Nasferas: The Begotten

31

Matt's jumbled thoughts bounced in his head like Skittles poured on concrete. One moment, Katelyn's smile and outgoing nature set the theme for a nice conversation with the foreigners. The next is chaos.

He remembered only a few things from the incident. When the guns went off, he tackled Eve because Katelyn wasn't within his reach. That's when, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Davidar move faster than he'd ever seen anyone move.

"Get off." Eve shoved him.

"Sorry." Matt rolled over and scrambled to his feet.

"Where'd those guys go?" She sat against a stump and grabbed her left arm.

"I'm not sure. Are you okay?"

"Fine." She grimaced and showed him her hand. It had a streak of blood across the palm.

"Let me help with that."

Matt quickly found Jimmy Boy. "Jimmy, do you have a med kit on you?"

Jimmy Boy pointed across the field. "They slaughtered 'em."

"Jimmy." Matt waved his hands. "Earth to Jimmy Boy."

Jimmy Boy whipped around.

"Whoa!" Matt ducked. The barrel of Jim's sniper rifle whizzed over his head.

"I ain't gonna shoot ya, boy."

"It's ... Matt."

"Got it. Here." Jimmy Boy handed Matt a small box from his flak jacket.

Matt took a step forward. His left leg buckled, forcing him to shift his weight to his right foot. After he fixed Eve's arm, he'd check out his leg.

The med kit had a red medical insignia on the cover. Inside, he found a 4x4 gauze pad which was almost the perfect size for Eve's cut. She'd removed her jacket and rolled up the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

"The cut's not deep." He draped the gauze over the wound on her left forearm and wrapped it with some medical tape.

"You're pretty good at this." She smiled.

A slow warmth began to creep up his neck. "That guy, Davidar"—Matt wanted to change the subject from his sister— "or whatever his name is, said those people are his family."

Nancy and Jason stepped out of the bushes and joined the group. Nancy's makeup had smeared under her eyes.

Brett sat in the snow with his face in his hands. "We have to call the cops or something. Katelyn's gone. And th ... those people are all dead."

"They'll never believe us," Eve said.

"Sure, they will." Jason sat on a log next to Eve. He flipped his phone over in his hand.

Eve watched her brother. "How would they ever believe any of this?"

"Cause this boy's a genius." Jason pointed his thumb at himself. "Caught the entire thing on video." He held his phone up.

"No way!" Matt helped Eve stand.

Jason took Eve by the hand and began to pull her toward the trail they had all made going down the mountain. "We need to get the hell out of here and back to the store. Those people aren't normal and we shouldn't have come. Plus, we all have guns and they're shot. Who do you think the police will believe? If they somehow destroy this video ... we're screwed."

Jimmy Boy finished securing his first aid kit. "I'm with Jason. Let's get back down the hill and call the sheriff from Marcie's."

Nancy punched Jimmy's arm. "We need to go help them."

"Sorry, my medical kit can't do anything for bullet holes. Plus, I've got my reservations about their validity as Brits. I'm not even sure they're human. Did anyone else see the way they moved?"

Matt nodded. It felt good not to be the only one who saw something out of the ordinary. Now that Tarisha and Davidar had rejoined their decimated family. "Shouldn't we go over and try to help?"

"I think so," Eve said, stopping her trek up the hill.

Jason yanked on her arm. "We're leaving ... now!"

"Ouch! Asshole. Let go of me." Eve pulled her arm free and jogged back over to Matt.

Jason followed her. "Do I need to drag you out of here?" He pulled Eve's hoodie, nearly throwing her to the ground.

"And there you have it." Matt leered at Jason. "Your stupid online popularity is more important than ..."

Jason started for Matt who'd never been in a fight before but wanted to punch the quarterback so bad it hurt.

Jimmy Boy stepped between them. "Quit bickering like two drunken plebes fighting over the last shot of Vodka. Jesus, kids. That video is going to be very important. But before we all go hunting for the fucking Jackelope, let's try and help them."

Again, Eve strapped herself to Matt. "We're going over there. That's what we're all going to do." She glared at each of them, staring them down.

Matt wasn't going to argue with the freshman. "Let's go."

"Jason," Jimmy Boy said. "You got a bigger med kit in the truck?"

"Yeah." Jason kicked a dirt clod. He'd been outvoted. "I'll go get it."

Nancy took Jason by the hand. "I'm going with you."

"Thanks, babe."

"I'm not going for you. I'm going to make sure you don't leave us stranded up here."

"Whatever." Jason humphed. The two love birds headed back to the truck.

Jimmy took a cigarette out of his pocket and plucked it between his lips. "I'm gonna watch the sky. They could be back for seconds at any minute." He removed the assault rifle from his back and draped the sniper rifle in its place.

Matt knelt next to Brett. "You coming or staying?"

The bewilderment of the entire situation seemed to rest on the wrestler's shoulders. Matt decided he wasn't in the right mind to help with the injured.

"I'll watch him for a bit," Jimmy Boy said.

"Eve and I will see what we can do to help. And try and find out who took my sister."    

Please comment and vote if you're enjoying the novel.