Flesh Eaters

The Storm Cellar

Chapter 8 - The Storm Cellar

*Murphy's POV*

I pull the rusty truck over and pick my crossbow up from the passenger seat. I swing the door open and climb out. Staring off into the woods that seem like a dim memory, I sigh and sling the crossbow over my shoulder and set off in search of Grey.

I silently pray she's alive as I crunch through the dry Fall leaves. Fall, shit. Fall means cold, cold means freezin', freezin' means death. I'm not even prepared. Fuck.

I can't worry about that now. I have to find Grey. I swear to God, if he hurt a single hair on her, I'll kill him and feed his sorry corpse to the eaters. Fuck, I'll probably kill him any way.

When the sun is shinin' directly above I come the stream. I crouch down next to it and look at the semi hardened mud. A pair of tire tracks follows next to it. I stand and adjust my crossbow then follow the tracks. About a mile or so away I find the truck.

I crouch down and pull my crossbow off my back. I load an arrow then silently I creep forward. As I get closer I see the driver doors left wide open. Son-of-a-Bitch abandoned the truck and took Grey with him. I lower the crossbow and study the ground, looking for tracks and find none. What I do find is a tiny drop of blood, dried on a leaf.

My mind flashes to Grey's limp body sitting in the front of the truck. Her head was bleedin' as she leaned against the window. She must still be bleeding when he dragged her out of the truck.

Slowly I walk forward watching for more blood. I'm getting closer to findin' her, I can feel it.

A few feet from the first drop of blood I find another and a little farther I see moved dirt. Looks like he set her down for a moment or maybe she woke up and fought him, I don't know. I do know I'm on the right path.

Suddenly the forest opens up and I find a large house, long ago abandoned. Its white paint is chipped and pealing but it still stands. Behind the house runs the stream I've been followin'.

I walk around to the back of the house and find a storm cellar. As I get closer I see the doors left open.

Grey, she must me down there.

I raise my crossbow again and quietly start down the cement stairs. I reach the bottom and the musty air fills my noise. A dim light hangs on the ceiling, flickering. I stand still and listen, letting my eyes adjust to the light.

Across from me I hear somethin' breathing slowly and quietly, like its sleepin'. Carefully I creep forward on light feet. As my eyes adjust I see a limp form strung up by its arms.

My mind flashes to Annabelle, no, the little eater girl, with her arms tied above her head. I shake my head and concentrate on walking.

I stop in front of the strung up body.

Grey.

She hangs by bloody arms and her head hangs limply in front on her. Her shirt is covered in dirt and dried blood. The jeans she wears are torn and covered with blood. Her legs hang limply beneath her.

That Son-of-a-bitch that took her is gonna die.

"Grey," I whisper quietly.

Slowly she lift her head and looks at me and I don't even recognize her.

Across her cheekbone is a gaping wound. The skin around her eye is a sickly purple color and swollen to the point where she can't open it. Her jaw is the same purple color and hangs so her mouth is slightly open. A dried trail of blood runs down her forehead. Her hair, damp with sweat clings to the sides of her face as she stares at me.

"Grey," I say again as I rush toward her to free her arms.

She says nothing but smiles weakly.

The rope around her wrists is stained with her blood. I clench my jaw as I carefully untie the rope. Grey whimpers as I remove the rope from her wrist. I glance down at her and notice her starin' strait ahead.

Slowly I follow her gaze and find a man aiming a shotgun at my head.

"That's it, turn around slowly," he says as he watches me.

Slowly I turn toward him and raise my arms above my head. I watch as a grin spreads across he's face.

The man chuckles and says, "Guess I was wrong about you, or did you come to make sure she got what she deserves?"

"Put the gun down. Ya don't wanna do this," I say while trying to stay calm.

The grin slips off the mans face and he takes a couple steps forward. "I don't? Are you sure? Cause it feels like I do."

Damn, I'm not made for reasoning with people. Slowly I drop my arms to my sides, keeping my eyes glued on the man across from me.

Behind me I hear Grey trying to stand on her feet and see the mans eyes flick to her.

"Grey, relax. Clint will make this bad man go away," he says in a loving voice.

I take my chance and grab my crossbow and aim it back at him.

He smirks and says, "oh, I just love a good stand off. Arrow verses bullet, only one will come out alive. Whoever will it be! The suspense is killing me."

I grit my teeth and stare him down through the crosshairs of my crossbow.

"Pull the trigger. Send an arrow into my skull. I'll do the same but with a bullet. It'll be a homicide and suicide at the same time. You know your going to die and you know I'll die."

"Fuck you," I spit at him as I lightly press the trigger.

"You got a mouth on you, just like Grey." His eyes drift over to Grey again. "I hate when she uses that language. It's not very lady like of her."

I take my chance and charge forward. I shove his gun down and he pulls the trigger sending a bullet into the cement floor with a deafening boom.

My ears ring as I slam into him, knocking him to the ground. His head collides with the floor leaving him momentarily dazed. Quickly I grab his gun and toss it away from him.

Kneeling next to him I aim my crossbow again. He looks at me with his beady eyes and smirks. As the ringing fades and my hearing returns I hear him chuckling. He lifts his head and I see a small puddle of blood. Good, he deserves the pain.

"Looks like the arrow won against the bullet this time," he says still chuckling.

I've had enough of this. I line my crosshairs up with his forehead and pull the trigger. The arrow pierces his skull and blood drips out around it. He dies with a twisted grin on his face. Food for the eaters, that's all he is now.

I stand pull the arrow out of his worthless skull and reload my crossbow with it. I turn back to Grey who's managed to stand. She stares at me and I see fear mixed with relief in her eye.

I sling my crossbow over my shoulder and head back over to her. Carefully I untie her other bloody wrist and she falls forward. I catch her and she winces in pain. Gently I lean her against the wall. I crouch down next to her and look at her.

She weakly smiles at me then in a hoarse voice she says, "I prayed you find me."

(A/N) Murphy found Grey, YAY! And Clint's dead, DOUBLE YAY!

So what do you's think? Please tell me, I really care what you people think. I feel like nobody reads the author notes and I'm just talking to myself here. PLEASE tell me what you think.

VOTE, COMMENT, READ!