Shudder (Stitch Trilogy, Book 2) (8 page)

Isaac wasn’t so lucky. “Actually, it
was the civil service program that saved us. When Joe turned 14 he
was finally eligible to join, and the government gave us extra
rations in return for his service. That kept us going until the
outbreak.”

That was interesting – Alessa hadn’t
known that some families received assistance in return for their
service. She always just thought that serving was something
everyone was expected to do, a duty you owed your country. She was
glad, at least, that Isaac’s family had benefited.

But before she could ask what had
happened to his family during the outbreak, a strange feeling
stopped Alessa in her tracks. “Isaac, something’s
wrong.”

She grabbed his hand and stood
motionless, observing the quiet road and watching for any signs of
movement. Isaac followed her lead, holding his breath and
listening, alert to any disturbance.

Out of the silence, an earsplitting
roar rose up from the woods, the same bloodcurdling blend of howl
and wail that had haunted them in the forest.

Isaac made to take off, but Alessa’s
feet rooted to the spot as an explosive wave of frustration
overtook her body. She shuddered deeply, unsure where this strange
feeling had come from.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she
knew she should move. But the odd foreign sensation racking her
nerve-endings had engulfed her every thought.

Her vision glowed red, and she
froze.

8. EVASION

The spine-chilling cry threw every
reflex in Isaac’s body into overdrive, but for some reason he
couldn’t fathom, Alessa was still standing there, wide-eyed and
mouth agape.

It wasn’t like her to freeze under
pressure, and that realization scared Isaac more than anything. If
Alessa wasn’t reacting, something was seriously, seriously
wrong.

But a flash of movement in the bushes
caught his eye, and he knew he didn’t have time to contemplate; he
yanked Alessa’s arm behind him and ran.

Thankfully, that shove seemed to be
all she needed – she took off at top speed, still clutching Isaac’s
hand.

The road hit a sharp turn and Isaac
and Alessa flew around it, ignoring the sounds thrashing through
the woods on either side of them. They were faster on the road, at
least – whatever was following them seemed to be having trouble
closing the gap.

Isaac’s heart sang as they came
through the bend to find an old charging station only a few yards
ahead – refuge!

Isaac considered hopping into one of
the electric cars that lay abandoned in the lot, but even if they
could lock themselves inside, Isaac suspected that he and Alessa
wouldn’t last long behind all those windows against whatever was
hunting them.

They skirted past the cars and aimed
instead for the shabby little convenience mart on the far side of
the lot. The store had been looted; broken glass littered the floor
in every direction, glinting in the twilight.

His heart in his throat, Isaac weighed
the possibility of finding a hiding place inside. He scanned the
store for an inconspicuous spot, but it was just a single open
room. If they dove behind a display case the creatures might not
see them, but if they came in looking for him and Alessa, there was
nowhere to run.

“
No good – let’s try
around back,” he urged, his feet crunching on the shattered plate
windows as he dashed to the far side of the building.

There – a door. It must be a bathroom
or supply closet, Isaac thought – either would do. He ran to the
doorway, frantically jiggling the knob and slamming his palm
against the door. It was no use – it was locked tight. His heart
sank.

They needed another plan.

Turning around, Isaac sucked down air
in rapid breaths as he searched the trees surrounding the lot.
Should they take their chances back in the woods?

“
There!” Alessa yelled.
She was pointing at a large dumpster in the back corner of the lot,
partially hidden from view behind a tall fence.

It wasn’t perfect, but it would have
to do. Menacing growls sounded from the front of the building, and
whatever was following them was drawing nearer by the second; they
were out of options.

“
Let’s go!” Isaac panted,
and they dashed together toward the holding bin, sliding in between
the wooden posts of the fence and the painted metal of the trash
receptacle.

Isaac lifted the heavy lid of the
dumpster, pushing aside the thick chain that dangled from its
midpoint. He took a quick peek inside the container – mercifully,
it was empty.

Another round of snarls rose up from
beyond the fence – their pursuers had rounded the corner. “Get in,”
Isaac commanded. Alessa didn’t hesitate – she tossed her pack in
and vaulted over the side of the dumpster, landing inside with a
thud.

Isaac scrambled in behind her, pausing
before he shut the lid to evaluate their options. They were as
trapped in this bin as they were in the store, but at least the
walls were solid and they were hidden away behind the fence – they
were much less likely to be found here. The rank odor permeating
the dumpster was a small price to pay for their lives.

He grabbed the dangling
chain to yank it out of the way and realized with a flutter in his
chest that there was a lock attached to it, with the key still in
the hole. Bingo – if he could get this fastened, even if
they
were
found,
the creatures most likely wouldn’t be able to get in.

Grabbing the ends of the chain, Isaac
dropped the lid as much as he could, leaving only enough room for
his hands to maneuver with the lock. He pulled the chain tight and
opened the clasp, slipping it through the links of the chain and
securing it with a click. Pulling the key from the lock, he slipped
his hands back inside and pressed against the roof – the lid lifted
only a few inches, the tightly wound chain securing them
inside.

Crouched in the dumpster, he searched
for Alessa in the near-dark. A slight gap between the rim of the
bin and the lid shed enough light to catch her eye. “Are you –” he
began.

But she cut him off with a finger at
her lips and a sharp look of warning in her eyes.

So they sat in the shadows, waiting,
their eyes locked on one another, the silence broken only by the
thump-thump-thumping of their hearts and the ragged pulls from
their lungs.

Isaac concentrated on slowing his
breaths, inhaling and exhaling through his nose in a controlled,
deliberate motion. He needed to quiet his body before it betrayed
them to whatever lurked outside.

Alessa suddenly hunched over,
clutching at her gut, her face a grimace of pain and bewilderment
and fear as she looked up at Isaac for help. He reached for her
shoulder, gripping it with concern. She moaned quietly and buried
her face in his chest, muffling the sound of her soft
cries.

Isaac cupped her soft hair, pressing
her face against him. He didn’t understand what Alessa was going
through – this wasn’t a reaction he’d seen before. Did this have
something to do with the odd feelings she’d been having of
late?

The crunch of broken glass outside the
dumpster broke his train of thought. Alessa looked up at him with
alarm and he just held her tighter in his arms, his ears straining
to track the movement of the sound.

The noise moved back and forth, back
and forth, as if someone were pacing only steps away from the
dumpster. Isaac held his breath, his pulse pounding in his ears,
his skin crawling with every snap reverberating through the empty
dumpster.

And then suddenly the noise came
faster, like more sets of feet tramping across the pavement in a
violent rush. His ears pricked at the intrusion of their snarls and
growls, eerily raspy and shrill at the same time. He couldn’t place
the sound at all – it was unlike anything he’d ever
heard.

Squinting in the darkness, he tipped
his head back and strained the muscles in his neck, hoping for a
glimpse through the crack in the lid of the predators
beyond.

There was a quick flash as a hulking
mass darted past the front of dumpster; Isaac jumped, quelling the
gasp at his lips. Alessa convulsed under his arms, her face still
buried in the front of his coat.

For a moment everything grew quiet.
Isaac fought the tingling in his limbs and willed himself a statue,
not daring to move or breathe, his senses prickling at the
slightest hint. Had the hunters left?

BOOM, BOOM.

The force of whatever had just landed
on the lid thundered through the dumpster, the walls and floor
ringing with an earthshaking rattle. Isaac and Alessa flinched as
one, him bearing down instinctively over her curled, trembling body
as the center of the ceiling crumpled inwards under the weight of
their attackers.

From above their heads, a magnificent
piercing howl penetrated their hiding place, resonating off the
walls of the hollow enclosure and chilling Isaac to his core. Any
sense of security that Isaac had felt was shattered with that
nightmarish wail; whatever it was that wanted them was directly
above their heads.

BOOM.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

A series of crashes shook the dumpster
from the sides, Isaac and Alessa lurching away from one thunderous
bang only to be bombarded from the other side with the
next.

BOOM.

Another jolt from above and a savage
grating snarl sent Isaac jerking to the floor, his eyes wide with
terror as he gaped at the buckling ceiling. This was no wolf, and
no cougar – this was something far more dangerous.

He seized Alessa in his arms and said
a silent prayer for mercy. The only thing they could do now was
wait to live or die.

9. COMPOSURE

It felt like hours that they sat there
in the dark, the deranged frenzy of terror murmuring malevolently
in their ears.

Isaac couldn’t pinpoint the exact
moment when the noise from outside had subsided, but at some point,
the creatures had given up. The only sound he heard now was the
hush of Alessa’s breaths and the steady beating of his own
heart.

Eventually Alessa sat up, and Isaac
realized that the sun had set – he could barely make out her shape
beside him in the gloom. He took a deep breath and leaned back
against the wall, letting his head fall against the support. He
hadn’t realized how tired he was from holding his muscles tense
through that long ordeal. His body felt drained.

“
I think –” Alessa cleared
her throat. “I think we made it.”

Isaac wondered if she realized she was
whispering.

“
What
were
those things, Less?”

Alessa gulped. “I – I don’t
know.”

The question hung between them for a
moment, neither of them able to move past that harrowing thought
just yet.

“
How about we stay put for
the night?” she asked, a note of timidity in her voice.

Isaac smiled – he
certainly had no desire to face the horrors lurking outside yet
either. “I think that will work
just
fine for me, babe.”

Alessa reached for her pack and dug
out her flashlight, setting it to lantern mode as she placed it on
the floor between them. It filled the dumpster with an eerie
blue-white light and cast long shadows on both their
faces.

She held her bag open to the light,
rummaging around the main pocket for something. “There’s not much
food left.”

Isaac had lost his appetite anyway.
“That’s okay – I’m not hungry.”

“
Me either,” Alessa said,
dropping the knapsack. She let out a long sigh and pulled out a
blanket, then leaned against the wall next to Isaac. She draped the
blanket over both of them and pulled her knees to her chest under
the covers.

Staring at the floor, she confessed,
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life.”

Isaac reached for her hand under the
blanket and gave it a squeeze. “Well, you’re not the only one, if
it makes you feel any better.”

Alessa looked up at him with a small
smile. “I’m sorry I shut down like that. Thank you for taking
charge.”

Isaac returned the sentiment. “Good
call on finding this dumpster – I was ready to run back into the
woods, and that almost certainly would have gotten us
killed.”

Alessa waited a beat before replying.
“Isaac – I felt something again. That’s why I couldn’t
react.”

Isaac searched her face; he had
suspected as much. “What did you feel this time?”

“
A lot of the same things
– confusion, aggression, fear, something a little animalistic but
also human at the same time. It’s hard to explain. But there was
something else this time, too.” She thought for a moment.
“
Frustration
.
That’s the only way I can think to describe it. It was like there
was something I needed to
do
but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t
make it happen.”