The Narrows by Travis M. Riddle

Author:Travis M. Riddle [Travis M. Riddle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-23T04:00:00+00:00

~

They eventually traced their footsteps back to the entrance and re-emerged from the drainage pipe, not exactly surprised by their lack of discoveries, but disappointed all the same.

Oliver shielded his eyes from the sunlight and muttered, “Well…”

“I guess that’s that,” said Ash, slipping her hands back into the pocket of her hoodie. “I half-expected to find a demon clown in there,” she grinned.

Oliver laughed, having had the same thought. He lifted his left foot, realizing he had started to sink into the ground. Mud caked the bottom of his shoe, dripping off the sole, plopping noisily onto the dark earth. The only time he could recall it raining recently was on Friday night, after he had seen Eric Breen. Surely the ground would have dried by now, especially in the cold. If it had rained while they were in the pipe, they would’ve heard it.

“Did it rain?” he asked anyway.

Ash shook her head, cracking her knuckles in the wide pocket of her jacket. It slumped downward with the weight of the handgun.

Oliver stepped out of the mud, wiping the soles of his shoes on dry grass. “Thanks for checking things out with me,” he said as he cleaned off the mud.

“No problem,” Ash smiled. “I was ready to bust up anything that tried to fuck with us.”

It was hard to envision Ash shooting anyone, and Oliver had to admit to himself that he would’ve enjoyed witnessing it. Gun cocked, tilted sideways like an action movie star. Blasting away at some deformed creature barreling toward them. Though that last image made him think that perhaps it would not have been worthwhile just to see her fire a gun.

He looked up and saw Ash was already walking away, surmounting the hill, when the buzzing returned.

“Wait!” he called, racing toward her.

She reached the top and turned to face him as he climbed. “What?”

“Don’t you hear it?”

“Hear what?”

It had gotten so loud, her words were nearly inaudible. He felt like he was shouting when he said, “The buzzing!”

“I don’t hear it,” she said, concern on her face. He had to assume it was in her voice as well, but he couldn’t tell. He had to read her lips. She said something else, her frown deepening, but he couldn’t understand it. She spoke too fast.

Fuck me, he thought, taking a step back, nearly slipping and tumbling down into the ditch like a clumsy child. But Ash caught him, gripping him by the shoulders, saying something that he couldn’t quite make out.

The buzzing had never been this loud. He slunk down to his knees, his jeans dirtying as he pressed into the soft earth. When did it rain? he wondered again. What is going on?

After finding no trace of anything suspicious, he had let his guard down, only to instantly be blindsided. He frantically looked around, desperate to find an anchor point, anything tangible to latch onto to mentally steady himself.

Ash squatted down to look him in the eyes, and he could tell she was repeating, “It’s okay.

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