Wayde Woods Massacre

Tony ran as fast as his legs could take him. The rain pounded hard against his body. The ground was so slick he could hardly stay on his feet. Every few moments thunder would roar, it sounded like the door being slammed into again.

It seemed like he was running for hours before he finally made it to the cabin. Nichole threw the door open and Tony crashed to the floor inside. He looked back, noticing Manny hadn't shut the door. Twisting his body around on the floor, he shoved the door closed with all his might.
"Lock. It!" Tony yelled inbetween gasps.

"Where the fuck is Bill?" Manny yelled. Jenny, Nichole and Suzette were all in tears.

Tony shook his head. "He didn't make it."

Shocked, Manny backed against the door for support. Megan knealt next to Tony and held his head. "What do you mean, he didn't make it?" She questioned. She could feel the sting of her own tears swelling up in the back of her eyes.

But it was Tony that began to cry. He burried his face into Megan's body. Megan matched his tears with her own. Tony was never one to show emotion. Megan had only seen him cry once, though Tony had no knowledge of this.

Tony had grown up with his cousin Anna, who was more like his sister and best friend. They spent many years together, playing as small children and getting into trouble in their early teens. At sixteen, Anna's parents divorced. The divorce was brutal, and it left Anna in a state of angst and depression. She withdrew herself from friends and family, including Tony. Once the divorce was finalized, her mother and her moved far away. Soon all contact was lost between the two cousins. That next year, a few months after Tony and Megan started dating, Tony received a call from Anna's father, informing him that she had shot herself. Tony and Megan were together at the time. He had distantly told her the news and excused himself. After a few moments, Megan went searching for him. She discovered him behind his house, silent tears streaming from his eyes.
She had never told him about what she had seen that day. And since then, to Megan's knowledge, he had not cried. But in this situation, in the moment they were in, tears were flowing from Tony's eyes. Not the silent tears she had seen before, but loud fearful cries.

Everybody stood and watched, unsure what to do. Tony had always been the leader of their group. And while usually that was fairly meaningless, in this situation it was important. They were all looking to Tony for guidence and safety, and Tony had obviously reached his own breaking point.
It was Ben that first moved. Carefully he walked over toward the crying couple and knealt by them. He placed his hand on Tony's back in the most comforting way he could. Suddenly aware of his presence, Tony looked up into Ben's eyes.

"Ben," Tony sobbed, "what do I do?"

* * *

Something set off in Ben's mind that he had never experienced before. It was as if Tony had passed the torch to him, and suddenly he knew how to be a leader. He stood taller than ever before, he spoke louder and clearer than ever before. The shyness that was his trademark was, at least for now, gone.

"Manny," Ben hustled over to him, "give me the flare gun. You take the spear. You can do a lot more with a spear than I can. There has to be an attic, Suzette can look for the entrance to it. Everybody else, gather up all our stuff. And anything that could even possibly be used as a weapon."

No one would have ever seen a situation where Ben would take charge. Well, perhaps if they were lost at Comic Con, but not beyond that. However, as Ben spoke everyone listened immediatly. The only ones who did not move were Tony, who was still sobbing, and Megan, who was doing her best to comfort him. Ben was a little shocked at how good he was doing as a leader.

Before long Suzette called out that she had found the entrance to the attic. It was just a small rectangular handle on the ceiling. Manny put her on his shoulders, and still she had to strain hard to reach it. After a heavy pull, the attice door came down. Manny lowered Suzette to the ground and then pulled down the stairs.

"I'll have a look first." Manny said. Ben handed him a flashlight.

Slowly Manny crept up the stairs. Nichole whispered for him to be careful, more for her own comfort than his safety. Manny slowly scanned the attic, a few boxes were in one corner and some spare furniture was scattered about.

"It's clear," Manny whispered to the group.

The group acted quickly, handing him up the supplies that he tossed into the attic. Before long they were all climbing to their new santuary. Ben and Megan had to coax Tony up the stairs. When everyone was up, Manny pulled up the stairs and shut the door. He crawled over to the group, and Ben handed him the bottle of water that was being passed around the group.

Now that Ben had a moment to calm down, he wondered if he had made the best decision.

* * *

Eventually the tears stopped falling down Tony's face, but his head was still swimming with anxiety and sadness. The image of the monster and Bill kept playing over and over in his mind. Part of him was angry that he hadn't stayed to help Bill fight. He felt like the grim reaper was embracing him. He knew they were all going to die.

"How long have we been up here?" Manny asked Ben.

Ben checked his watch. "Over an hour."

"Do you really think we are safe up here?" Manny asked.

Ben looked at Manny for a moment. This was a classic leadership decision. Does he say what he needs to in an attemp to salvage what tiny bit of hope was left, or should he be honest. He chose the nicest way to be honest he could think up.

"I hope so."

Ben looked up as Tony stood and moved over toward the small attic window that Megan was peering out. The two whispered to eachother for a few a few seconds. Megan, obviously upset, left and sat down across the room. Ben stood and walked over to Tony.

"Hey Tony, you okay?" Ben asked.

"I guess," Tony muttered.

"Tony, what happened out there?" Ben questioned him.

"It got Bill," Tony said, not really directing it toward Ben.

"What got Bill," Ben pressed.

"I don't fuckin know. A man I guess."

"Wait, so there's a guy out there who's just...killing us?"

"Dunno, I guess so." Tony shrugged.

Ben shook his head, "Why?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know," Tony muttered, sliding down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. He put his head back and closed his eyes.

Ben looked out the window. It was still pitch black and pouring rain. He checked his watch: 2 a.m. They would have to get out of here in the morning. First thing. If they survived that long. What this group needed now was rest.

"Okay guys," Ben said to the group, "we seem to be stuck here for the night. We need to get some sleep. We will take shifts keeping watch. I'll go first, in an hour I'll wake Manny up. That cool Manny?"

"Sure," Manny replied.

"Good. I know it's going to be hard to sleep, but we need it. We should have light around 5:30, that only gives us a few hours. So try hard."

***

Ben's hour seemed like twelve. However it gave Ben some time to think. By the time Manny's turn came around, Ben realized he hadn't had a productive thought the entire time. He really needed to rest.

Ben stood and walked over to Manny. He nudged him awake and informed him that it was his turn to take the watch. It didn't take long once Ben laid down to be soundly asleep.

Manny sat leaning against the wall. Nichole was beside him, resting her head on his chest. Manny was making sure to stay alert. As alert as he could be, given how tired he was. Manny's eyes grew very heavy. He had to close them for a moment. Just to rest them. Just for a second...

***

"Manny, wake up!" Ben's voice called out. It seemed distant to Manny, but it did wake him. He opened his eyes, but it took them a moment to adjust to the light that had flooded the attic. Ben was still calling his name, finally Manny focused on him.

"Manny, where's Suzette?!"