This time, the creature stood on its hind legs and stared at him. Travis stared back, too far away to figure out what the animal was.
Then it hissed at him. He heard it, clear as day, as if the critter was standing right in front of him.
Travis zoomed in with his camera and what his eyes saw his mind could not put a name to. The creature was about the size of a small dog, with black fur. Its head was shaped oddly like a horse, and had no lips, just skin pulled back tight at the gum lines to reveal jagged, sharp teeth. It had a small black nose, wet with snot, which quivered as it sniffed the air. Its eyes, big and white like saucers with pin-prick black irises, stared intently through him. It didn’t blink, just fixed him with its gaze and held him there as if he were hypnotized.
Then it hissed again.
Storm clouds rolled in the sky, making the early afternoon feel like dusk. Travis snapped a few pictures of the creature and decided it was time to go.
The only problem was, to get to his SUV he’d have to walk past the creature. Travis looked at the creature again. It reared back and hissed again.
He pulled out his cell phone and looked at it; he could call for help, but found there was no signal that far out.
Well, I can always go around. Travis walked to his right; the woods were close, and ten yards into them was the mound where the old railroad tracks used to run. He would follow that back to the road.
The creature watched him, wary and angry. It continued to hiss but Travis kept a good distance from it. He watched it as he walked, slowly and surely, like this was his land and he belonged there.
The creature went to all fours and cautiously took a few steps towards Travis. He stopped and stared at the creature. It stopped and stared back.
There was a good hundred yards between them, but for some reason, Travis didn’t feel like that was enough. Chills crept up his spine. There was something unnerving about the creature, the way it stared and didn’t blink, the intense malice in those eyes. Suddenly, he was very afraid; he had been curious, but that melted away as he felt the creature hone in on him, mark him in some strange way, and Travis went from reminiscing photographer to prey.
Screw that thing, Travis thought. I’m a man, something to be feared. No little creepy-looking bastard was going to make him feel uneasy.
Where the bravado came from, Travis couldn’t say. But it made him do something stupid, and he picked up a rock by his feet, chucking it at the creature. Of course the rock missed, but it was enough to infuriate the little thing.
It hissed and dashed at him, its feet clawing at the dirt as it tore through the brown grass. Travis screeched and ran, sprinting into the woods.
The creature gained on him. It had stopped hissing and sped along, sliding over the ground like a bobsled over ice. Travis ran, casting glances over his shoulder, but he knew he wasn’t going to make it to the road before the creature caught up with him. Hell, he wasn’t even going to make it out of the woods.
He found where the railroad tracks had been and ran along them, his mind clamoring for ideas, for something that would help him out. He looked around, his eyes searching for anything that could work as a weapon. All he saw were a few rocks and some branches. They would have to do.
Travis stopped and bent down. He grabbed another rock and threw it at the creature and this time, he hit home. The rock struck the thing in the head with a terrific, hollow thunk and the creature screamed, falling over sideways. Travis wasn’t sure if he’d killed it or not and he didn’t care. He turned and ran as hard as he could through the woods.
Behind him, he heard the most God-awful howl he’d ever heard in his life. He used the sound to spur him on, to run faster, to get to the road and to his truck so he could get the hell out of there. What used to be a land of comfort and fun for him as a child, had turned into a territory of terror.
Through his heavy breathing, through the sounds of his feet thudding through the woods and the cracking of dry branches, Travis heard another sound. Sounds, actually. Despite his fear, he turned to look, and instantly wished he hadn’t.
Dotting the woods were over a dozen of those creatures, same as the first, and they were all hissing at him, now.
Travis screamed. The howl from the thing had brought others to its side and they sprinted, like a wolf pack, after him.
He could hear them, their little feet, scrambling over the dirt and dried grass and small twigs, scampering and clawing and hissing, hungry for his blood. He heard them close the distance in seconds, gaining on him, just as he could see his truck, not more than fifteen feet away, sitting there like a beacon of safety.
Travis dug in and ran harder than he had since he was a kid, literally running for his life. And still they gained.
He could feel the hot, foul breath of two of them as they ran right on his heels, snapping those teeth together. It sounded like green-sticks breaking as they gnashed their teeth, and they hissed, their spit splattering on the back of his pantlegs.
The truck seemed a long way away, like in those dreams, when someone runs from the terrible monster, but they get nowhere as the beast closes the space between them.
And then, suddenly, he was at the door and fumbling for his keys, desperately trying to get inside, to safety. His cell phone tumbled from his pocket and shattered on the road.
One of the creatures bit into his ankle.
Travis screamed as the tiny teeth burrowed into his flesh, tearing it, coming together, and then yanking back, ripping a chunk of sock and meat from just above his ankle bone. He kicked the creature, knocking it squealing to its back, and stuck his keys into the lock.
The other creature leapt, landing on his right thigh, arching its spine, throwing its head back and baring its teeth. It was about to bite him when Travis swung, back-handing the creature like he would a tennis ball, knocking it off before it could sink its teeth. He turned the keys in the lock, threw the door open, tossed himself inside, and slammed the door behind him.
He sat there, panting and sweating, blood pouring from his ankle and pooling onto the floor. All around, outside the truck, Travis could hear them circling, clawing at the metal, shrieking and hissing, looking for a way in.
He laughed to himself. He wasn’t sure what they were, but he’d beaten them here, and he was going to get away. They’d gotten a piece of him, but they wouldn’t get any more. When he got a good distance away, he’d call animal control and report the incident, and then he’d go to an emergency room. The words “rabid squirrels” went through his head and he thought maybe he’d go to the hospital first, instead.
The front of the truck rocked as first one, then two, then three of the creatures leapt onto the hood. They stalked to the windshield, hissing and spitting; one squatted and pissed.
“Screw you!” Travis screamed.
One of the three flung itself forward and slammed into the glass, snapping its neck. Travis laughed and then a second one did the same thing, hitting the same bloodied spot. He stopped laughing when the third broke open its head ramming into the same spot, because when it did, the windshield cracked just a tiny bit.
Four more launched themselves up on the hood and stalked around, staring at their dead brethren and then at Travis, their eyes big and unblinking, full of hatred.
One after another, they charged the windshield, killing themselves as the crack grew wider and longer. They worked together, like a pack, of one mind and purpose. They would do whatever it took, however many had to be sacrificed, to get what they wanted.
And what they wanted was Travis.