't make a sound. Her eyes were locked on the entrance, her body rigid with anticipation.
Eli's heart raced as he strained to hear more. The sound was getting closer, each heavy step followed by a low, almost imperceptible grinding noise, like claws scraping against stone. The air seemed to grow even hotter, the heat waves intensifying until the world around them shimmered and blurred.
And then he saw it.
A creature, about the size of a man, lumbered down the alley just outside their shelter. Its body was covered in skin that looked like burnt charcoal, black and cracked, with faint embers glowing beneath the surface. Its head was massive, almost too big for its body, with no eyes to speak of—just smooth, featureless skin where a face should have been. But its claws were huge, each one thick and heavy, dragging slightly as it moved.
Eli's breath caught in his throat. The creature's movements were slow, almost deliberate, like it was listening—waiting for something to react to. Its head turned slightly as it walked, the massive claws on its hands scraping against the ground with each step. It had no eyes, but the way it tilted its head as it moved made it clear that it didn't need them. It could hear everything.
'That's why it's so quiet,' Eli thought, his pulse racing. 'It's listening for us.'
The creature moved closer, its steps slow and methodical, and Eli's body went rigid with fear. Every instinct screamed at him to run, but he didn't dare move. He could barely even breathe, the oppressive heat only adding to the suffocating tension.
Cass didn't move. Her eyes tracked the creature with a precision Eli had seen before but never fully understood. She didn't blink, didn't shift, and every muscle in her body was held in perfect stillness. Eli followed her lead, pressing his back against the wall and trying to control his breathing, which felt louder than it had ever been. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears, his heartbeat a pounding drum in the silence, but he prayed it wasn't enough to betray them.
The creature stopped just outside the entrance to the shelter, its massive claws scraping against the ground with a faint, rhythmic shhkt-shhkt sound. Its head turned slightly, as if it could sense something, though its eyeless face remained expressionless. The air around them shimmered, the heat radiating from the creature making the whole world feel like it was melting.
Luke's eyes were wide with fear, his body trembling next to Eli. He was doing his best to stay still, but Eli could see his hands shaking, sweat pouring down his face in rivulets. The heat was unbearable now, stifling, like they were trapped in an oven.
'Don't move,' Eli told himself, his body screaming to flee. 'Don't even breathe.'
The creature shifted its weight, its claws dragging more heavily against the pavement as it moved closer to the entrance. Eli's heart skipped a beat as it paused just outside, its head tilting toward the opening of the shelter. The heat from its body felt like it was pressing down on them, the waves of warmth pulsing through the air, distorting everything around it.
Cass's grip tightened on her knife, but she didn't make a sound. She didn't move. Her gaze never left the creature, her face set in grim determination. Eli could see the tension in her body, but she was in complete control—more so than either of them.
The creature let out a low, guttural sound—something between a growl and a heavy breath—as it crouched slightly, its massive claws scraping once more against the ground. The noise sent a chill down Eli's spine, despite the unbearable heat.
Eli's lungs screamed for more air, the tightness in his chest growing unbearable as the seconds stretched into what felt like hours. He needed to breathe, but the creature was right there, listening, waiting for the faintest sound.
Then, after what felt like an eternity, the creature's head turned slightly away from the entrance. Its claws dragged once more against the pavement, the heavy thud of its footsteps resuming as it lumbered further down the alley.
It hadn't noticed them.
Eli let out the faintest breath of relief, his chest tightening with the effort to keep quiet. He dared a glance at Luke, who was still frozen in place, his entire body trembling with barely contained fear.
The creature's steps faded slowly as it moved further away, the oppressive heat beginning to dissipate along with its presence. Eli could feel the air cooling slightly, the shimmering waves lessening as the creature disappeared deeper into the ruins.
For a long moment, no one moved. The silence was thick, and even though the creature had gone, the tension in the air remained. Eli's body screamed for him to relax, to let out the breath he had been holding, but he didn't dare.
Cass finally spoke, her voice so quiet that Eli almost didn't hear it. "Stay still. It could still hear us."
Eli nodded slightly, keeping his breathing slow and controlled. His mind raced, trying to process what had just happened. 'What was that thing?' he thought, his chest still tight with fear. 'Why didn't it attack us?'
Minutes passed, the silence stretching on. Eli's muscles ached from staying so still, his heart still racing, but he didn't move. He trusted Cass—she had saved them too many times to count. If she said to stay quiet, then that was exactly what they needed to do.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Cass slowly straightened, her muscles unwinding with the same cautious precision she had shown while tracking the creature. She glanced back at Eli and Luke, her eyes still hard, her face damp with sweat but calm.
"It's gone," she whispered. "For now."
Luke let out a shaky breath, his entire body sagging with relief. "What… what the hell was that?" he gasped, wiping sweat from his brow. "I've never felt heat like that in my life."
Cass stood, though her movements were slow, and she winced slightly from the pain in her leg. "It was a listener," she said, her voice still quiet, as if speaking too loudly would call the creature back. "A mole-like creature. It doesn't have eyes, but it can hear every sound, even the smallest breath. That's why we had to stay still."
Eli swallowed hard, trying to shake off the fear that still gripped him. "It felt like it was burning us alive," he said, wiping the sweat from his face. "Why was it so hot?"
Cass's eyes darkened. "The heat comes from them. Their skin is like burning coal, always radiating heat. It's how they find their prey—by driving them to panic, making them move, making noise."
Eli shuddered at the thought. The creature had been right there, just outside the shelter, and they had been moments away from being discovered. "How did you know it was coming?"
Cass's gaze flicked toward him, her expression unreadable. "You feel it before you see it. The heat. The silence. It's a pattern I've learned to recognize."
Luke let out a low whistle, his body still trembling slightly. "Well, thank God for that. We'd be dead if you hadn't stopped us."
Eli nodded in agreement, though his mind was still racing. Cass had saved them again, reacting to a danger they hadn't even realized was there. She always knew—always saw the threat before it reached them. But now, for the first time, Eli realized how much she had been carrying.
She didn't just know how to fight. She knew how to survive because she had seen these things before. She had been through it, over and over again, learning from each encounter. And the weight of that knowledge—it was beginning to take its toll on her.
"We need to move," Cass said, her voice firm. "We're still in its territory, and it could come back."
Eli and Luke nodded, their bodies aching from the tension and heat, but they didn't hesitate. They had survived, thanks to Cass, but Eli couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't the last time they would face something like this.
And next time, he wasn't sure if even Cass would be able to save them.