sauvetage

[TW: Blood/Gore]

~0~0~

5

He was staring directly into the eyes of the monster. He was 20 feet from the ground, high in the air, the monster circling the Lookout tower, waiting for its next meal. Melvin gulped, hanging onto the pole as he looked away from the red-eyed Craindre.

He wanted to run to the Bunker, but he knew that if he even tried to leave the Tower he would be torn to shreds.

When he heard the clicking, he was frozen in fear. Surely someone would come for him, right? He watched as the monster roamed around the camp, destroying anything in his path. The walls that they had worked so hard to maintain, all their hard work, gone. Melvin watched in horror as the monster tore apart the cow at the farm.

The last cow the camp had.

Melvin was shaking. He was far away from the main hall, directly near the overgrown forest and the barn, which was now destroyed because of the monster.

He had never seen any Craindre that big. Normally, they were only six or seven feet long, and five feet high. Yet this one, with all of its fur and tail, had to be twelve feet.

Why didn't he just run when he heard the first clicking? Why was he so ignorant? Melvin shut his eyes tightly. He sat on the floor of the Lookout tower, wishing this whole thing was over. As long as he had the height advantage, he was safe… right?

Crack

Melvin's eyes shot open as he felt the Lookout tower sway to the right. He peered over the Lookout tower to see the monster swinging his paw at one of the poles that held up the tower. Twenty feet in the air.

He went pale as he felt the tower sway once again. He heard more cracking as the pole started to bend. It started to break. Adrenaline kicked in as he looked around, peering out of the Lookout tower to the other side of the wall.

The tower started collapsing as Melvin took a step towards the wall. He was sweating and shaking as he felt gravity start pulling him down. He jumped out of the tower, reaching out towards the wall.

He felt his right arm grab a corner as his body swung directly at the wall. The metal hit against his gut and he felt winded, the air rushing out of his lungs. He held on as tightly as he could, his hand slightly slipping because of all of the sweat he had on the palms of his hands.

The sun was setting in the distance as he kept holding onto the wall, clinging to it. He saw rusted nails on the wall, some of them exposing a sharp edge. He was able to see numbers and letters on the wall, faded and gray.

49 6c 6c 65 61

He wondered what it meant, but he wasn't in a great situation to think about it.

How would he get down? If the monster got bored, would he have to fall towards the ground? What if he couldn't hold himself up for that long?

The cold metal rang as the sound of claws dug into the metal. Melvin didn't even want to look down, but his eyes betrayed him as he looked towards the ground.

The Monster was clinging against metal as it started climbing up towards. That's when Melvin started to cry as he tried to pull himself up on top of the wall. Tears ran down his cheeks as he used all of his upper body strength to pull himself up. Before he could even make it halfway, though, his right hand slipped, grazing the metal and cutting itself against the rusted nail.

He cried out, yet he still held onto the wall, his hand drenched in sweat and now blood.

Tears blurred his vision as he continued to hold onto the wall, it becoming increasingly more difficult to hold on as pain was taking over his entire body. The metal clangs grew louder, and he knew the monster was still coming for him.

He was going to give up when he heard the sound of a whistle flying in the air. Then, he heard a roar down below him. He was dazed and confused, but he managed to look down to see the Monster, who was only a foot away from him, falling. An arrow was stuck in his eyes as the monster kept falling, landing on the ground in a pained roar.

Slyvien was in the distance, holding a bow in his right hand. Melvin felt safer now, but he knew it wasn't over.

Slyvien looked up at Melvin, he looked like he was evaluating the situation. He was trying to figure out what to do. Melvin felt dizzy as he looked back at his hand. He just needed to keep holding a little bit longer. He could do it.

He heard another soft whistle sound as an arrow flew up to meet him, landing on the wall a few inches away from him. Tied to the arrow was a rope that Slyvien was tying the other end to a tree.

The monster was moving still, breathing. Melvin knew he had to hurry if he wanted to survive. He raised his good hand towards the rope. Feeling the rope on the tips of his fingers, he grabbed the rope with a tight grip. He then put all of his strength into his left arm as he let go of the wall. He started falling, feeling a burn on his left hand as he tried to stop himself.

He slowed down, but he was still falling. He took his right hand and grabbed the rope with two hands, wincing as he felt the rope burn his already injured hand.

He managed to slow down to a stop, his body swinging again as this time he swung backward, hitting his back against the metal. He sobbed in pain, finally letting go of the rope.

His vision grew black as the pain in his body was now a distant memory. The last thing he remembered was landing, but not on the ground. He was able to land into Slyvien's arms before finally going unconscious.

~0~0~

It was eerily quiet in the bunker. Ever since Slyvien left no one wanted to talk. Griffin watched as Lou comforted everyone, just like she normally did.

From the bunker, there was a loud, earth-shattering roar. Lou looked up at the bunker door, her expression changing from calm and collected to nervous. She ran her fingers over her knives, looking away from the bunker door and going over to the Journalist, Pink.

Griffin looked away, not wanting to get caught watching her. He grabbed his new sword since his other one was dull and dented. He wasn't able to swing it or anything fancy, since everyone was pretty much crowded together in this tight room.

This was probably one of Griffin's least favorite things to do in this whole camp. He didn't like to wait, and he especially didn't want to be stuck for god knows how long with little children. Especially since Melvin was the one who was out.

There was a knock on the bunker door, causing Lou to stand up quickly. The knock was a code that they all knew, if they got locked out they had to knock three times to get back into the bunker.

Lou climbed up the ladder, taking the hatch and opening the bunker door.

"Oh god." She murmured.

Lou raised her arms, grabbing someone and pulling them down into the bunker. Melvin was in her arms, and immediately Griffin felt anger rising in his chest as he saw his hand, which was bleeding.

Simon immediately stood up, walking over to Melvin and taking him from Lou.

Slyvien came into the Bunker, closing the door behind him quickly.

"What happened to Melvin?" Shep asked, walking over to him, but then he was quickly stopped by Lou. Slyvien sighed slightly as he put down his bow and arrow.

"The Lookout Tower is destroyed. I'm assuming he was in there, trying to get away from the Craindre. He was holding onto the top of the wall, and the Craindre was climbing up. I was able to shoot the monster down and get a rope up to him, but he fell unconscious when he hit his back against the wall." Slyvien explained.

Everyone frowned and grew silent.

"That's not all, a lot has been destroyed too. The Barn for one…" Slyvien said, sighing as he looked at Zara, who had a look of concern and sadness.

Zara stood up, "What about Lilly?"

"Gone," Slyvien stated.

Zara's shoulders slumped as she leaned against the wall again.

"That means we don't have any milk anymore." Beth spoke up, "but maybe we could salvage some meat from her…"

"The Craindre didn't leave much of Lilly. A few bones, maybe," Slyvien leaned against the wall, "not to mention the crops it trampled on."

Griffin looked over to Simon, who was wrapping Melvin's hands in bandages. Griffin stood up, "What are you saying? We don't have any food?"

"Not much." Slyvien answered, "Unless…"

"Unless?" Griffin asked, crossing his arms. Lou shook her head and rolled her eyes, but she stayed quiet as Slyvien explained.

"Unless we can kill that Craindre and take its meat."

"You can't do that!" Diana spoke up, standing up. Everyone glanced at her. Griffin rolled his eyes and grabbed his sword. She was crazy, of course, he was going to try.

"We can and will." Griffin huffed, "Is it still alive?"

"Yeah, but from the fall, it should have at least injured itself. It might still be there if we hurry." Slyvien explained. Griffin started walking towards the ladder before he felt someone grab his shirt.

"Don't be a moron, Griffin." Lou stated, "Shep and Aidan, go with Griffin."

"I'll go too.." Slyvien started to say, but Lou shook her head.

"You can rest, Slyvien. You've done so much today." Lou stated with a small smile on her face. Sylvien hesitated, then nodded slightly.

"I can do this by myself." Griffin huffed, trying to get away from Lou, but her grip was tight. Aidan grabbed a knife as Shep took out his two daggers. Griffin rolled his eyes, but Lou kept on holding his shirt until the three of them were outside.

When they had gotten to the wreckage of the tower and the barn, the Craindre was nowhere in sight, there was only a brown-like stain where they assumed it was before.

When they returned to the bunker, the mood was grim just like it was before.

Lou rubbed her temples, biting her bottom lip in frustration, "All this damage from one Craindre…" she muttered.

Slyvien grunted, "It was giant. At least ten feet long and seven feet high."

The room grew silent.

"However big it was, you still should have been able to kill it," Griffin spoke, looking at Slyvien. Slyvien glared.

"I'm not sure if you are aware, but Melvin almost died. My main goal was to protect Mel." Slyvien spat, "It's not like you care since you take more pride in your hair than in this camp." Slyvien crossed his arms.

Ash burst out in laughter, "Ha, he's right."

Griffin growled slightly, but before he could say anything Lou groaned.

"We should have a board meeting, discuss our next actions and what we are going to do about Lilly," Lou stated simply.

Griffin nodded in agreement, "We'll need everyone."

"No." Lou replied, looking at Griffin, "Not everyone. Some people need to sleep, Griffin. Let's have this meeting with Slyvien, Ash, and Zara. Simon, please take care of Melvin. Everyone else can go back to their rooms for the night."

Griffin hated when Lou was right. He sighed, climbing up the ladder as the rest followed. He watched as Simon took Melvin into the Main hall, where there were medical supplies.

Someone bumped into Griffin as he was watching Melvin get carried into the Main Hall. He turned to see Beth, who was trying to comfort Zara in the process.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Beth explained, smiling ever so slightly towards him. Griffin smiled right back, running a hand through his long blonde hair.

"That's quite alright." He stated as he spun his sword in his hand. He could see the dreamy look she gave him. She had done so before. Griffin grinned right at her, and he could see her swoon in admiration.

He heard Lou clear her throat behind him. Beth looked at Lou, blinking.

"Stop wasting time, Griffin." Lou simply stated before looking at Zara. She spun around and headed towards the Board Room. Griffin smirked slightly as he looked back at Beth.

"Have a nice night." He said simply, then walked into the board room, where everyone except Zara, who was right behind him.

"Now that we have everyone…" Lou stated, leaning both of her hands against the table that held all of the papers of maps and journals, "Let's get started."

"What are we going to do now that the cow is dead?" Griffin asked. Zara winced slightly. Lou looked over at Zara and sighed slightly.

"Her name was Lilly," Lou explained, setting a hard glare towards Griffin, "Lilly was providing us with Milk, Cheese, and recently butter. Now that Lilly is gone, We will have to stick to the supplies and resources we have."

"It's not much." Zara spoke up, "The Craindre destroyed a bunch of the crops I was growing. I have enough to plant more, but that'll take a few months. I haven't gotten the chance to look at our supplies, but by looking at the damage, it can't be good…"

Lou sighed, "How long do you think our food will last?"

Zara looked around the room, shaking her head, "I don't know for sure, I would have to check… but if I had to guess? At the most… a month.."

Griffin exhaled slightly, Lou's fingers hovering over her daggers.

"That's not going to happen." Lou stated, "We aren't going to starve to death. I'd rather have the Craindre kill everyone here than let that happen." Lou looked back up at Zara, "Go check right now, make sure you get everything we have. Then, we'll see what we can do."

Zara nodded, walking out of the room, Lou looking over towards Ash, "Ash, would you mind checking the damage on the walls tomorrow morning?"

Ash sighed but nodded.

Griffin had to admire the drive and determination Lou had on her face. She was stunning when she was focused. Griffin tore his eyes away from Lou, holding the hilt of his sword tighter.

"Slyvien and Ash, you two can go back to your rooms," Griffin ordered. Slyvien scoffed but exited the room.

"Of course, Your Highness." Ash laughed, bowing before she exited the room. He rolled his eyes, once again glancing at Lou, who was focusing on a map.

"You know I'll do that ten times better than you actually can," Griffin smirked and leaned against his new sword.

Lou shook her head, "Not in the mood, Griffin. Go pick on someone else. Or go wash your hair or something."

Griffin scoffed, "I'm just stating the facts- I'm better at reading those maps than you are." Griffin joked to her, though it sounded ruder out loud than what he meant.

Lou chuckled bitterly, "Go chop wood, Griffin. I'm busy."

Griffin sighed slightly, turning towards the door. Lou annoyed him so much, it made him so mad to think that she was bossing him around. He clenched his fingers into the palm of his hand, gritting his teeth slightly.

"Why was Melvin in the Lookout Tower? He should have gone to the bunker."

Lou was silent before quietly saying, "He seemed upset… about the body...I thought he would enjoy seeing the sunset on the Lookout Tower."

Griffin huffed slightly, "Oh, so it's your fault then."

Lou was silent. Griffin scoffed, going to leave when a dagger flew right by him, landing in the door. Griffin froze, staring at the dagger before he turned to see Lou, glaring directly at him.

"Next time, I won't miss," Lou said quietly, her voice filled with fear, anger, and guilt. She walked past him, bumping into his shoulder as she opened the door. She grabbed her dagger that was stuck on the door as she walked away into the night.

Phew this was a long one, haha! Thanks to Marie for the Beta of this chapter, I look forward to working with you again! Reviews appreciated!