Mike Rector

The Shudder

It was a cold, October day, the leaves falling to the ground made it seem peaceful. But there was something sinister afoot, Jody could feel it, the hairs on her neck were standing up, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone... SomeTHING was following her down the trail, but as she stopped to investigate her surroundings; Nothing. She chalked it up as just her imagination, there hadn't been any kidnappings or anything of the sort in the area, "Stupid" she said to herself under her breath, as she turned to continue her jog she spotted it, something in the tree line, about 30 feet ahead of her, it looked like a woman, dressed in a blue sports bra and black running shorts. "Hello" Jody yelled out, but the woman didn't seem to notice, Jody stepped slowly closer, when suddenly **snap** her eyes shot straight down to see the twig snapped under her foot, quickly she glanced back to the tree line to see that the woman was now staring straight at her "Fuck" Jody muttered under her breath. Fumbling into her pocket without breaking eye contact she pulled her phone out and opened the camera *boop* the video started, "Hello? Are you alright miss? Are you lost?" Jody called out to the woman, trying not to sound shaken, and trying not to piss herself out of fear. Jody crept ever closer to the woman, never taking her eyes off of her the whole time and continuing the video, as she got closer she started to feel more and more uneasy, like something was off "Miss? Are you okay? Do you need me to call an ambulance or something for you?" Jody was no more than ten feet away at this point and she could see her face clearly, tears streaming down her face. Jody stopped, and stared at her for a moment, in shock. The woman stood there, tears flowing, making no noise at all "Ma'am? Do you need help?" Jody was beginning to become frantic now. That's when it hit her, this whole time, as she crept closer and closer, the woman was never looking at Jody, she was looking over her shoulder. Jody stood completely still now, keeping her gaze on the woman in front of her, she held her phone up above shoulder height, as if to take a selfie "Stop" The woman suddenly broke the silence in the forest path "Please stop, don't turn your camera, just continue on your jog, leave me" Jody stared back at the woman in disbelief "Just leave me here, keep goin, I'm already dead" Jody could feel goosebumps all over her body at this point, she shuddered as she heard something snap behind her. "You need to go !" the woman cried out "As long as I don't break eye contact with it, you'll be able to get away, it's won't chase you if you don't look at it, but once you do, you can't take your eyes off it, that's how it works" Jody felt tears welling in her own eyes now, she slowly lowered her phone, and slid it into her pocket "What are you talking about?" She questioned softly "What have you been looking at? What's behind me?" The woman simply shook her head and continued crying, but never moving her gaze from right over Jody's shoulder. "Okay" Jody spoke with a low whisper "I have a knife in my bag, I'm going to reach for it, you point, and I'll swing, okay?" The woman continued to shake her head, "You can't fight it" She cried out "I told you it's already too late for me, you need to leave!" Jody didn't listen, she pulled out her knife and turned to swing, that's when she saw it, standing right behind her, it looked like a man, but it was old, disheveled, rotting, like a walking corpse. Jody let out a scream as she backed away and tripped over a log, falling to the ground. "You... You made eye contact with it, didn't you? If you did... That means I'm finally free, I can finally leave" The woman spoke in a happier tone now, Jody, remembering what the woman had said, didn't take her eyes off the man. She heard the woman starting to step away behind her before hearing a loud snap, followed by a thud. Jody kept her eyes trained on the walking corpse in front of her the entire time, suddenly, it started to move, stepping towards her "No, no please" she begged "You're not supposed to do anything if I'm watching you, please please please" She trailed off as the corpse shambled past her. She still kept her eyes trained on the creature, just in case. As it reached it walked Jody noticed that the woman was lying limp on the ground, her head twisted around and her neck snapped. The corpse man reached down and wrapped his hand around one of the woman's ankles., Jody could do nothing but watch on in horror as it shambled away through the trees. She lost sight of it, and when she was sure she was finally alone, she clambered to her feet and sprinted towards the beginning of the trail where her car waited. As she was running out, she got the feeling again, that she was being watched, she kept running, not stopping for anything. As she rounded a corner at the beginning of the trail, she saw them, the corpse man from before, and the woman, now looking rotten, just like the man. "NO" Jody screamed out in terror, the mans head cocked to the side, and the woman broke into a full sprint at Jody, she wanted to turn and run, but she couldn't move, frozen from fear. As the woman ran at Jody she stretched out her arms, tackling Jody to the ground as she reached her. "Please no" Jody screamed as the woman pummeled her "Please stop, no please" Jody couldn't fight the woman off, this was it, this woman, a walking corpse, was going to kill her here in the forest. The corpse woman arched her head to the side, and gaped her jaw wide, as she bit down on Jody's neck, she moaned in pleasure. Jody winced, tears streaming down her cheeks, mixing with blood. Then she heard it, a faint calling "Jody" the voice of a woman. "Jody? Helloooo" It was Claire, she must have come out for a run and noticed Jody's car. "Cl..." Jody couldn't even get half the name out, before choking up more blood. Please, she thought to herself, please don't round the corner Claire, you don't need to die here too. "Jody!!" the voice was louder, she was getting close, any minute now she'd turn the corner and be stopped by the man, then she would die too. Jody closed her eyes, embracing the death that was coming to her. "JODY" the voice was right on top of her now, her eyes shot open and she was sitting in her car, with Claire sitting beside her. "Jody.. Jesus, what the hell was that?" Claire looked concerned, "Claire" Jody spoke with tears in her eyes "Oh my god Claire... Did.... did you save me from them?" Claire looked Jody up and down "Damn, I think you had one too many puffs before we got her girl, I put the car in park, and you just kind of zoned out" Jody stared back at her in disbelief "Zoned out?" She questioned "I... I never got out of the car?" "No" Claire answered "You zoned out pretty hard, then you closed your eyes, and started shaking" "Man" Jody responded "You wouldn't even believe what I just daydreamed then, shit" Jody pulled her phone out of her pocket, and quickly checked Facebook "Alright Claire, let's just head home for today eh" As Jody looked up from her phone she noticed Claire was staring at her "Claire?" Then Jody realized, Claire wasn't staring at her, she was looking over her shoulder, towards the entrance to the path "Claire?" Jody questioned again, but her friend wouldn't respond. That's when Jody felt it, the same shudder that she felt while she was zoned out. She had a feeling, that something was watching from the path, as she turned her head she saw it, the disheveled rotting corpse staggering towards the car, "Jesus Christ" she screamed in a panic "Claire get us out of here" as she turned her head, she noticed Claire had changed, her body quickly began to decay, her hair was falling out, she was smiling widely at Jody, as she lunged at her, Jody could do nothing but sit in the seat and be attacked, Claire was biting, scratching, tearing pieces of Jody off. Jody closed her eyes, and began to cry, as she bled, and died.