AFTERMATH [until dawn]

Chapter Twenty

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hi readers.

Yes, I am aware it has been two years since I last uploaded a chapter; a lot of things have changed since then. If you are reading this after receiving a notification, welcome back, and thank you for being here.

I rediscovered the unfinished word file for this story, as well as my plan for it, a few weeks ago when clearing out my computer. I read through it and, after some slight modifications, I just felt like this story deserved an ending.

I will finish Aftermath very soon. There are approximately 10-15 chapters left, perhaps even less depending on my pacing; the entirety of the plot is already planned out, and all that is left for me to do is writing. Ideally, I will upload a new chapter every week, but if I don't please don't hesitate to comment on this story or on my profile asking where I am!

I will be editing the entire story as a whole after I have completed it :)

Before you read this chapter, since it has been a while, if you have forgotten the plot entirely (which is 100% understandable) I highly suggest you go back and re-read at least 2 chapters before this one, as this chapter is an important continuation of events from previous chapters.

Otherwise, thank you again for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please vote (+ comment!!!!) if you can!

CHRIS

Chris felt like his foot was on fire.

He had been so dizzy with pain that he hadn't heard the screeching of the Wendigos until Sam and Ashley started running. They half-dragged him behind them, shouting and screaming at the top of their lungs—but everything felt muffled and far away.

"Chris, please, you've got to work with us here," Ashley's pained voice cut through his dazed state a sharp knife. His girlfriend—his beautiful, sweet girlfriend—was panting, as she tried to keep up with Sam's faster footsteps.

"Ash," Chris mumbled and tried to move his legs to run. He grimaced when his right foot throbbed even more at his attempt to move it. Stars danced across his vision.

"C'mon, guys, we're almost at the clearing!" Sam shouted as she struggled to hold Chris upright, throwing panicked glances backwards and cursing every time she saw the Wendigos closing in.

Chris could hear the ruffling sounds of Wendigos moving through the woods, their screeches echoing in his head. He could feel the rough texture of the dirt on the ground as he dragged his injured foot behind him. The trees all around him morphed into one giant dark green blur, closing in on the trio menacingly. Amongst everything, in Chris' mind, Ashley stood out like a beacon of light, a beacon of hope, her golden aura the only source of light in the darkness that seemed to shroud them. It wasn't even close to nighttime yet, but Chris already felt like they were blindly stumbling through the woods in a sea of darkness.

"Here!" Sam cried as the trio burst through a patch of trees and arrived at a flat piece of land—very small, but just big enough for a helicopter to land as they had planned. All three pairs of eyes moved upwards, expecting to see their saviours flying above, ready to help them onto helicopters to escape Blackwood Mountain.

Besides a few clouds in the otherwise clear sky, there was nothing.

"What—" Ashley exclaimed, eyes wide. Chris watched as she turned around in circles, carefully looking above them, as if the helicopter was hiding somewhere within the clouds and would materialize if she watched long enough. Sam, meanwhile, gave a loud scream of frustration and collapsed onto the grass, throwing her pack down next to her. She laid there, silent, with her hands over her face.