We drove closer to the emergency vehicles before Phoebe shut off the engine. The flashing lights, combined with the abrupt silence were unnerving.
We walked to the vehicles and looked around to see if keys were left in them or if there was anything that could help us. I looked into the firetruck and found some tools and an ax in the side storage compartment.
“Hey. There’s someone in here,” Phoebe said as she was looking through the back window of one of the police cars.
I went over to look with her and saw someone lying face down with handcuffs behind their back. Phoebe opened the driver’s door, and there was a layer of fuzzy growth on the seats and dashboard. The person in the back lurched up, causing her to scream. She swung the door shut, and the person in the back sat up and started slamming its head into the window. A cloud of spores exploded and filled up the car. It continued to bang its head against the window and then pressed its face against it to look out at us. Most of its forehead had broken away, and what was left of its face was covered in tons of tiny worm-like tendrils.
We backed up to where Gretchen was standing and watched as the tendrils detached from the face and crawled along the window.
“Those things are tiny,” said Gretchen. “They’re going to find a way out of the car.”
“That’s what I saw on Sam’s face when I found him in his room,” I said.
“We still have some of that fertilizer left,” said Phoebe. We could throw it in the car.”
“Might be too dangerous,” said Gretchen. “Maybe we could just pour some around the car. Hopefully, it would kill them if they get out.”
“I like that idea a lot better…it is much safer,” I said.
I ran to the utility vehicle and grabbed the fungicide. We sprinkled it all around the car, and I also threw some underneath it.
“What now?” I asked, trying to figure out where to go next. There was no way past the blockade of vehicles, and we didn’t find any keys in them.
Back up the road into the park came the sound of people running. We all turned around, and a bunch of people were running on the dirt road.
“Looks like we just have to go,” said Phoebe.
“You two start running, and I’ll try to catch up,” I said as I ran back to the utility vehicle. I opened the backpack and quickly stuffed the fungicide inside of it. Then I zipped it up as I ran after Phoebe and Gretchen.
They had run into the trees to go around the police cars and fire trucks. I followed them, and they slowed to wait for me on the dirt road that headed away from the park. The backpack was heavy, but I was sure we would need some of the things in it.
“They’re still following us,” said Phoebe.
I looked back and saw that they had made it around the vehicles. We ran faster as we went along the tree-lined road. We ran for a while until we started to get tired.
“Great, there is a big hill up ahead,” I said, not very excited to have to run up that steep incline.
“They’re not slowing down behind us,” Gretchen said.
We ran up the hill, and I felt my legs getting weak. The backpack felt extra heavy on my already exhausted body. I was so tired and desperately needed some sleep or at least a rest, but I kept pushing myself.
“They’re getting closer,” said Phoebe after she looked behind us.
We reached the crest of the hill and started going down the other side. The road curved to the left, and to the right, it dropped off into the woods.
As we ran down the hill, I slid in the dirt and lost my balance. After stumbling for a few steps, I face-planted and skidded across the dirt road.
“Keep going!” I shouted when I saw Phoebe and Gretchen begin to slow down. I quickly pushed myself up and tried to catch up. I looked back and saw they were only fifty yards from me. Up ahead, the girls disappeared around the turn.
When I started around the turn, I saw that Phoebe and Gretchen had stopped. Ahead of them was another police car stopped perpendicular to the road. A police officer was sitting in the front seat of the vehicle.
“Help! We’re being chased!” shouted Phoebe.
“They’re close behind me,” I said. “How do we know he’s not one of them?” I said, pointing to the officer as he climbed out of the car.
He started walking toward us.
“Are you going to help us?” asked Phoebe.
“Let’s go,” said Gretchen.
The others chasing us had just come into view and were closing the distance. The only place to go was the steep drop into the woods off to our right. We ran over there while the police officer and the others came after us.
It was about a twenty-foot drop-off when we got to the edge of the road. There was no way to climb safely down, so we needed to try to slide down as best we could. Just before they could reach out and grab us, we all jumped down with our feet in front of us. I kept my arm straight out behind me to slow my descent, scraping it on the rocks and plants that were jutting out.
Phoebe shouted as she flipped over and went head-first down the rest of the way, crashing into some bushes at the bottom. I slowed myself down by grabbing onto a couple of small trees growing out near the bottom.
Gretchen made it down before me and ran over to Phoebe. I joined them and looked back up to see all the faces staring down at us. They hadn’t tried to follow us, so maybe we still had a chance to get out of here.
Phoebe’s face was scratched up, and she had a pretty nasty cut on her cheek where she hit a rock. Her hands and arms were all bruised and scratched. There were holes in her jeans from sliding, and blood was beginning to show through the dirt on her knees.
“Do you think you can stand up?” Gretchen asked.
“I don’t know,” said Phoebe. “Everything hurts.”
I heard some noises coming from back up on the road. Some of them had sat down at the edge and were inching forward.
“You’re going to have to try,” I said. “I think they are coming down.”
Gretchen and I tried to carefully help Phoebe stand. She yelped in pain, and it was a struggle to get her up. Her mask had ripped off and fallen to the ground. I picked it up and held it against her cheek to stop the bleeding.
“Oh no… they’re coming down now,” said Gretchen.
I looked back up in time to see two of them run and jump off the side of the road. They hit the side of the steep hill on the way down and crashed into the trees, sending clouds of dust into the air.
With one of us on each side of Phoebe, we went through the trees as fast as we could. As more of our pursuers jumped down the hill, I heard more noises behind us.
When I looked back again, I saw a few more jump and slide down the hill. It was hard to see through the dust cloud that continued to grow. But I could still see some people crawling toward us and one limping on a badly broken leg. Pieces of their bodies had broken off or been crushed from the fall. It appeared that the fungus or whatever it was inside them weakened their bones, judging by how broken their bodies were.
Even though we weren’t moving very fast, we were able to put a little distance between us and our pursuers. We went through the trees and stayed close to the road, hoping to find a way back up. We had been going for a long time before we could no longer hear them behind us.
“I need to rest,” said Phoebe.
We helped her sit down on the ground where she could lean against a tree. Gretchen and I walked back a little to see if we could hear anyone coming. After standing there silently for a few minutes, we were satisfied that we were safe for the time being.
“If more of them find us, I don’t know how we’re going to get away,” said Gretchen. “We need to find a place to hide out for a while and see if Phoebe can get better…or one of us could go looking for help.”
Phoebe began coughing behind us and sounded like she was going to throw up.
“That doesn’t sound good,” I said. “I hate to say this, but it reminds me of when Todd started coughing before he changed.”
“Maybe she just had an itchy throat,” said Gretchen. “We’ll have to keep an eye on her to be safe.”
We walked back over to Phoebe. “How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Not good,” said Phoebe. “It hurts to breathe…do you think it could have been from my fall…or is it inside me?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Can you still think clearly?”
“I think so,” she said. “And I don’t feel like I need to cough anymore.”
“I’m sure you’ll be okay,” I said, even though I was apprehensive that she wouldn’t be okay. “Let’s keep going before they catch up or find us again.”
Phoebe moved a little faster this time, but we were only at a walking pace. I kept thinking that I could hear someone behind us, but no one was there every time I turned around.
We had probably been going for at least an hour when Phoebe started moving faster. I’ll
“I’m starting to feel better,” said Phoebe. “My body pains are going away.’
She started coughing again. This time, it sounded really congested. I stopped walking, and so did Gretchen, but Phoebe kept going on her own.
“Do you smell that?” Phoebe asked. “The air…it smells so fresh and beautiful.”
She took down her mask and was smiling. The cut on her cheek had closed up and looked fuzzy. She took a few deep breaths and then dropped to her knees.
“No…stop it… what’s happening to me?” Phoebe cried out. “Please help me. It wants me to…I want to….” She screamed. “No! I won’t do it.”
I looked over at Gretchen. She was crying. I set the backpack down and unzipped it. Tears formed in my eyes as I reached for the fungicide.
“Phoebe,” said Gretchen.
Phoebe wasn’t saying anything anymore. She just sat there on her knees and stared off into the woods. I scooped some fertilizer into my hand.
“We need to spread…I need to share this,” said Phoebe. “She clasped her head with her hands and then looked at us. “Run! Get away from me!”
I let the fertilizer slip through my fingers and then grabbed the backpack. Gretchen and I took off running. We went past Phoebe, and I think I saw one last look of recognition in her eyes before she was out of sight.
We didn’t stop running until we found a path back up to the road. Most of the way up, it was a gradual incline, and then we had to climb the last three or four feet. After pulling ourselves back up, we looked around. It was quiet, and no one was around.
We walked on the side of the road for I don’t know how many miles. I was getting hungry and exhausted. But we kept on walking. We hoped for a car to drive by, but there was none.
Gretchen was slowing down, and, like me, she looked ready to give up. “We have to keep going,” I said. “We need to warn everyone and get help.”
As we rounded a turn, I heard a loud ‘ding, ding, ding’ sound. It was a car with its door open.
“Hear that?” I said. “The keys must be inside!”
We moved a little faster but couldn’t manage to run. I climbed into the driver’s seat, and Gretchen sat on the passenger side. The car started right up, and we were on our way.
While driving, I could finally relax my mind a little, which allowed the reality of the past couple of days to finally set in. It hadn’t been that long, but it seemed like forever since we had first arrived at the property up north. We were having a great time together, and I had been excited to hang out more with Phoebe. But now Sam, Todd, and Phoebe were gone.
It took a while, but we finally made it to a town. We drove past a couple restaurants and small downtown shops. I didn’t slow down as we passed the post office and Dollar General. People outside walked around, utterly oblivious to what was happening at the state park not too far away. The car kept going as I watched the stores disappear in the rearview mirror.
“Why didn’t you stop?” asked Gretchen.
“I don’t know,” I said.
She didn’t say anything else after that. We continued driving and soon found ourselves crossing the Mackinac Bridge to the lower peninsula. I was starting to get excited about returning to college, and I think Gretchen was too. There would be so many people there. We looked at each other and exchanged smiles. There was so much we had to share.