Chapter Sixteen: Escape to the Cabin

The truck rumbled down the road, Tyas was shifting gears next to Calin, the gear struggled to click into place and there was a big lull in the acceleration.

Tyas was not getting it right. The stress was mounting every second and Calin just shouted. "Harder, press the clutch harder!"

Through the commotion he glanced in Evany’s direction, her mouth was open and she kept looking back, the freakish growls from behind were getting closer and closer. Jerry’s shouts were getting more frantic by the second.

"FASTER! FASTER!" Jerry was clinging for dear life on the back of the truck.

Then the truck heaved to the side again, but less so as the creature only clipped the back corner. Tyas desperately corrected the sliding truck.

Calin couldn’t take it anymore and he leaned over Evany before grabbing the shift and shouted. "You floor the clutch and I'll shift! JUST DO IT!"

Tyas nodded franticly. Within moments the truck jumped in acceleration. The seconds passed by murderously slow, but the growls started to fade back.

He looked back as the thing’s howl of frustration split the air.

Before long, it disappeared from view on the road behind them. We're safe... Calin slumped his head back against the truck’s small window. The tension of the moment left him subdued. After what seemed like minutes to the lot of them, Tyas panted, "Thanks... I'm sorry I panicked."

Calin nodded and said in a tired voice. "Let's get to that cabin of yours."

Dropping his shoulders into the chair, the image of the man who had died, for the desperate few seconds they had needed, started haunting him. The image of the creature with the white scar killing the man in one bite bombarded his mind.

A hand slipped over his knee, it startled him, but he glanced sideways at Evany to see her eyes at the brim of tears.

He wanted to say something, but words escaped him. He had to be strong for her, yet his numb body held no strength. Just then Evany said in a broken voice.

"Calin, I'm so sorry! We shouldn't have sent you out to the shop."

Calin gripped the side of his head closest to the window. His emotions shifted violently inside him, overwhelming him. He wanted to scream.

"There is no way we could have known.... it’s my fault... my fault he is dead. His name was Jim... He had a picture of him and his wife on the wall... He was ... I WISH THEY HAD GOTTEN ME FIRST! IT WOULD’VE...It would’ve... stopped this madness."

Before he could continue, Evany slapped him hard across the face.

She grabbed his chin with force and drew his face back to hers, fury sparked in her eyes.

"DON’T YOU DARE SAY THAT! Your life is equally worth saving! And I'm damn well going to see you get to safety, even if I have to drag you myself!” She glared at him, “And if I ever hear you say anything like that again you'll have a reckoning from me, do you hear me?"

The slap and her words made him stare open mouthed at the red faced Evany. Trying to utter a word she stopped him.

"SHUSH, be quiet! And Tyas you drive."

The man next to Evany just said, "Yes Ma'am."

Seeing Evany fume was already enough for Calin to keep silent as they drove on.

The intensity of the events left him tired and he was suddenly glad for the silence.

Tyas wasn't scared of taking tight turns on the uneven gravel roads, but Calin didn't care a bit. After a while they came to the only bridge that crossed the river. On the other side, Tyas turned onto the road that went back along the river. Calin had never driven on the road before. Yet even if the night didn’t hide everything but what was caught by the headlights of the truck, he didn’t care. The thought of which direction the road was going quickly disappeared.

He just wanted to get away, far away, from any sort of thing not human. He shoved all other thoughts from his mind and as the truck lumbered on, as exhaustion finally claimed him.

***

Calin jerked awake not by will, but from someone pressing his arm, he glanced sideways. Evany was staring with soft eyes.

In a gentle voice she said, "Sorry to wake you, but Tyas says we are close, and that when we reach the cabin, there are some things that must happen."

In a groggy voice he groaned in reply, "Alright, is Jerry still okay?"

She nodded and a slight tilt in her pink lips betrayed some amusement on her part, but she remained silent and Calin turned his attention to the road. It was still dark outside and the truck's lights painted an eerie landscape of gravel and trees. The thick trees that flew past them told him they must be closer to the ocean than he had expected.

He sat up straight but got a spasm in his back. Another groan escaped him, stiff from sleeping in the awkward seat. After some stretching, or as much as he could manage inside the moving truck, he asked, "Did I sleep long?”

Tyas nodded. “Three and a half hours. It’s good because I'm not sure when there will be time to get sleep again in the next two days."

Calin looked to the trees again.

“I’m pretty sure those are yellow wood trees... I thought we were headed for Drave’s town?" He asked.

Tyas geared down and eased up on the throttle as he said, "No, but there is a road that leads there from the cabin.”

A slight frown creased Calin’s brow something still bothered him from the conversation. As he shifted more upright, he voiced his confusion.

"I thought you said back at your home that we are going to the cabin to get away, aren't we going to stay there?"

"No, it is far too dangerous for you to take that risk. We are just getting what we need there."

Now something was up, but instead of querying about it, he asked, "What do we need from there?"

"You'll see," Tyas said in his all too secretive way.

Scoffing at that, Calin said, "You are a very cryptic man. Why can't you just tell us?"

Through it all Evany had stayed quiet between them, but with that she chipped in.

"Yeah, I really want to know why you can’t be more straightforward with us?”

Tyas sighed in exasperation, irritation all but evident on the man’s tone as he said, "Would if I could okay? But let’s just get to the cabin and go from there. I’ll try and explain then."

Evany muttered something away from Tyas and Calin barely made out the "you better" from the girl. With a smile he reached behind him to slide open the small window, it jerked a bit, but with some shaking it came loose opening up to the cold air outside. Calin called out.

"Jerry are you okay? We are almost there."

The clattering of Jerry's teeth became evident. "I'm -clickclick- Bloody -clickclick- Freezing!!"

With a big smirk on his face Calin said, "Yeah, he's alright."

The car came to a halt a couple of minutes later. He drew his jacket tighter around him as the door invited even more of the ice cold wind, Calin had new respect for Jerry, poor guy must've frozen on the back...

He followed Tyas out of the truck and jumped out onto the gravel road, the small rocks crunching with the landing. He breathed in deeply, the cold air refreshing as it was, was stinging his nose. The night was still dark around them but Calin was sure dawn would be creeping up on them in a short while.

Leaning back into the truck, he smiled at the shivering Evany, he reached behind the truck’s seat and found a blanket and to his surprise, enough food to feed ten people for a week. As he handed Evany the blanket, she said, “Thank you. It seems autumn has arrived a bit earlier, don’t you think?”

He nodded absentmindedly, still wondering about the food, Tyas must have been living from his truck the last few weeks. With a shrug he turned his attention back to Evany. “You know it’s been a chaotic night so far, I’m beginning to think you are as crazy as Tyas seem to be for pressing to come along.”

Evany glared at him, but when he smiled, she returned it and said, “You’re such an ass, but I guess you’re right about it being crazy.”

Calin raised his eyebrow at her but smiled warmly when he said, “Thank you.”

It caught Evany off guard. She frowned heavily and asked, “What for?”

Shrugging his shoulders he said, “For not giving up on me I guess, and slapping some sense into me.”

The last bit made Evany blush with embarrassment. “Oh, um I’m really sorry about slapping you. It just happened in the moment.”

Calin threw up his hand. “No no, really no need to say sorry. You were right. So again thank you.”

She just waved him off still embarrassed by her outburst. With a quick smile he stepped away saying, “I’m going to check on Tyas.”

As he moved off, he took in his surroundings for the first time. Except for the cabin and the small gravel road, the place was secluded in the thick forest. It would be hard to find even if you were looking for it.

The cabin was large enough to support at least four people. The roof was partly covered by moss and so was the wood supply. It seemed to have been left unattended for a while.

It wouldn’t have been too bad hiding away here if it came to that, yet Tyas had mentioned they would be leaving.

But where? Calin could only ponder that question as he stepped toward the front of the cabin.