THE DAY THE WORLD FELL

Chapter 9

Brody and Mitch

The weather was hot on their backs, as the pair climbed the mountain. The air was humid and the path was bumpy. Flies were swarming and something smelled awful just ahead of them. crows were circling overhead, waiting to swoop in on their next meal. 

"The smell is getting worse, it's probably a dead animal. It would explain the crows." Brody pointed up towards the crows. 

"Yeah, maybe a mountain lion got him a deer or something." Mitch said between breaths. 

The smell was finally at its worst. They rounded the bend and immediately was hit with the massive swarm of flies they'd ever seen. A campsite had been shredded to pieces. 

"A bear?" asked Brody through the cloth he was using to shield his nose from the stench.

"I don't know. I don't see any claw marks anywhere. It looks more like a robbery than a bear attack." Mitch motioned with his elbow in the other direction. "See, their food is still sitting there. Bears attack for food or to protect their young. plus there aren't any paw prints. big or small."

"What's this?" Brody had crouched down beside the first tent. "Looks like they were drunk. Or maybe someone had a limp. This looks like a foot print and a dragging print."

Mitch walked closer and caught a glimpse of some ones hand in the dirt behind the smallest tent. As he approached, he could feel his stomach in knots. "Brody, call 911." He could see now, it was just a arm and a hand, no body attached to it. It was knarly at the stub and had human bite marks all over it. Brody came to see what was making Mitch gag. 

"Oh my word! Lets get out of here." They started running, and Brody pulled out his cell and dialed 911 as they fled. 

"911, what is the location of your emergency?"

"We are in the mountains. Pine Mountain Georgia. There is a camp settled beside the river about half way up the mountain. We found a arm, its been ripped from its owner and its covered in bites. Human bites."

"Bites? Sir, where is the rest of the body?"

"I don't know. There was blood everywhere and the entire camp was destroyed, but we didn't see anyone. No animal tracks or claw marks to be found either." Brody was hyperventilating by now and was having a panic attack. They stopped running and sat on a log waiting for the police to get there. 

"Just breathe man, its okay. we can't even smell it anymore." Mitch reassured him. 

"Think about it for a minute. Whatever attacked that camp is still out there. What if its smart enough to hide and stalk its prey. What if, watching us. We went to that camp and it could have been sitting there long enough to notice us. Follow us as we ran away. Can see us just breathing over here now." Brody started searching the tree lines. Panic set in further then before. 

"Lets just keep calm. Lets put our backs together and keep watch. The police will be here soon." they hadn't realized that the call had dropped. The phone wasn't hung up, just went dead. no dial tone, no dispatcher. Nothing but silence. 

3 hours later

"Brody, Call them again, its been too long and no ones here. It's getting dark. We wont be able to see in front of us soon."

"I tried, the call wont go through. I don't have any service out here. I don't even remember the tail end of our phone call from earlier. We just need to get out of here. Find something strong and useable. We need to be able to defend ourselves. I have a couple of flashlights to clip onto our bags." Brody pulled of his pack and reached into it. He rummaged around for a bit, found them and handed one to Mitch. "Here, I've got a pocket knife I forgot about."

Mitch took the light and fished through his own pack until found a hunters knife, "Me too." 

The pair started to cautiously walk through the woods, down the mountainside. The path before them was barely lit enough to see more than three feet ahead. The wooded areas were eerily quiet, with the exception of crickets, cicadas and the low growl of some animals in the distance.

"Alright I can't see, time to turn them on." Brody nodded at Mitch's words, clicked the flashlight on and let out a quick gasp. 

"Mitch, look." Brody pointed ahead to something just ahead. A figure stood still along the path. It looked like a female human. They slowly approached the figure. 

"Excuse me, are you okay? Were you in that camp back there? What happened?" Mitch asked when they could confirm it was a woman.

"Mitch, her arm..." Brody whispered. Her arm was missing from the elbow down. "Her clothes and neck too." She was practically covered in blood from her neck up and her shirt was drenched around the hip. 

"Oh god, ma'am lets get you to the hospital, come on." Mitch reached for her and moved closer.

She slowly turned, showing her eyes for the first time. They were a smooth milky color and empty of emotion. Her mouth was covered in blood and hung from the bit of jaw bone still intact.

"Holy Fuck! What is this? We need to run! Now!" Brody grabbed Mitch and hauled ass around the woman. She lunged forward and just barely missed Mitch. she staggered like a drunk for a second before turning and limping towards the two running away. 

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Mitch was in shock but still running with Brody pulling his arm. They didn't stop running until they got to the dirt path at the foot of the mountain, where the Jeep was parked. After a few seconds they sped away down the back road headed toward the city. They were in such a panic, that they didn't see the smoke curdling up away from the city. They didn't realize the city was burning. Not until they got on the freeway heading to the exit.