The Road to Nowhere

Chapter 66: Plan

"What's it saying?" I ask.

"Well," She lets go of the corn stalks she was holding back with her hands, covering the view of the creature. "It's not really speaking. But, I can understand what it's saying, kind of."

"Is it talking to you?"

"Um, yes and no. It's thinking at me."

"Can you hear its thoughts?"

"Yeah maybe." She says and rubs at the scratches on her face. "It's looking for me. I can tell it knows I'm close."

"Do you think they are tracking you?" I ask.

"It's possible." She says. "I have no idea how. They didn't put anything in me at the compound."

"You remember the compound! Why didn't you tell me you got your memory back?"

"I didn't get everything back. After I woke up from the guard hitting me with his gun, I just– remembered things."

"What do you remember?"

"Not much. I remember that the people who took me were not done experimenting on me, or whatever it was. There's no way they put any tracking devices on me. They had no idea you were coming to rescue me. There was no point too."

"Makes sense." I nod my head. "Wait, what were those things stuck in your skin then? We thought they were trackers."

"No clue." Brianna shrugs. "I remember they hurt really bad when they put them in. I think they might have been attachments of some kind. I don't know. I remember them pumping some kind of liquid into me and they were using them to do that."

"How are they tracking you then?" I ask.

"I don't know–" She stops talking. Her eyes move towards the corn, and she puts her finger over her mouth.

I can positively say that my face went pale in that moment. The creature was feet from us. Its head was just below the corn stalk's tips, but I could see its glowing eyes through the leaves. I don't know what to do other then be quiet and to not move a muscle. So, that's exactly what I'm doing. I watch it bob its head– or whatever the thing with the batwing like flaps are around its eyes – and let out a vibration that sounded like it came off a spaceship. Then, it shrank down, I'm guessing onto its front legs, and ran off.

I quickly pulled apart the stalks to see if it was safe to step out of the corn, but to my upmost surprise, I was greeted with the sight of a solder with an AK47 attached to his grubby hands. I instantly knew that the uniform wasn't anything I've seen here at Moen, but then the frightening image popped into my brain and I almost fainted. The military is here as well. This can't possibly be good.

After the solder walks out of view and I make sure the mutant that was feasting on the dead body is gone, I grab Brianna's shirt sleeve and pull her out of the corn. We run about ten meters to the café pavilion, and I crawl underneath the decking.

If we want to make it out of here alive, we have to be slow and careful. There cannot be any panicking, and we definitely cannot do things without thinking. I think I've learned my lesson there.

I push my elbows across the sandy earth until I'm under the center of the café pavilion. I look back and make sure Brianna's behind me. I peer out from under the deck to see if there's any mutants still wondering the clearing. But, something wet drops on the top of my cheek, and I wipe it away immediately with the pads of my fingers. I try not to think about it, but I know what's on my face. It keeps dripping on me, all over my back and shoulders but mostly on my face. The idea of someone else's blood on me makes me shiver with disgust.