The Locket

"Keep your head down,” hissed Bethany as she glanced over the mountain of shelves at the pack of wolves just beyond the mess we hid behind.

I took a slow, deep breath, being careful not to inhale too loudly so that our hiding place was not given, and gripped the tiny silver locket that hung around my neck. Thankfully, the wolves didn’t seem to notice us, but I was more worried about what we couldn’t see. Werewolves weren’t the only thing that had entered our world after the nuclear war ended up merging Earth with a parallel universe where monsters existed. I scanned the remains of the Walmart we were scavenging at, looking for possible escape routes, but the only exit was cut off by the creatures. I cursed my luck and looked back at Bethany.

"We're going to have to go around," I informed her, and her eyes widened.

"Are you insane?" she demanded as she stared at me. "I told you we never should have gone out after dark. The monsters are going to be out, I told you, but you insisted on us going. Are you trying to get us killed?" I shook my head.

"I'm trying to get the medicine we need," I told her in a low voice. "Ted and Darrel are still running fevers, and the rest of the camp is worried that the epidemic will make another round. We have to get the medicine, or we all die one way or another." She sighed and shook her head as she looked at me.

"What's the plan then?" she asked, and I thought for a moment while I watched the werewolves sniff the ground.

Thankfully, despite the protests of the council, I had convinced them that only Bethany and I should go on the medicine run, especially since she and I were the only ones in camp who weren't having fits of coughing. With virtually nothing to give us away, we could easily sneak out of the pharmacy with the medicine and out the front door with the right distraction. Normally, the distractions were Darrel's idea, but, with him being back at camp with a high fever, it was just Bethany and I. Bethany was the one who had a knack for finding exactly what we needed, but that was her limit as far as being helpful. That meant it was up to me to come up with the distraction.

Before I could think of anything, one of the wolves seemed to pick up a scent and wandered dangerously close to where we were hiding. If the wolf found us, we'd be done for. Thinking quickly, I grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol and poured some onto my clothes, not caring if they got stained. Bethany quickly followed my example, and the wolf wandered away, deterred by the strong scent of the alcohol. Realizing how I could use this to my advantage, I smiled and glanced back over the shelves. The wolves were following the first wolf's example and were making their way further into the store. As soon as they were far enough away, I motioned for Bethany to stay put and made my way towards the door.

As I had suspected, the smell of the rubbing alcohol had masked our scent, and, now that they were out of sight, we both could easily sneak out the front door and out into the night. I motioned for Bethany to follow, and she nodded, her blonde ponytail swishing with the movement as she made her way towards me. I watched the store carefully, listening for the slightest noise that indicated we were being followed as Bethany tiptoed her way towards me, a look of strained determination on her face as she moved soundless towards the door. Hearing the sound of padded steps, I motioned for her to hurry, and she moved faster.

Clack...

We both froze in terror when one of the tiny pill bottles slipped from her halfway zipped backpack and onto the ground, rattling as it rolled away from us. We had a split second of dead silence before the telltale howls of the wolves wafted throughout the store. Heading right towards us. I cursed and motioned for her to keep going.

"Run!" I ordered. "Just run!"

She bolted towards me, the wolves getting closer and closer. Realizing that they were going to catch up to us, I whipped the locket from my neck and pressed it into her hands. She stared at me blankly as I pushed her towards the door.

"Keep running," I told her as I pulled out my sword, ignoring the frantic expression on her face. "Don't stop until you make it to the camp." She shook her head at me.

"I'm not leaving you," she argued, and I shook my head.

"When you see Ted, tell him I'm sorry," I said as I pushed her through the open doors and out into the night.

Bethany shouted in protest as I turned back and found myself surrounded by the werewolves, every one of them snarling and growling. Normally, the werewolves were just as likely to turn you as they were to kill you, but tonight was a full moon, meaning their instincts would be to kill. I took a deep breath and prepared to fight, knowing I had to hold out just long enough for Bethany to escape with the medicine for the camp. My only comforting thought as the first wolf lunged at me was that Ted would be able to remember me by my silver locket that Bethany now possessed as she ran away to safety.