Ghost Town

Chapter 9

The gunshot echoed across the empty town. Fern and Sara ran as fast as possible. As soon as the gun was fired, they started running. They had no idea if they were being chased or not, but they continued running until they came to where a train track crossed the road. They turned left, and followed the track into the woods, before hiding in some brush.

"Where are we supposed to go? They already know about my house." Fern said once they caught their breath.

"And my house is too far away.  it'd take forever to walk there, especially in the snow. 

Suddenly, they both got it. "The cabin!" They both said at the same time. The cabin wouldn't be too far away, and it would be the safest place to hide. They slowly climbed out of the bush where they were hiding. 

"If we follow the train tracks, we'll be there before we know it," Fern remembered the trail that led from the cabin to the abandoned track. They walked out of the woods and began walking out onto the track.

"What happened to you?" Fern asked once they were moving.

"Excuse me?" Sara asked as if insulted.

"I didn't mean it like that. I mean, where did you go?"

"Well, I saw a van, so I stepped outside to go look at it and-"

"You went outside? You could have been eaten by something!" Fern interrupted her.

"I thought there might be someone who knew where everyone was or something!" Sara defended herself.

"Still, you could have waited for me to get back."

"And risk them leaving?" Sara argued.

"Whatever." Fern reached to the ground to grab a hand full of snow and threw it at Sara.

"You little-" Sara reached down to grab some snow as well. Pretty soon they were having a snowball fight. 

"Okay, we really need to continue going," Fern said after a while. 

"I guess your right," Sara replied. As they continued in silence, Fern got lost in her thoughts. I hope I didn't kill him. Fern thinks to herself. She remembers. I mean, no one WANTS to kill, at least not here in Hollyvale. The train track led out of the woods, crossed another road. Suddenly, Fern saw something. Something on the road. A car! She began running as the van got closer. "Over here!" She shouted as she ran, waving her arms around. 

"Fern! Get over before-" Sara's sentence was cut off by a loud noise. It felt like someone punched Fern in the chest as the car drove away. "Fern! Are you alright!?" Sara asked as she ran over to Fern. Fern was holding her hand towards her chest in pain. "I- I think I'm alright." Fern suddenly realized her hand felt wet, and when she looked at it, all she saw was red. Her shirt was now covered in blood from what she now realized was a gunshot. Fern's vision began to blur as she started to feel dizzy. Somehow she ended up on the ground, as her ear was suddenly super cold. As the world faded away, the last thing she could hear was Sara's desperate voice.

"Please don't go."