“Move,” he said to Kimmy, whose eyes were wide.
He strode away, pulling me along with him, while the other two followed.
“What was that thing?” I asked, fear creeping into my voice.
“It’s a totem,” John replied, not slowing for a minute. “Maneaters—cannibals—use them to mark their territory.”
My stomach dropped, and the memory of the last time I’d encountered bloodthirsty cannibals surfaced. The stench of rotting human flesh. The pit full of discarded human bones. The teeth they wore like jewellery, and the feral way they spoke and moved.
Just as soon as I had the thought, a horrible, ear-piercing shriek split the air.
John cursed and pulled me in front of him. “Run. Now. I’ll follow.”
He gave me a little push, and I broke into a sprint, dashing between the trees, trying to avoid tripping over rocks and tree roots. I heard the others just behind me as we ran for our lives. More shrieks echoed through the woods, growing closer and closer. They were calling more of their brethren.
Terrified, I felt like my lungs would burst from exertion. I was weaker than I’d once been, and my endurance was shot. What little muscle I had left was screaming at me in protest, but the shrieks were multiplying and getting louder by the second. Footfalls pursued us, and it wouldn’t take long for them to catch up.
My eardrums split at the boom of a rifle shot, then another. John was some way behind us and had started firing toward the cannibals. I ran until I felt on the brink of collapse, bursting out of the dense brush to find myself at the edge of a small frozen lake. I skidded to a halt, gasping for breath. There was nowhere else to go.
Asha and Kimmy joined me a half-second later, followed by John.
“There’s too many,” Kimmy said, and to my dismay, she sounded afraid.
John looked out onto the ice, his brow creased in a frown.
“No choice,” he said, clipped. “We have to cross. The ice will slow them down enough that they may give up. I’ll cover us from the rear.”
“That’s insane!” Asha burst out.
“If you got a better idea, Ice Queen, I’m all ears,” he replied sharply, and Kimmy gave Asha a reproachful look.
“I’ll cover the front,” Kimmy added with a short nod.
John rapidly uncoiled the climbing rope and handed one end to Kimmy, who coiled it around her wrist. He did the same with the opposite end.
“Run ahead,” he said to her, and she took off running onto the ice, skidding as she went but managing to remain upright. Asha spared me a single glance before jogging after her.
John turned to me. “Stay in the middle. The rope will keep you stable. Move as fast as you can.”
I nodded and grabbed the rope before making my way onto the ice. Despite having the rope, I struggled on the slippery surface, only managing a light jog. John followed, walking backward with his rifle out.
“Here they come!”
Subhuman sounds filled the air—uncanny snarls that chilled my blood. I dared to look back towards the treeline, and my mouth fell open.
A dozen cannibals spilled out, gathering at the edge of the lake. I couldn’t count how many. They roared as they saw us, clearly enraged that their prey had slipped away from them. My stomach dropped.
A sizable chunk broke away from the screaming crowd at the lakeside, pursuing us onto the ice. They were only about 40 feet behind us and would gain ground quickly if they ran at full speed.
John raised the scope of his rifle to his eye and fired. A toothless, dirty-looking man fell onto the ice, bleeding from his head. The thump of his body hitting the ice nearly made me jump out of my skin. The enraged, subhuman screams of cannibals filled the air.
“Keep going,” he called to me.
I kept moving, but there were more of them pouring onto the ice, giving chase. John shot the two closest to us, keeping them at bay, but on his own, he’d struggle to keep it that way.
Clutching the rope to maintain my balance, I pulled the rabbit gun into my arms and hastened back towards John. The cannibals had scattered in response to the shots, making it harder for John to target all of them. They approached from all directions, trying to close in.
I reached John’s side. He made a sound of protest at my presence, but I ignored him. Instead, I put the scope to my eye, and fired at a big, wild-eyed man brandishing a bow, managing to fell him before he had the chance to fire an arrow.
