Pieces of the Sun

Chapter Ten

"Back," I heard myself say. "Back, go back, now."

Minho stumbled back and I followed quickly. My eyes darted around, looking at all the hanging sheets and trying to see anything at all. There was another crash, closer this time.

"Wait," Minho whispered, stopping. Both his hands gripped my arms as I stood pressed against him. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" I squeezed my eyes shut, listening.

A hissing sound was coming from our right. My eyes flew open as it grew louder. A scraping sound accompanied it like someone was dragging something along the ground. A sheet fluttered in my peripheral vision and then fell to the floor completely.

A hideous creature stood before us. I couldn't tell if it was once been a man or woman. It's skin was horribly deformed and flaking off in large patches. Brown bone was visible beneath it's right eye. A disgusting stench flooded my senses so much that my eyes began to water. The creature hissed, a guttural sound from the back of it's throat.

Crank. Past the Gone.

The phrases popped in my head and somehow I knew they fit.

"Fuck." I heard Minho mutter from behind me.

The crank looked at us and stumbled forward. I realized it was missing a chunk of skin from it's torso and blood oozed around the wound. It dripped onto the ground, leaving a trail behind.

"Minho," I breathed as the creature came closer. "Run."

We both spun around at the same time, tearing through the layers of sheets around us. There was a high pitched, hideous scream from behind us as the crank realized we were running away from it. I heard the sounds of pursuit as it plunged into the maze of sheets around us.

Faster, I thought. Faster, faster, faster- suddenly I was back in the Maze, running from the Griever. I could hear it behind me, the sound of it's gears spinning and clicking, the mechanical whine-

There was a shriek and a body leapt through the fabric to our left, slamming into Minho. He flew to the side, the crank perched atop him. Minho let out a yell as it's teeth plunged into his forearm and he punched it in the side of the face. The crank screamed again in pain.

I started forward to push the thing away when I felt a tug on the back of my shirt. I fell back and the horrible stench of rotting flesh overwhelmed me. The first crank had caught up to us.

It wrapped it's decaying arms around me and I struggled in its grip, planting an elbow firmly in it's side. The creature squealed as more blood spurted from the missing chunk of flesh. Enraged, it's teeth found my shoulder and sunk into my skin. Pain seared through me as I ripped away from it and felt the entire piece of my shirt tear.

I stumbled back into the sheet behind. The wire it was hanging on snapped beneath my weight, old and already fraying. I grabbed it in my hands as the Crank advanced on me again. Forming a loop in my hand and holding it tightly, I ran at the crank. Catching it off guard with my sudden offensive strike, I strung the wire around it's neck and came to stand behind it. I yanked and the wire went taught, tightening around the creature's neck. It bucked and we both fell to the ground, but I kept my grip.

The crank twisted and wrenched it's body around and around. I gritted my teeth, bracing my feet on it's shoulders and kept pulling tighter and tighter-

Snap

I fell back suddenly as the wire sliced compltly through what little flesh and bone the crank had left. Blood- vile, black blood splattered all over the floor and me. The severed head rolled to a stop a few paces to my right. The smell was even worse and I felt bile rise up in my throat. I dropped the wire from my shaking hands.

"Ari!" Minho tore aside the nearest curtain and stumbled into view. He clutched his left arm to his chest, breath coming in deep pants. He took in the scene before him as I climbed to my feet. "Holy shit. Did you-?"

I took a deep breath. My shoulder burned like someone was pouring acid on it. "Yeah. Can we please get the hell out of here."

Another shriek echoed in the distance. It was answered by another and another.

"We need to find the others and move." Minho glanced around. "There's going to be more. This place is probably infested with them."

A sudden realization dawned on me. "Minho," I whispered. "They're the people. The people that used to live here." I felt cold all over and sweat slithered down my spine.

Minho's face paled and I could see my words sink in. "We've got to shucking get out of here. Now."

"Say no more," I muttered starting at a jog. I had to wipe the blood from my face and eyes in order to see clearly. I had seen the crank bite Minho and I'd been biten too. Now I was covered in it's infested blood.

Not all of you are immune.

Jensen's words echoed in my mind as we continued to run through the abandoned mall. If Minho and I weren't immune then we had the Flare. And we were as good as dead.

The image of the crank flashed in my mind and then the picture of that little girl on the swings. I made a decision then. If I really was sick and had the Flare, there was no way I would let myself live long enough to turn into a horrible creature like that. I'd kill myself before I ever harmed any of my friends or lost control.

Staying alive and transforming into a crank was not an option.