Fleeing is for the Brave

In the rocky areas of that canyon that was covered by a thick fog, the presence of a small boy who was walking alone could be observed. The little boy seemed to be walking, but there was no adult accompanying him; this was very strange, however, the child did not seem frightened or alarmed, it was rather as if he was concentrating on looking for something and so he went deeper into the place where the fog was more concentrated.

It had already been a few minutes since that group of young people had witnessed the appearance of that monster and were agitatedly escaping from the place.

- H-How long will that thing keep chasing us?! - asked Glen.

- I don't know! ... I hope we've lost it! - replied Daniel.

- You guys... How can you be so mean! - shouted Renato.

Nobody answered.

- What?! No one will say anything?!

- ... Come on ... let's leave that in the past. - said Daniel.

- Sure... Just like they didn't throw you like a pig to the slaughter!

- Hey, they did the same to me and I'm not complaining! - exclaimed Glen.

- What?!

- Yeah... get over it. - commented Liam.

That's when Glen looked somewhat suspiciously at Liam.

- You and I have a talk to have.

Liam looked away without saying anything.

- What do we do now? - asked Renato.

- I don't know, I just want to go home! - replied Glen

- Will you guys shut up! That thing can hear us! - exclaimed Liam trying to mumble.

- That thing doesn't even have ears... How the hell is it going to hear us? - replied Renato.

- It shows no sense of hearing or sight ... but somehow it knows where there are living things ... we just have to figure out a way to make it lose interest in us. - Aren explained.

- Well, what do you advise? - said Glen.

- Let's try to find a place to hide, our resistance will not last long.

Everyone present nodded, as the adrenaline of the moment was beginning to wear off in that group; especially Liam who seemed to be fainting. 

The sounds of heavy footsteps breaking and cracking the ground could be heard behind them as the whole group stopped talking. This was a clear sign that the creature was behind them.

One thought kept the hope in their hearts burning: that creature was not fast. This they concluded as they saw the footsteps sounding farther and farther away.

At that moment, Daniel could see a kind of narrow path that seemed to lead to an area of stones in the shape of deformed cones, that group decided to go down that path as cautiously as possible.

This they did, because they did not want to take the creature to the survivors' camp.

As they went down that path, they were surprised to see that it led to a cave. The young men were surprised that they had not seen that place before; therefore, they decided to hide inside.

The cave was a wide place, but with several rocks that did not let them see the area. Yes, a perfect place to hide.

The group tried to go to an area relatively far away so that they could be safe and rest.

Hiding behind a rock, they all fell to the ground because they were so tired, except for Aren who had taken on the role of a spotter.

Sitting up and catching their breath, no one could believe what they had seen.

- Is this real, I'm not dreaming? - Renato wondered as if he was starting to delirium.

- No... that thing is real..." said Glen.

- What do we do? We can't wait until it finds us. - commented Daniel.

- ... As Aren said, we must find a way to make it lose interest in us, but how? - spoke Liam.

No one could see a real solution to their problem, as there were no other people except for the camp.

- We should get out and get as far away from this fog as possible. - suggested Aren.

Liam asked the reason.

- You have noticed that this fog is strange; the density, thickness and color ... also the timing when it appears ... and, if you notice, it may be related to the appearance of the creature we saw.

- You say that when the fog appears ... is it because that monster is nearby? - Liam asked.

- I don't know if the mist spreading out means that there will appear that showed within it or ... if the creature uses the mist to use it to its advantage. However, what I understand is that as long as we are in this fog it means that we are inside its territory.

- So, if what you say is true, it means that at any moment that thing will come to this cave which is also full of fog. - said Daniel.

- Exactly... that's why, we must come up with a plan to run away from that thing using the area to our advantage.

- The area? - asked Daniel.

- Yes... this place is a good hiding place to confuse it... or at least slow it down. - commented Liam as he saw the whole area full of rocks and stones of different sizes and shapes.

- So what is the plan? - asked Renato.

- It's simple and listen well ... so that you don't do the same foolishness as last time, especially you, Daniel.

The white-haired young man felt somewhat embarrassed.

- I still think that if we all fight, we can beat him. - Daniel said.

Everyone present looked at the young man with blank expressions.

- So, you were saying? - said Glen.

- When we see the creature appear inside, we will walk silently and surround it as it goes inside; when we are about to come out, we will throw stones in several places to confuse it and make it think we are inside.

- Will the echo of the stones be enough? - Renato asked.

- We won't risk us shouting to make more echoes ... we don't know what the creature's senses are.

- I understand ... and then what? - said Renato.

- We will trot noiselessly away from the place until we escape the fog, then we will head towards the camp to warn them.

- I understand the plan until we escape, but did you forget the current situation in what you still call camp? - Renato questioned.

- It doesn't matter ... with them we have a better chance of survival than being stuck here with that thing ... however, we'd better hide from the survivors when we get to the place ... only Renato will tell them about what is going on. - Glen suggested.

- W-What?! Why me?!

- Be quiet. - muttered Liam.

- So, that's it ... just wait. - commented Glen as he stood up - Ah! But I have another question, what if we fail and he finds out? Is there a plan B? - added the young man.

Everyone present was certainly taken aback by this clarification, after all, it's not as if their plan could turn out the way they wanted it to.

- At least we can say that we know something about how this monster reacts ... maybe we can come up with a contingency plan. - Daniel said.

This he mentioned, remembering how they all acted last time and how they were able to escape the jousting.

Yes, when everyone acted recklessly, both Glen and Renato were the ones who had the first contact with that being.

At the moment they were thrown close to that thing, they could see how one of its limbs had risen to grab one of them; however, they both reacted and threw themselves to the ground to avoid being grabbed.

The creature saw that they were close to its lower limbs and its tail moved towards them; however, before they were taken, they heard the sound of a blow that hit what seemed to be the head of the monster.

Liam was the first to see it; Daniel with great bravery or, perhaps, ignorance dared to hit the monster with the wooden stick as if he was trying to fight with that being.

 Everyone thought Daniel was crazy; however, the determination in his eyes showed otherwise; it was not out of fear or an unconscious act, he was really determined to fight for his life.

Unfortunately, the monster seemed to become enraged and with the limb that held the decapitated head he threw a blow towards Daniel so hard that it sent him almost flying backwards.

 His attention was only on the pair lying on the ground, but, by that time, Glen and Renato had already stopped and retreated a few steps. The creature took notice and began to advance towards them.

The fear remained, but Renato did not let them control him and quickly pulled out some kind of small sphere from one of his pockets and threw it towards where the creature was.

When the sphere hit the monster's body, it expanded like a kind of explosion containing tear gas. And, then, they took the opportunity to flee from the place.

After a few seconds, the monster broke through the layer of gas as if it had no effect on them and started after them.

- As you remember, it seems that this thing is somewhat slow, but resistant ... the tear gas bombs did not work nor did it suffer any damage from Daniel's blow; therefore, I don't think we should face it ... we don't have the necessary weapons ... but in case we fail to escape we can use Renato's bombs to look for a way out. - Glen commented.

- Yes, I agree. - said Liam.

- So, the other thing I wanted to tell you is, what would happen if one of us got trapped with that thing? - Glen asked.

Everyone was silent when they heard that.

- I suggest that person do the courageous act of sacrificing themselves for others.

Suddenly, everyone looked a little to the top of the rock they were hiding behind Glen's back.

- I know no one would like to be in that situation, but ... someone has to do it. - Glen kept talking.

- ... Uh ... Glen ...

- Wait, let me finish. I don't wish ill on anyone, but if that were to happen, I wish the unfortunate one could make the brave decision to sacrifice himself for us.

- Hey... Glen...

- Just listen for a while ... look, whoever will be in that situation, we will remember him as a hero and we will tell future generations about his feat and ...

- Glen...

- What?! Can't you see that I'm getting inspired?!

All the young people were silent as they continued to watch.

- Now why are you silent?

- ...

- ¿?

- ...

It was then that Glen seemed to understand and, before saying anything, he sighed.

- ... Hey ... it's behind me, isn't it? - said Glen while on top of that rock, the appearance of that creature showed more and more.

They all nodded unanimously.

- Hahh ... and I thought this only happened in the movies.

In the camp where the deceased and survivors were, small fights seemed to have occurred, as several bodies were lying on the floor, while others were sitting on the ground while they were delirious and the rest were walking without direction or hope.

Little by little everyone was getting sick and others were slowly dying; on the other hand, inside one of the ends of the train where there seemed to be no one, there was the presence of that man with long white hair just like his clothes and that characteristic smile on his face being accompanied by a young man with short and straight black hair who was wearing only an elegant white shirt and black pants.

- They may all be dead by tomorrow. - said the man in white as he looked out of one of the booth windows.

- So... How will we take the corpses away? - asked the young man in the white shirt.

The white-suited man just smiled.

- On the other hand, I would like us to finish this as soon as possible. 

- Why, did something happen? ... Don't tell me you're afraid of what they'll do to you if they find out you murdered Robert, eh, Gajel? - commented the black-haired young man with some sarcasm.

- Not at all... it's just that I felt something I didn't like... did you see that fog that appeared at the end of the train?

- Yes... What's the matter with that? - asked the black-haired young man as if he too had noticed something.

- Let's just hope Renato finishes his work quickly.

It was then that the sound of propellers began to be heard near the place at the top of the canyon. The two men were surprised, as they understood that they were not part of their group.

Inside the cabin where Marcus' body was found, they could see that it was empty, the corpse was gone, but they could hear the beeping of an alarm coming from inside the trunk where he had sat earlier. The beeping turned into a series of strange noises that when listened to carefully, some words could be heard.

- Can you hear me? The rescue team is at the location commanded by this device ... we requested permission to descend ...

Yes, they were rescue helicopters that had arrived.

The last survivors could perceive this and a shout of jubilation and joy was heard, after all, their salvation had arrived.

The survivors began to stand up and shout as a sign that they were trapped in the depths of the canyon and, as they watched the first helicopter descend, they all began to run and gather around the vehicle.

The sound of a megaphone began to be heard.

- Please everyone stand back; it is dangerous if you get too close. We have brought enough equipment for everyone.

While the announcements were being made, the officers in charge were able to observe the disaster situation; they saw how the train had been left and what condition the survivors were in.

- It's only been about three days, but it looks like everyone has gone crazy ... we need to check the number of survivors and deceased ... the higher ups in the capital are angry enough without delaying us on this ... let's do it quickly.

- Yes, Captain.

As the people ran, one of them, who was carrying a little girl, ran in the opposite direction while exclaiming, "Have you seen my son!

- Have you seen my son! I've looked for him everywhere, but I can't find him! Please help me find him!

However, no one paid any attention to him.

It was then that the man broke out of the crowd and headed for the end of the train where he was still desperately searching.

- Run, Wachin!

was what was heard in the cave where the young men had been hiding for a few minutes. Later, the sound of tear gas bombs could be heard, dulling the place.

Suddenly, five young people immediately left the place trying to be as cautious as possible and having stones in their hands began to throw them into the cave.

Seconds later, they kept running so that they fled the place.

- What was all your heroic speech and stuff? - asked Renato as he muttered.

- I want to live. - said Glen as he teared up.

- Everyone ... concentrate ... we must escape from this fog. - said Aren.

When they got far enough away, they all began to run hard; however, Liam was already exhausted and, unable to run any further, he almost fainted.

Aren noticed this and quickly carried him on his back and they continued running.

However, the worst was about to happen.

As Daniel glanced back, he noticed something terrifying: that creature was beginning to come into view, but it was running in a strange way, as it was opening its limbs as if it were running a marathon.

This time, the creature was not slow at all.

The rest noticed and were terrified as the monster approached with great speed, and, as it extended its muscular limbs, they saw how it transformed into a kind of giant axe.

No one could believe their eyes.