Only problem was that I was not a believer.
Not convinced.
I was a sinner.
“Did they give you a name of a person? Or anything?” I asked.
Lettie nodded. “Father Dane. Ask for Father Dane, is what I was told. I’m telling you, I’ve heard this place has hot running water, the whole nine. It’s the answer to our prayers… if you pray.”
As for Lettie’s life, I didn’t know what made her tick or who she was before all hell broke loose. I never thought it was my place to ask. Did it really matter? What mattered was what we were right now.
Survivors.
The lucky ones.
Or were we?
Living was not living anymore. Anything would be better. Death would be better.
That was where The Church came in.
Lettie brushed loose hair behind her ears as I grabbed her shoulder to lend her much needed support as she waivered side to side. I could see that Lettie barely had any energy left.
“We can take a five and then keep going,” I reassured her.
“Was I really that obvious?” she asked.
I pointed at an abandoned gas station nearby. Though it was almost dark, we both found it the best time to trek. Scratchers seemed to be around at noon and at midnight. Some even called The Itch, The Cinderella Disease. Something about 12:00 fueled their fire.
The metal door of the gas station slid open easily enough. I held it and allowed Lettie to shuffle inside. Plastic wrappers crunched under our feet. Clearly, the place had already been raided of anything useful, not that I expected anything different. We both dropped down in front of a refrigerated display case. Lettie’s head already started falling in a deep nod, and she was close to passing out. I was too exhausted to sleep, if there ever was such a thing. Just as Lettie’s eyes started to flutter close, we both heard a clanging rattle on the sheet metal door.
I held a single finger to my lips and tightly gripped Lettie’s penknife out of her hand. I held my breath like a hiccup in her chest. I eyed Lettie as she sat upright in terror against the wall.
“Let me in! Hurry and let me in!” We both heard from a muffled voice from the outside. Scratchers don’t speak. They were only able to scream in shrill guttural tones once they were fully changed.
It happened fast. I shoved open the door, and the stranger raced in and swung her back on the safety of the wall. Before I could slam the door with a fast bang, a high-pitched moan pierced my ears. We all froze and then covered our ears with our hands.
“Goddamnit! You drew them right to us,” I hissed between clenched teeth.
The woman stood beside me to help keep the door closed.
“It’s not safe anymore here, we need to go,” I whispered to Lettie who still remained huddled against the wall in fright.
“Lettie,” I snapped. “Get it together.”
Fear was a luxury.
Luxuries were destroyed by the monsters of our world.
Snapping out of her momentary terror, Lettie stood up and nodded in agreement. “Let’s go. Fast.”
Almost paralyzed with fear, I pulled back and kicked the handle to the door with all of my weight. It remained stuck for what felt like endless minutes. Until finally, a low-pitched creak echoed from the hinges of the door.
“Run!” I called out to the girls.
A head full of snapping teeth thrust right for my neck. I reared back. The scratcher’s drool curdled down its maw like a thick black gravy. I shambled away, walloping the scratcher with a chunk of dead wood I picked up near my feet. I needed to give the girls time to get away.
It grunted, wildly clawing bleeding grooves in my arms. I slammed at its head again. Bits of brain and jellied blood sprayed on my lips. I pushed the brain-crushed scratcher away with a manic guttural sound. Glancing over my shoulder, other scratcher marched right for me. If I didn’t run to join Lettie and the other girl soon, scratchers would surround me as blood oozed from their shredded flesh.
I ran as fast as I could. I was faster than Lettie, and I could bet I was faster than the other girl, so I allowed them a head start. But now was the time to survive. I had to look out for myself and couldn’t hold back the scratchers any longer.
A roar of ear-splitting screams echoed in the distance. Shadows skittered across the street behind us. We ran like we always ran. Never a day went by that I didn’t run.
I was done running. I was ready for The Church. I was ready. Sinner or not, I was fucking ready.
“Hurry, inside,” Lettie yelled. She held up a manhole cover in her hand near a fire hydrant forever not to be used again. The woman we didn’t know got in first and then me. Lettie dropped the heavy iron cover and let it slam shut.