Ike Hamill - The Hunting Tree Trilogy

“Where are they, Davey?” asked Chester. He kept his eyes glued on where the headlights touched the edge of the forest.

“Near the house rock,” said Davey.

Chester nodded but took his eyes away from his scan for a second to assess the boy’s face. With her mouth pressed into a thin white line, Melanie’s brow betrayed her skepticism.

“He sees it again,” said Davey, just above a whisper.

Another shot rang out in the night.

“I don’t understand,” said Melanie. “You couldn’t see this thing all the way down here, and now you can?”

“Mr. Morris has my blood,” Davey explained, not leaving his trance. “They all do.”

Chester nodded.

Davey’s eyes flew open and Melanie couldn’t help but pull away from the terror on her son’s face.

“He tricked them!” Davey yelled. He turned his body and tucked his head, wrapping his arm around his mother and sister. With a giant crash, the car on the other side of snow plow lurched backwards tearing through the circle at full speed. Chester leveled his shotgun. His first shot rang out just as the bumper hit his thighs. Flight was never an option for Chester, the rusty old Charger knocked him flat and dragged him for several feet before it rear-ended the vehicle on the other side of the circle. Melanie watched the murder through wide eyes.

For Davey the world had slowed down. As he spun he could see his own body, as if he hovered over it. The old car’s tires never spun. They were locked by the brakes. Instead, the car skidded just over the surface of the grass. It lifted enough to almost hover as it plowed through their brave protector. Davey turned away just as the car impacted Chester’s legs. He had no desire to witness that.

Davey pushed away from his mother. One of the doors of the Charger hit his side of the plow and the extra momentum helped Davey rise quickly to a crouch. He pulled free from his mom’s arm as he stepped past his sister towards the gap between the vehicles. His senses had been enhanced by the adrenaline and he knew that Morris, Roland, and Merritt were on their way, but the monster was much closer. He had to get away from his family and lead the creature back towards the men with guns.

“No, Davey!” Melanie reacted much quicker than he expected and almost managed to grab his hand as he pulled free.

Davey danced between the doors, still seeing the rest of the world in slow motion, and emerged into the headlights. Time slowed further, almost to a stop, when he spotted the creature with his own eyes for the first time. In his dreams its shape was always undefined, a hulk without detail. In person, just fifty feet away, he saw nothing but the details: its foul and filthy skin, clumps of long hair stringing down from a oily, over-sized skull, and bulging, swollen muscles.

Far away, Davey felt strength draining from his legs. The creature came for him, moving absurdly slow through Davey’s sped-up perception. It snarled and drooled past savage teeth sparkling in the headlights. With two steps it was close enough to dive. Davey waited until it was in the air, and then waited until he could count the gritty grooves of its talons. As the monster fully committed its body to the strike, Davey pulled back, almost peeling himself downward, flattening to the ground as the creature passed overhead. It lunged with such vigor that Davey was up and running before the monster rolled to a stop.

Davey reached the woods and ducked under low branches into a stand of pine trees while the monster pounded across the clearing in pursuit.

From between the two vehicles at the monster’s back, Melanie rushed out, stretching a pistol out in front of her. She locked her eyes on the monster’s back and pulled the trigger. The monster whirled, uninjured by the bullet but surprised. Melanie fought the kickback from the powerful weapon and aimed again. She tightened her grip as she pulled the trigger a second time.

The monster stalked out a broad circle around Melanie. She had missed the monster twice, but it stayed at a respectful distance, waiting for her to fire again. She narrowed her eyes as she prepared to shoot, but Susan appeared at her side, startling Melanie and making her lose her concentration.

“Run, Mom,” said Susan.

“No, honey,” said Melanie, waiving her off with one hand while brandishing the gun with the other. “Go hide,” she ordered.

The monster reached the perimeter of the car circle, near the gap where the Charger had rested, when Melanie fired a third time. This shot hit, tearing a chunk of flesh from its shoulder. It sneered as it squared itself back to face her again. Melanie felt slightly more comfortable, more in control now that she had a few cars offering her partial cover from the monster. She’d managed to wound it. Her daughter backed away between the cars, hiding, finally obeying.

Crooked Tree ducked as she fired the fourth shot. Most of his body was now obscured by the front end of Ken’s SUV. When his head came back up she fired three more times in quick succession. Each shot missed.

“Bihhhh-tch,” Crooked Tree screeched across the distance.

“Hey!” Davey yelled from the edge of the woods. He had crawled back out to draw the monster’s attention away from his family.

“NO!” Melanie yelled, waving the gun. She could just see the monster’s eyes as it ducked it’s huge head below the level of Ken’s hood. Melanie knew what was next, she could see it with perfect clarity: the monster would rush back across the clearing, faster than she could possibly shoot. Even if she still had bullets in her gun she would be helpless to stop the creature from getting her son.

A horrible clang of wrenching metal rang out as Ken’s truck lurched to the side. Melanie hunkered down behind the hood of Chester’s car and watched as the SUV crashed into the car parked next to it. She puzzled at his intention a split second too long. That’s how long it took for Chester’s car to lurch, pinning her daughter between it and the rusty van behind her.

“Suze!” she screamed. Melanie dropped her gun and squeezed into the gap between the cars. She ignored her own safety and reached out a hand to her daughter. The grinding, twisting noise of bending metal stopped and she could hear Susan’s sobbing moans.

“I’m stu-huh-uck,” wailed Susan.

“Oh, baby, I’ll get you out. I promise,” said Melanie. “Are you cut? Can you breathe?”

“It hurts, Mom,” said Susan.

“Hold tight, baby,” Melanie said as she pulled back. She skittered back to the front of the car and grabbed the gun from the ground. She raised it up and saw what she expected—the monster had run back to the stand of pines where Davey had again disappeared. Melanie pointed the gun at its broad back. It was likely too far away for her imprecise aim, but she pulled the trigger anyway. After two more shots the gun was empty and the creature had bashed through the branches into the darkness.

Melanie looked between the woods and her sobbing daughter. Caught between her kids she stood frozen, unable to decide what to do. To her right, the headlights picked out a dark shape emerging from the woods. She raised the empty gun and pointed it towards the figure. It was Morris.

He saw the tracks across the clearing but asked anyway—“Which way?”

Melanie pointed and yelled, “There! Near the pine trees. He’s chasing Davey." With Morris on the trail, well armed and capable, Melanie turned back to her daughter. She threw herself to the ground and shimmied under the cars to assess from below.

“Here, honey, you’ve got to straighten out this leg,” she said.

“It hurts too much,” cried Susan. “I can’t.”

“Just try to lift up a little,” said Melanie. “Good, now take the weight off your leg." Melanie pulled on her daughter’s ankle. Susan’s foot carved a rut in the mud and her knee gave a tiny pop, but Melanie was able to straighten the limb out, pointing it parallel with the other.