"Leah!"
Jared's yell gave Leah a second of warning before one of the creatures struck. It's claw embedded in her calf, yanking her back and away from the speaker, and she fell. Her chest thudded against the ground, her scream cut short as the wind was knocked from her.
The creature dragged her another metre, pulling her back towards the portal, and Leah's head spun with pain. She was still holding the cable though, still clinging to the best hope they had, and she pulled her gun out with her free hand and twisted, lining the barrel up with the arm that was pulling her.
The shot sounded like an explosion in the small room, but it worked. Bullets seemed to do nothing to these creatures when aimed at their torsos. But their arms were thinner, weaker, and the creature jerked back, it's claws ripping from her leg and causing as much damage on the way out as it had going in. But she was free.
It darted backwards, the silence of it's movements eerie, and Leah scrambled away, getting as far from where she'd previously been with as little noise as possible, trying to throw the creatures off her scent.
It was hard though. Blood gushed from her calf, slicking the concrete and making her shoes slip and squeak, and another creature loomed over her.
Jared was there before it could strike though. He slashed out, severing the arm that reached for her, and then he was between them, shielding her.
Leah got her feet beneath her, putting as much weight on her good leg as possible, and lunged for the speaker again.
She hauled it upright and slammed the power chord back into it's slot.
Nothing came out — the low level hum gone.
She pulled the chord out and tried again.
Still nothing.
"Shit," Leah muttered. "Shit, shit, shit."
"It's broken," she hissed over her shoulder at Jared.
She was still fiddling with it, trying to get it working, when Jared grabbed her arm and yanked her to the stairs, pushing her ahead of him.
"We have to go," he said.
His voice was firm, leaving no room for argument, and when Leah glanced over her shoulder, she saw why.
Another three of those creatures had entered the room, the hazy form of even more appearing in the dark, inky surface of the portal. If they stayed down here any longer, they wouldn't get out.
Leah turned and raced up the stairs, every step sending pain slashing up her leg. She could feel the muscles in her calf tearing, doing even more damage as her head spun, the blood loss already taking its toll.
Jared stayed at her back, firing off shots as they retreated, and the noise echoed around the small, concreted stairwell like explosions.
Leah emerged onto the ground floor and sprinted for the front door. She glanced over her shoulder and found Jared right on her heels, gun still in hand and that book clutched under his arm.
She could feel the energy pulsing from him, feel the impatience, and she knew he was holding back because of her.
One of the creatures careened into the corridor behind them and Jared spun, shooting the creature in such close quarters that the force sent it crashing into the wall.
Another was already roaring up the stairs though, darting around its fallen comrade, and Leah pushed herself harder. Her breath was echoing in her ears, her vision starting to tunnel. But the front door was ahead. She could see it's bright outline, and she raced towards it, telling herself she just had to get out, just had to get into the sun.
She burst into the street, aiming for the car, but she skidded to a stop.
Alice wasn't there like she was supposed to be — ready for a quick get away.
Alice wasn't anywhere.
Instead, creatures were swarming the four wheel drive they'd stolen; sniffing its wheels and reaching through its windows, searching.
At the screech of her sneakers on the pavement, all their heads spun in her direction, and Leah's stomach dropped.
Jared came to a stop behind her, close enough of that she could feel the rise and fall of his chest as he let out a breath.
He took one look at the car and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the side and pushing her down the road ahead of him.
The creatures around the car leapt after them, the front door to Jared's old house crashing open as the ones that'd just come from the portal poured into the street too. And Leah's brain went into panic mode.
Her steps were becoming less and less stable, large black spots dominating her vision, and she felt more than saw Jared glancing at her.
Suddenly, he shoved the book he carried into her hands and swung an arm beneath her legs, sweeping her feet from the road.
Leah muffled a scream as her world tilted sideways, her torso careening towards the ground, but then Jared's other arm was there, catching her and hauling her against his chest. And they were sprinting once more — already moving much faster.
For one ridiculous second, Leah felt a stab of envy. She could remember being that strong, that powerful. The jealousy was short lived though. The pain roaring through her body didn't leave much space for it.
She glanced over Jared's shoulder to see the creatures starting to fall behind, but not by much.
"How are we going to shake them?" Leah asked, her words jolty and uneven.
She knew he wasn't too sure of that himself, but then the stairwell to an apartment block loomed on their right and Jared swerved into it, darting up to the first floor. When they reached the second, he started to slow down, and by the third, Leah couldn't hear his steps at all over the clatter and echo of the creatures in the stairwell below them.
On the forth floor, Jared put her down, letting her feet meet the floor slowly and silently, and then he started trying the doors.
The first two apartments were locked, the handles unmoving, and Leah was just starting to panic when he tried a third door and it swung open.
He grabbed her hand and stepped inside, tugging her after him.
The apartment was carpeted, the room dark and still, and Jared closed and locked the door quietly behind them, and they crouched down — listening.
The next minutes dragged long and tense. Leah could hear the creatures in the stairwell, trying to find them. She felt sure the pounding of her heart would give their location away, and she held her breath.
But eventually, the footfalls drifted away, the building becoming silent and still around them.
Jared looked at her, his eyes dark in the dim light. He brought a finger to his mouth and crept to the window, lifting the blind to peak outside. Leah hobbled after him, glancing over his shoulder, and she saw a line of the creatures out on the street — moving away from the building.
She let out a breath, relief flooding her.
But then she remembered why they had to run — where the creatures had been before they'd erupted from the house.
"Alice," Leah said, the distress evident even in the hush of her voice, and Jared's jaw tensed.
"She'll be okay," he murmured. "She probably just ran off when they came. There was no blood around the car."
He wouldn't meet her eyes as he said it though, and Leah sat down against the wall, peering at her calf. The muscle was shredded, and she looked away again quickly, ripping the bottom of her shirt free and tying it around her upper thigh in a tourniquet.
"What do we do now?" she asked.
"We wait," Jared said. "There are too many of those creatures for us to leave for a while. We're just going to have to hope we can get back to the car before Alice returns and drives off."
If Leah thought, pain lacing through her. If Alice gets back to the car.
The thought were loud in her head, but she didn't say them. Jared had already lost his mum once. She didn't think he was willing to consider he might've just lost her again.
...
Next chapter out in two weeks :)
- Skylar xx