Wendigo

“The unidentified animals which appeared to originate from northern Wisconsin, have now been spotted all over the country and parts of Canada. Remain cautious when outside, and avoid wooded areas at all costs; there are thousands dead from encounters with these animals and they herd around forests. Although they do travel and have been spotted in cities. Researchers have yet to study the creatures, and no photographs of them have surfaced. The national guard may be brought into places most affected, researchers are working on medications that protect the infected. Though progress is slow because there is not much information on these creatures. However, what we do know is they are gray humanoids, between 7 and 8 feet tall, and extremely thin. Reports from cases where a person suffered a scratch or bite say they become pale and sickly, and soon they start to attack and eat whoever is nearby. Again, we warn against-”

“Turn it off, I can’t stand listening to it anymore. It’s on all the news channels,” Vivian’s voice rings out from the kitchen.

“I want to hear what they have to say, Vi,” I answer coldly, as the TV drones on in the back. She leans on the doorway, and suddenly, I’m wracked with guilt. Her eyes burn with worry and exhaustion as if she’s pleading with me to turn it off. I click the power button on the remote.

“Should we go to the store? Get everything in case we need to hide out for a few weeks?” I ask. I can tell from her eyes, she is pondering. My eyes trail down her figure while I await her response, first stopping at the heart-shaped, gold locket around her neck. I’ve never seen her without it. Her tattoo of a blue jay on her left bicep is the next rest stop for my eyes. Then a small part of her shirt left untucked.

She sighs, “Yeah, let’s go. We should get extra toilet paper too,” her words are quick as if she’s writing off every doubt left in her head. She grabs her sweatshirt and purse, and I take the keys and we leave.

As soon as I get out of our apartment building, I realize it’s a ghost town. No cars, no people.

I stop to stare at the emptiness engulfing me, but Vivian snaps me back to reality, “come on, it’s not safe out here.”

We rush to my car, sweat coats my hands, and keeping the keys steady becomes a chore as I attempt to unlock the driver’s side door. A deafening shriek fills my ears, and I barely have the time to wonder before I see it. It’s worse than I could’ve imagined, its grotesque figure looks like an elongated, human, skeleton trapped inside leathery, gray skin. Its ribs protrude outwards, so far it looks like it will tear at any second.

“For Christ’s sake, please unlock the door,” As soon as Vivian speaks, the creature snaps its head in our direction. It begins to run... sprint...leap… whatever the hell it’s doing towards us. Its deafening shriek fills my ears again I can’t breathe nor think, but my body is already taking action. By the time the thing is to our block, we are both in the car.

“Jesus, fuck, that thing is fast,” I comment, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

“Lock the car,” she demands.

“Okay, so what now? We’re stuck in this thing,” I ask through a trembling voice.

“Well, we can’t go back to our apartment, if we leave this car we could die. Let’s just stay silent and let that monster pass. I still wanna go to the store to stock up, who knows how long this could last or if it will get worse...” She’s talking a mile a minute and her hands move to fidget with the locket as she begins to cry. Another shriek escapes from the grotesque creature, who is pacing maybe 10 feet from the car.

“It doesn’t have eyes, like the skin is sunken in where they’re supposed to be,” I note aloud. Again, the thing turns its head to us, heading closer to the car.

“Shh… I think it can hear us,” she whispers under her breath. We don’t move, don’t talk, I barely remember how to breathe. My eyes stay locked onto the beast pacing feet from our car. A rotting stench fills my nostrils, seeping into my tastebuds. For the first time, I pray.

Sirens invade our silent stand-off, and I thank God as the creature chases towards the direction they’re coming from. After what feels like hours, I start the car and head in the direction of the grocery store.

“Are you headed to the market downtown? I don’t know if that’s a good idea, I’m already starting to see other people,” Vivian cautions. Fear radiates from her and hits me in waves as her eyes dart to each car or person we pass. Many in a rush to get shelter or headed into town like us.

“It’s the closest one, can we just check it out?” I plead. There is more treeline on the outskirts of town, we can’t risk it. She sighs, never actually answering.

As soon as I reach Main st., two blocks from the market, I know I should’ve listened to her. Cars are lined in the street trying to enter the parking lot of the grocer and businesses alike. There is honking, shouting, people run from businesses to their cars. Vivian tugs at her locket and grinds her teeth.

“What should we do?”

“I told you,” she responds, her words are filled with anger and fear.

“I know,” I swallow, trying to stifle my freakout. She isn’t going to be much help at this point, her fear is incapacitating her. I get us as close to the parking lot of the market as I can. As soon as I park the car, Vivian unbuckles. She grabs her purse and we exit the car at the same time. Adrenaline bursts through my veins once more, we sprint to the store.

Inside is chaos: carts left haphazardly, people running into each other trying to get the essentials. Maybe this was a mistake.

“Let’s split up, I’ll get toilets paper, and essentials. You get food, get a lot of canned items,” it seems as though Vivian is called to action when met with harsh reality; while my brain struggles to sift its way through all the madness. She is gone before I can respond.

My body moves faster than my thoughts while I collect canned food. I barely pay attention to what I grab; and as I’m realizing that I have pretty much every kind of bean in existence, the deafening sounds of gunfire, breaking glass, and screaming interrupt me. My mind immediately thinks of Vivian. We need to leave. My head throbs and my ears ring as I run towards the back of the store. Vi’s head turns to look in all directions; I think I hear my name but it’s barely audible- as if my head is underwater. Directly behind her is one of those freaks: its elongated limbs and sharp teeth reach towards her, and I am frozen. Her face turns a bright, ugly red. I close my eyes.

Her body slams into mine, I hear her blubbering but my mind is still swimming. We rush to leave the store behind the herd of others. The workers are long gone, and no one thinks twice about the food they are stealing.

“What do you think is going on?” I start to ask over the noise, but the answer to my question is already in sight as soon as we get out of the parking lot, and cut off by more gunfire. There are more grotesque beings, and men in camouflage uniforms carry guns and shoot at them. People are running to their vehicles in panic. My eyes turn towards Vivian, but she isn’t there. My heart drops and I briefly consider going back into the grocery when a familiar, deafening shriek fills my ears. I sprint to the car, hot tears pouring down my face. Is she gone?

In the middle of my panic attack at the thought of dead Vivian, the passenger car door opens. It’s her. Her hair is wild, face is scarlet red. She’s holding the items she grabbed, and the bag of canned goods I must’ve dropped in the chaos.

“I- I thought you were dead,” I stammer.

“No, I dropped my locket,” She responds as if we didn’t just have a near-death experience. Looking down, I see the locket clutched in her hands. A dark red smear is on her left hand.

“What is on your hand? Is that blood?” I ask.

“Oh, I don’t know,” She looks down when she responds, as she pulls her sweatshirt up higher on her shoulders. I get a rush of anxiety and I can sense she is hiding something from me, but a deafening shriek and more gunshots cut any further discussion short.

“Let’s just get the fuck out of here, then,”

The traffic has gotten worse, and somehow louder. Those creatures seem to be attracted to the noise, as there are more lurking than when we originally left. Gunshots are still heard, though faint.

“Are you feeling alright?” I ask Vivian. Her complexion has grown colorless, eyes sunken in, arms are so tense I can see her tendons and veins.

“Yes, I’m fine. Just get me home,” she says weakly.

I turn into the parking lot of the apartment building as Vivian starts to cough. Creatures turn our way, but she uses her sweater to stifle the noise and they soon move onto the more interesting traffic. We wait until they are out of sight, and jump into action. We rush out of the car with the groceries. Despite her ailments, she carries all the canned foods and runs into the building with little effort. I notice how the large sweatshirt dangles from her sides but is too short for her arms now. My mind must be slipping, because she looks thinner and maybe even taller than she did just hours before.

“Will you make me some food? I’m absolutely starving, I need to lie down,” she asks as soon as she flops on the couch and groans. I’m amazed that she could stomach food after everything we just went through, but I oblige.

While I heat spaghetti from the night before, my mind races over what will happen to us. Especially Vivian, as she looks worse by the second. Suddenly, thuds and the sound of glass hitting the floor ring throughout the apartment. My body tenses and I grab a butcher’s knife from a drawer next to the stove. What if one of those things is in here?

When I reach the living room, the first thing I notice is that Vivian is gone. Instead, a grey beast lies in wait for me. It is smaller than the other ones I have seen and more human-like, but the starving figure and sunken eyes remain. It lunges towards me with a shriek just like the others. My heart pounds and my mind screams at my body to take charge, but I don’t move. I’m trapped in my mortal flesh, doomed. Its razor teeth sink into my neck by the time I remember how to function. The pain burns my throat and sends bolts of electricity through my body.

Adrenaline takes over, and my mind is clear. I push the beast away and charge into it full force, knocking it down. I take the knife over its heart and plunge it in, draining the beast of any life left inside: and that’s when I see it. The heart-shaped locket around the beast’s neck. I look to its left bicep and see the familiar sketch of a blue jay. It’s Vivian, and I’m bitten.