Failure of Glory

Chapter 13

"So we don't need masks out here," Aaliyah said, fiddling with the mask hanging around her neck.

Jolie thought it was a great idea to bring them because she didn't know what would happen. If they somehow got stuck here until morning she wanted to be prepared if they had to walk through fog. She knew that her masks could function but she still wasn't sure if it did the job it was supposed to do and that made her nervous.

"No, we don't but I'd rather have it and not need it, then need it and not have it," Jolie said, reciting a quote that she had read once. "Things could go wrong and we'll have to stay until morning." She tugged my backpack straps tighter and we started our walk down the street.

Jolie kept glancing from side to side, the air was clear but she felt like she couldn't see a thing. It was too dark and it made her uneasy not being able to see everything, not being in control. Jolie was just waiting to see the broad shouldered man appear around the corner or better yet the sound of rolling toy car wheels.

"You okay," Aaliyah questioned. She was watching her sister's clenched hands around her backpack straps, head snapping at the sound of the wind. She was chewing on her lip and Aaliyah watched as a single drop of blood rolled from her mouth and down her lip. "Jo, stop," she blurted, shaking her sister's arm.

Jolie involuntarily licked the blood and winced at the small zing of pain. Her hand shot up and grazed the small cut on her lip. "Keep your voice down," she mumbled.

"You're the one tearing up your lip," Aaliyah retorted.

"If you don't want us to get caught then keep your voice down." Jolie pushed Aaliyah ahead of her and continued to scan the street.

By the time the girls had gotten to the end of the street Jolie had given up on giving herself whiplash by checking each side of the street. She was looking down at her shoes but making sure to keep her ears open. The clicks were hard to miss and the toy car man hadn't exactly been the quietest person ever.

Jolie had to keep her hands wrapped tight around the straps of her backpack to keep her hands from shaking. She had to keep her gaze on her feet before she started imagining all of the things that could emerge from the darkness. She imagined dark figures reaching out and grabbing Aaliyah and pulling her into the darkness away from her forever. Then she thought about having to go back to the bunker without her sister, the devastation that would be on Naomi's face and that's when the lip biting started.

Too buried in the rythmic sound of her shoes hitting the ground, Jolie didn't notice her sister stop in front of her with horror filling her eyes. Jolie ran right into her, head shooting up to find the issue.

Jolie looked at her sisters still figure and wrapped her hands around her shoulders. "What is it Liyah." Click. Click. Click. Jolie dropped her fingers from Aaliyah's shoulders, the familiar sound sending shivers down her spine. "Aaliyah, where are they," Jolie said, squinting into the darkness. She could hear them but not see them.

"I don't know I saw one pass but-but I don't see it," she breathed.

Jolie wrapped her hands back around her sister, pulling her behind her and spinning in circles looking for the lone Howler. She pushed her pointer finger to her lips as she slipped her bag off of her shoulders and placed it on the ground as gently as she could. Click. She unzipped the bag, little by little until she could reach a hand in. Click. She reached her hand, in pulling out a flashlight. She stood and handed it to Aaliyah to let her turn it on. A click sounded through the air, this time from her flashlight and not the monster around her.

As the beam of light extended out a few feet both girls' breath hitched. Surrounding the ten Howlers, all of their rods extended-daring the girls to make a sound so that they could attack. The flashlight slipped from Aaliyah's grasp and in that moment everything felt like it was going in slow motion.

Jolie watched as the flashlight fell, the light moving to illuminate more Howlers. She dropped to her knees diving for the flashlight. The last thing she saw was the light in her eyes, blinding her momentarily and the last thing she heard was the metal flashlight hitting the concrete.

"Run," she breathed. Jolie saw the hesitation the Aaliyah felt but the look on Jolie's face made her go anyway.

Jolie reacted quickly, pushing herself up off the ground as she felt the vibration of the pounding footsteps coming for her. She scooped up her bag and the flashlight. She shined the light in a full 360 deciding which place was the safest to run. When she saw an opening she took off for it while simultaneously reaching into her bag for something she thought would come in handy. She thought back to a journal entry she had read.

Howlers are attracted to noise, even the slightest noise can draw them to you. The only way to kill them is to destroy their noise receptor rods. However there is a way to distract the Howlers from advancing on you if there are too many and you can't fight your way out. Bring along an object that can make a noise loud enough to cover up your tracks. THEN YOU GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE.

Jolie pulled a white kitchen timer out of her bag as she was running to the opening. She cranked it to five seconds and threw it behind her. She watched as a few Howlers looked towards the small ping the timer made as it hit the ground. As the time blared and the Howlers picked up their speed towards the timer, Jolie dove through the opening and slid back to her feet. She sprinted off looking back on last time to see the Howlers pouncing on the inanimate object.

Author Note: Sorry I know that this chapter is short but I'm trying to keep a steady update schedule and do one chapter everyday, switching between my two books. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter though, comment, vote, and make sure you drink and eat something today.