Stranger Things Have Happened (Editing)

Two Looooong Hours

I spun around so fast it took my brain a second to catch up with my actions. I looked at each of my siblings wondering where the scream came from, but they were all searching for the same thing I was. My brow furrowed in confusion. Were we all finally starting to go crazy?

“Did you guys just hear that?” Ren asked after just standing there for what seemed like forever. Gracy, Della, and I just nodded our heads, completely dumbstruck.

After waiting for a few minutes for something to happen, but coming up with nothing, I decided to just move on.

“Come on. It was probably a rabid calling to its herd or something. It sounded pretty far off, but we still need to get going” I said to all of them, pulling them out of their haze.

“That didn’t sound anything like a rabid call, Cassandra and you know it” Ren said looking suspicious and deep in thought.

“Don’t worry about it” I said sternly. “Let’s just get this done and move on”.

He still looked suspicious, but followed me as I treaded into the store with Della and Gracy trailing behind me. I knew good and well that that was no rabid call, but I wasn’t about to stay around to find out what it really was. If I were being completely honest with myself and my siblings I would say it sounded human which to me is even worse than a rabid calling to its herd. The last thing we need is to find some weak stragglers or crazy rabid bounty hunters.

We walked through the store cautiously and quietly, avoiding glass and other debris. We all were looking around watching out for any signs of a nest. A nest is pretty much a herd of rabids and the nest is where they reside after a long hunt for human flesh.  Rabids are known to wander in herds often only in small numbers, but we’ve run into quite a few herds that had a couple dozen rabids. Running into a large or even a small herd of rabids is a death sentence whenever you’re alone, and even if you’re not it’s still extremely difficult to get through one. Unlike rabids that wander alone, rabids in herds hunt together. It may sound bizarre, but it’s almost as if they strategize to get you into a situation that you can’t get out of like backed up against a corner or completely surrounded. And I swear they have some way of communicating with each other! I mean they might not be the smartest creatures in the world, but if you’ve ever looked into a Rabid’s eyes like I have you would know that there is something there. Not the person they were before, but some kind of intelligence. It’s insane.

            “Cass watch what you’re doing” I heard Della whisper yell just as I was about to knock over an empty tooth brush display that has still managed to stand upon all the wreckage. I quickly side stepped it. I shook my head at my carelessness. I was really starting to get tired of all this nodding off that I was doing. Stay focused Cassandra, I told myself. I took a deep breath and looked around us. We were almost to the back of the store and I hadn’t even noticed. The store was trashed and looked completely wiped out of any useful supplies. If I didn’t know any better I’d say this store has already been raided, recently too.

                We were finally approaching the back of the store where it let out into an opening where the pharmacy was. I tightened my grip on my machete. A sudden wave of unease washed over me and I stopped and held my hand up with my fingers extend all out like the number five. My siblings and I have learned sign language and even created signs of our own so we can communicate during raids without talking. The sign I just held up meant to stop, drop, and don’t move.

I heard them drop to the ground like flies and then the store was completely quiet. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. I focused on all the sounds around me, straining my ears to hear. I could barely hear the light breathing of my siblings behind me. I could hear a drip coming back from the front of the store and a slight wind pushing against the building.