Strain 11

Beginnings

Strain 11

GABRIEL SITAPATI

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I have to thank My English Teacher, Mr. Russel. He let us use a month in his class to write whatever we wanted. I also have to thank my friends at school and family for giving me some great pointers on how to make this story awesome. I got the cover for my book from deadfrontier.wikia.com. They have some cool pictures and stuff. Also, thanks to Lyndsey Nguyen for introducing me to Wattpad.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I spent a lot of the seventh grade working on this. I have also sat down every now and then to touch it up. I have gone through it and comletely changed up the charecters and story multiple times, so I may have forgotten to switch some stuff. Please comment is you find errors or stuff that doesn't seem right.

Also, this is my first Wattpad story, and I don't really think I formatted it right. If there is anyone that would touch that up for me, I would thank you a million times over.

Also, if u dont mind me asking, i'm doing a science fair project about if good grades lead to better income. If you could have your parents (its only for adults) fill it out that would really rock. the link is : surveymonkey.com/s/dogradesmatter

PROLOGUE

Randall Statin grabbed his Gatorade to take a swig, but there was none left. He cursed and tossed the bottle into a bush. He had been on this stupid hiking trail for three hours, and he was lost.

He was stuck out in the middle of Oregon, and the sun was almost gone behind the horizon. Randall was grumbling about how he should have brought a compass when there it was - a cave. He knew he needed shelter, but had also read that in Oregon, bears live in caves. He nervously glanced up to see the sky a brilliant purple. Randall was running out of time.

He dashed through the woods and found a thick five foot long branch. He broke off the end of it (with a little grit). The last tendrils of light were sneaking away. Randall fumbled for his cigarette lighter and lit his torch just in time.

The trees around him were black as midnight. Their long shadows were sinister and their craggy old branches would grab him from behind. Stop thinking like that, Randall told himself. They are only shadows. It was a moonless night and the only light he had was his torch. Its orange glow seemed wimpy compared to the dark enormity of the forest.

The silence was cut short by a rustling noise. Only shadows, Randall reminded himself. Then he heard it again, and closer.

Randall started running. He had to find that cave. Then he stopped. Hadn't he already been here? It was hard to tell, everything looked the same. Only shadows. He heard noise again, only this time it was a scratching, like nails on a chalkboard. Randall waved his torch at the sound. The light went out. Only shadows. Then it struck.