.jpg)
"Um… what's your name?" Laurel ventured, her hands clasped together tightly. That was a good start, right? Asking who she was? Or it might be seen as creepy. But the woman knew who Laurel was, too. "I'm Laurel." She glanced around the area nervously, waiting for those monsters to appear. But it was quiet at the moment, and the sun was still beating down on them.
Analaya stopped moving. She clasped her hands behind her back, nails digging into her palms. This was weird. "I'm Ana," she said, trying for a smile, although it was weak.
"Ana. Nice to, uh, nice to meet you?" Laurel unclasped her hands and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. A cloud moved over the sun, bringing with it a strangely cold breeze. Laurel looked up at the sky, which she could have sworn was clear of clouds. But there was one covering the sun completely. The air was getting colder, gust after gust of freezing wind swirling around the two women.
"Is it getting cold, or what?" Ana asked, looking concerned. It couldn't be happening. No no nononononononon. She shook her head. "I should have brought a jacket."
"Uh… I think it is. That's weird." Laurel bit her lip and looked around. Was this part of something? She didn't remember it being cold in her dream, but she also didn't remember much of her dream. "Why do you–" A dark shape flirted past the edge of her vision, making Laurel jump. Would it be… Laurel turned slowly towards the shape, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Let it be a person, or a bird, or a bunny… But no. Standing there was a figure, maybe 7 feet tall, made of shifting shadows. The only thing solid about it was the mouth full of sharp, gleaming white teeth. "Ana!" Laurel squeaked, stumbling away from the monster.
"Holy shit," she swore, backing away. "It's happening. I thought it would be something else! No no no no no!" Ana backed away. "We need to go. Come to my house. I have some stuff there that we might be able to use," she said to Laurel.
"What?" Laurel looked at Ana with a confused look on her face. Had this happened to her before? How did Ana know this was going to happen? Was it the dream that told her? "Alright, lead the way," Laurel said, trying to keep her voice steady. The monster was still standing there, and if Laurel wasn't mistaken, it looked slightly… confused. But she didn't think it would stay confused and still for long.
Ana shook her head. There was no time to explain. She brushed her hair from her face and motioned for Laurel to come, darting back towards the trees, where it offered some semblence of safety. "My house is through here," she told the girl. "But we'll have to hurry. Who knows how many more will be coming?"
Laurel tore her eyes away from the monster and followed Ana towards the trees. She understood why the explanations had to wait. The monster's head followed them as they moved, further reinforcing the idea that they had to hurry. And was right– who knew how many more monsters would appear?
Ana's house showed up through the trees, and she almost gave a sob of relief, but didn't. There were people around, and she couldn't lose her cool.
She darted up the hill, glancing behind her to make sure that the girl was following her, before getting to her door. She flung it open, and turned to Laurel. "There are weapons in the basement. The door to it is just down the hall, to your left. I'm going to get some stuff from my room."
Laurel almost commented on how cool a house in the woods was but decided not to. It wasn't the time to be gushing over stuff, even if it was pretty cool. She followed close behind Ana, glad she had let Laurel come along. "Weapons?" Laurel asked, stopping herself before she ran into Ana. "Okay. Any specific weapons you want?" Another gust of freezing wind swirled around Laurel, making her shiver slightly. "Or would any do?"
"I have some in my room. But… thanks." Ana sent her a small smile. "Do you know how to use anything? Like, a gun, or knives, or anything?"
"Um… no. I didn't exactly prepare for this." Laurel admitted, suddenly feeling embarrassed that she hadn't been training for this day. Ana seemed to have been preparing for this day, or a day like this, and Laurel… well, she had read about days like this.
"Can't be helped," Ana said briskly. "I can teach you. My older brother has a safe house. We can go there, and I can teach you." She frowned. "But it's pretty far from here." She shook her head. "We can worry about that later. Get some weapons. There should be some sleeping bags and backpacks and watter bottles down there. Get what you think you'll need, and you can raid the kitchen if you want."
"Okay." Laurel nodded, trying to keep her face neutral. Why did Ana's brother have a safe house? "Okay, I will." She nodded and headed towards the basement. What kind of weapons should she grab? What kind of weapons did Ana have? Laurel shook her head slightly as she walked down the stairs. Her mind was full of questions, but she didn't think anyone could answer even half of them. She flicked on the light at the bottom and stood at the foot of the stairs for a few seconds, taking in everything in the basement.
There were all sorts of weapons, from knives to swords, from hand guns to machine guns. It was full of weapons, some of them looking like they weren't even from that century!
Ana raced up the stairs to her room, where her supplies were stored. She kept them in her room, not downstairs, in case she couldn't get to the basement. She picked her backpack up, threw it over her shoulder, and looked around, making sure she didn't need anything. Her room wasn't very personalized, so there was nothing she needed. She pounded back down the stairs, going to the kitchen to pack some food and filling up the water bottles.
Laurel gaped at the assortment of weapons. Had she accidentally wandered into some sort of secret army? She walked closer to the weapons. What should she grab? She wanted to grab a sword, but she didn't think she could wield it without killing someone around her. Instead, she grabbed two knives. Laurel also grabbed a backpack, a sleeping back, and some water bottles she found as Ana had suggested. She cast one last look around the basement, then turned out the light and hurried up the stairs.
When Ana heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs, she stiffened, before remembering Laurel. She finished filling her water bottle, before stuffing a bit more food in her bag and glancing at the girl who had just come up the stairs. "Ready to go?" She grabbed her car keys.
"Yeah. I just need to fill these up," Laurel said, holding up the water bottles. She quickly filled them up, then stuffed them into her backpack. "I'm really lucky I met you, huh? I think I would be in much worse shape on my own." Laurel laughed weakly and ran a hand through her short hair. "I'm ready now," She added, just in case it wasn't obvious.
Ana gave a weak laugh. "Yeah. Not a lot of people prepare for the apocalypse the way I do." She shrugged. "I take a lot of things seriously." She heaved her bag over her shoulder and stepped out the door, going to her garage and opening it. Three cars were there. She went to the middle one, a two-person jeep, and tossed her stuff in the back, going around to the driver's side and climbing in.
"Well, it's a good thing you do," Laurel said, following Ana outside. She was a bit jumpy about being outside and kept expecting a monster to appear out of nowhere and eat her. But nothing of the sort happened. Laurel copied Ana and tossed her stuff into the back, then climbed into the passenger's side. This was still feeling very surreal, and she couldn't help but wonder what all the 'normal' people were doing. Cowering, maybe.
"It can be," Ana agreed. "But sometimes I wonder if I'm crazy." She shrugged and started the jeep, driving out and into the wild world. She drove very quickly, probably not the best with a vehicle with no doors, but it couldn't be helped. They had to get to the safe house.
A beast appeared out of nowhere, and she swerved to avoid it, slamming on the breaks, then doing a wild swerve that left the smell of burnt rubber behind.
"Well, right now, I think 'crazy' is a good thing." Laurel shrugged, holding onto the side of the Jeep. She could understand why Ana was driving like a crazy person, but it was still kind of scary. When the creature appeared in the road, Laurel let loose a strangled scream and held on tighter to the Jeep. "Ah… Good driving," She breathed.
Ana sent her a half smile. "It's a wonder you've managed to hold on this long," she said, faint laughter in her voice. "I am most certainly not a good driver."
"Not in a traditional sense, but here you're fantastic." Laurel glanced over at her, an uneasy smile on her face. "Do you think you would have actually hit that thing?" She looked forward. "They look like they're made of shadows, don't they? Could they even hurt us?"