25th Street

It's November 9, Sunday morning, a group of friends chose to hang out and travel. They are Geliah, Helix, Marshall, Leila and Daewon.

The car is full of noises.The loud awesome music in the sound system, chitchats and the chuckles.

The driver, Helix, abruptly stepped on the car's brake pedal. As a result, they were stunned and astounded; The noise slowly faded.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Marshall asked.

"Man, I think I crashed into someone!" Helix yelled nervously.

"Come on, let's take a look!" Leila said and opened the door on her side.

They immediately opened the car's door and stepped out. In front of their car, they saw a man lying in the ground and there was blood dripping from his head.

"Oh, you son of a bitch... You're not focusing on the way!" Daewon yelled to Helix, worriedly.

"Man, that person suddenly showed up in front of us! And, I stopped the car right away!" He answered, explaining his side.

"You stop the car right away? Truly, Man?" Daewon started to get upset. Thinking that Helix caused trouble but he was still lying about it.

"Hey, stop both of you. I think Helix is right." Leila mumbled.

Her companions unexpectedly look at her, with confusion written on their faces.

"But, we have to help him first." she said, talking about the man.

"Daewon and Helix, Let's talk for a bit?" Leila added.

Helix moved closer to Leila while Daewon gazed at Marshall signals to help the man. So, Marshall and Geliah carefully help the unconscious man, while the three are talking.

"We can feel it if we bump into something, especially because we are inside the car. But, Daewon, do you feel something?" Leila began to talk and looked at his friend.

"I didn't feel anything." Daewon simply replied.

"Right, because Helix stopped the car. The man suddenly fainted while crossing the street." Leila explained.

"I told you, man." Helix said to Daewon.

"Okay, so what should we do now?" Daewon worriedly asked.

"Take him to the nearby hospital." Leila suggested.

"Oh right, come on. The sunset is coming, we have to go." Daewon said.

After talking, they go back to the car. Marshall and Geliah were there waiting for them outside the car.

"How's the man?" Leila asked.

"He's fine, the bleeding is not severe. But, he's still unconscious." Geliah replied.

Helix opened the car's door, ready to go inside but suddenly Marshall spoke, "Guys, I have to pee."

They looked at him and started to chuckle.

"Can I?" He innocently added.

That time, they can't stop laughing.

"How cute our Marshall is here. Of course, you can." Leila said.

"Man, go back as fast as you can, 'kay?" Daewon reminds him.

As a reply, Marshall smiled and nodded.

Half an hour ago, but there's no Marshall appearing back.

They started to get worried about their friend.

"Geliah, can you call Marshall? It's been a half hour." Leila worriedly asked.

Geliah nodded and opened her phone.

"Damn! Guys, there's no sign here?" She said irritatedly.

"What?" Helix reacted and opened his phone as well.

"There's no sign here. How can we contact Marshall?" Geliah asked and began to stress.

"Wait, guys. Who knows, where are we?" Leila asked as well.

They looked around and realized that they were out of nowhere. They are in an unknown street, in the middle of a woodland.

"Guys, where are we?" Leila asked once more.

"We're on 25th Street. There's a sign there." Helix said and pointed out the rusty sign standing on the side of the street.

"We should find Marshall and leave. Come on!" Daewon suggested.

"But, how's the man?" Geliah asked, pointing to the sleeping man in the passenger seat in the back of the car.

"Can you wait here? If that man woke up, you can ask and mention to him what happened." Daewon said to Geliah.

"Ok, yeah, sure. I'll stay here and wait. Go and find Marshall so we can leave. Keep safe, okay?" Geliah answered.

"You too, girl." Leila said.

The three went to the woods and looked for Marshall, while Geliah remained in the car with a stranger.

"Where did Marshall peed? Damn it. Is he playing a trick on us?" Helix irritatedly stated.

"Geez. No, not here. Playing tricks here is not funny." Leila said disturbed.

"Hey, quiet." Daewon suddenly said and signaled them to stop.

Daewon is in the front, while Leila and Helix are in his back.

They stopped and zipped their mouths.

"You heard that?" Daewon whispered.

They waited and concentrated on their surroundings but there's nothing special. It is just the sound of the wind, leaves swaying and the birds and insects making sounds.

"There's nothin—

"AAAAAAHH!"

Leila's words shut off by a scream.

"Crap! It's him!" Helix panicky said, recognizing that it's Marshall's voice.

"Let's go! I think he needs help!" Daewon said and ran from where they heard the scream.

Helix and Leila followed him. They were in a rush, worried about what was happening to their friend.

While running and searching, an arrow unexpectedly shows up and it hits Daewon's head in front of them.

"Bullseye!" An elderly person said. He suddenly showed up in the rear of a tree. He is wearing old garments and holding a crossbow.

Daewon's body gradually tumbles to the ground.

"Daewon!" Helix shouted while Leila solidified on where she's standing.

The elderly person gazed at them and grinned. He prepared his crossbow and shot once more. The arrow missed. In fear, Helix quickly pulled Leila and began to run.

"Leila, run!" Helix shouted over and over.

The man follows them. He's walking and running excitedly like he saw a new prey to shoot. And, the crossbow is still focusing on them.

They panicky run, the sunlight is starting to fade and because there's so many tall and big trees around them, it's hard for them to run in the tall grasses.

"AAAAAAHH!" Leila suddenly screamed and stopped running.

"Hey, what happened?" Helix ran into her and asked.

Leila is still standing there.

"M-my foot... I stepped on something..." Leila nervously said.

"Alright, let me see it."

"I can't move it, it hurts!" She cried.

It's hard to look at the ground because of the tall grasses. So, Helix swayed the grass and slowly looked down to Leila's foot. "Oh, shit!" he reacted after seeing her foot.

A sharp metal stick was stuck in the ground and pierced her foot. It's a trap.

"Try to move it." Helix said.

"No, I said I can't. It really hurts." Leila said, her voice started to shake.

"You stepped on a metal stick but it's not that long, you can do it! Pull your foot upward, Leila. We have to leave this place together."

Leila attempted to pull her foot however, "AAAAHH! NO, I CAN'T!" she screamed in pain.

"You can do it! I'll help you, come on!"

While busy trying to get out, they suddenly looked at each other when they heard a whistle from not far away.

"Run, Helix! I can hear the man. Marshall and Daewon are dead. You should run!" Leila said.

"No! I can't do that!"

"Go back to Geliah! Run now!"

Due to the fear and the desire to escape, he started to cry and said, "You are a great friend of mine. I'm sor—

In a flicker of an eye, an arrow suddenly hits Leila's head.

"LEILA!" Helix shouted and at the same time Leila's body fell to the ground.

"Bullseye!" The man happily said.

"One more!" He added and started to target him.

Fear, Helix began to run once more.

Not far away, Helix saw their car. He was almost on the road. So, he ran faster and started to call her friend.

"Geliah! Geliah!" He shouted.

Geliah was waiting outside the car and when she saw Helix, she ran towards him.

"Hey, hey! What happened? You're sweating too much!"

"We have to go!" Helix panicky replied.

"But, where's the others?" Geliah asked, confused.

"I will tell you what happened but, please we have to go inside!" He said and pulled his friend into the car.

When they got into the car, Helix closed all the doors, and it gives Geliah another question in her mind.

"Can you explain what's happening?" She started to ask.

"They are all dead!"

After hearing what Helix said she just shook and chuckled.

"Nice joke, dude." Geliah simply replied.

"I'm not playing tricks here! Listen, there's a man with a crossbow in the forest and he shoots Daewon and Leila in their heads! Marshall? I don't know where he is but we heard his scream!" Helix trying to explain.

When Geliah heard what her friend said, she froze on her seat and couldn't believe it.

Helix started the car's engine but they were shocked that it wasn't working.

"Damn, not today! Please!"

Helix tried again but it didn't work. But, in his third attempt, finally.

"Seatbelt, Gel." He said, talking to his friend.

He began to drive but the man in the backseat unexpectedly woke up. The man suddenly strangled Geliah from behind her seat with a thick rope.

Geliah tried to fight but the man was strong. Helix tried to stop the man yet he couldn't because he was driving and he needed to focus on the road.

"Hey, man! Calm down ! We're trying to help you!" He said while trying to help Geliah.

The man took a gander at him and spit on his face. Because of what the man did, Helix is out of his sight and doesn't control the car. And because of that, he lost control and they collided into a big tree. They lost consciousness.

Helix slowly opened his eyes, he looked around and realized that he was in the middle of nowhere, in the forest. As his eyes wandered around, he saw Leila, Marshall and Daewon laying on the ground and they all had an arrow on their heads.

"Oh, please." He murmured.

He turned to his right when he heard a giggle. He saw the man they had helped before, and this time. The man was happy and he was dragging something but Helix could not see what it was.

Helix tried to move his arms and he realized that his arms were tied in the tree.

When the man saw that he was awake, he approached him.

When the man stopped in front of him, the fear he had felt before returned when he saw what he was dragging. It's Geliah's body.

If it weren't for its big tattoo on her back he wouldn't be able to recognize who owned that body, because it looked like the animal had already destroyed it.

"You're awake ha." The man said.

"Who are you? What do you want from us?" Helix asked boldly.

But, the man ignored his question, instead of answering he just smiled insanely.

"Fuck you." Helix murmured.

The man seemed to hear nothing and began to walk away while Geliah's lifeless body was still being dragged away.

When the man got away, Helix tried to escape. He tried several times to loosen the rope that tied to his hands. A few hours passed when he felt the tie loosen.

He looked around to see if there were other people, when he couldn't see anything he completely removed the rope.

He could not control the fear he felt especially when his three lifeless friends were in front of him. And what's even worse is that he can't recognize one of his friends, Geliah.

"Once I escape from here, I will go back for you all. I promise." He whispered before he ran.

He ran and searched for the right way. Thinking that later he was going to be fine and safe.

As he ran and tried to find the way, he no longer knew where he had gone. But, not far away, he saw houses because there are lights in that small village.

Helix decided to go to the houses. There he had the expectation that if there's people living there, they could help him.

When he got close to the place where there were simple houses, he tried to knock on a door. He knocked a few more times before someone opened it.

And after someone opened the door in front of him, the doors and windows of the other houses opened one after another. There he froze and the fear that he had suppressed earlier flowed through his body.

Everyone was looking at him like he is the prey and there are the predators that are ready to attack. To kill him.

As he wandered around, he realized that the garments of the people there were the same to those two men he encountered.

"Oh, God. Help me..." Helix said with a shaken voice.

Your final destination is on 25th Street.