Wincing from the pain, Rachel was convinced.
The more time that went by, the more Rachel wondered if the sirens were somehow falsely triggered. She debated going back inside the cabin. Thinking better of the idea, she remained tucked away, waiting, for what she did not know.
Eventually the irritating noise overwhelmed her senses as they began to fade away and simply become a white noise to her. A few more minutes had passed when Rachel heard a rustling in the bushes that were directly across from the clearing in front of the cabin. Taking a couple long blinks to ensure she had not been imagining the movement, Rachel found herself in an all too real situation. Pressing into the tree, Rachel clenched her eyes closed tightly. It’s nothing, she told herself, simply an animal passing by. You’re in a forest for God’s sake.
Rachel dared not look again; she sat there in total darkness, scared to even breathe. She could hear the earth scuffling about, just beyond her in the clearing. It sounded almost as if a corpse were being dragged around across the dirt. Rachel’s imagination went wild; she had not been raised in a world full of monsters, so her first instinct was to picture a grizzly bear lurking about. Once again her heart was racing, she knew there was no way she could outrun a bear. She also knew if it caught her scent, she was dead. Rachel prepared for the next moment to be her last.
“Rachel.” It was just a whisper, but she knew she heard it. Grizzlies can’t talk, she told herself. Without hesitation, she leapt from her hiding spot, racing to the clearing. Only Uri and Gabe knew where she was, she was sure it had to be one of them calling to her.
As Rachel approached the bloody heap on the ground, it did not move. She was sure whatever it was had to be dead. Much to her surprise, in the next instant the mass dragged itself forward at least a foot before collapsing again. With a moan she heard the creature whisper again, “Rachel.”
Rachel realized what she was looking at, or rather who. “Gabe!” she gasped, falling to her knees next to him.
Being as delicate as she could, she rolled Gabe onto his side. His face was scraped up and covered in gashes. He looked as though he had drug his body over miles of jagged, rocky terrain. There was a substantial amount of blood seeping from a wound on his hip. The injury was caked with dirt and Rachel had no idea the extent of it.
“Gabe, I’m not sure if it’s safe to stay here. These alarms have been going off, what should I do?” Rachel pleaded, a surge of panic causing her to tremble.
Gabe motioned for Rachel to help him sit, crying out in pain as he did so. Raising one arm slightly and looking up into the night sky, the alarm silenced. “I set them off when I entered the valley. I’m sorry if I —” Gabe managed to whisper before his eyes rolled back in his head, revealing the whites.
“Gabe,” Rachel said shaking him gently. “Gabe, are you alright?”
Still he did not answer. She could feel his heartbeat, he wasn’t dead but for all Rachel could tell he was near enough. It was all up to her now. Rachel gently laid Gabe back onto the ground. She raced into the cabin. Filling a pot with water and placing it on the stove, she poked at the dying embers. Adding a piece of timber to feed the flames, Rachel looked around frantically. She needed to get Gabe into the cabin, but there was no way she could lift his muscular frame, especially considering at this point it was all dead weight.
Thinking quickly, Rachel grabbed some of the linens from the bed and darted out the front door. She laid the blanket out carefully next to him, rolling his immobile body onto the surface of the fabric. Gripping the cloth with both hands, Rachel pulled with all her might until her knuckles turned white and she thought her arms might rip from their socket. Rachel let out a pain filled grunt. She was not going to let this guy die, not on her watch. Taking a deep breath, Rachel pulled again, this time she felt his body shift against the earth. Building momentum she broke out into a slight jog, Gabe’s weight shifting from side to side slightly behind her. While the