Page 4 of The General's Captive
But it was too late for that.
“Like creatures?” I finally admitted, and his head swung to me in shock.
“You saw them?”
I nodded, nervously rolling my lips inward.
“I thought I was going crazy but, Uncle, I swear, the Earth just opened up and all these shadowed figures started to crawl out of the chasm, and then came the ones that could fly…” I blurted out before trying to stop myself from saying more on what I had seen, doing so with a shake of my head. Then after long minutes of tense silence, I braved to ask, “Do you think it’s the end of the world?”
I watched as a noticeable tick jumped in his jawline.
“I don’t know, kid, but either way, we are getting out of here. Now hold on!” he said, making me do just that because he floored it, tearing down the gravel road at even greater speeds.
We arrived back to the rustic log cabin in no time at all. It was as if we had been trying to beat sundown, making me realize for the first time that we were losing light, something that didn’t make sense seeing as it was only late afternoon.
I checked the clock on the dash just to be sure, which only led to more confusion because I was right, it was too early for sunset. It was almost as if the sun was being eclipsed.
“Why is it getting dark?” I asked as my uncle came to a stop right outside the cabin. He leaned forward, with his forearmson the steering wheel, and looked up at the sky through the windscreen. His dark brown eyes widening briefly,
“I don’t know.” Then he reached for the handle and told me, “Wait here, I won’t be long.”
I nodded, silently telling him that I would, keeping back the part where I admitted to being too afraid to get out of the truck anyway. I constantly scanned the trees that surrounded the cabin, as if expecting something to come stalking out of them any second, waiting for glowing eyes to pierce the falling darkness.
My uncle returned a short while later with a large, full backpack over his shoulder and a white first-aid kit in one hand. The bang of items hitting the truck bed as he hurled them in made me flinch. Once more, I looked out of the window as it continued to darken around us, worried that the noise would attract whatever had been coming out of that Rift.
Uncle Rick ran back and forth from the cabin a few more times, hands loaded with guns, ammo, and knives. He put these into the truck bed with the rest, then clambered back into the truck.
As soon as he pulled the door closed, he was suddenly met with resistance, and giant black claws cut into the metal. Three huge talons dug in deep, making me scream as I looked up from the door to the window. But before I could fully make out what it was, the door was ripped from the frame and tossed back into the trees.
Another of my screams followed as the huge set of claws returned, grabbing my uncle roughly around the leg and dragging him out of the vehicle as if he weighed nothing at all.
“Uncle!” I cried out in panic and leaned across the center console, trying to spot him. The fear made my heart pound against my chest as I searched the darkness for him. But when I couldn’t see him, I unbuckled my seatbelt and pushed open thepassenger door, because I might have been terrified of whatever was out there, but I was afraid of losing my uncle even more.
I threw myself out of the truck, my knees trying to buckle beneath me. However, I gripped the frame of the truck to steady myself before putting a foot in the wheel under the arch. Then I hoisted myself up into the truck bed and quickly grabbed one of the guns, wishing that my father had let my uncle teach me how to shoot like he had wanted to.
I grabbed the box of ammo, hoping it was the right kind for the gun I held, and jumped down off the wheel. But then I cried out into the palm that was held over my mouth, muffling my scream.
“Ssshh, it’s still stalking us,”my uncle whispered, relief making my shoulders drop.
He removed his hand and I turned around to face him. He held up a finger to his lips and I nodded before handing over the handgun. Thankfully, I had been right about the ammo because he started loading the magazine. Then he lowered his hand, telling me silently to get down behind the truck, but as he moved I saw him limping so I grabbed him.
“No, you’re hurt,”I hissed on a whisper, looking down at the blood pouring from his leg. It was as if the creature’s talons had pierced the flesh when it dragged him out of the car.
“I will be fine, but if anything happens, I want you to run, get in this truck and drive as fast as you can, you hear me?”
“Uncle, please… we should just get in the truck and leave…”
at this he shook his head and whispered back,
“We wouldn’t make it, trust me “It’s too big and with its wings… Christ, I have never… look, just promise me, okay? If I can’t kill this thing, you get in that truck and go. I will keep it distracted for as long as I can,”he said, pausing mid-sentence as if words had failed him because, clearly, he had never seenanything like this before. But then again, I don’t think anyone ever had.
“I can’t leave you,”I stated firmly, keeping my voice low.
Grabbing my hand, he gave it a squeeze as he spoke.
“Yes, Alex, you can, and you will. Now, give me your word, no matter what happens… promise me.”
Tears filled my eyes at just the thought of this outcome but knowing he would only worry if I didn’t say it, I nodded.
