Wes shone his flashlight in front of him, making his way from the cabin to the road a bit away. The snow crunched beneath his feet, no longer glowing in the twilight. Sohinki emitted a grunt of frustration as he pushed a branch out of his face, to which a Lasercorn chuckled lightly. The trio finally made their way to the intersection, joined by a steadily growing crowd of people. The stoplight and a few streetlights lit the scene well enough, but it was steadily growing darker. People were murmuring, newcomers were gasping, and a woman was crying, holding onto her husband tightly. Wes slowly made his way to the front of the crowd, closest to the accident, followed closely behind by Sohinki and Lasercorn.
"Oh man…" Lasercorn inhaled sharply, looking at the wreck.
"Up close it's even worse." Sohinki replied, rubbing his beard nervously. Sohinki looked at an older man standing next to him, talking to a man who was presumably his friend. He tapped his shoulder, and the man turned to face him, a grayed eyebrow raising in question.
"Uh sir, do you know what happened here?" Sohinki asked, gesturing the scene. The man let out an incredulous laugh.
"Not sure son. Craziest thing I've ever seen." The mans' friend nodded, voicing his own words of dismay. Sohinki nodded, thanking him anyways. He gestured to Wes and Lasercorn, the three going up to inspect the front of the ambulance, carefully maneuvering around the broken glass on the ground. The airbags had deployed, making it hard to see whoever was driving. Sohinki squinted, standing on tiptoe to try and look in.
"I can't tell if the drivers' alive or not, or the passenger…the airbag makes it hard to see."
"I doubt he is, the crash was totally head on." Lasercorn replied, surveying the scene with Sohinki. The two watched as Wes nodded, biting his lip. He ran his hand through his hair, and pointed at the back.
"Should we open it? Like the back, to check it out?" Wes asked, more somber than the group had ever seen him.
"Why? Are you sure? The paramedics could be on their way." Sohinki answered, nervous.
"These are the paramedics though, somebody could've been back there…" Wes answered, unsure of what to do. He heard an angry sigh from behind him, and two pairs of feet stomping up to join them.
"Are you kids going to just keep standing there? Someone could be hurt!" The same older man from before grunted at them, his ever silent friend nodding behind him, arms crossed. Wes began to stutter out an apology, but the pair had already shoved passed them and threw open the doors. The people who could see the back of the ambulance gasped, and a few people screamed. Lasercorn jumped back, grabbing onto Sohinki's arm, who grasped him in return. Wes's eyes gaped as he took in the scene in front of him, reeling backward. The back of the ambulance looked to be painted in blood, a paramedic having been thrown into the side of the vehicle during the accident. Wes felt his stomach churning as he looked at the splattered gore, the paramedic looking like he didn't even have a torso anymore. He felt more churning waves of nausea, and immediately turned around and threw up on the ground, emitting more screams from the ever-growing crowd. Sohinki and Lasercorn gasped, eyes widening. Sohinki ran up and began rubbing Wes's back, and looking up wildly. Once Wes had finished, he moaned, sitting down properly on the ground, clutching his head in his hands. Lasercorn kneeled down next to him, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay man. We know you have a weak stomach, just chill here a sec while we check to make sure no one else is in there." Lasercorn said gently, watching as Sohinki turned to the two older men.
"There was a driver and someone else up front, we couldn't tell if he was hurt or not, and the engines could cause an explosion." Sohinki told them, and the two nodded and went up front. He went back to Wes and Lasercorn, checking to make sure Wes wasn't throwing up anymore. A couple moments passed, when moaning could be heard coming from the ambulance. Sohinki frowned and stood up, looking into the back of the vehicle, trying to ignore the blood and gore. A man strapped to a stretcher inside groaned, and Sohinki gasped.
"Sir, are you alive?" he asked, gesturing for Lasercorn to come over. The orange haired man joined him, relieved that someone was alive in the car.
"Yeah, I'm alive. What happened?" The man replied, groaning again.
"Your ambulance got into a wreck, you crashed with another car. I think you survived cause you're strapped to that stretcher." Sohinki answered, noting the multiple belts and restraints that held the contraption in place. Lasercorn frowned, concerned.
"How come you're in the ambulance anyway? Are you okay?" he asked, looking back and forth from Sohinki to the man.
"I was on the ski slopes, and got lost. Frostbite, and hypothermia." The man muttered back, obviously very tired and in pain.
"Well, just hang on tight sir, I'm not sure if its' safe to move you yet." Sohinki replied, and turned back around to a commotion behind them.
"Hey! I'm not sure you should move them around like that! I'd be careful!" Wes exclaimed, still sitting a couple feet from the ambulance. The two older men had dragged the driver and passenger from the van, laying them on the ground behind the ambulance. The two who had been pulled from the wreck appeared unconscious, and were both EMT's. The older men crouched over them, ignoring Wes. Lasercorn stepped closer to survey the scene, and quickly remembered their cabin supply.
"Hey, would a first aid kit be of any use? We have one back in our cabin, and-" he began, pointing up the hill behind them. The man turned to face him, clearly frustrated with the trio.
"Kid, are you thick? There's an ambulance right there! It's full of medical supplies!" he exclaimed, giving Lasercorn a dirty look. Lasercorn looked embarrassed, and mumbled an apology. By this time Wes had stood up to join them, and the three were about to turn their attention back to the wreck when one of the EMT's suddenly shot up into a sitting position, facing the older man. The crowd gasped, and a woman was in the process of saying "oh, thank goodness!" when the EMT suddenly grabbed the older man. Wes, Lasercorn, and Sohinki watched in shock as the EMT sunk his teeth into the mans' neck, blood spurting out as he tore a huge chunk out of the tissue. Lasercorn screamed at the top of his lungs, Wes lunged forward to pull the older man out of harms' way, and Sohinki jumped backwards, about to spring for the cabin.
"AUYYGGHH HES A FUCKIN' ZOMBIE!" Sohinki screeched, pointing at the scene. The crowd screamed in turn, and everyone began running, it beginning to turn into a mass panic. Sohinki began to bolt for the cabin, but stopped when he realized that Lasercorn and Wes weren't with him. Lasercorn had run half the way, but was watching Wes pull the older man away from the former EMT. He was struggling, the former EMT, this creature, still holding on to his new meal for dear life. The creature then faced Wes, and swung at him, spraying blood on his face.
"WES, RUN!" Lasercorn screamed, looking back at Sohinki wildly. Wes scooted away from the creature quickly, partially blinded from blood in his eyes. He scrubbed at his face furiously, clambering up and taking off toward the cabin. Once they saw Wes was following them, Sohinki and Lasercorn took off running as well, having a bit of a head start on Wes. They raced through the trees, the screaming behind them slowly becoming a drone of noise. Once they saw the cabin in the distance, Sohinki began screeching, hoping beyond hope that Joven could somehow hear him.
"JOVEN! JOVEN! OPEN THE DOOR!" he repeated over and over again, the cabin becoming closer and closer. He stole a quick glance behind him, where Lasercorn was just a few paces away. Lasercorn was screaming for Joven as well, but Sohinki took a sharp inhale as he saw Wes a significantly further distance away. Sohinki gulped nervously, looking at the ever-closer cabin.
The creature was matching Wes' pace.