The Lesson pt 2 by Diron Bates

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From the corner of his eye two small blinking red orbs hovered inches from the ground, as he turned they retreated shyly behind some unseen obstacle.
Judging by the tightening of his mother's grip, he knew not to move, not to even breath unless absolutely necessary. He could sense things stirring in the darkness, hungry, desperate things. Barely audible above his thundering heart, something sniffed the air behind them; the sound of its curious snout resonated like a straw broom sweeping against a concrete sidewalk. Turning he saw a second set of bloody orbs inching towards them like tiny lanterns held by halflings in the darkness, the third group appeared to their left. He then realized what they were as they did their slow practiced advance like stalking felines...not orbs, but eyes burning red with a primeval bloodlust.
Suddenly there were dozens of them slinking high and low from the shadows, coming forth from their metallic shelters, pulled by hunger towards the scent of fresh prey. Jeremy would have stood anchored in place, would not have retreated as they inched their way towards him like starving wild beasts. He may not have even budged as their hot breath tickled his face and neck causing goose bumps to march in columns like advancing battalions of infantryman along the base of his spine. He would not have shifted in the slightest if his mother had not yanked his arm and pulled him from his fear-induced trance.
"Run!" she yelled to Jeremy and his stubborn legs. He did. He held onto his mother's hand and ran as if all of hell was chasing him.




The number of howls increased in the choking blackness, and he continued to run using his mother's hand as a makeshift guide. As if accustomed to the darkness she navigated as quietly and nimbly as a shadow weaving expertly through the maze of metallic mayhem. The creatures were flooding from everywhere, their inhuman wails growing in volume and forming into one collective voice, one great hunger. Though he was almost blinded by the darkness his sense of hearing seemed amplified, he could hear his mother gasping for air and the soft patter of their rubber soled shoes as she pulled him along at an unyielding pace. But most of all he believed he could hear the padded shuffle of their many pursuers.
Left and right they snaked through the labyrinth of broken vehicles and Jeremy half expected to see a huge Minotaur rumbling behind them with murderous intent, instead there were only eyes, many of them. Things bounded from up high and scurried from down low to join into the chase. He could feel the wind whipping across his face and body as it threw its arms around him in an effort to slow him down. He lowered his head to barrel forward in an attempt to make his body as aerodynamic as possible and he felt as sleek as a speeding bullet as he cut through the air with his arms and legs pumping in near perfect unison. A howling monstrosity dove at him from shoulder level, he instinctively ducked low feeling its rotten hot breath against his neck and heard the snapping of its ravenous maw in his ear. He ducked so low that he stumbled, placed one hand against the ground and regained his balance which was no small feat considering the speed at which he was being led by his mother. He peeked behind them just as the beast took another gigantic leap towards him.
"Mom!" he yelled, but it was too late, the beast was upon him. He felt his sweaty palm slip from his mother and in that instant he wondered if he would ever touch her again. He and the beast tumbled together, falling head over heels in a jumble of body parts. As they rolled for what seemed like an eternity, Jeremy stared into its horrible red eyes smelled its rancid breath and thought that each second would be his last.