Chapter 27
In front of Derek's house, Howard anxiously trails Tom as they approach the front yard, passing by an icicle-draped snowman, just like the one Max and Mary saw earlier but even more grotesque. Howard said, "I'm tellin' ya, Tommy, these damn gangs wait for natural disasters then swoop in like vultures and start lootin'. We gotta get back to the house, warn the others—"
Tom interrupted him. "And we will, but first we find Beth."
On the porch, they find the door smashed open, pummeled by something huge. Tom and Howard exchange a look, then raise their guns and enter the foyer. Flashlights reveal everything in shambles, shattered ornaments, broken candy canes, and crushed gifts. As if someone shook the entire house like a snow globe. Tom called out for them. "Beth...? Derek?"
Howard waves at Tom using military hand signals, but Tom shrugs - he has no idea what Howard's saying. Howard told him, "I said I'll check upstairs!"
Tom said to him, "Don't be stupid, we stick together."
They proceed down the hall into the kitchen. Flashlights sweep the room. Glass crunches under their feet. The walls and floors are splattered with MILK... and blood. Howard takes photos of everything with his phone. Noticing the open refrigerator, Tom closes the door to find a Gingerbread man pinned to the other side by a kitchen knife, its tiny face twisted in agony. Weird. Howard said, "Whoever did this was one demented sonofabitch." He snaps off one of the gingerbread man's legs and eats it. Someone was watching Tom and Howard search the room. But this person is oddly small enough to hide under a table. Then a sound from the living room. Something moving? Tom and Howard follow it, but as they exit, something small darts across the kitchen and into the shadows. In the living room, they find the room covered in snow, windows smashed, smoldering logs, and ash all over the floor. Tom inspects some broken toys next to shattered photos including Derek and Beth's prom picture. He picks it up, flooded with emotion. Howard tried to comfort his brother-in-law. "We'll find her, Tommy." Tom nods, holding it together as they continue their search. It looks like the fireplace exploded all over the room, and in the spewed ash, Tom spots claw marks. Two long trails scraped along the floor and into the blackened hearth. "Maybe some poor sap fell into the fire, so they dragged him out. "
Tom said, "Yeah, or dragged in..."
Howard looks closer, Tom might be right. But wait—"What about that?" Howard points to strange footprints in the ash. "I've hunted a lot of game in my day, Tom. Those are goddamn hooves. Big ones too. Maybe an elk or a goat."
Tom asked, "Yeah, but what kind of goat walks on its hind legs?" Howard snaps more photos when distant screams echo outside. "BETH?!"
Tom charges into the snow, listening to the shrieks, as Howard struggles to keep up. Howard tried to keep up. "TOM! TOM, WAIT!"
Tom reaches the street - spins around – Beth's screams seem to echo all around him, bouncing off the darkened houses. Tom tried to call out again. "BETH?! Where are you?" Her screams echo everywhere.
Tom heads into the fog while behind him, Howard is to his thighs, wading through the snow when he's stuck. His right foot won't move. Caught on something? "What the—" CRUNCH! Something under the snow bites into Howard's leg. Howard screams, flailing—drops his shotgun as he is tossed around like a ragdoll. "TOM! GAH - HELP ME! HELP MEEE!"
They can hear the sounds of some unseen creature growling under the snow like a monstrous shark. Howard's then dragged away, about to get pulled under the snow when Tom's hand lunges grabbing Howard. "HANG ON, HOWARD! JUST HANG ON!"
Howard screamed, "SOMETHIN' DOWN THERE - it's got me- think it's eating me!" Then, even in this chaos, Tom suddenly catches a glimpse of a dozen snowmen watching from the yards. They're perfectly still, but they are watching, and smiling. And each time Tom's eyes dart to look at one, somehow, impossibly, the snowmen seem to get closer. Tom is stunned. "GODDAMMIT TOM!" Tom snaps out of it - tries pulling Howard free again - playing a painful game of tug-of-war with whatever the hell is under the snow. All we hear are its carnal grunts. Tom almost has Howard free when CRUNCH! The thing bites down again. Hot blood spreads through icy white. "OH GOD OH GOD IT HURTS IT HURTS! PULL ME OUT, PULL ME OOOUTTT!" In a flash, Tom stands - gun raised. "Tommy...?" POP! POP! POP! Tom fires - and on the fourth POP -
Back at the house, at the same time, the whole family springs to their feet, hearing the gunshots. Aunt Dorothy said, "Suppose those were squirrels too."
Back to the men, Tom has fired into the snow, missing Howard by inches. Then a pained muffled cry as the unseen creature screeches and tunnels away under the snow like a demented Bugs Bunny. Tom grabs the shotgun and helps Howard to his feet. Howard cringes in agony and sees the bloody bite wound on his leg. Howard screamed, "What the hell was that thing?!"
Tom answered, "I don't know but we have to move, NOW!" They take off, Tom supporting Howard as he limps along.
On the rooftop, someone was watching the men hobble through the street below. Raspy breaths condensing into swirling clouds...Moments later, the men round a corner, and both freeze in their tracks, gawking. Howard saw his truck. "No no - oh God... LUCINDA!?" The hummer is in flames and Howard is in tears. And then a long howl echoes in the darkness inhuman and terrifying. "Why is this happening?"
Tom had enough. "Christ, c'mon!" They keep going.
