The First

Chapter 41

Teagan woke to Agent Harris as he pushed her shoulder. "Ow! What?" Every muscle in her body ached and her head felt like someone drove a tractor over her. She'd do anything to slip into a nice hot bath with some Epsom salts and her favorite pink loofah.

"Sorry. But I need to drop you and Ellie off here for a bit. Something went wrong with the transport. It's only a few minutes behind us, shouldn't take long."

Teagan noticed they'd stopped at a gas station near the four-way split in highway 99. The deserted, dark, maleficent gas station reminded her of a cabin in the woods you might find in a horror movie. No way in hell. "Are you out of your mind? Ellie's leg is broken. She could even have internal bleeding and you want to drop our asses off in the middle of bum-fucked-Egypt so you can go play hero? Fuck that. What if there's one of those things here? We're staying with you."

Ellie sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Are we there?"

"No Ells. This jerk wants to drop us off here and go save that thing."

"What?" Ellie glared. "You're insane."

Ross put his hands up. "I surrender. You two can come, but if the shit hits the fan, you need to take the car and get to your mother's office. Understood?"

Teagan smiled and sat back, arms folded. "Glad you see it our way."

"I still don't know what's going on." Ellie yawned and rubbed her leg. "My leg's throbbing."

Ross turned and looked at her, then at Ellie. "We'll get your leg taken care of soon. But we have to go back. The rest of our caravan fell behind."

Teagan frowned; she knew it was a lie. "Fell behind?"

"Okay. They were attacked and a firefighter's in trouble. We have to see if he's okay."

"Fuck the firefighter. My leg's killing me."

"I know, Ellie. But you have to understand a man's life is in danger and we're the closest. Here." He unbuckled and scooted toward Teagan. It kinda weirded her out. What the hell is he doing?

From the glovebox, he pulled out a bottle of what looked like Ibuprofen. "Here, take three of these." He smiled.

An award winning smile if Teagan had ever seen one.

Ellie took the bottle from him and popped a couple into her mouth. She re-situated. "Fine. Let's go."

Ross slammed his foot on the pedal. Teagan sure hoped he knew what the hell he was doing. If mom finds out about this she's gonna shit bricks.

When they reached the first accident, Ross pulled over several hundred feet in front of the wreckage.

He pulled out his radio. "Beef, you still with us?"

"I'm here."

The whispered words freaked Teagan out even more.

Ellie leaned forward. "This doesn't feel right."

In the distance, lights from the toppled fire truck swirled. The tipped over semi's headlights and Ross's SUV gave the only light in the vicinity.

"Hold tight buddy. I'm gonna check the situation here. See if anyone survived the crash."

"M...kay, but hurry. I think I hear them...out there."

"I've got you covered, bud. We'll have you out in no time." Ross clipped the radio to his belt. "You two stay put. There's no telling where the creatures are."

"No way." Teagan opened her door. "You don't give a shit about the firefighter. You just wanna see if that thing's still alive. We're coming with you."

"Fine. You can come, but you need to stay as close as possible." Ross went to the back of the SUV and retrieved a large gun.

"Will that kill it?" Teagan folded her arms to shield the night's chill. She'd left the firefighter jacket in the front seat. Stupid me.

The passenger side window rolled down and Ellie stuck her head out. "If you both don't mind, I'll take my chances here."

"You're a gimp anyway. You'll just slow down our roll." Teagan humphed.

"I'll save a special place for you in hell." The tinted window whizzed shut.

Ross swung the big gun over his shoulder and pulled a flashlight from a black bag. "Is that her way of telling us good luck?"

"Something like that." Teagan looked back at the window protecting her last remaining best friend. She tripped over a stick. "Ouch."

"Keep it down. We do this quick and quiet. We'll check on the one in the back of the truck, then go help Beef."

"I was right. You do only care about that fucking monster. What about the cops?" Sonofabitch political bullshit. She walked cautiously toward the downed semi. The engine still hummed. From the looks of it, the truck had been hit from the right side, tipped over and slid across the road until it stopped. The back door of the trailer hung halfway open.

"I'm gonna check the driver first. Don't go anywhere near that trailer." Ross pointed the flashlight at the back of the truck.

"Okay." She moved her legs back and forth and rubbed her arms as she watched Ross climb up the bottom side of the cab and shine the light into the window.

"You okay in there?"

She heard a slight tap on the window and quickly scanned to make sure he hadn't alerted any creatures.

"Oh my God." He jumped down and jogged back over to where she stood, freezing to death.

"What...what did you see?"

"The driver and passenger are both dead." He panted.

Warmth ran up her spine and through her extremities. "Oh...shit. You think the creatures...um...Trills are still here?"

"You're a quick study." He lifted his gun to his shoulder. "Let's pray they're gone. Stay here. I'm gonna check the back. See if Gus is still in there."

Hell yes, she was staying there. You couldn't pay her enough to follow him into the back of the truck. A lump in her throat pulsed with every beat of her racing heart. Ross disappeared into the dark truck.