Horror of Alley Creek

Chapter Five: What the heck is that?

"I caught wind about the surprise Maddison told you about yesterday," Robby began as he and I walked over to the truck we would use for patrol.

I slid in and didn't say a word for a few seconds. "That doesn't surprise me. Remember when Jacie was trying to hide her pregnancy and somehow the whole team found out about it?"

"Right, it makes me wonder how she's doing anyhow," Robby stated as he buckled up and turned on the truck. "How are you feeling about it?"

I shrugged. "I'm handling it for the most part. It was honestly more of a surprise than anything, and I feel bad for Maddison. I guess she thought I would be mad at her or even leave her." I paused as I looked over at Robby. "We were up most of the night talking about it."

Robby nodded. "How does she feel about it?"

"I think she's excited about it, but I think she's just as nervous as me." I shook my head slightly. "It ended up bringing the idea of marriage into the conversation."

"And. How did that go?" he inquired as he pulled out of the parking space.

A gave a single-shoulder shrug. "Well. I guess she admitted that she had never given much thought to it, either." I ran a hand over my face. "Do you think we're going to find anything out there?"

Robby shook his head. "Nope, I'm sure it's probably nothing."

The radio in the truck started having static go over it. I narrowed my brows in confusion and looked at Robby, who seemed just as confused.

I turned up the volume. "899, this is 1040," the voice stated.

"1040, this is 899," the man on the other end of the radio said back.

Static sounded out through the radio. "The thing is still loose. I repeat, the monster is still loose. Avoid going into the Alley Creek area at all costs!"

"What the heck?" I muttered. "Who was that?" I asked Robby.

"I don't know man, I've never heard the call signs 899 and 1040," he glanced up at the road. "Should we even head over there?" he questioned.

I just looked at him before looking at the radio. "We can't let this call stop our job. Let's continue over there and make sure everything is okay." Robby nodded.

As trees passed us by on the road, I just stared out the window. My thoughts were rushing through my head and I didn't know how I was supposed to handle everything. My sister was trying to reconnect, Maddison is pregnant with our child, and we finally brought up the idea of marriage.

Robby could sense it as he cleared his throat. "Looking a little stormy out, huh?" he spoke up as he glanced at the sky.

I shot a look up at the sky. "It is," I said.

"Okay, Mitch. I've known you long enough to know that the only time you're this quiet is when you're thinking about things." Robby glanced over at me with a quirked brow. "You're thinking about Maddison and your sister. Aren't you?"

I drew in a breath before speaking. "Just like before," I murmured. "Robby, how am I going to handle being a dad?"

He smiled and adjusted his head against the headrest before speaking. "The way you've always handled things." I raised a brow. "Figuring it out as you go. Trust me, no one is ever ready for parenthood."

"Maybe." I sighed. Looking back out at the road, I noticed the signs for Alley Creek and Whiskey Bend, but something was off about them. "Hey, Robby. Can you pull over for a moment?"

He nodded, then pulled the truck to the side of the road and put it in park. I quickly got out of the car and walked over to the sign. Robby got out as well and made his way over to me. "Is something wrong?" he hadn't noticed what I had. Nor was he standing close enough to see it.