Thirteen (Mono×OC)

The Gravedigger

My mind was floating through the ocean of calm.
Crack!
I floated closer to the surface, towards the waking world.
Drip.
It was raining. The water was rolling down my face.
Aaaggghhhh!
I cracked open one of my eyes. Who was screaming?

"Thirteen," Mono whispered, the moon illuminated him, "did you hear that?" I sat up. "Mono, my hearing is equivalent to that of a German Shepard. Yes, I heard the scream." I said sarcastically. The Nomes where on my lap, their faces buried in my soft stomach. I held them like small babies and looked around. The raft was stuck on a fallen tree the river. A pinewood forest panned around us, and the clean scent made it seem calm, but there wasn't a noise. The world was silent.

"Mono." I said softly, "we need to find a way to break the log. But something made that scream." I said. I stepped off the raft onto the soft earth. My ears where keen to the smallest sound. The Nomes hopped onto the dirt and pine needles as Mono went to hold my hand. We trudged through the dripping pines and it slowly got brighter. Is the sun rising?  I looked to the east, but the sky was dark.

I looked up and saw the tree branches thinning. Then I tripped and hit my head on something. I landed with a gasp and Mono helped me up. "Agh... What did I trip over?" I asked, rubbing my head. "A rotting tree stump." Mono said, holding my elbow. I looked around and saw dozens. This was deforestation at it's worst. We stalked through the roots, and the stumps stood like tombstones.

I tightened my grip on Mono's hand. A noise hummed just on the edge of my hearing. Thwack. It sounded like a shovel hitting damp earth. "Gah!" Mono yelled, disappearing. The Nomes shuttered and clung to my ankles. "Mono?" I whispered in the silence. It was too dark to see the earth. "Look out for the-" "Bwaah!" The ground beneath my feet loosened and I landed in a ditch.

"-hole...That warning could have come sooner. Sorry, Thirteen." Mono said. "Yeah, yeah, it's fine. Boost me up, I'll throw a rope down." I said. He cupped his hands together and keeled down. He hefted me up and I landed on the edge, gripping a stone for support. I looked at what I was leaning on before flinching away.

"Uh... Mono...." I began. "Yes, Thirteen?" He asked. "That hole you fell into? It's not a hole."

"It's a grave."
...
...
...

"GET ME OUT!"

I threw the end of a rope down and Mono and the Nomes clambered up. There was a pile of dirt on the opposite side, and Mono held onto me like a life preserver. "This is a really recently dug grave..." I whispered. Thwack shiff thump. That noise repeated over and over around us. We stood back to back, weapons ready. Even the Nomes had their scalpels out. Scraaaaappppeeeee.... scraaaaaaaaapppppppppeeeeeeee...... THUD! That was the sound of something falling into a hole. "Behind those trees. Something big." I whispered. We crept closer slowly and I pressed the thorny bush away.

The shambles pricked my hand, but the adrenaline numbed the sting. A huge, hulking figure, at least as tall as our raft, was sifting dirt into a grave. A shudder went up my spine when I smelled the scent of death. "What do we do?" Mono asked. "If we try to chop the tree holding our raft, he'll hear it and come running." I could hear the river a few yards away. "I can shoot him." I whispered, drawing my bowstring back.

I was aiming the arrow when I took a small step forward, but a branch cricked nearby. My head shot towards the sound. Jake had stepped on a very stupidly loud twig. I heard a grunt and warm wind made our hair ruffle. Mono stared behind me in horror. "Run now?" I asked him. "Yep." We took off as a shovel hit the ground where I had just been standing.