The Carriers

Chapter Fourteen

It

    My heart was beating so fast I felt like it could burst out of my chest at any moment. I began to shake badly enough that I didn't want to move, but I knew I had to. I knew I had to get away.

    "What?" Aiva yelled. "What is that?"

    "I said run!"

    "I'm not leaving-"

    "I'm right behind you!" I interrupted, getting frustrated that she was wasting time. "Go!"

    With a panicking look, she took off running toward the ship. It surprised me how fast she was, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with her.

    I took off after her. I was terrified, but I was grateful that my fighting instinct kicked in right then; I knew I had to protect myself and the others back at the ship. I ran as fast as I possibly could, maybe even faster than I ever had before.

    I knew I had to get away, or else I would likely be killed. I knew what was behind us, it was the creature that was trying to get into the ship on our first night. I didn't know how I knew it, but I did. Maybe it was the noise that it was making, maybe it was just intuition. Either way, I knew what it was, and I knew that nobody was safe.

    I just kept running. My adrenaline was pumping so hard that I barely even noticed the fatigue from running. I just kept going forward.

    I could hear noises behind me, but I couldn't look back. I refused to look back. I don't know what exactly I saw, but I saw enough to know I had to get away.

First there was the original flash of black that I saw behind the bush. Then, there was the noise that it made. I wasn't scared until I saw them, it's eyes. They were yellow, and they were big, and they were brutal.

    It was its cruel, unforgiving eyes that told me I needed to run. As soon as I saw them I was petrified. They lacked mercy, and that's was terrified me.

    I kept running until I saw the ship. Aiva was already inside; she must have told him what happened, because Matthew was outside in a second.

"Olivia!" He cried out, not yet seeing me.

"I'm here!" I yelled back.

His expression almost made me forget why I was running. The look of relief on his face warmed my heart, but I knew that I wasn't done running yet.

As I sprinted toward the ramp, the doors began to shut. I panicked; images of the doors shutting on me and being mauled by that thing flooded my head. I shook them away and kept running.

Matthew stood at the door with his hand extended to me as the doors kept closing. "Come on!"

Merely a second or two before the door closed, I reached Matthew. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me inside.

We stood there for a moment, his arms around me pulling my body close to his. I clenched my shaking hands around the fabric of his shirt. For a moment, everything was silent.

"I thought lost you for a second there." He whispered in my ear, still holding me tight.

"Never." I whispered back.

He sighed a sigh of relief. "That's why I didn't want you going out alone."

"Oh, Matt. It's eyes-" I stopped. "They were so brutal."

"What did it look like? -Never mind it doesn't matter." He leaned back to where he could see me. "You could've died."

"I know." I admitted. "I won't go out alone again, I promise."