A screech pierced the silence in the darkness. It sounded like the Creeper wasn't far away.
“We?
?ll find somewhere to hide," Coal called as he glanced over his shoulder. "Just find something and come get us, quick."
“Okay, hang tight," Alicia replied and she moved away.
I bit my lip, offering them a reassuring smile before I turned away too and Alicia kicked the hatch closed. It thunked heavily into place.
I let out a shaky breath as I surveyed our surroundings. We’d emerged on a bare hilltop covered in concrete. A little way off was a small building which must have been the official entrance to the bunker. The concrete was well worn by the wind and rain and its exposed surface was split and cracked.
Alicia was scanning our surroundings, the valley we’d arrived through spread away to our left but the forest ahead of us seemed to stay on more level ground. The air was filling with a heavy kind of pressure that made my hair curl.
A huge fork of lightning broke the sky in half and struck a tall tree in the distance and I flinched before I could stop myself. The tree groaned its death loud enough for the whole forest to hear as it burst into flames and slowly started to fall to the ground, taking several smaller trees with it.
It slammed into the undergrowth with a resounding boom that was punctuated by a huge crash of thunder. I clapped my hands over my ears as my heartbeat accelerated in panic. I cursed myself internally but I couldn't help my reaction to the phenomenon. It was insane. I couldn’t get my head around the idea of it being natural.
The orange glow of the flames merged with the smoke as they reached for the sky and fingers of fire started to lick their way along the resisting foliage.
Alicia pointed with her machete at the closest patch of trees and I tore my gaze from the fire, nodding in agreement. We raced into the cover of the forest to search for the vines as fast as possible, keeping quiet in case any Creepers were out here.
A second bolt of lightning lit up the sky and I held my breath as I waited for the thunder. I felt the force of it rumbling through my goddamn bones but managed to stand still until it had passed. At least I was pushing my fear aside, though I was a bit pissed that it still existed at all.
“This is the wrong kind of woodland," Alicia growled with exasperation as it quickly became clear there weren't any vines to be found in the area surrounding us.
I glanced around at the tough evergreens that surrounded us but I couldn't spot any vines either.
“What do we do?" I asked, wishing I knew more about the forest so that I could actually contribute something.
A shriek sounded somewhere in the valley below us and we stilled. Alicia glanced in its direction before replying.
“Keep looking and hope we find some vines before they find us."
I nodded and we ran further into the trees as yet more lightning forked through the sky and thunder tore through the air.
Hang on guys, we’re coming…
Coal grabbed my hand and pulled me into a storage cupboard as the echoing cries of the Creepers rang out from further down the passage. He barricaded the door behind us, using some shelves which he pulled from the walls and I released a slow breath as I tried to remain calm.
"We should be fine now, there's no reason for them to force open a random door," Coal said, turning to face me and flicking his flashlight on.
He looked very calm. Too calm for the situation as far as I was concerned.
“Unless they know we're in here," I whispered, backing up to the far wall.
Coal followed me, smiling slightly.
“I'll just have to protect you then," he said, leaning against the wall next to me.
“I can protect myself," I said with more confidence than I felt. I took out my pistol and removed the safety catch before laying it on the shelf next to me. "If it comes to it."
"So long as one of us stops them, I'm good with it." He laughed darkly before sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. "Come on, Alicia and Laurie aren't coming back for a while," he said, tugging my hand to pull me down next to him.
The floor was cold beneath me and I shivered a little, hoping we weren't going to be stuck waiting for long. The shrieks of the Creepers echoed down the hallway outside and I shifted slightly closer to Coal as I tried to push my fear aside.
He placed his flashlight on its end, the beam pointed at the ceiling, casting strange shadows around the small room. I stared up at them, wriggling my fingers above the flashlight so that the light danced around us.
I watched my hand for a moment as I tried to hold it still but it continued to tremble. I hoped it was due to the cold but I couldn't be sure.