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(Page 4 of 7) Saelieni Chapter 3 by Gregory Harvey
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And, Melanie reflected, the darkness was preferable to the faces of the dead.
As they approached the railroad crossing, Cholmers yelled, "Fuck... there's something following us guys."
Will turned to see what was behind them, and could only make out a silhouette in the dust. Arthur recognized it immediately.
"Everyone, stop thinking!" He shouted.
"No, shoot it," Will responded.
The army guys raised their guns, all except for Samuel
"Sir...," he said timidly.
"Raise your gun, Private," Garson ordered.
"Yes, sir," He raised it, "But you might want to look above us before you fire."
Will looked upwards, as did Melanie, Arthur and everyone else. The sky above them was black with the shadows of the Moonsana Clan, their wings outstretched and circling. There would have to have been at least six of them...
"Hold your fire!" Will called, but did not lower his gun.
"We need to stop thinking!" Arthur cried, "Everyone take in a few long breaths. Stop thinking!"
There was a silence as each person inhaled and exhaled slowly. Carefully Arthur watched the shadows in the sky, saw how they became faint, and then saw as they disappeared. His attention was drawn back behind them, even that figure was gone. It was strange, even a second without thought and they were gone.
There was a silence for a few seconds, as every one contemplated whether or not the monsters had gone.
Will ended it, "Let's move."
The box reformed, and they were in motion again. The army men moved with greater speed this time, although also more cautiously.
***
Once they had passed the tracks, there was a section in the road that broke off into three directions. Directly in front of them, heading south, was a small dirt track that ran alongside the volunteer fire station. It dipped down into the creek, and out of sight. The other way went east, before twisting south alongside the pub, and also there was the bridge to the west. On their way Garson had not been willing to risk taking the track through the creek, and so had taken the bridge into town.
"I think it will be quicker if we go down through the creek," Melanie said softly.
"Will there be water in it?" Garson asked quickly.
"I... I don't think so...," Melanie replied.
At the mention of the word ‘think' everyone seemed to go silent again.
"We'll go through the creek," Will Garson said, reasoning that even if the creek was full of water, it would probably be quicker to wade through it than taking the bridge around. And the less time spent in Yulumson the happier he would be...
Their feet crackled against the unsealed surface as they approached the creek. The road had obviously not been touched up in years, as there were small gullies beginning to appear in it, as well as large stones. The road took a sharp dive into the creek, which they all could now see was completely barren of water.
Long grass grew inside the creek bed, which was bordered by sagging eucalyptus trees. Garson didn't like it. Far too many places hidden from his view... far too many places for monsters to hide.
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