Beginning Anew

The dream

Barbara groaned as she opened her eyes. Her head, shoulders, back – everything ached. Where was she?

She looked around and saw nothing but darkness. Water trickled behind her and her clothes were damp.

Then Barbara remembered, the bridge – the pipeline. Walt!

She bolted upright, expecting Walter to be right beside her. But his spot was empty. Barbara realized she was now the one laying on the pillow she'd brought for Walter, and the blanket was draped over her.

"Walt?" she called out.

There was no answer.

It was pitch black inside the culvert. The sun was down by now, so Walter must have gone out. She told herself it wasn't odd for him to go out. He was probably feeling restless after sleeping for so long.

She got up, packed everything away in the trash bag and crawled out of the pipe, cursing every aching bone and muscle in her body.

Barbara managed to find her way back out to the vehicle, but Walter wasn't there. She stowed the bedding in the trunk and the cradle stone in the backseat before looking for Walter.

"Walt," she called into the night. There was no answer. Barbara dialed his cell number and was rewarded with a vibrating sound coming from the inside the van. She climbed in and found his phone hooked up to the power bank in the back seat.

If his phone was here, he couldn't be far away, but the thought of him up and walking around didn't sit well with her. When she found him this morning he looked badly wounded. Surely, he hadn't healed that quickly.

She checked the time on her cell – one in the morning.

She sighed and set out to look for Walter. He had limited options if he wanted to remain unseen. The road wasn't a likely choice; the corn fields seemed a safer bet, so she headed toward them, occasionally calling Walter's name.

Still no answer.

Barbara moved further into the field. Nearly fifteen minutes in she heard something. The sound was hard to make out, so she went to investigate. The closer she got, the less pleasant the noise became. It reminded her of a large animal devouring a carcass.

A loud crunch made her wince and the ensuing trail of messy racket sent a chill down her spine. She wanted to stop and turn around, afraid she'd come upon a wolf... or something bigger.

Against her better judgment, she continued toward the sound. She pulled back a stalk of corn and her stomach twisted as she saw exactly who she'd been looking for, except he was neck-deep in a slaughtered sheep.

The animal was torn open, guts and blood strewn everywhere. Its insides still steamed – a fresh kill. Hot blood streaked Walter's face and chest, and his claws were covered in gore. He dug into the dead animal, biting out a huge chunk of raw meat and swallowing it. The sight made Barbara's already queasy gut want to hurl. She covered her mouth, trying to push back the urge to vomit.

At that moment, Walter froze. He looked up from his kill, face still covered in blood, a piece of raw meat hanging out of his mouth. When his eyes found Barbara, they shot wide.

Barbara's feet felt like they were glued to the ground. She wanted to say something but didn't know what. Walter's expression shifted from one of surprise to horrified pain as he hid his face with his blood-soaked claws and turned away from her.

Barbara shook. "It... It's okay." She failed to hide the quiver in her voice. "You have to eat, just like anyone else, and you're still healing... so you need something substantial to sustain you... right?" she asked.