Chapter 3

The door slammed hard behind them as the creature lunged into it. Aaron and Emily jumped back, as if they had been hit themselves. A small whimper came through the door. But it slowly turned back into a growl as they heard the 'dog' backed up and lunged again. Its efforts were met with a loud metallic thump. They heard the creature back up again, then lunge. It gave off a high-pitched squeal, as the usual thump was followed closely by another. They kept their eyes on the door, waiting for another sound, but heard only silence.

Aaron pried his eyes away and finally took a look around them. They were in a small windowless room, illuminated only by the dim light swinging a few inches above their heads. It was filled with small piles of junk. The only other door Aaron saw lay slightly ajar in the corner, revealing only a tiny closet. He turned to Emily, as their situation slowly dawned on them.

"There's no other way out," he whispered, afraid to raise his voice much higher.

"You mean we have to go back out there?" Emily whispered, pointing a trembling finger at the door they had just ran through. Aaron surveyed the room again, and began nodding slowly.

"Yeah…but maybe we can find something in here to defend ourselves with." They each took a slow step away from the door, turned to separate sides of the room, and began to search. A thick silence hung over them, neither one sure of exactly what should or could be said. Emily stole a glance at Aaron, wanting desperately to break the silence, as it always made her uncomfortable. She noticed his head move slightly, and quickly whipped hers back around, suddenly embarrassed that she had been staring. She quickly rummaged through a pile right next to her, as if she were busy. She jumped a bit when she heard Aaron speak up.

"So how exactly did you end up in a place like this?" he asked, without looking up from the pile he was searching through. He seemed to be building up a small pile of makeshift weapons.

"I…I don't know," she said. "I woke up this morning, like I always do, and got ready for the day. Now that I think of it, that's when the silence started. I didn't hear anyone in any of the other apartments, but everyone else is usually either gone or still asleep when I left. I took the stairs down to the lobby of my apartment building, and walked out the front door…into this. I didn't realize it at first. I mean, it's usually foggy in this town so I just thought…I thought nothing of it. But as I got into my car, I notice a figure in the fog. It was limping towards me and I was worried that it was somebody who was injured. As I got closer, though, I noticed that it didn't seem to have a face, or arms, or anything. It looked as if it were just a mass of quivering skin. I ran back to my car and started, and…just ran it over. I was so frightened, I just ran it over."

Emily grew silent at the thought of it. Aaron could only guess at the reason.

"Did you ever know anyone who died, Emily?" He said, wishing he could pull the words back as soon as they escaped his lips. He didn't know why he suddenly had the urge to ask the question, but he hadn't meant to actually say it. He turned back to his work quickly, but knew it was too late. All he could do was sit in silence to see how she would react.

"I've only faced death once. Our family dog was hit by a car one day when she ran away." She stopped for a second, a tiny pained laugh filling the silence. "I can't even believe I remembered that. I was so sad when it happened, too. My dad drove out to where she had been found to pick her up. We had a proper burial and even a eulogy which I had demanded to write." She sighed as the last few words hung over them. They stood, looking at each other's eyes for a second, but pulled away from the awkwardness of the moment.

"Have…have you…ever faced…death?" Emily asked slowly. She looked carefully at Aaron to see how he would react to the question.

"Yeah," Aaron answered quietly. "Yeah, I have." He seemed reluctant to continue, afraid to bring up the past which he had worked so hard to forget. But, somehow, he knew he had to tell her.

"When I was six, my parents…were murdered." Emily gasped, her eyes widening.

"I'm…so…I'm so sorry." She said quickly.

"It's alright. As they always say, you didn't know. Besides I barely remember it myself. The only thing I remember is that I had a terrible nightmare that night. I went to my parents room…then all I remember is waking up in the backseat of a police car. There were police all around. I remember the lights being so bright. One of the police men saw me, came over, and told me everything. They didn't know who had done it, or how. But they wouldn't let me in to see." Aaron paused, looking down at the ground. "I caught a glimpse as they drove me away, though." He took a deep breath, a shimmer growing in his eyes. "There was…so…so much blood." His voice broke with a sob, as he quickly turned back to rummaging through the piles.

Emily stared at his back, mad at herself for bringing the topic up, and wanting to say something comforting. But she found herself completely speechless. She quietly turned and shuffled through her few remaining piles.

The silence hang between them, Aaron not wanting to bring up any more of his past, Emily not sure of what could be said. After a few more minutes of searching, Aaron finally stood upright, and turned to Emily.

"Well, I think this is all I'm gonna be able to get from here. There's some metal rods, some pieces of wood, and some random tools."

"Hmm…I think I'll go for the metal." Emily said with a slight chuckle. She grabbed one of the rods, and was surprised a bit at how heavy it was. She raised it awkwardly, and took a swing with it like a baseball player. Aaron jumped out of the way, as the makeshift bat almost struck his side.

"Awesome," he said as he reached down to grab his own weapon. He waved it a bit to feel it out. It was slightly heavy, but, as he held it, it seemed to become lighter—just perfect. He took his test swing, bringing it to a sharp stop right in front of Emily. She cringed slightly, then laughed.

"Careful, there, Mark McGuire," she teased. They stood chuckling at the joke, but slowly stopped as their eyes slowly moved to the door.

"I guess it's time for us to go." Aaron said quietly.

"But, to where? The entire town is shrouded in this fog and probably crawling with those monsters. You're the first person I've seen here."

"Maybe…maybe, what's happened here has only happened here. Maybe if we can get out of this town…I don't know…maybe we can find someone to help us."

"I guess…" Emily sighed. "I just want out of this nightmare." Aaron nodded, then turned and walked carefully towards the door. His hand shook slightly, as it wrapped around the doorknob. He turned it slowly, and pulled the door open. A small gasp came from behind him as Emily's eyes meet the same grotesque sight his were taking in. The creature laid, its legs sprawled out at awkward angles. Its head was twisted backwards, facing towards the ground. All of this on top of its already disturbing visage made it a terrible sight. They carefully stepped over it, heading towards the exit. A low rumble escaped from the creature. Aaron and Emily looked back at it, their eyes widening. They stood, too afraid to move, waiting to see what would happen. Aaron stepped slowly towards it to get a closer look.

"What are you doing?" Emily whispered sharply. Aaron waved a hand back at her, not taking his eyes of the dog. He stepped up to its side, but stepped back slightly as he saw its chest rise and fall slightly. It slowly raised its head, and turned its face towards Aaron. A cold look fell onto Aaron's face as it began to growl. He slowly rose his foot, placing it over the dog's face.

"Go to Hell," he said, bringing his foot down hard and crushing its skull.