Camp Antler Point

Chapter 22

The cabin erupted into chaos as the moose smashed through the window. Glass rained down on Amy's back as she shielded Carson from the worst of the shards. An errant hoof smacked the grimacing raccoon through the air, sending the phone flying out of Lucas's hand.

Their only way to call for help broke against the wall.

The swampy stench of half-digested algae clogged the cabin as the moose bellowed. Its struggle to maintain its footing became even more frantic as the flowerpot full of fangs shattered against the floor, sending teeth clattering under the behemoth's flailing hooves as its deceased twin watched with cold indifference.

Adrenaline flooded Amy in a rush of heat. They had to leave the cabin. Now!

Sprinting out of the sea of broken glass and trampled taxidermy, the three of them rushed into the center of camp.

"Get in!" Maggie screamed as she threw open her cabin's door to give them a place to hide.

The moose took that as an invitation.

Bursting out of Mr. Davis's cabin, it bellowed a war cry that sent a froth of spittle flying out of its mouth.

"Close the door!" Lucas yelled.

"But—"

"Now!"

The old wood rattled on its hinges, but that couldn't drown out the muffled screams coming from inside the cabin. They had only seconds before the moose would plow through the children's only protection.

"Spread out," Amy ordered before breaking away from the boys. She ran across camp waving her arms and yelling, "Over here, you reject reindeer!"

She'd never forget the look in its eyes as it turned to face her.

Its pupils glared at her like two fragments of obsidian shining with hate. Thick yellow discharge leaked down its face, matting its neck fur into tangled knots.

Amy pulled the bear spray out of her pocket and fired.

Hooves pummeled the air as the moose reared onto its legs with a gurgling cry. The hateful eyes squeezed shut against the burning mist.

Rocks clattered against its antlers as it crashed back to its feet.

"That was for Jessica!" Carson's next shots missed as his hands trembled worse than his voice, but the noise was more than enough to make the moose wheel around. A low groan rumbled out of its throat as it pawed at the ground. Head lowered, it hooked its antlers under one of the tables used as a barricade during the water balloon war and threw it.

Carson leapt out of the way just in time for the slab of plastic to hit the ground next to him with a deafening roar. "Your eyesight is supposed to be shit!" he screamed.

The moose clearly didn't care.

In its efforts to fling another table, it managed to hook the hose around its antlers. Like a spitting cobra, the hose spewed liquid into the moose's eyes as it knotted around the twisted points.

One yank of the moose's head was all it took to rip the hose right out of the side of the cabin. The kids' screams rushed out of the gaping hole as they rushed to shove a bunk bed in front of the gap.

As the moose lurched toward the cabin, Lucas bit the top off a sour grenade. "This is for busting my arm!"

Green syrup splashed all over the moose's face. The mucus ran thicker now, fat globs of it sealing the beast's eyes shut as it thrashed against the pain.

It meant to charge at Lucas, or perhaps the memory of the bear spray burned worse than the candy.

Whatever the reason, hundreds of pounds of muscle and sharpened points of bone rushed at Amy.

Even under normal circumstances, Amy's fingers weren't built for precision. Combined with the gut-melting terror of those antlers coming close enough for her to see the blood crusted on their tips, her less than stellar fine motor skills shook the flare gun as she readied her only weapon.

She missed the moose.

Instead, the sweater caught in its antlers ignited in a blaze of orange.

The moose screamed. Gone were the rage and the bloodlust. Now there was only sheer terror as flames licked the web of threads, inching ever closer to the fur below.

Sinking to the ground in a trembling heap of exhaustion and fear, Amy didn't notice the moose flee the camp, nor did she notice the crowd of children pour out of the cabin to thank their rescuers.

It was only when the rumble of an engine and the thudding of wheels over potholes filled the camp that she finally allowed herself to cry.