The Company

Chapter Seventeen- Keep Off The Grass, Otherwise Get Wrecked

We left a bit later after that. We crossed the cliffs and went through the woods before breaking up into our groups at the beginning of the woods.

One kid had the idea of giving all of our groups stupid nicknames. Group 1 was the Medics. Group 2 was the Shipment. Group 3 was the Construction Crew. My group was the Railroad.

Yeah, I came up with our nickname. What, I like Fallout 4!

There was a cement path that began and ended in the woods. The groups spread out one by one.

My group was led by a kid named Parker. He was a tall junior with black hair, glasses, and a constant scowl. He looked like he'd never laughed or even felt any kind of happiness in his entire life.

I'd heard about him before. There were some kids who called him "Hammer." "When he starts, he starts, and when he's done, he's done. Just like that." That's what people would always say about him. Parker "Hammer" Heldt.

And he was the leader of the Railroad. Wow.

Anyways, we all stuck to the cemented path. We were quieter than a group of shy kids at a party. We were almost inaudible.

The Railroad split to the left for the boy's dorms, and I? I was terrified. I just kind of swallowed that and went along.

We neared the dorms, but as we neared, we realized we had a problem.

"We can't go in through the front door," Hammer said stiffly. He even talked like he had never felt joy in his entire life. "Someone crack a window and hop on in." 

A shorter kid with glasses, maybe a freshman, raised his hand and stepped forward. The Hammer held out a blue flip lighter with a yellow University of Michigan "M" on it.

"Take it," the Hammer said. "Lift it up and light it once you're in."

The kid took it and nodded. He eyed it kind of weird, put it in his pocket, and walked out on the grass.

That was the most terrifying thing I'd seen. I can barely shake that image out of my mind as I'm telling you right now...I can't tell you because of how horrible-

No. I have to. You deserve to know. I have to do this to myself. I just have to ask you this: do you want to know? Do you really, 100% for certain, want to know? If you don't, I'd skip the next few minutes. If you really do, and I don't know why, continue on.

The grass. It started growing on him the millisecond he stepped on it. It started at the first foot that hit the grass, right on the bottom. It spread up to his ankle, his knee. His waist was next, then it spread through two directions: down to his left leg and up from his stomach. It went up to his chest, then up his neck.

The most terrifying part is coming. Trust me, it is the scariest part.

It started to spread to his head, but as he opened his mouth to continue to let out a bloodcurdling scream that made all of the teeth in my own mouth shudder and shake like windows in a hailstorm, the grass went in. The grass spread inside and went in deeper. The scream started to become muffled, then just weak. He started to sputter and cough, then choke and gag on the grass growing in his throat, his lungs, all of his organs.  He started to shudder, then collapsed on the floor, twitching and letting out a groan that echoed in my ears, even after it eventually stopped.

The faint of heart can continue now. For those of you who wanted to hear that, I'm sorry you had to go through that. I even attempted to dumb it down for you and try to make it easier to stomach, but I don't know if it's possible. I'm sorry.

There wasn't much I could do but fall on my knees out of pure shock with tears coming out of my eyes. My shoulders shuddered from the tears as I shook from pure fear.