Another Chrash because, honestly, THEY ARE THE BEST
By Mimimadrox on Tumblr
Josh was gone. The old man, dead. The only thing left to do was run–get back to the lodge, to safety, to Ashley. He needed to protect Ashley.
Clutching the shotgun, Chris ran, dodging a fallen tree branch on the way and stopping a few times to shoot the thing–the Wendigo–, to slow it down.
He was nearly there. The lodge was coming into view; he jumped from a small ledge, landing on the ground hard and possibly spraining his ankle. Pain radiated up his leg as he struggled to get back up. He managed to limp a few feet forward before the Wendigo appeared in front of him again, leaping for him with its stick-thin arms spread, claws reaching. He aimed the shotgun at its chest and knocked it away with the blast.
He limped forward as fast as he could, the distance between him and the lodge seeming to grow larger with each step instead of smaller. It was starting to feel like he would never make it.
He was almost there though, just a good twenty feet away or so, when the Wendigo reappeared and pounced. Just as Chris was about to shoot it for, hopefully, the last time, he spotted the explosive barrels in the background and turned the gun to aim for them instead.
But he was too slow. The Wendigo tackled him to the ground and grabbed a fistful of his blonde hair in one claw, while stabbing through his neck with the other. It tore his head off of his body and tossed it to the side, his glasses flying off and landing a few inches away, the glass cracked and broken.
He was so close.
—————
Ashley started towards the door, hand outstretched to unlock it. She thought she'd seen... "Chris!"
His disembodied head was thrown towards the lodge, landing right in front of the door, his eyes open–staring at her, but not really seeing her. Not anymore.
"No! Stop..." Ashley sank to her knees, tears cascading down her cheeks, eyes fixated on the head of the boy who'd done whatever he had to make sure she lived. The boy who, not long ago, she had finally gathered up the courage to kiss for the first time. "No..." She sobbed.
She raised her hand and pressed it against the door, squinting through her tears into Chris's lifeless eyes. "Oh, Chris..." She whispered, "I haven't even had the chance to tell you...that I..."
It's just not fair!
Her hand clenched into a fist against the glass. She looked down at her lap, squeezed her eyes shut tight, and took a deep, shaky breath before forcing herself to look back into his eyes.
"I love you..." Her voice broke on the second word.
Then Mike was there, hands on his head in disbelief as he stared at Chris's remains. "Oh my... Oh Jesus Christ... Oh my..."
"Chris..." It hurt to even say his name.
Mike kneeled down next to her, taking her arm. "Are you okay?"
Although her heart and mind both screamed, "No", her body nodded a weak "Yes".
He pulled her to her feet. "Okay, okay let's go, let's go." He started leading her away from the door. Away from Chris. "Let's get down to the basement."
Ashley stumbled along behind him and he stopped, turning towards her. "Hey! Stay with me." He started pulling her towards the basement again. "Stay with me, Ash."
The farther they got from Chris–or what was left of him–, the more Ashley felt her heart break.
—————
Later, in an interview room, she would tell the police, "I can't believe Chris's gone... He was my best friend and...maybe I–" She would pause, her eyes cast down, shaking her head slightly. Then she'd look back up at the police and say,
"We never had a chance."
