by C S Allen
“Shoot the ceiling, Will, that’s where it’s at!” Olivia yelled at me.
“I can’t do that because I don’t know where its body is up there. I’d be shooting blindly into the ceiling, Olivia,” I yelled back.
Olivia then reached for the rifle in my hands and took it from me. She pointed the rifle at the ceiling where she thought the creature was and started firing blindly. Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Six rounds in quick succession. The sound of the rifle going off next to me was deafening to me and Emma. I quickly plugged my ears with my fingers and saw Emma duck down and block her ears with the palms of her hands. My ears were ringing and hurt like I had gone to a rock concert for an hour. I couldn’t hear much of what Olivia was saying when she turned to talk to me.
“What?!” I yelled to Olivia.
“That’s how you do it from now on, Will!” Olivia yelled.
I looked at the holes in the roof and said, “Did you get it?”
Just then a shadow went in front of the window, causing us to look out. It was the giant spider, slithering down from the roof top; it was the size of a large dog. I was so mesmerized and frightened that I didn’t move or even blink. The legs got close to its body, and then it lunged at the window and cracked it.
Hisss!
The spider’s mouth and fangs were pressed up against the window like it was trying to eat us through it.
“Shoot it, Olivia!” Emma yelled.
“I gotta get more ammo in the bedroom!”
Olivia turned and ran to the bedroom while Emma and I just stood there, watching the beast trying to kill us. I could see its many eyes looking at us in the cabin, and it was ugly.
Hisss!
It made more noise like it was angry or bothered that we were there. Realizing that we needed to block the window, I quickly picked up the mattress and pushed it against the window.
“What else do we have that can block this window from that thing out there, Will?” Emma asked.
“There’s nothing else in here that’s big enough to cover it. The mattress is all that we have between us and that thing,” I replied, pointing at the mattress.
“We’re gonna die in here,” Emma stated, looking at me frightened.
“No, we’re not, Emma. I’m going to kill that bitch, and then we will be done with it. Every friggin’ chance I get, I’m going to shoot at it. It’s not going to kill us; we’re going to kill it,” Olivia stated. She looked tough with that rifle she was holding. “Pull the mattress away from the window so I can shoot that thing[pe7]!”
Emma moved out of the way as I pulled the mattress down.
“Where is it?” Olivia asked us.
“It was just there!” Emma replied, pointing at the window.
“Shit, now where is it?” I yelled, looking outside. After looking for a moment, I grabbed the mattress and put it back against the window. “Well, it’s not on the roof so it must have gone behind the cabin,” Olivia stated to me.
Chapter Eight
Tense minutes passed as we waited and listened for any sound from the giant spider.
“It’s almost dark out there. Will, can you start a fire by using wood from the chairs, and Emma, can you find us something to eat?” Olivia stated.
“Damn, I like this new kick-ass Olivia,” I stated with a grin.
“Me too,” Emma said.
“Funny, guys, real funny. By the way, there’s no reason for two people to look out the windows. I can see the whole front yard from here, so let’s pull guard every hour at this front window,” Olivia said, looking at me and Emma.
I asked Emma to go to the kitchen to grab some food for the three of us while I went to break up the chairs. The chairs were the good, old-fashioned, hardwood-type chairs. They were put together solid, so I had to bust the chairs the best that I could on the kitchen floor.
“You think that you could be any louder breaking those chairs, Will?” Emma asked, as she looked through the cupboards for food.
After breaking the four chairs up and getting a couple of splinters in my hand, I had wood for the fireplace. Emma had already found a few things to eat, and surprisingly to drink, as I walked by to drop the wood in front of the fireplace.
“Let’s wait for later tonight to start a fire over there, Will. We can use the other candles for light and to cook with if we need to,” Olivia stated.
“Sounds good to me,” I said, as I stood back up and looked over at what Emma had brought to eat. “Thank God there’s water,” I said, going over to the couch and picking up a bottle of it. “Where was this stuff hiding?” I asked.
“It was in the closet with the rest of the food,” Emma stated, while eating a stale cracker.
“I’ve wanted something to drink since last night,” Olivia said, while grabbing a bottle from the couch and going back to the window.
“Okay, I have ravioli in a can, stale crackers, sardines, chips, chili, fruit cocktail, and chicken in a can,” Emma said, as she ate another cracker[pe8].
“I’ll take sardines and some crackers to go with them, Emma,” Olivia said, while opening her water bottle.
“Damn, you’re nasty, Olivia. How can you eat that stuff?” I asked.
“I’m nasty, Will, seriously? You’ve been gassing up this place since yesterday, and I haven’t said a word about it. You’re the nasty one,” Olivia said with a disgusted look on her face.
“What the hell are you talking about? I haven’t . . .” I started to defend myself but was interrupted.
“I’m sorry, guys, but it’s been me, my stomach is so messed up. I was hoping that no one would notice,” Emma stated with her hand raised in the air.
“Now there you have it, Olivia, Emma’s the culprit. I do believe an apology is in order for me,” I said, trying not to laugh.
“Oh my God, Emma, you’ve been doing that this whole time?” Olivia asked with the same disgusted look on her face.
“I’ve been needing to go since yesterday, I’m sorry, you guys,” Emma stated. She held her stomach and looked sad.
“When I get scared, my body shuts everything down. I don’t get hungry or have to use the bathroom for days,” Olivia replied.
“So that’s why you have that ugly look on your face all the time, hunh? You’re full of crap?” I asked, trying to be funny.
“No, this look that’s on my face is because I’m trying to hold back my emotions from kicking your ass,” Olivia stated, looking back out the window.
“Damn, what’s with the hostility, Olivia?” I asked.
“I’m just sick of being trapped in here smelling ass, I need to use the bathroom, I’m tired, two of our friends are dead, we can’t get help, and you two are acting like everything is okay around here. I’m about to go outside and kill that thing wherever it is!” Olivia angrily stated, pointing out the window.
“Olivia, we’re just trying to cope with this shit in our own way. I know a girl who laughed every time she was nervous, and another girl would pee a little when she would get scared. Everyone is built differently to handle this kind of situation. No one in the world would have guessed that a giant spider from prehistoric days is still alive, no one,” Emma stated, looking at Olivia.
“Not even Stephen King could have thought up a crazy story like this one,” I replied.
“We have to come up with a plan or we’re going to die in this cabin and I’m all for killing it. My plan is that we stay here one more night in this God-forsaken cabin, and tomorrow we get out of here. We’ll go out there with a rifle and two spears to kill whatever that thing is,” Olivia stated, holding up her rifle.
“Are you suggesting that we hunt that damn thing, Olivia?” I asked.
“No, I mean that we get the hell out of here tomorrow and follow the dirt path back to the main road,” Olivia clarified.
“Thank God, because I wasn’t going with you if you meant we were going hunting,” Emma said with a smile.
“So, do we agree to get the hell out of here tomorrow?�
� Olivia asked.
Emma and I nodded our heads. “Yeah, let’s do it,” I replied.
Olivia reached into her pocket to check the time on her phone, but her phone was dead. Not knowing how long she had been guarding the place, she said, “Well, my time is up standing guard, who is next?”
I volunteered to go next and asked Olivia to give me a quick class on how to fire the rifle. When Emma heard that, she came over to watch how to get the next bullet in the chamber. The rifle looked like an old Western, Clint Eastwood rifle where he would have to pull down the lever and then push it back up to fire again. I wasn’t even sure if that thing was called a lever until Olivia stated that it was.
“Six bullets go into this slot here, one at a time. I already have six in there so we’re good for six shots. Every time you shoot, you must pull down this lever like so, and then return it back up like that. That bullet just came out so you know that there are bullets in it. Here, take the rifle, Emma, I’ll get the bullet that just came out,” Olivia said, as she picked up the bullet from the floor. “Now insert the bullet where I showed you and push it all the way in,” Olivia said, while giving the bullet to Emma. Emma pushed the bullet into the rifle with a little grunt. “Now we got it, right?” Olivia asked, looking at me and Emma.
“I got it,” I replied.
“Yeah, pretty simple,” Emma stated, as she held up the rifle on her hip.
“Last one with the rifle gets the next shift,” I said.
About an hour or so later, we got the fire started using the broken chairs. We didn’t come up with a way to cut the footboard posts into sharp objects, so we agreed that we used them to repel an attack. Our plan was to leave at first light and walk as fast as possible down the dirt road and away from the cabin. There wasn’t much in planning, we just needed to get away from the woods and leave that spider to itself.
Chapter Nine
The night went sort of okay except that Emma fell asleep while on guard duty. She didn’t wake me up when it was my turn, and I woke up startled. I felt like I had been sleeping too long, and I just sat up from the bed, startled. I could see that it was early morning with the little bit of light coming through the window. I got up and didn’t hear anything coming from the living room, so I ventured out there and saw Olivia and Emma sleeping soundly. Olivia was spread out on the couch, and Emma was in a fetal position on the chair. I did a quick look out the front window and saw mostly fog and nothing else. I wasn’t sure how to wake the girls up, so I figured on just whispering to each one. I tried waking Emma first because I trusted her not to knock me out when being awakened by me. “Emma, are you awake?” I whispered first, and she didn’t wake. “Emma, are you awake yet?” I asked, the second time being a little bit louder. And then I figured on tapping her knee and asking the same question. “Emma, are you awake?”
“Shit! Shit!” Emma shouted and kicked one leg out as if to kick me away. “Oh my God, I fell asleep,” Emma said sadly, while rubbing her face and head.
“What the hell, guys, it’s too early. Go back to sleep,” Olivia said, as she stretched out on the couch. “Oh my God, it’s time to go!” Olivia yelled. She then sat up, fixed her hair, and looked around like she was looking for something.
“You okay over there, crazy girl?” I asked Olivia.
“I’m not awake yet, am I?” Olivia asked.
“Not even close,” Emma said, laughing.
“But it is morning, and we’re getting the hell out of this place,” Olivia said, standing up and walking over to the window. “Damn, this state is the foggiest state I’ve ever been to, you can’t see anything outside,” Olivia mentioned, while wiping away dew on the window.
I walked over to the window and removed the mattress so Olivia and I could look outside together. “No hissing and no movement are good signs so far,” I stated, looking outside.
“Before we go, we should grab a bottle of water and some food that we can put in our pockets, just in case it’s a longer walk than we expect,” Emma stated, while going into the kitchen.
Olivia and I went into the kitchen to pick up a bottle of water and to look around for what we could carry in our pockets for food. After we stuffed our pockets and decided again who was carrying the rifle, we did a quick prayer in the living room. Emma and I grabbed the wooden posts and made sure we all had our phones with us.
“Let’s look outside one more time before we leave and . . .” Olivia and I looked out the living room window at the same time as I mentioned to take a look. There was something dark in color moving on the dirt path, but we couldn’t see what it was.
“What the hell is that?” Olivia said, pointing outside.
Emma pushed in to look outside and said, “We’re never getting out of this damn place. There’s always something waiting for us out there.”
“I think it’s coming this way, Olivia, it’s getting bigger,” I stated, as I squinted my eyes to focus on the object. As we waited, we heard a distant hissing sound, and the object stopped.
“Oh great, it’s the bitch coming down the road,” Olivia said, looking at me. The object started coming back down the road after the hissing stopped.
“Guys, that looks like a person walking out there,” I said with a bit of excitement.
“Holy crap, it’s a policeman coming this way!” Olivia yelled and jumped up and down.
We couldn’t believe that a sheriff’s deputy was walking down the dirt road, out of the fog, like out of a Western movie. We were excited until . . .
“No!” Olivia yelled.
“Jesus Christ!” I yelled, as I ran over to the front door and opened it.
“Will, it’s coming!” Emma yelled.
The deputy waved at me standing in the doorway. I yelled, “Run!” and waved my arms for him to get to the cabin quickly. A dark figure in the treetops came out of the fog and moved quickly toward the deputy.
“It’s the spider, Will!” Emma yelled, looking out the window.
“Run, it’s coming!” I yelled, pointing up at the trees.
The deputy stopped walking to see what I was pointing at and turned around. Just then, the dark figure in the trees dropped down behind the deputy. We couldn’t see the spider, but the deputy did, and he quickly pulled out his gun and started to shoot. Emma and Olivia screamed as the spider jumped on top of the deputy, knocking him down. I closed my eyes, knowing what was going to happen next. We heard screams of pain from the deputy as one gunshot went off. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes and could only see the spider standing over the deputy, chewing on his face.
“Olivia, shoot the spider!” Emma yelled, grabbing Olivia’s arm.
Olivia was visibly shaken like all of us, but she managed to snap out of it. “Get out of the way, Will!” Olivia yelled. She cut in front of me and held the rifle to her cheek to aim at the spider. Pow! The first shot got the spider’s attention because it hissed loudly and stopped what it was doing. Olivia charged the rifle and shot another round at the spider. Pow!
“Keep shooting, Olivia, don’t stop!” I yelled between the bursts of rifle fire. After two more rounds had been fired, my ears hurt from the rifle noise, but the spider ran away into the woods.
“Did we get it?” Olivia yelled. She was deaf from shooting the gun.
“I don’t know. Let’s get inside and wait!” I shouted.
After getting inside and closing the door, Emma locked it shut.
“Now we know that bitch walks on treetops like they’re trampolines,” Olivia stated as she threw the rifle down on the couch and sat beside it.
“Are we going to be stuck here now?” Emma said, holding back tears. “You’ve seen what that bitch did out there to that cop, right? I mean, here’s a trained professional who took point-blank aim at it, and the bitch killed him!”
We stayed in the cabin, bruised and feeling angry that our plan had fallen to pieces. I walked back over to the window, looking out where the deputy’s body had been, and it was gone.
“We need to get to the car and call it in!” I said excitedly, turning around to look at Olivia.
“What the hell are you talking about, Will?” Olivia asked. “Our phones are dead, remember?”
“The cop came out here with a car, right?” I asked, looking at Emma. “All we need to do is get to his car and call for help on his radio!” I stated.
“Oh my God, you’re right, Will!” Emma replied loudly.
“Hold on! We need to wait until we can see a lot better before any of us goes out there. That damn spider will come out of nowhere in this fog, so we need to wait for more light,” Olivia stated.
It was about eleven in the morning when the fog finally cleared some, so we could see a lot more of everything outside. We decided on going outside the same way we initially had planned, with Olivia in the front, leading the charge, and Emma and me behind her.
“Grab your stuff, guys; I think it’s time to get out of here now,” Olivia said, as she looked out the window.
I picked up my wooden post on the floor and half-empty water bottle, which I shoved in my back pocket.
“Let’s do this one last time,” Olivia said, looking at Emma and me.
“I’ve got the door,” I said.
I slowly opened it so Olivia could go outside first. We gradually got clear of the porch and looked around, nervously awaiting the spider to come and get us. I held onto the post like I was going to shove it into something, and Emma was holding hers the same way. We didn’t say a word to each other as we walked painstakingly across the lawn. The sun was breaking through the fog just enough for us to see about a hundred feet in front of us.
“I can see the cop car, you guys, on the other side of that tree that came down,” Olivia said, as she pointed down the dirt road. “We’re halfway there now, so hold your breath,” Olivia whispered loudly.
