He Was Dying

Chapter Twelve

The putrid smell was unbearble, but we managed to power through it. Making way towards my cabin, Bryce walked beside me. He moved his head to rest on my upper arm, letting out a heavy sigh. "Omega, are you alright?"
  My head turned, my eyes looking down towards him. "Huh?"

I could feel his skin rub against the fabric of my sweater as he glanced up at me. "What happened back there? It was like you didn't recognize us."
  As we continued our trek to the cabin, I didn't know how to respond to that.

  We approached the doorstep, I leading them inside and up the collasped staircase to the second floor. "Stay up here, on the balcony," I explained. "It wraps around nearly three quarters of the house, and you can see them from any direction. Multiple exits."

  Luke spoke up, kicking at the rotting wooden floor. "What if we gotta hide?"

"Closets in the basement. You can probably escape onto the roof; they can't get up, I know it." The four nodded. It is surprising how they remained so calm about this situation. I expected humans to be a bit more panicked.

   - - -

  I heard words being mumbled through the doorway after about an hour or so of waiting. Two males, from what I could gather.

"You sure this is the place?"

  "It's the only 'big-ass, rotting cabin by one of the doors' in the area, Craig, I'm sure."

When no one stepped through, I stood up from where I sat on the somewhat staircase. I leaned over to peek past the doorframe to see two young humans, bickering a few feet away.

  One of them, with dark hair and a pair of glasses (with two different coloured lenses, as well: blue and red), glanced my direction, doing a double-take and screaming. The other with light brown hair spun around in fear but clamped the first boy's mouth shut with a hand.
  "Shut up, Smitty!" Craig, the second, hissed. "That's the monster that they mentioned."

Smitty blinked, looking from him to me and back to him. Craig removed his hand and turned to me, standing tall although still smaller than I. "Um, are they here?"
  He must have understood my silent confusion.
"The other four," Smitty piped in. "Bryce, Evan, Delirious, Cartoonz?"

  "..Cartoonz?"

"Yeah. Are they here?"

Who is Cartoonz? Do they mean Luke, or was there someone else who I failed to acknowledge or protect?
  Although I nodded, and led them upstairs out onto the porch.

The four were sitting against the wall of the cabin as they shifted their heads towards us. "Smitty, Craig! You guys made it!"
  The pair exchanged greetings with the group like punching each others fists and clapping their hands together. Confusing.
  "Cartoonz?" I said quietly. Luke looked up, smiled and waved. "Sup, Omega?" So it was his other name.

   Meanwhile, the humans were in another conversation. "Any luck?"
  "No, Macmillon is clear. We checked everywhere," Craig said, adjusting his thin-framed glasses. Smitty nodded, explaining what seemed to be Trapper's yard.

"You were there?" I exclaimed, baffled. The two turn to me. "Uh, yeah, what's wrong with that?"

  My ears twitched in terror. I spun around, dropping to all fours and bounding down to the first floor of the cabin. Racing outside, I skid to a stop on the porch, staring off, rapidly looking in every directions.

The thundering of shoes rumbled to follow me, and they stood behind me. I reeled around to gaze at the crowd. "You were in Trapper's yard?!" It sounded more of a statement then a question.
   Craig and Smitty exchanged frightened glimpses. "Afraid to say yes, but going to anyways."

  "No. No, nononono," I rambled. "They're gonna see the scratches."

"Scratches?" Luke spoke up from the group. "What scratches?"

  Words poured from my mouth and piled at my feet. I began  explaining that I and the Others had a sense where we could see were humans have ran. Bright red and orange claw marks cover the ground, walls, and nearby objects a human has passed. I slipped in the mention that the observation has never occured to me, considering they are the first humans I have seen.

"Shit.." Delirious stammered. "What about the other guys?"

  Silence wavered over us all. My heart dropped. "There's others..?"
Evan stared down, kicking at the dry dirt. "When we were out there, past the gates, we came across a small town. The townspeople knew of something that could get us out, so they're helping to look around the yards..."

"I mean," Bryce said, "they seem to know what they're dealing with."
  Craig rolled his eyes. "Oh, we do." He elbowed Smitty, adding "Totally under control." He swatted Craig's arm away.

Leaves began crunching from behind us. I turned, facing a tall man that stood up to just below my shoulders. "Oh," he huffed, his voice thick with a foreign accent.

  "Nogla! Glad to see you're still alive," Delirious cheered, walking up to him and slapping him on the back.
"Yeah," Nogla chuckled. "So am I."

"Any sign in that auto shop? Where's Brian?" Smitty asked the Irishman, shoving his hands into his sweater pocket.
  Nogla nodded, brushing his slick black hair back with his fingers. "Ah. Brian went to check on Brock at the asylum. Said he didn't wanna leave him alone on his own for too long."
Luke shrugged. "Makes sense."

  After minutes of uncomfortable silence, one by one, the humans trekked upstairs back onto the porch. I remained where I was, on the doorstep, staring off as I noticed the sun beginning to dip under the trees.
  Absentmindedly, I muttered into the cold, dusk air.

"If there's a better time to find it, better do it now." 

  "I aGrEe."