Not alone

Tall buildings and a city are where my dreams take me tonight. I search for some sort of landmark or sign, anything to help me.  Finally, there it is Denver, Colorado.  I sigh in relief. Once we get there, I can send a signal out for him to find me. I will get Andy back and we can figure out what to do.

BOOM! Thunder crashes above and I hear Lila scream, “Maddie!” she grabs my arm. I push myself and her further under the tree but it’s now pouring, and the branches are little help. Lila’s teeth begin to chatter, and I sigh, scooting closer to her, trying to warm her, “Maddie, I am so cold.” She breathes out sporadically.

I rub her arm, “I know, it’ll be ok. I can find shelter.”

She stares at me, “How? You can’t go out there in this!” she says, looking at the puddles that are forming on the ground around us. We are both soaked, and our clothes stick to our bodies.

“Lila, we need to get warm. Our fire went out and this tree is useless,” I say looking up, I feel like I am yelling because the rain is messing with my hearing. My wolf howls inside and I look toward the field; we are not alone.

Eyes: eyes are stalking us.

I sniff the air and gasp, pushing Lila behind me, “Lila, something is in the field. I need you to trust me, we have to run.”

Lila stares at me and looks at the field; it’s dark and she can’t see anything with her human vision, “How do you know that!?” she asks, shaking, “I can’t see anything!” I can hear her heart pounding but there isn’t time, the wolves are stalking toward us, “RUN!” I scream, grabbing her hand and pulling her along with me.

I run through the tall grass but Lila fumbles behind me. I use my strength and pull her with me as quickly as I can. I could leave her behind, but I don’t even want to think about what they would do to her. My once-sweet friend Colt is now a monster.

Howls are heard behind us and Lila screams, “Maddie!! What is that!?” she cries. I look behind us and urge her to go faster; this is futile, but I won’t go down without a fight.

The tall wet grass whips against our legs and I can feel welts already starting on my skin. Lila is slipping in the mud, and she can’t keep up, “Keep going!” I shout, looking ahead to a barn, “There’s shelter up ahead!” The rain pours down on us hard as we reach the barn and I pull open the heavy door, pushing Lila inside.

The barn is empty, and Lila breathes in relief, “They can’t get us in here, can they?” I don’t have the heart to tell her that they can. Monsters are real and they are chasing us.

I shake my head and grab an old rake, placing it on the inside door handles for protection, “No, Lila, they are animals.” I chuckle nervously. She laughs and looks around. It’s almost pitch black in here too, but the rain is beginning to stop, and moonlight is shining in through the cracked wood.

“At least it has stopped raining..” she begins but I can’t focus on her words; they are here. I can hear them sniff the outside of the barn. What I don’t understand is why Colt is breaking down the door and why he didn’t catch up to us sooner when I know he easily could. He was the fastest of all of us before he got sick, and he looks cured now. I know his speed has increased; he is probably even faster.

I look at Lila who is still shivering and sigh; I don’t know what to do. We are sitting ducks in here, but we can’t go out. I can fight them when they come but this is scaring the hell out of me; what’s his plan?

I push her casually toward the middle of the barn and sit her on a bale of hay, “Lila, we need to talk.” I tell her, I need to tell her what’s going on. She has no idea what she has signed on for coming with me. She doesn’t know the danger she is in. She saw the men kill everyone we knew but what she doesn’t know is they have found us.

She looks at me and takes a deep breath, “They are going to get us? Aren’t they?”

I look toward the door and shadows are now present on our side, “Lila, I am going to fight. I won’t let them hurt you.”

She stares at me and shakes her head, “Maddie, save yourself, go! I saw what they did to them, and they want you! Save yourself!” I look at her with shock as she wraps her arms around me, “You are my sister, and I won’t let them have you. I will stay behind, and you go. I would rather die and let you live than us both die.” She whispers, her tears falling onto my shoulder.

I shake my head, “No, we either both get captured together or we both make it out alive.” I say, holding up my pinky, “Promise me no matter we stick together?” The barn door is now rattling, and she looks at me, “Promise me! NO MATTER WHAT!” I yell louder.

She hugs me tight and nods, holding me, “I promise, no matter what.”

I stand up and begin to take off my clothes and she looks at me, “Maddie, what are you doing?!” she looks at me confused, her anxiety building.

I sigh and shake my head, peeling off the sticky clothing, “Lila, they are after me for a reason, but I am not going down without a fight. Remember, you promised, no matter what!”

I can see her eyes are the size of saucers and I don’t know how she is going to react to this, but my wolf is deadly along with my human form, but I am choosing wolf form since that’s what they are in. This isn’t going to be a fair fight; Colt is definitely stronger than me, but I am going to give it my all.

I hear Lila gasp as she watches me shift but then she screams as the barn doors come crashing down and four large wolves enter the barn, setting their sights on us both.