I crouched beneath the shrubbery, anticipating when the creature would find me. All I could hear was the drumming of blood in my ears in sync with my rapid heart beat. ‘There’s no way we’re going to make it out of this’ I thought critically to myself. I thought that Alaska, of all places, would be safe from these civilization destroying monsters. The only thing keeping me grounded was the warmth of Chace next to me. He was the one who warned me and found us a place to hide. I envied him for his dark hair and tanned skin that blended into the trees around us. I, however, was practically a beacon against the colors of the forest. With blond hair, pale skin, and baby blue eyes, what once would be seen as beauty, is now my biggest weakness. 

CRACK. I whipped my head around, almost making myself more dizzy than I felt. The sound came from Chace’s direction; he was stock-still, brackish brown eyes laser focused on an area in front of him. I tried to catch his attention for answers, but instead, he turned in my direction and whispered, 

“We have to run, Kori.” His tone calm, with a hint of apprehension.

Despite my racing heart, I felt like someone had just injected icy water into my veins.

“NOW!” Chace snapped. It seemed to kick my legs into gear because one minute, I was staring at his face and the next I was sprinting through the forest in the direction of the lake shore. 

‘I’m not even going to make it two months into this apocalypse,’ I thought as rocks and branches crunched underneath my sneakers. 

‘Where is Chace?’ I looked back but couldn’t see my friend. I tripped as I was running and scrambled to get up. ‘No no no no nonononono,’ I hauled myself to my feet and didn’t look behind me as I sped off. ‘I have to get to the others.’ My mind seemed to chant.‘I have to get to the others, I have to get to the others.’ I broke through the treeline and stumbled to a stop as I saw the boat, floating peacefully. Beyond the boat, on the other side of the lake were almost invisible plumes of smoke, ‘It looks so far away,’ I thought disheartenedly. Something grabbed my forearm from behind and I screamed.

“Get off!” I thrashed, my eyes slammed shut.

“Easy Kori! It’s me!” 

I opened my eyes, relieved to see that it was Chace. His dark mahogany irises meet my sky blue ones.  Snapping back to reality, I quickly moved to get to the boat, Chace following with a hand still around my forearm.

“The others are over there?” Chace asked, he seemed excited.

“Yes! There are hunters and people who know this area well. We will be safe there!” I was jerked to a stop by Chace, only a few feet away from the boat. Looking back at him confused and looking for answers.

“You’re bleeding,” he said, looking down at my legs. I looked down as well and saw that the entirety of my calves were covered in scrapes, a stark contrast to my papery white skin. ‘The brambles must have been what tripped me before,’ I thought with growing anxiety.

“Then we better get going, these things are crazy about blood… Chace?” I looked back up to find him looking into my eyes, his once tan face was now pale, devoid of any emotion. I opened my mouth to ask him a question, but stopped and watched in horror as his skin began to peel. In place of his head, the smooth snout of a monster emerged. Chace’s body seemed to deflate while in its place a slimy being emerged. It reminded me of a snake shedding its skin, the thought seemed like a whisper against my mind, numb from fear. 

Soon, a full creature emerged, its skin shining in a palette of greens and browns. Perfect for the woods, I thought in terror. Cha- the monster, was tall with satelite-like ears and a muzzle that looks like an elongated bat snout. Its body was rail thin, with its ribs and muscles showing along its stretched skin. The skinny hand that was holding my forearm now ended in long thin claws, a bit of ‘Chace’s skin still wedged in between the monster's talons and my forearm. I realized that I was wailing and started to flail once more. I watched as the creature opened its mouth wide, thick canines saturated in drool. I felt the vise-like grip of jaws around my throat as I fell onto the pebbled shore, the wind being knocked out of me. Waves of darkness ebbed closer and closer to me, until I was drowning.

< .*. >

‘Chace,’ as it once called itself, licked the sticky blood off of its muzzle and watched as the thick rivulets of ruby ran over the smooth stones at the lake’s edge. It admired the way that the water met the substance and, instead of mixing instantly, turned them into soft ribbons that flowed with the movement of the water. It raised its broad head to gaze at the sandy shore on the other side of the lake. If it hadn’t been looking, it never would have seen the soft streams of smoke that were almost invisible against the backdrop of the rising sun. The creature thought to itself,

 ‘Not a far swim at all.’