Artificial Earth

19

CATHY FIRED THEN IMMEDIATELY DROPPED the riffle on the floor, remorse washed over her, instantly regretting what she had done. Danver pivoted to his left, amazingly, he was still fast for his age but the bullet was faster, hitting him on his right shoulder, sending him crashing on the table to his left.
"Dad!" Tommy cried, rushing towards his father.
Rob moved towards Cathy, bent over and took the riffle as Jenny went to check on Danver.
"I...I...I'm sorry.." Cathy sobbed.
"That was plenty stupid kid." Rob said flatly.
"Dad!" Tommy cried out, kneeling beside his father.
"He'll be fine, lucky it was only a flesh wound, bullet passed through his shoulder." Jenny said, looking at Danvers wound. "We'll need alcohol, some towels, hydrogen peroxide, needle and thread, bandages, pain killers and anti biotics." Jenny added, pointing the flashlight at Danvers wound.
"Dammit, hurts like hell!" Danver cried out, lying on the floor.
"Don't be a baby..." Jenny said, pressing her handkerchief on the wound to slow the bleeding.
"Ow!" Danver cried out.
"Well, What are you guys standing there for?...Go get me what I need..." Jenny ordered, eyeing Tommy and Rob.
"Pain reliever's upstairs, needle and thread, towels too, everything...." Tommy said.
"Shit." Jenny said, her eyes searching in the dark, "Okay, hand me one of those bottles of Vodka and give me a clean cloth..."
Tommy handed Jenny the bottle of Vodka and a clean cloth from behind the counter.
"Okay, this is gonna sting a little....." Jenny was saying, holding the bottle of Vodka.
"Wait wait,.." Danver said, sitting up then taking the bottle from Jenny's hand. "Let me have a swig at it first." he said, drinking from the bottle.
"Okay, I'm ready." Danver said, bracing himself.
Jenny took the bottle and poured it on his wounds, wiping them clean then taking another towel to cover them.
"Argh! Damn It!" Danver cried out.
"Wuss." Jenny said. "Tommy, rip that cloth and tie it over his shoulder."
Tommy took the towel, ripped it then tightly fastening it around his fathers shoulder. Cathy moved towards the staircase and sat there.
"What have I done?" she asked, sobbing.
"Okay, let's move you over to the sofa, Can you stand?" Jenny asked, addressing Danver.
"Course I can." Danver replied, slowly standing with Tommy assisting him.
"You lost a lot of blood, We need to get you to a hospital soon." Jenny pointed out.

-------------------------------------------------------

THE LIGHTS WENT OUT INSIDE THE SHACK the same time that it did inside the bar. Joe was sitting behind the door, on his left was Jake and on his right, Garth. They sat in darkness, taking time to rest, shivering in their wet clothes.
"I'm exhausted." Garth said. "Freezing too..." he added.
"Any of you have a light?" Joe asked.
"My cellphone's all wet, dead." Jake said, checking his phone.
"Mine's dead too." Garth sighed.
"Any Ideas guys?" Joe asked.
"Not dying would be great." Jake replied.
A single shot was fired coming from the bar, muffled slightly by the wind and rain. Joe, Garth and Jake waited for more gunshots...none followed. The first shot was drowned by the noise outside, the second shot was all they heard.
"That came from the bar." Garth said, cocking his head, listening.
"They maybe in trouble.." Jake said.
"Why just fire one shot?" Joe asked, thinking.
"Good question." Jake said.
"Someone accidentally pulled the trigger?" Garth asked back.
" If there was trouble we should've heard more shots." Jake said.
"We better find a way to get back there." Joe said.
"I vote we stay here for a while, they're probably fine, besides...Tommy and Rob are back there. " Jake suggested. "We have problems of our own, that thing's still out there just waiting for us."
"I agree with Jake...I say we rest for a bit, save our strength." Garth agreed.
"Okay, but only for a few minutes, we can't afford to stay here long." Joe said.
"What is that thing?" Garth asked.
"I call it Miro." Joe replied.
"Miro?"
"Long story...." Joe said.

----------------------------------------------------------

From outside, the sound of a vehicle was getting louder, getting closer. Voices. A car just parked in front of the bar.
"Hello? Anybody there?" the guy asked, knocking at the door.
"Maybe it's empty..." the girl said.
"Nah, I hear movement inside..."Hello? Anybody?" the guy tried again.
Tommy opened the door, Rob backing him up, riffle in hand. The wind was gushing outside, spraying them with cold droplets of water.
"Get in!" Tommy ordered, pulling them in at the same time.
"Who the hell are you people?" Tommy asked, locking the door behind them.
The guy looked around, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. In a corner, an old man was sitting on a sofa with a sling wrapped around his shoulders, a glass, a bottle of Vodka and a riffle was on the table in front of him, sitting beside him was a pretty girl holding a flashlight and another girl was sitting just below the staircase, all three were staring at them, near the center lay a broken table, pieces of wood, glass and blood were scattered on the floor.
"I think we'll be on our way now, sorry for the trouble..." the guy said, taking the girls hand and moving back towards the door.
"You head on out that door and you folks will die." Rob said flatly.
"Look mister, we don't want no trouble, we'll just leave you people to your business." the guy said protectively.
"We're not gonna hurt ya, but whatever that thing out there is, won't let ya leave here alive." Danver shouted from across the room. "Yer lucky it didn't kill ya when ya stepped out of yer car." he added.
The couple turned their heads towards Danvers with a puzzled look on their faces.
"What are you saying?" the girl asked.
"He's saying that you two are still lucky to be breathing 'coz there's a creature out there killing people, already got four of us." Rob explained, heading towards Danver to take a shot of Vodka.
"Who are ya folks and what are ya doing out in the storm?" Danver asked, pouring himself a glass.
"I'm John and this is my wife Maria, we're from Crystal City, heard the news that they're evacuating Marble so we decided to go there and get her father."
"John right?....Yer only concern right now is how to keep both yer hearts beating." Danver said, taking a shot. "Why don't you and yer gal sit right there fer a while...Tommy! Go give 'em a bottle, everything's on the house now, won't be needing any of it when we're dead."
"Okay, I think you've drank too much already." Jenny said, taking the bottle of Vodka and handing it over to Rob who took a swig from it.

Outside, six silhouettes stood in the rain facing the bar, watching, waiting for the right moment. A seventh apparition was standing high on one of the branches of a tall tree, thirty feet above ground on the other side of the bar, looking down at the six silhouettes and at the scene below.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Authors Note

Keep reading and don't forget to vote, comment and share with friends!
Thanks!