Stick To It

Flames of Renewal

Not moving when living, breathing, killing machines are prowling around is easier said than done. But by some miracle, it happened. Everyone managed to keep their movements in check until the wendigos got distracted by each other. Wendigo Hannah overpowering a scrawny one and chucking it in a random direction. It hits the gas pipe for the fireplace.

I can see the gears turning in Mike's head as his eyes dart from the leaking gas pipe, to a lightbulb near him, to a light switch. I am not a fan of this plan, but I have to admit, burning down the Washington lodge seems to be our only hope. He looks at me and Sam, both of us do the slightest of nods in return.

The wendigos are still fighting, Hannah chucking the one she threw earlier. It has gotten back up like it didn't dent a pipe with its body. The two smaller wendigos seem to be teaming up against her. The other, less scrawny one charged her immediately after her previous action. The two break away from each other instantly. Only to jump at each other mid-air.

Hannah smoothly pounds her foe into the ground before swiftly decapitating them with a monstrous efficiency. 1 down, 2 more to go. Sam slowly steps back but the damn boards creak! Hannah and the other wendigo quickly stop fighting as Hannah investigates the noise. It's looking away from me and the others. Mike slowly saunters to a nearby lamp and crushes its bulb with his fist, as I silently backpedal closer to the door. I'm close to the middle of the room at this point. Mike is to the right of the door, near the far end of the fireplace. Chris is huddled with Josh right next to the door, Ashley near the kitchen counter right next to the door with Emily slightly farther back from her.

Chris slinks with Josh out of the lodge, Ashley close to the door, but Emily is pressed as the other wendigo had noticed her. I grit my teeth and yell "Hey!" The wendigo quickly turns away from Emily and quickly crawls towards me. I do everything in my power to keep my nerves and instincts from making me move from the terrifying being.

The wendigo quickly loses interest as it notices the movements of Mike. I try to help out this time, but Sam does it instead! Ashley quickly runs out of the door during this distraction as I too scoot a little bit closer along with Mike and Emily. Emily is the closest to escape. Followed by Mike and then me.

The wendigo turns away from Sam, distracted by Wendigo Hannah's erratic movements. She quickly runs and hides behind the pillar holding up the second-floor stairs. I grimace as I realize she's buying us time! Emily takes the opportunity to leave as Wendigo Hannah goes to investigate the pillar. Damnit, Sam!

Mike and I also take this morsel of time to get closer to the exit. Mike is on the end of the couch closest to the door, while I am around the same distance still in the middle of the room. I see Sam run even further back behind a wall leading to nowhere. A sort of random outcropping of engineering is my best way to describe it.

Hannah stalks towards her hiding place, and Mike and I slowly back away. Mike is right next to the switch and I am slightly behind and to the left of him. We stick around though, a silent agreement to stay in case things go awry.

Which they do, Sam's nerves of steel fail on her at the last moment. Wendigo Hannah quickly chucked her towards the middle of the room before picking her up. I knew this shit was going to happen and I don't have my flare! My mind throws a blank as I use the only thing I have on me.

I chuck my flashlight at the damned thing! It quickly drops her snarling in annoyance as it lumbers towards me, luckily Hannah couldn't see me directly as Sam's body was blocking her view. I can see her horrifying, warped visage directly in front of me, egging on the invisible me to move. I get close to the breaking point before I remember that this is Hannah. A trace of determination flowed through my veins. My body calms down a little bit. 'I can do this, I have to do this. For Hannah and Beth. They wouldn't want this to have happened, even if it was our collective fault that they died.'

Hannah quickly dashes after the other wendigo. Sam, having already gotten to her feet rushes towards the door with me. "C'mon Trenton we need to get out of here!" She tugs me along as she flips the switch, the air itself catching fire. Boom!

Our bodies get sent back onto the cold winter snow. Mike already had walked outside. Sam rolled on top of me because of the knockback from the explosion. I look up at her face, the only thing sticking out in the starry sky. Her eyes glow with relief. No words are exchanged, just the countless microexpressions and emotions.

That is until Mike walks up to us with a jolting clap. "Alright lovebirds. We get it, you're amazing." Sam gets off of me as everyone dryly laughs at Mike's line. Mike pulled me off the ground, the two of us grunting. We both give each other firm pats on the back, both of us wincing from it. "Tomorrow morning is going to suck," I say bluntly. "Even worse than today?" Mike asks sarcastically. "I'll get back to you on that one."

Our conversation is cut short as the loud sounds of a helicopter cut through the silence of the night. "I think I can finally begin to put this stuff behind. For real this time." The rest of the helicopter trip proceeds in silence.