Survival of the Fittest

The seven had come together—a circle of teens who should have been friends. They all knew each other, but there was something that had torn them apart. It was as if this had all been planned. Each of them thought it, but none of them said it: Of all the people to still be alive, as far as I know, why did it have to be these people? For a while, nothing was said. There were just stares and nods. Some shuffled away from those they didn’t like, while others held their ground to prove their strength. “Any of you see anyone else?” Will’s voice broke the awkward silence. Aiyana immediately looked up. Will’s voice had a warming effect on her. “Our parents never came home last night. There wasn’t anyone in our neighborhood.” Lindsey added quietly, “My mom never came home either, and there wasn’t anyone around where I live.” Priya rolled her eyes as she listened to Lindsey’s “I’m such a victim; feel sorry for me” voice. That’s how Priya had always thought of Lindsey, as a victim. Everyone was out to get her, and that’s why everyone loved her. Who could think to hurt the poor girl? She’s always so sad and innocent. Priya looked away from Lindsey and said, “Well, we saw it—them … whatever they are. They chased me. They stood outside the door of Will’s apartment building. We saw those things.” Another moment of awkward silence ensued as five of the seven stared at Will and Priya. Their eyes implored the two to tell them what they saw. All of them wanted an explanation for what was going on, and now. As far as anyone knew, Will and Priya at least had some answers. “So do you want to tell them, or should I?” Priya said to Will. She was never shy. She was always the first girl in class to contribute to discussions, and even though they weren’t in the classroom, she wasn’t going to change her habit. Her eyes pierced into Will. “Well?” Will gave her a “you’re a jerk” look and then turned to the group. “Whatever we saw wasn’t human. I don’t know what they were. But I can say they were scary as hell.” “What do you mean they weren’t human? What were they then—animals?” Ricardo had a knack for always sounding argumentative. Lindsey tugged his hand in her normal reaction to let him know he needed to change his tone. Ricardo shook his head slowly. “Sorry. I mean, were they animals?” His tone was calmer but still had a tinge of sarcasm. Priya could see that Will didn’t want to say any more. She wondered if he might get sick again if he thought about what they had seen. Usually, she would have done what she could to embarrass the star athlete, but right now just wasn’t the time or place and she knew it. “They’re like people. They’re not animals. They’re probably a little taller than most people, way over six feet. They wore these …” She looked to Will to help her. “Robes, like a preacher would wear, but they had hoods on them.” His teeth clenched in an effort to strain his memory for the best description. “Like a monk would wear. They wore robes like monks would wear.” “Yeah, that’s it.” Priya flashed Will a smile and winked. She knew that it had taken a lot of effort for him to respond. The smile and wink didn’t go unnoticed by Aiyana, who immediately jumped in. “So you’re saying there are monks after us?” Her eyes first went to Priya and then fixed on Will. “Will? Is that what you’re saying? There are monks after us?” Will raised his eyes, and when they met with Priya’s eyes, an overwhelming sense of strength surged through his body. “No, they weren’t monks. They were the most horrible-looking things I have ever seen. Their faces looked like the skin was melting off. The eyes—” he looked at Priya, a common bond of familiarity with the beings was shared between them. She nodded as he spoke. “They had these eyes that shined a really bright red color. One of them looked at us. I don’t know if it saw us. It didn’t come after us. We ran up the stairs.” Tears started to well up in his eyes. Priya took his hand and held it tightly to soothe him. “We ran up the stairs,” she said, continuing the story. “We hid in Will’s apartment. Those things never came up. They were strange. They made these weird noises, and their heads were always looking up.” “Wait a minute,” Alex interrupted. “You keep saying they. Are there a lot of them?” “We only saw three,” Priya replied. Her mind began to trail backward to the very moment she knew one was following her. The click, click, click sound echoed in her head. She could feel the bony hand snag her shirt. Just then, like instant rewind, her mind pictured the one in her back yard—its head upward, the sound clear and distinct to her. She knew the sound. “The one was sniffing the air,” she said. “They all sniffed the air outside your apartment, Will. They were smelling for us.” Will reacted when he heard the words. It was if pieces of a puzzle were finally coming together. “That thing looked in the window, but it never came in. It had to see us. Unless,” he said, swallowing hard, “unless those things are blind and they hunt by smell, like some kind of animal.” “So you’re saying they’re hunting us?” Trevor asked. “I don’t know.” Will shook his head slowly. “I just don’t know.” “Can you tell us anything useful?” Alex snapped. “I mean, come on, man. You two are the only ones who saw them, and all you know is that they’re ugly and might be blind. What kind of help is that? And how come none of us saw these things? Why is it that only the two of you saw them? How do we know you’re not making the whole thing up?” A jolt jerked Priya back into the conversation. “You know what? Maybe you should just go out there and look for them. Maybe you’ll do a lot better without us. We’re telling you what we know, and if you don’t want to believe it, screw you. I’m not going to stand here and beg you to believe me. Trust me, you’re worthless in school, and it’s obvious you’re worthless here. That ‘I’m a big, bad street thug’ bull crap needs to just go away. Because, right now, we’re all in the same position.”