Nighttime Excursion by Parker Johnson

The moon shot pale beams of light through the clouds, far above Zeke’s head. He slowly made his way down the road, carefully watching for any movement in his peripherals. The past few months of scavenging had made his senses much sharper than they were before, but he had been taught by his father to be wary of the traps of arrogance. Zeke adjusted the heavy pack on his back and checked his sidearm—a revolver he had found near the beginning of his time as a scavenger. It had been kept in remarkably good condition, forgotten at the bottom of a safe, in an abandoned home, outside of the town’s ramshackle walls. The gun’s previous owner had kept a few dozen rounds of ammunition in the safe, as well. Zeke counted himself lucky that no one had stumbled upon such a bounty earlier. Judging by the height of the moon and the stillness of the wind, Zeke figured that it was well past midnight. The monsters that plagued the town were less active during the night. While this was a comforting sentiment for those traveling in groups, the creatures were still quite a threat to a lone scavenger like Zeke. Trained and armed as he was, he did not relish the thought of having to fend off a monster on his own. From what he had been told by the more senior scavengers he had encountered, the creatures were a force to be reckoned with— small, agile, and with a bite that could pierce all the way through a man’s arm. With caution, Zeke poked his head in some of the cars that dotted the road. Most were empty, with only a coat left here or an empty backpack there. In the beginning, people thought that they could flee the monsters in their cars. However, the rumbling of automobile engines were like sirens to the creatures and they could outrun most vehicles. People soon abandoned their cars and flocked together in whatever shelter they could find. Cars were to be used only as an absolute last resort. Zeke was getting closer to his destination- a small grocery store. The handdrawn map he had been given placed it just around the next bend in the highway. Putting the map away, he glanced at the moon again. He counted himself lucky that it was so bright. A rustling in the trees off the side of the road caught Zeke’s attention. He quickly ducked and hid behind a nearby car. Straining himself as he listened, he could pick out what sounded like a few pairs of feet, slowly crunching their way through the fallen leaves that dotted the tree line. Suddenly, the rustling stopped. Zeke peered around the bumper of the car, towards the source of the noise. He froze as he caught a glimpse of what was lurking about in the woods. It was one of the monsters; a small, black, reptilian creature. It was no bigger than the average dog—it even walked around on legs like a dog would. That was where the similarities to anything earthly ended, however. This particular monster had three legs and a long tail that dragged behind it through the underbrush. Its face was

slim, with two pairs of jet-black eyes, flanking each side of its skull. Bony ridges arced from the top of its head, down its back, and a pair of arms protruded from its torso. Each arm ended in a terrible mess of claw and bone. Zeke hid behind the car again and quietly drew his revolver from its holster. He drew the hammer back, and it locked into position with a metallic click. Zeke gulped—the click of the revolver sounded like a gunshot of its own in the stillness of the night. Steeling himself, he peered back around the car. The monster was facing away from him; its tail gently swishing back and forth across the ground. Its head was raised and it seemed to be sniffing the cool, night air. Zeke peered down the road at the grocery store. There were less cars on the road near the store, but an empty parking lot stood between the road and the front door. Zeke knew that he would be spotted by the monster if he tried to flee. No, he would have to kill it before it killed him. Zeke turned back behind the car, as quiet as a mouse. He let out his breath and drew the gun in front of him, peering down the barrel. Without breathing, he stood and turned towards the creature. The barrel of the revolver glinted in the moonlight. The monster’s back was still to him. Zeke pulled the trigger and fired. The bullet whizzed past the creature and lodged itself in the dirt. Panicked, the monster let out an alien shriek and turned to face Zeke. He quickly pulled the hammer again and gritted his teeth in frustration. The monster began to charge towards Zeke, baring its many teeth. Carefully aiming, he fired again. The round caught the creature in the neck and it fell to the ground with a grotesque and strangled whimper. Zeke, again, hid behind the car and readied himself for more. As the wind softly whipped through the trees, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. Hearing nothing peculiar, he quietly stood back up and looked at the dying creature. The creature’s blood made a dark pool on the side of the road. Little light reflected off of it as it collected on the concrete. Zeke made his way towards the monster and holstered his gun. Standing over the creature, he got an even better look at its odd features. Its body was smooth with large scales, almost snake-like. Its many eyes darted about in a panic as it bled. Muscles contracted in its maimed neck, as if it were trying to cry out again, but the more it struggled, the more it bled. Its many legs lay in a heap, some feebly trying to push against the pavement, and its tail meekly slapped against the ground. Had these monsters not been so deadly, it would have been a pathetic sight. Still, something sorrowful clicked inside of Zeke. He brought his foot up and stepped down with his full weight on the neck of the creature. Its eyes bulged in terror and it mustered the last of its strength in an attempt to kick away from Zeke. It was all for naught, as he watched the creature suffocate, and finally die with one last slap of its tail. Zeke wiped the blood off of his boot in some grass nearby and continued on for the store. The night would not last forever, and he still had to trek back to town with whatever he could scavenge.