Epidemical

Chapter 2 - "Dark Descent"

Chapter 2-Dark Descent

Early the next morning, I awoke to find Koon beside me scarfing down one of the jerkies that Religion and I had salvaged from last night's scavenge. "Yo! What the fuck, man? We just got those, and you didn't even ask, or talk to us 'bout eating 'em?" I asked abruptly.

"What'cha mean? I thought Crock was gonna talk to you guys about letting us get first dibs on this jerky." He replied while licking his lips.

"No! He hasn't even spoken to me yet... Matter of fact, where the fuck is he?" I asked starting to look around. "He ain't even in the camper" I soon mentioned in realization. I saw that Religion was still passed out on the floor of the camper though, and Roach was propped against the wall, sleeping while sitting up on the toilet in the bathroom with absolutely nothing but a couple of rolled up shirts between his neck and the wall beside him.

Koon and I then went ahead and exited through the top latch of the camper, only to find a long, messy trail of blood that lead from the side of the camper all the way into the woods. "Shit!" I yelled, suddenly fully awake. "I think Crock is hurt! We better wake up the others fast, and follow that trail. Koon, head back inside, and wake up Religion and Roach. I have a grim feeling about this." Koon then proceded to duck back inside, grab the toilet plunger on the outside of the bathroom door, and whip it at Roach's face as he dropped the sledge hammer with the handle side down, onto Religion's crotch.

"You mother fucker!" They both replied in agony.

"Alright, shut the fuck up, rub your nuts, and get the hell outta bed already! Crock's in trouble, so get outside!" Koon snapped. Roach stumbled out of the bathroom, putting his pants on while Religion, who had already been sleeping in his clothes, made his way out first.

"Guys hurry the fuck up! The trail leads to the backwoods." I said to the group, but before I could even take two steps into the woods, I noticed that both of the gas cans had been moved about a few feet inside the forest. One was knocked over, and half empty, while the other remained full. "Oh fuck off..." I groaned. "We don't have time for this! Just keep going guys; it looks like the trail goes on for a while..." I said following it with my eyes.

After running deep into the neck of the woods for five minutes, the blood trail ceased before a rocky hill, where Crock was busy cornering this unknown figure. "Crock! Are you okay?! Did you get bit? Was it a Stalker?" In response, Crock slowly turned around with his eyes trained on the ground. His hand was bleeding and broken, and there was bone protruding out of his skin from his newly swollen knuckles.

"Lil' son-of-a-bitch thought he could catch me off guard! He cut some of the sound traps we had by the woods, and tried to take off with one of our gas cans." He was saying while he gazed at his bloody appendage, looking from his palm, to the back of his hand. Roach spoke

"So basically, someone was just trying to rob us... Meaning... it wasn't anything serious then, was it?" Roach asked plainly, losing any adrenaline he had in him as Religion called out in pain.

"Man my fuckin' nuts hurt! You got us all worked up, and Crock already took care of it!" He spat.

"Yes, but he is badly injured" I replied. "What the fuck happened exactly?" I asked looking from Religion back to Crock, who took one last glimpse at the figure behind him before he stood aside for us to see the horror that was left.

"Well, he put up a fight, that's for sure. But in the end, I had to kill him. I promise you though, he was by far, not at all friendly. He didn't even speak a lick of English, which just made things worse. Fucker had a knife on him too! So, I did what I had to do. After I disarmed him, I tried to calm him down, but he just kept going back for the knife. I missed a swing at him, and accidently punched the rock. Then once I had him by the neck, I snapped it clean." He finished as Koon and Roach exchanged a look before returning their eyes to Crock.