Chapter 91
Clementine:
We reached the door when Haiden suddenly grabbed Joshua, pulling him away, while Troy held onto Jack. As they dragged them back, I realized they were giving me a chance to open the door for Yorick. I could hear a lot of screaming outside, mostly the creatures, but I was worried about Yorick. He was out there in the dark with so many of them. I panicked as I grabbed the door handle, but someone came after me and yanked me back by the waist. One of my nails even tore off. I turned and saw her holding me from behind, her arms locked tightly around my stomach. I elbowed her hard in the chest, and she let out a small scream before letting go. I ran back to the door, ignoring the yelling behind me.
Now the white squad members were rushing at me, trying to stop me from opening it.
“Don’t let her open the door, she’ll let the monsters in!” Joshua shouted as he fought Haiden. They were punching and kicking each other. Troy and Jack were doing the same, but since Jack was just a Royal Beta, Troy easily got him in a chokehold.
“Clementine, open the door!” Troy yelled, letting me know my squad was with me. They didn’t care if the creatures got in, one of ours was still outside.
I kicked one of the girls in the stomach, and she fell to the ground, screaming in pain. It was the same girl we’d hit before. She always screamed like she was the victim, even when she was the one attacking us.
I started opening the door as Suki tried to stop me. But the second I got it open, she shoved me out.
“Then fucking stay with him!” she screamed. As I turned back, trying to stop her from closing it, I caught a glimpse of Troy’s eyes widening. He let go of Jack and rushed toward me, but the others had already slammed the door shut.
There was no time to try and get back in. The creatures were everywhere, screeching, and one was charging straight at me. I panicked and ran toward the back of the mansion. Once I got there, I turned down the path we’d never taken before and sprinted down the road, creatures pouring out from every side.
Then I remembered the butcher knife in my belt. I pulled it out and swung it wildly. It was easy to hit their necks, they were that long and easily in the view. One dropped instantly after I cut it, writhing on the ground, its head barely hanging by a thread of skin. The others hesitated, almost scared, before coming at me again.
I noticed their pattern, they weren’t very fast. After every action, they seemed to need a moment to recover, whether it was running, walking, or even just attacking. That could be used against them. But I couldn’t think about going back anymore. I was scanning the dark for Yorick, and the fact that he had vanished made me feel sick. Tears welled up as I screamed his name.
“Yorick!” But there was no response.
I kept running until I saw the first house in the distance. I didn’t know if there were creatures inside, I didn’t care. I rushed to the door and opened it, but something grabbed me by the waist. Everything happened fast. My body was yanked and rolled to the side of the house. Since I had been holding the doorknob, it swung open, but I was no longer in front of it. Then a creature lunged out. If I hadn’t been pulled away in time, I would’ve ended up just like Markus from earlier.
“Shhh, stay quiet. They can hear us,” I heard Yorick whisper in my ear.
I didn’t even know what came over me. I broke free, turned around with tears in my eyes, and threw myself into his arms. I hugged him so tight while crying that it almost knocked the breath out of him.
While I kept hugging him, I noticed he moved me to the side. I could only guess he did it because the creatures were walking past us. I didn’t let go the whole time, and even after five minutes had passed and everything went quiet, I just stayed there, still hugging him.
Then I finally snapped out of it. I started to pull away, but my arms were still around his neck.
“You idiot!” I said, and lightly slapped his face.
“What did I do?” he asked, confused.
“Why did you leave? We were supposed to stay in the mansion. It was the safest,” I whispered in frustration.
Yorick gestured for me to stay quiet, then pointed at his ears and around us, warning me that the creatures could hear. He took my hand, and we crouched down, moving quietly behind the houses, slipping from one to the next.
At this point, going back wasn’t an option. The creatures were all gathered around the mansion, probably drawn in by the noise, and that made me worry about Troy and Haiden. They were in there alone with the white squad, the cruelest group of all.
Eventually, we came across a small shop, about ten houses down from the mansion, which gave us a good amount of distance. Yorick carefully opened the door, and we stepped inside. One of the windows was broken, though, so there was a chance the creatures could get in. Yorick never let go of my hand as he quietly shut the door and looked around, checking to see if we’d be safe for the night.
The other windows were intact, and the back door was locked. I wanted to explore the shop. There were only five aisles, it was small, but a creature could have been hiding behind any of them. Yorick still wouldn’t let go of my hand, so I couldn’t check on my own.
Finally, we reached the end of the last aisle, and that’s when something attacked us.
Not just something. The creature. The same one. It went straight for me. My hand slipped out of Yorick’s as I fell onto my back with the creature landing on top of me. I saw it pull its neck back, and then it lunged again.
It was so fast that I didn’t even have time to react, let alone defend myself.