Dark of Dawn

...

Farkle stumbled to walk. He could barely stand on his two feet as Zay pulled him foward, he could barely hear him.

His head ached as it was hard to process anything. They jumped; that was all he could remember.

"Farkle," Zay barked in order to get his attention.

He nodded.

"C'mon we gotta go. It'll be back..."

"I can't," he breathed as he fell down. "I give up, Zay. This...whatever the hell it is ... was not human. I saw it."

"That's why we need to run. We need to warn Maya, Lucas and Riley."

Farkle shook his head. "You're gonna have to leave without me." He sat down on the snow and buried his head in between his knees.

Zay sat next to Farkle once again and patted his back, "Can I tell you something?"

The genius scoffed giving Zay a light smile. "It's something serious. It's why i'm here."

Farkle turned to Zay, signaling for him to continue.

He took a deep breath and played with the snow for a while, "I'm going to be a dad."

"What?"

He took out the letter in his pockets and handed it to Farkle. He was quick to open it and read it:

Dear Zay,

When you left Texas to go back to New York I felt like something was missing. You weren't the same as before and something in me wanted to ask you if there was another girl. I didn't know if I was being told the truth when you said you missed me and I didn't know if you stil felt the same about me. I let the stress get to me and I kept throwing up. I had stomach aches and craved a whole bunch of other foods that I never liked before. I didn't want to tell you because something in me already knew. I'm pregnant Zay. With your child.

I don't know how to end this letter but if you don't want the kid, i'll be taking care of it. I've always wanted to be a mother and with the success of my fathers ranch, I don't see me anywhere in life but a home filled with my children in it.

Sincerely,

Vanessa

Farkle kept staring at the letter seconds after he finished. "Congrats man..."

"I wanted to forget. But now, that's all I think about."

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know, man. I got into Sac State, and that's on the other side of the country."

"Only time will tell," Farkle advised. "When we get out of this, you'll see her face-to-face and you'll know what you'll want to do."

"I hope so. Now," Zay stood up. "Was that enough to get you on your two feet?"

He chuckled, "Yeah. It was."

"Okay. Then hurry up. We should go before - "

It was too late.

Zay spotted something jumping around from tree to tree, "Let's go."

He has never ran that fast in his life, when he turned around he was surprised to see that Farkle was keeping up. Once he turned to look forward, one of those monsters stood there in front of him. He stopped, but managed to fall in front of it.

It jumped on him, but before it can make contact with it Zay put his hands out, hitting the monster in the face. Zay made contact with it's rough skin, but this time he yelled out in pain.

Farkle balled a pile of snow into his hands and threw it at the monster. 'It' turned around and jumped high in the air.

He didn't move, he could only stare at it.

Midair, the man stepped in and aimed his gun towards the monster. "RUN. MORE ARE COMING!"

Farkle ran towards Zay and from there they ran towards the lodge.

Lucas had his wounded foot placed on Riley's lap as she wrapped sterile bandage on it. The two sat on the couch placed inside the Minkus Living Room. A long sense of silence dawned on them as neither of them knew how to escape it. His cut wasn't as deep as she expected and hardly any blood was shed.

"What do we do now?" Riley asked as Lucas lifted his foot from her lap.

"We wait. Isn't that what you wanted in the first place?"

"That was before we were being chased down by that murderer," the brunette clarified. "I don't feel safe here."

"Neither do I but where the hell are we gonna go? It's not like we're surrounded by neighbors -"

Lucas stopped once he heard pounding at the door, he took one step forward but grimaced at the sight of pain.

"I got it," she stated, sitting him down.

Riley's trepidation subsided once she realized it was Farkle and Zay at the door. She quickly opened the door and let them in. "What happened? Where were you?"

"Lock it," Farkle breathed resting his hands on his knees, gasping for air. "The door...lock it."

Riley did as told.

"Zay, bud? What the hell happened?" Lucas asked impatiently.

"A man," he calmly breathed. "There was this man we found in a tunnel. He was fighting off this kind of monster with a fire machine and he saved our lives. He told us to run -"

"Okay. What about the fire tower? Did you contact anyone for help?"

Farkle and Zay exchanged looks before they shook their heads no.

"Oh God," Riley cried.

"We're gonna have to wait it out then..."

"Where? The fucking basement?" Riley questioned. "We have no place to go!"

"The guest cabin..." Lucas suggested, his voice cracking in the process.

"No. We can't go outside!" Farkle affirmed.

"Then?"

"We stay inside. We turn off all the lights and we try to go to sleep-!"

"You're an idiot-"

"And you're just some dumbass who embarasses people for a living!" the Genius clapped back.

For the millionth time that day silence once again induced thoughts of life and death. Riley dreaded the fear inside her just as much as the fear shown. "Our lives are in jeapardy..." she began. "Do you think it's right to turn on each other?"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

All heads jerked in the direction of the door. "What the hell can that be?"

"I think I know who," Farkle announced as he made his way towards the door.

Once the man walked inside the room; he stopped and watched as all eyes were on him. "Boo," was all he could say before he started laughing.

Farkle closed the door and made sure it was locked before he stepped in front of the man. "That's it?"

"No," he waved them off into the living room. "Let me say what I came to say."

"You should never have returned," the man stated as they entered the living room. "You have no idea what you're up against on this mountain."

"What is he talking about?" Riley asked as she turned to Farkle.

"I don't-Idon't know," he stammered.

"Any man or woman who resorts to cannibalism in these mountains may there be forgiveness in such horrible sin. Now listen to me. I'm only gonna tell you this once. Don't matter if you believe me or not."

Riley stood up and shook her head. "Will you get to the point?"

"This mountain is cursed. It dwells in manipulation, fear, hunger...once you give in...there's no going back."

"What do we do then?"

"There's a basement in this lodge, right?"

All heads nodded.

"Go there."

"No," Lucas firmly stated. "It's not safe down there."

"Why not?"

"A man attacked us. He had a gun and wore a mask."

"What?" the man carrying a flamethrower asked.

"We can't go down there. Is there another way - ?"

Screek!

"Shit," the man cursed. "They're back."

"Where do we go?" Farkle inqueried.

"Do you know how to use a gun?" the man asked Lucas.

He nodded.

"Have at it," he handed him the gun. "If you see him...shoot him in the knee. No place else. Understood?"

Lucas nodded.

"I'll be down there once i'm done taking care of these. Stay safe."

Once he walked out Riley noticed he dropped something. She waited until he left the lodge so she can saunter towards it. The brunette kneeled down and picked up what he dropped. For a second she didn't know what it us, she flipped it over and that's when she realized what it was.

In her hands...was the phone she lost.

Lucas held onto the gun, scared for his life. He didn't know what he should do. What would he do if out of the no where the man showed up and attacked them? How would he react? Would he shoot?

The room they were in was fairly small. Riley pointed out that there was a door behind a bunch of boxes Stuart had stored up. Now, while Zay blankly stared at his shoes and Farkle ran his hands through his hair; Lucas began to realize Smackle was no where with them.

"Wait," he spoke out as he stood up and looked all over the room.

"What happened?" Zay immediately asked. "What's wrong?"

"Smackle. Where is she?"

Riley stood up noticing she wasn't with them.

Zay sighed as he hung his head.

"Guys...where is she?"

"She's dead," Farkle answered firmly.

Riley began to cry, "Oh God. What the hell?"

"How?"

"We were surrounded by deer on a cliff and..." his voice quavered.

"One of the deers knocked her down the cliff," Zay concluded.

"Where's Maya?" Farkle asked as if his heart wasn't with him.

"She was eviscerated," the brunette answered after a seconds pause.

"What?"

"It was the guy who tried to attack us when we were in the guest cabin. He made me choose..." Lucas dejectedly advised.

The four of them stayed quiet. In that time Farkle took out the backpack the man handed him, he opened it up and took out a knife and many books. He examined the knife before reading the book.

"Can we just focus on how we're going to get the fuck out of here?"

"We can't," Farkle stated.

"I don't know about you but I still haven't given up hope. I will not die this weekend, none of us will," the brunette paced the room. "We need to live to tell this story."

"That's what you're concerned about?"

"About telling everyone that there's monsters on these mountains?" she questioned. "Then yeah!. Someone needs to take care of this problem."

"Guys check this out," Farkle stood up and placed the book on a table in front of them. "This is all the documentation he's kept on these monsters."

The group huddled up behind him to examine the book and get a closer look.

"Zay," Riley called out cautiously. "What's-what's that?"

"What?" he questioned.

"The bite," she pointed. "What bit you?"

He looked at the bite mark, "It bit me. It doesn't even hurt anymore."

"What bit you?" Lucas clarified.

"The monster."

"What?"

"It's nothing. It's not that big of a deal."

"Zay," he put his hands out so they can remain a safe distance. "If that thing bit you-"

"I know what you're thinking. But i'm fine. I completely forgot about it."

"If that thing bit you. You can turn into one."

"That's ridiculous," Farkle said.

"That's how it worked. It's cannibalism - "

"He was bitten. Not eaten."

Lucas placed a hand on either temple and said, "You gotta go."

"WHAT?!"

"You're putting us in danger."

"Bullshit!"

"You'll turn on us," Lucas stated. "We can't trust you."

"Okay so if a dog bites you'll you turn into one?" Farkle defended. "We don't know if it workds that way. It could just be a bite."

"I'm letting you do this voluntarily."

"No. You're just making yourself feel better by kicking me out of here knowing all to well that there is a killer and a monster there ready to shred me to pieces like it did with Maya."

"Just get out!" Riley demanded.

Lucas aimed the gun he had at Zay. "Get out!"

"Calm down," Farkle spoke at Lucas.

"You're going to shoot me?" Zay asked in disbelief. "ME?"

"We're supposed to be safe in here and we're not if you're here."

"Just put the gun down. Guys...we're not going to do this. Don't shoot!"

Lucas stared hard at Zay as he aimed the gun at him. Could he do it? Is Lucas Friar capable of killing his best friend?

Riley looked away and covered her ears as she sat down. Farkle muttured a whole bunch of bad words while trying to calm Lucas down. Zay leaned himself on a wall not wanting to look at Lucas. His life was about to be over. Then, all that was heard...

was a gun fire.

Writers Note: Thank you so much for reading and what do you think happened? Who expected Zay to be a dad? Many moments led up to this. When Zay kept asking Farkle about his dad or not wanting to think about sex...anyone? Only two more chapters to go! What will happen? Will someone die? How will it end? So many questions that will be answered! In the next chapter the phsyco will be revealed and trust me, you won't see it coming! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Reviews:

Guest: Telling me to discontinue this story because I need to 'take another break' won't change my mind. I took a break for personal reasons and if you don't enjoy my story, kindly go somewhere else. onceuponatime2011 and taylorcochran are amazing writers and apparently you show interest in them, so go there. By exploring Zarkle I meant exploring their friendship because they aren't close. If my story (not storie) doesn't make sense then save your advice for someone who cares. I only let your review slide because I had something to say...

jaleftwich02: Interisting guess, but only time will tell. Which is tomorrow. ;) It's people like you who leave incredible compliments who make me continue and not the person above. Have an amazing day.

Eloi22: Luckily Farkle and Zay are okay...cept Zay, we don't know too much about him...yet. Don't worry, tomorrow you're answers will be revealed.

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