Woods of Madness

XI

Grabbing everything of importance that we could carry, we quickly exited the house and began walking fast. We stuck close to each other, ensuring that there were eyes on every single part of the forest. As we were walking, we heard a rustle in the bushes, coming from my left. We all quickly turned and pointed our guns at it, but as soon as we did, it stopped.

"That better not be some critter," the captain said.

"I-I doubt there are any normal animals here," Charles said sheepishly.

We continued to move, with Charles and Martin keeping an eye on the bush just in case something popped up. Then the rustling sound was heard again, this time right in front of us. We could see the bushes moving ever so slightly. We raised our weapons, and just as we were about to fire, it stopped.

"What the fuck is this? I've had enough of these goddamn games!" the captain yelled. I put my hand on his shoulder, attempting to calm him down, but just then, the rustling started again. This time, it was much louder. When we looked around us, it was as if every single bush in the woods had begun to shake. They were all moving frantically and loudly. I pondered what we were supposed to do. Are we surrounded? What on earth is going to happen now?

Luckily, it all stopped almost as soon as it began. Now, the only thing left was pure silence, with only the sound of our breaths. I could tell that the others felt the same way, struggling not to breathe frantically but trying to keep calm under pressure as much as they could. I blinked a few times, my eyes watery. I rubbed them and looked down. I fell so tired, so weak.

 I felt something, something touching my arm, pulling my uniform. I looked to my side and saw the doctor pulling the uniform of both me and Charles. I saw the doctor, his face full of pure disbelief and horror. He himself looked as if he had seen the devil himself.

Do I dare look at what's in front? I mustered up the courage and looked in front of me. My heart stopped beating for a second, and then it beat so hard I could hear it. In front of me stood a tall figure covered in shadows. I couldn't make out its key features, but I had seen enough to recognize it. At first, I had to rub my eyes several more times, hoping and praying that I was dreaming. But I wasn't.

 The thing in front of me was as tall as the trees. Its torso was that of a man, but it had a massive, bulbous head and enormously long arms with massive claws. A single claw must be as long as a small car. Its strangest feature was its long legs, resembling those of a spider. I can't believe what I'm seeing. Thank god for the darkness, as I don't think I'll be able to handle seeing it in pure light. The mere sight of this thing was enough to kill me. I don't even want to know what it could do to me physically.

I looked over at Charles and Martin, who were still frozen in fear. I looked at the captain, who was looking in every direction. I looked around and saw many more of these freaks. They had us surrounded.

"Kill them! Kill them all!" the captain yelled and fired his sGt. We had no choice, so we fired as well, shooting every single one of them. After nearly 2 minutes of firing, we saw how pointless it all was. None of them budged. They were unaffected by our bullets, and they began to move slowly towards us.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Martin let out an ear-piercing scream. It looked like he had been driven mad. The captain grabbed him, and I pushed Charles to move. We went into the house and saw that the creatures were picking up the pace. They were almost near us.

"Oh god, oh god, we're all going to die!" Charles screamed and cried. The captain went down to his knees.

"Please God, have mercy on us," Martin laid down. He was almost lifeless, and I couldn't take anymore. I took the gun and put it to my chin, placed my finger on the trigger, and closed my eyes. It's over... 1... 2... wait.

My eyes opened. I remembered. "The cellar... we need to get to the cellar."

"W-will that be enough to save us?" Charles asked skeptically.

"I-I don't know, but it's our only chance." We all rushed down to the basement and opened the cellar, going inside, locking it, and barricading the door. We sat in the corner, almost hugging each other, hoping for the best.