That last thought stalled her engines, and she lay there, prone on the cold clay, breathing slowly, contemplating whether or not she really wanted to go near that light. It looked like salvation, but that could all be a less-than-subtle ruse. Hadn’t the red priest wanted her to leave the safety (maybe) of the campfire? Hadn’t he wanted her to (suggested she) crawl? What other way could she go?
She glanced back over her shoulder, saw the post with the bloody, fleshy nails; the smoking campfire giving up its heat to the heavens; dark shadows, cast by the flames, flickering through the tree line, looking lithe and alive. But it was what she didn’t see that bothered her. What she didn’t see caused her heart to jam down on the accelerator, ramping its speed up until it seemed the speedometer would go full circle back to zero.
Where the holy fuck is the boy?
The teenager with the squashed-in face was tardy from class, that little shit. Maybe he got a slip home. Perhaps he had to see a nurse. After all, his face wasn’t going to put itself back together.
Reality crashed against the rocks of Juliet’s mind, and she focused even harder on those lithe shadows dancing at the tree line. Her eyes drifted down, down to the scrub, where the clearing met the woods, and the boy’s crooked sneaker as it was pulled into the bush.
There was something in the trees. And it was chewing.
No. That’s not it at all. What you’re hearing is the snap, crackle, pop of the campfire. It does sound a lot like chewing, doesn’t it? Ha! It sure does. Just like someone sloppily tearing meat from bone and gnaw-gnaw-gnawing away with their jaws jacking. How rude! To think their mothers didn’t teach them to chew with their mouths closed. Someone should say something to them…
Snap.
Crackle.
Pop.
Growl.
Now, campfires don’t growl, do they? They roar, they blaze, sometimes, they even fart, but they most certainly do not growl. Not like a hungry wolf. But it didn’t really sound like a wolf, did it? No. It sounded like a… like a… Like something you’ve never heard before. It sounds hungry, that growl does. Like, maybe, the teenager won’t satiate it. Like, perhaps, it’ll still be hungry even after it’s picked its teeth clean on that boy’s bones. Then what? Then it’s coming after you, Juliet. And—
(I suggest you crawl)
—you better dip out with your prow out. Make like a virgin on prom night, and split. Because its coming, Julie. And it’s still hungry.
Juliet shot both arms out, sank her fingers, knuckle-deep, into the soft clay, and dragged herself toward the tunnel made of branches. Toward that beautiful light. Toward salvation. Toward not being fucking eaten.
She pulled, ripping a clot of red earth from the ground. It crumbled away at the sides, but what was left in her palm turned into a compressed putty of sorts. She tossed it over her shoulder then grabbed for another. If the thing in the woods moved slower than a crippled snail, Juliet might get away. But at this rate, a determined sloth could have caught her.
Snap, crackle, pop went—
(the monster)
—the fire, and Juliet threw another arm out, intent on escaping. Not wanting to know whether or not what she heard was truly the blaze or something else.
But that sneaker… You saw that boy’s sneaker being pulled into the bush. You saw it disappear. You saw it… devoured.
8.
Her every movement was excruciating. Her remaining toes would dip down to touch the clay and snaps of heat lightning would shoot from her shattered feet up through her hips and into her back. She’d writhe until the wave subsided then start anew. The shackles around her wrist were cumbersome but didn’t affect her progress.
The thing in the woods seemed preoccupied with its meal. It might not even know Juliet was crawling away. Could it see her beyond the fire? She hoped not.
Right hand. Fistful of clay. Pull.
Left. Dig. Tug.
Even when her feet didn’t scrape the ground, a steady inferno sizzled her soles, as if she were walking on coals. The pain was like nothing else she’d ever experienced. She kept trying to tell herself that her body was built for pain, had been constructed to birth a child, that this pain was nothing.
Imagine trying to push something the size of a watermelon out of something the size of a lemon. Now get a move on, wimp!
This inner-cheerleader’s voice reminded Juliet of Colton, but not entirely. There was a bit of her in there, too. A stronger, bassier version of Juliet Harryhousen, formerly Juliet Langenthrope, daughter of Bethany and Martin Langenthrope, Christian missionaries. Martin had died in Zimbabwe after eating spoiled yams. The can had been swollen—a sure sign of botulism. But they’d been in the bush for three days without food, after being abandoned by their guides because of militia activities. Martin hadn’t been able to take it any longer. By the time Bethany found Martin, the can lay empty between his legs. “I knew he was dead then,” Bethany had told Juliet. “It was nine hours later they found us, but his stomach was already beginning to swell. Stupid man. Stupid, selfish, stupid man…” Bethany had collapsed into sobs at that point, and twenty-year-old Juliet could only sit next to her and rub her back.
Daddy didn’t make it. But you will. You’ll crawl to the end of that tunnel made of trees, and you’ll reach that light. Then, you’ll find help. In fact, do you hear that? Do you hear what I hear?
Juliet propped herself up on her elbows and went completely silent. Far off, she could hear the ebbing growl of an engine.
The light ahead could very well be a streetlight, Juliet thought. A streetlight that’s just out of sight, shining down on the exit/entrance to this road. It seems so bright because it’s so dark in here, under this canopy of trees.
Her mind made a hard U-turn, veering away from the motor sounds coming from beyond the light at the end of the tunnel.
What time is it?
She recalled the time on the Subaru’s display, just before the accident—2:53 in the morning. Though she had no idea how long she had been unconscious, she assumed it had been some time, more than an hour at least. And how long had she been crawling? Half an hour? An hour?
More like an eternity.
Truth was she’d only been yanking herself across this clearing for a little more than ten minutes. She hadn’t even reached the corridor of trees. That fact lurked in the back of her mind, but she pushed it further down, labeling it a fallacy.
Ten minutes? Surely, you jest.
Only ten, my dear Julie. And stop calling me Shirley.
She barked laughter, a throaty sound full of spit. She regretted losing even that much saliva; a thirst was growing in her that she tried her best to ignore.
It’s all that blood you’re losing. Better focus on that car engine, and forget about a Dasani break.
What Juliet had first assumed was the sound of a car moving away couldn’t have been that at all. She still heard it; the low, steady hum of a car engine. It dissipated every few seconds then grew loud once again. She found this sound familiar, but couldn’t put her finger on it. She closed her eyes and pictured the Subaru. She saw Colton, smiling behind the wheel, he waved at her. Juliet waved back. Vicky the dog sitter pulled her head out of Colton’s lap and into view, wiping at the corners of her lips. The home-wrecker waved. Juliet responded with a middle finger as the Subaru clicked and hummed. Idling.