Surviving the Night - The Quarry

Chapter 20: Tree House

Kaci's POV

"I can't tell if I find it peaceful here at night or absolutely terrifying," I say as Jacob and I walk up a hill.

"As long as we're safe from those monsters, this place is a fucking paradise," Jacob says.

"I completely agree," I reply. We've only been walking for a short while, but we haven't heard any noises, which is reassuring.

I spot the tree house to the right of us and say, "Do you want to check in there? We can try to signal to someone that we're over here. And if anything, we can hopefully find some clothes to change into. I'm freezing right now."

"Sounds like a plan," Jacob grins as he slides off his wet shirt. He tosses it to the ground and then jokingly says, "Okay, now it's your turn."

"Good try," I say, "But I'm waiting until we actually find clothes to strip down."

Jacob frowns as I start walking away, but he chases to catch up with me, "At least I don't have a freezing cold shirt on."

"You're not going to change my mind, Jacob," I laugh and he snaps his fingers, "It was worth a try."

The two of us make our way up the steps and down the long bridges that are connected to the tree house. When we get to the door, I open it and immediately spot two duffle bags on the ground.

"Look at that. Things are looking up," I say as I walk over to them.

"Are we really going to trust some sketchy duffle bags that were left in here?" Jacob asks.

I bend down and look up at him, "They were probably left here by Mr. H or something. Either way, I'm sure whoever left them here won't mind that we looked through it after all the other shit that's happened tonight."

Jacob nods, "Fair point."

I unzip one of the bags as Jacob unzips the other.

"Jackpot," I say, pulling out fresh clothes. I look over to Jacob and see him pulling bear spray and a taser out of his bag.

He tests the taser and it immediately sparks up. "Guess someone was prepared for the creatures tonight."

"It has to be Mr. H," I sigh, "I just can't believe he would hide this from us."

"I can," Jacob says, standing up, "He's kind of a weird dude when you think about it."

"I guess that's true," I say as I hand Jacob a set of clothes. The two of us change and place our wet clothes on the windowsill.

I then find the binoculars and try to find someone in the distance. After a few minutes, I hand the binoculars to Jacob.

"I can't find anything," He says.

"I couldn't either," I say, "Is it terrible that I kind of feel guilty that we're safe over here while everyone else is still in danger?"

"I feel bad, too, but what are we going to do? What if we go back and run into one of those fuckers again?"

"Use the bear spray or taser," I shrug.

"I don't think these are going to travel well if we swim back over," Jacob says.

"You're right," I sigh. I lean against the side of the building to think of a plan when suddenly a loud noise comes from above us.

Jacob and I look at each other in alarm. Footsteps are heard above us, making my stomach turn.

"Kaci," He says in a low voice when the noise stops. Before Jacob can say anything else, the trapdoor latch snaps and it flies upward, revealing one of the creatures.

"RUN," Jacob yells as the monster jumps down and crashes to the ground.

My legs move faster than my mind as I chase after Jacob. I hear the monster crashing into things behind me, but I try my best to ignore it. How did one of those things get over here?

We're almost to the stairs when I feel a painful sensation in my side. I don't process what's happening as I'm knocked off the bridge and my head slams into the ground. When my vision clears, I see the monster on top of me.

I hear Jacob calling my name before the monster is tackled off of me. I quickly stand up as Jacob wrestles with the monster on the ground. He then manages to pull the bear spray out of his pocket and he sprays the creature, causing it to back up and cry out in pain.

I notice Jacob dropped the taser, so I quickly move to pick it up. I take the chance and tase the creature, causing it to crumple onto its side.

"Nice job," Jacob says, sounding out of breath, "Come on, we should probably move before it gets up."

The two of us run back to the dock. We pause at the edge, but when we hear commotion behind us, we know we have to jump back in.

"We just got changed," I frown as the two of us jump back in. When we resurface, the creature is waiting at the edge of the dock.

The pain in my side grows stronger as we tread water, and I look over at Jacob, who looks as stressed out as I feel.

This night keeps getting worse and worse, and I feel like we're never catching a break. Our group is both metaphorically and physically divided, and these creatures are everywhere we go. We're not safe anywhere.