Don't Get Eaten

Chapter Eighty Four

It's been an hour, and the rain still hasn't let up. And neither has the wind. The sky was grey and not a single break in the clouds could be seen for miles in all directions. For now we were in the open, and nothing but fields could be seen. I wasn't sure on where we were heading but hopefully it was towards the river.

"The San Jaquin River is that way, but we need to make a quick stop first before we go there."

It was like she read my mind at that very moment. I look to where she was pointing and in the distance I could see the mountains and a line of trees that marked the starting point of the forest. My chest tightens as I think of Jinsen. He could be somewhere in that forest. Staring at it I felt a slight diminish of hope fade as I realize that was a lot of ground to cover. And it's been months since we separated.

For all I knew he could be long gone by now and in a completely different area altogether. But I had to start somewhere and that was the river where I had pushed him into.

The wind slashed at our faces, our clothes, and made it difficult to navigate in. The rain hit us hard even though it wasn't a downpour like it had been earlier. I was cold and shivering and I could tell that both Kyle and Casey felt worse than I did.

It was another forty minutes before we finally came across to another building. A big one at that. On the other side of the road was an orchard of orange trees and I was tempted to grab a few of them but refrained from doing so.

The closer we got the more we could tell it was some kind of factory. The big metal cylinders was a big give away for starters. But as we got closer it seemed it wasn't our destination. Instead we head for a shed that I didn't even realize was there a few dozen feet away.

"Wait here. I'm going to grab what we need, and we'll head in the direction of the river." Lacy states a bit loudly so she could be heard over the rain and wind. I nod my head as we head for one of the orange trees to get some relief of the rain at least.

Kyle did exactly what I wanted to do as soon as we put our bags down. He reaches up and snaps one right off. The smell alone was making my mouth water and what I would give to have Jinsen eat one of these right now.

Following suit all three of us start tearing into the fruit as I kept an eye on where Lacy had disappeared too. With the wind and rain none of us heard it. None of us realized of the sudden danger we just put ourselves in. We had let our guards down with nothing being in sight since daybreak, even with the knowledge of the sun being hidden behind the grey clouds.

I should have been more alert, even though I was dead tired, cold, and in pain. If I hadn't seen it right then, Casey would have been lost for good.

I look over and my eyes widen in fear as a snake like tentacle reaches out from the branches above us right over her head. She was busy eating the orange that she didn't even realize what was about to happen.

"Casey!" I scream out just as it snatches around her neck and begins to lift her into the tree.

"Ugh-" She grunts, dropping her orange and grabbing the greyish flesh that was wrapping around her tighter.

Dropping my own fruit I quickly take a hold of her leg before she could disappear altogether and hold on as tight as I could.

"Holy fuck!" Kyle spits out his food and jets to her other leg and holds on just as tightly.

She begins to struggle as the creature's strength caused us to skid on the ground, making my grip on her slip just a bit. Damn it! Her face was starting to turn a deep red from the lack of oxygen as the thick tentacle tightens even more. I tried my best to look up into the tree to see where the monster was located, it couldn't have been very big if it was able to hide in a freaking orange tree.