Scorch Trials 4

There was no sign of the moon in the sky. Darkness had swallowed the entire city. But, despite the blackout, Raiden knew where he had to go because of the green light, earlier.

Raiden forced his way through the darkness on the streets along with his flashlight. There was hardly any zombie in his way but he had one of his machetes in his other hand for the few zombies which came in his sight. 

The night felt somewhat cold. The little sand under his feet had cooled off too. The climate was completely opposite to what it was in the day. But Raiden didn't think about it much, he only focused on running and reaching the source of the green light. 

After running for a while, Raiden was surprised that he wasn't tired at all. He could probably run another mile or so.

But, another mile of running wasn't needed because he reached the source of the green light.

Joel was standing at a petrol pump, surrounded by a large pile of corpses, scattered on the ground. He saw the light from Raiden's flashlight and waved his flashlight at Raiden. 

Raiden approached him. He had to make his way by stepping on the corpses.

"Did you do all of this?" Raiden asked.

"Yeah, you see I found this empty petrol tank and had to drive it here to fill the fuel in, these all came along with me so had to take em' down," Joel replied.

"Well that's good, you took care of them but there is a bigger problem. The light you fired earlier will lure it here."

"What? They can't see so it doesn't matter." 

"It can!" Raiden insisted. "You won't believe me but there is a giant centipede out there, digging holes into the ground and roaming here and there for prey. It could pretty much know where I was when I didn't make any sound so I'm sure it has eyesight."

"What the hell? Dude, heat got you good this time." Joel chuckled.

"I'm not joking here," Raiden was angry now. "This is serious. Did you see some holes in the ground while coming here?"

"Yeah, yeah, there were many, I had to take different routes many times because of them," Joel said.

"Yes, who do you think did them?" Raiden asked.

"I don't know? You tell me."

"The centipede! Look, I don't know how can a creature like this exist but I faced it directly and it's dangerous."

The ground shook just like before. It wasn't an earthquake or anything else, but it was the warning that the centipede was coming. 

"An earthquake?" Joel questioned.

"No! It's the centipede, we have to go from here." Raiden rushed towards the nearest house from the petrol pump.

Joel didn't feel safe standing out in the open when the ground was shaking so he followed Raiden. "Hey! Shouldn't we move out of the houses during the earthquake?" He said right before entering the house.

"Just shut up and get in," Raiden shouted.

They moved over to the window which showed the view of the road.

"Just sit here and watch," Raiden said.

A loud and painful scream pierced through their ears. After the scream, came a bombarding sound of land breaking. Large stones erupted out from a distance on the road and destroyed many houses in that area. 

Some stones landed inside the house where Joel and Raiden were in. 

"What the hell is happening?" Joel asked.

Raiden shushed him and pointed outside the window. 

Joel kneeled and peeked outside. It was dark outside but in the darkness, he could see something even more darker.

The giant black centipede was slowly making his way on the road. It was calmer than it was in the noon, it peeked inside every house and moved forward. It didn't notice Raiden and Joel at all and passed them. 

Joel couldn't believe what he just saw. He wanted to speak about it but couldn't because he didn't want to attract the centipede.

After a lot while, the centipede had disappeared into the darkness and no sound of rustling sand could be heard anymore. Joel accepted it as a sign that the centipede had left so he spoke.

"Dude, what the hell?"

"Told you I wasn't joking at all."

"I'm sorry, but where did this thing come from? And, how is something like that even possible?" Joel asked.

"You think I know? I'm as confused as you. But, right now we don't have to care about its existence or where did it come from. The main thing is getting out of this place"

"The fuel is ready to go, we just have to drive the truck to the train and fill the diesel in," Joel said.

"But how? With this monster on our neck?" 

It was dark but Joel glared at Raiden, "Someone has to be the bait and distract it" Joel said. 

Raiden let out a big sign and sat down on the floor.

"I will be the bait this time," Joel said.

"No, no, it will be me, I will do it," 

"No! You already did it one time, it's my turn now," Joel insisted.

"It's not about turns, Joel. Think about it rationally, I don't know shit about trains, I don't know how to fill the fuel in it, I don't know how to start it, I don't know nothing about it. Even if I reach there, I won't be able to do shit."

"So…. What then?" Joel asked.

Raiden explained the plan, "I take a car and lead the centipede the other way. You take the truck and start the train ready. We will meet at the railway station in Aomori." 

Joel entrusted in the middle, "Wait! Why meet at the station? Why don't you just come back to where the train is now?" He asked.

"The holes….. when I was coming here, I noticed that both the holes and the amount of sand are decreasing as we move deeper into the city. I think that the centipede doesn't move into the city very much so there is a high chance I won't fall into one of those holes or if I'm lucky enough I won't have the centipede chasing me."

"That might actually work," Joel appreciated the plan. "Okay, but how will I find out if you are on the station?"

"I will light up my flashlight," Raiden replied.

"Okay, but what if you are not there?"

"So you just leave and wait for me at the next station. I will be there for sure." 

"What if you are not?" Joel asked.

"If I'm not there by the morning then you just go ahead on the journey without looking back." 

Silence took over them. Joel was angry. That was the last thing he could have wanted to hear. He stood up. "I will fire shot in the sky when I will reach the stations and you better be there, if not then I will kill you."

Raiden chuckled, "Don't worry, I would be just fine."

"Let's go, we should hurry," Joel said as he left the room.

"Yup, time to go for some action."