Jason Morrow - Anywhere but Here

“Give it back,” Waverly says.

He now holds the chain over the side of the walkway, threatening to let the ring fall into the mass of greyskins. She stands for a moment, breathing heavily.

“Give me the crowbar,” he says.

She drops it to the floor and charges after him. In a fury, she reaches for the chained ring. She claws at his face, neck, and eyes until they both fall to the floor. She rips the chain from his hands and clutches it tightly. Scarecrow gives her a swift kick in the gut and she goes tumbling over the side. In the last second, she’s able to grab onto the side of the walkway. One hand holds her above the greyskins below and the other clasps the ring in her palm. When he grabbed the ring, Scarecrow was trying to take Lucas away from her again, but she didn’t let him.

Scarecrow pushes himself up from the walkway and starts hitting her fingers.

“No!” she shouts out.

“Waverly!” the voice is Ethan’s. He runs toward Scarecrow from the other side of the walkway and tackles him. He lifts a knife into the air and stabs Scarecrow through the neck and chest, over and over.

And just as Ethan is about to pull her up, she feels something grab onto her ankle. She looks down and sees a greyskin pull on her and sink its teeth into her leg, ripping away muscle and flesh. She screams out in horror.

I can’t become one of them.

The light flashes and I feel too stunned to say anything as Scarecrow stares at me. I can’t help but feel for the chain around my neck. Am I really going to be so stupid? Am I going to let him affect me like that? I think back to the vision of Gilbert’s future and remember that I was in it. He talked to me. I was alive! Unless…unless the vision of Gilbert was to happen before what I just saw with Scarecrow. Or, perhaps in Gilbert’s vision, I’m dying and that’s why I’m standing so close to Ethan. He’s supporting me.

Either way, I have so far been unable to change the future and that thought sobers me. Perhaps I am about to join with Lucas in the afterlife. If today is the end, then so be it. At least Scarecrow is going down with me.

“What did you see?” he asks.

“I can’t control what I see,” I say.

“I don’t care. What did you see?”

“I saw you as an old man,” I lie. “You were on your deathbed. People surrounded you.” I looked at the cigarette butt on the floor. “You were coughing. Wheezing. Cancer, I think.”

“Heh,” Scarecrow seems amused by this. “Better cancer than one of those greyskins, I guess. How do I know you aren’t lying?”

“You don’t.”

He chews the inside of his lip as if he’s thinking about something. I can’t tell if he wants to try to kill me or keep me around, but a frantic knock at the door interrupts his thoughts.

“Sir,” a man says, “we’ve got greyskins getting into the warehouse.”

“Greyskins, how?”

“We think it’s the others that got away,” he says. “They’re opening doors and making all kinds of noise to draw them in.”

“Why didn’t you stop it?” Scarecrow says angrily.

“There’s only a few of us, sir,” the man says. “But they’re coming in fast. We’ve got to get to higher ground.”

Scarecrow lets out a curse and grabs my arm, dragging me to my feet. We run out of the room and into a narrow hallway. At the end of the hallway we go up a flight of metal stairs to a door. On the other side of the door I see a giant open room. I look at the metal walkways that spread out all over the room, wondering which one I will dangle from. As the greyskins crawl in like bugs, I wonder which one will sink its teeth into my leg, setting me up for an illness that will destroy me in the next twenty-four hours. I feel numb at the thought. In this world, there was always a possibility that my life would end like this. I just never wanted it to be this way.

The sound of the undead grates on me like nails on a chalkboard. I wish there was enough firepower to just kill them all right now, but I know there isn’t. I wish I could just shove Scarecrow and all his men over the side to be eaten. His men spread out as Scarecrow shouts orders to kill any of my friends on sight. He pulls me by the wrist and leads me to a railing so he can watch his men. Shots fire with loud bangs as they try to set up barricades at the stairs, the greyskins crawling at them like mad dogs.

I search the first floor, looking for any sign of Ethan, Gabe, or Gilbert, but I see none of them. Scarecrow shoves me against a wall and tells me to wait there.

“Like that’ll happen,” I say.

My snide talk earns me a slap across the face. “Brandon,” Scarecrow calls out.

An ugly man with spiked hair comes out from the group of raiders forming the barricade. He’s holding a crowbar.

“Watch her,” Scarecrow says. “I’m going over there to see if I can get a better look. If she moves, break her legs.”

“Yes sir.”

Scarecrow runs out onto the walkway, shooting greyskins on the first floor every couple of seconds while Brandon stands next to me. He stares at me for a long moment, his jaw muscles sliding back and forth. I can tell he’s nervous. But since I know I will soon have the crowbar in my hands anyway, I’m filled with confidence. He only looks away once, and when he does, my knuckles meet the side of his face. He falls to the floor hard and he struggles to get up, but I’ve already got the crowbar in my hands. Before he even gets a chance to realize what just happened, I slam the heavy bar into his face. The sound of cheekbones snapping makes my stomach feel queasy.

I look up at Scarecrow who is none the wiser, and then I look back at the door we just came through. I could run. I could get out of this warehouse right now if I wanted to, but I feel like I have a destiny to end this. I grip the metal firmly and march forward.

I stand on the walkway and I look through the holes in the metal to see the ravenous greyskins calling for me, begging to get a chunk of meat. I slowly start walking toward Scarecrow and he turns to see me.

He smiles at me bitterly. He holds up his gun and points it at me. I have already watched him shoot at the greyskins. I already know that it’s going to be empty. He pulls the trigger and it clicks. He holds the gun in the air and shrugs. “I guess you have me cornered.”

Even though I’m already expecting it, when he runs at me, I feel surprised. His shoulder rams into me and knocks the wind out of me as we tumble to the floor. The greyskins scream for our blood. I try to shove Scarecrow off with the crowbar but he hits me, grabs at me. I feel his hand around my neck. Perhaps he’s thinking about strangling me, but when his hands grasp my chain, he yanks it off and stands away from me, a look of triumph on his face.

“Did your pitiful boyfriend give you this?” he shouts.

I pull myself up to my feet, crowbar in hand. Anger fills me more than fear. I’m angry at the fact that someone as vile as Scarecrow would hold Hattie’s ring — the same ring that represents Lucas’ undying love for me. “Give it back,” I say.

He holds the chain over the side of the walkway, threatening to let the ring fall into the mass of greyskins. I stand for a moment, breathing heavily. Thoughts flow in and out of my mind uncontrollably. I’ve never felt more rage. I’ve never wanted to kill someone like this before, but more than wanting to kill him, I want to get the ring back. It means everything to me. Lucas means everything to me. I can feel my limbs begin to shake under the weight of my weapon.

“Give me the crowbar,” he says.

I’m about to drop it to the floor. I know he won’t drop the ring. If I just lunge for the chain, I’ll get it and Ethan will swoop in and kill Scarecrow. I feel the crowbar begin to slip from my fingers, but in the last moment, I grip it tightly again.