Tears of Gold

Nightmares on earth🧟

The two boys quickly catch up to us and we all run through the not so abandoned building together, running for our lives from whatever the hell the things chasing us are.

"What the fuck are those things?!" I shout as we run, trying my best to not look over my shoulder at them.

"I don't know! Just keep going!" Thomas replies. We run up an escalator, my legs burning from all the activity.

"Keep up!" Teresa shouts back to me, noticing that I'm trailing just slightly back from the group. I try to force myself to run faster, but I'm already going as fast as I can.

"Move, move!" Minho shouts. He grabs my arm once we make it to the top of the escalator, forcing me to run even faster than before.

"Where do we go?!" Winston calls out. Thomas runs in front of us, not responding to Winston, but we all follow him, trusting that he knows where he's going.

"Come on! Keep moving!" The Runner shouts.

"Faster, Venus! Come on!" Minho shouts over to me. 

"That's fuckin' easy for you to say!" I reply, grabbing my side as a stitch begins to form. My legs are killing me. My knees haven't even fully healed yet. I can't run any faster than I am.

Thomas stops dead in his track ahead of us, causing us to all skid to a stop. One of the things is running towards us. 

"Aris, no!" Thomas shouts, but it's too late. The kid has already grabbed the bat that Frypan had found in one of the rooms, running towards the thing at full speed. Within a second, he's wacked it over the head with the bat, causing it to fall to the ground.

This gives us enough time get away, but we're already being flanked by more of the things. Another escalator is just feet away. We make a beeline for it, running up the stairs as the things begin to follow us.

Thomas and Teresa start their way up the escalator before one of the creatures jumps at them, blocking our way to the two of them.

"Go! Go around!" Thomas shouts to us, waving his arms frantically as he tries to help Teresa.

"Minho, we have to get out of here!" I shout, the Runner leading us around the building. We dodge the creatures chasing us, but every time we think we're in the clear, more seem to appear out of thin air. 

I try to scan the area for an exit or a way to Thomas and Teresa, but Aris is shrieking at me to run faster. He grabs my arm, pulling me along with him as our group makes our way up a flight of stairs, meeting Thomas and Teresa at the top.

"Where the hell are we gonna go?!" Frypan shouts to Thomas as we sprint down the hallways of the building, desperately trying to find a way out of this damn building.

"Go!" Thomas shouts. I run as fast as I can, noticing that Newt is beginning to trail behind us. He tries desperately to catch up. I turn around to try and help him, but the sound of something crashing through glass startles me, making me jump and scream loudly. 

Newt is tackled by one of the creatures, the two of them flying through the air before landing with a thud on the concrete.

"NO!" I shriek, sprinting towards the two. The rest of the group follows close behind me, Thomas and Minho taking the lead quickly. Newt struggles to keep the thing away from him as it tries to bite him. It's baring it's teeth and snarling and growling like an angry dog ready to attack its prey.

Thomas runs at the thing at full speed, jumping and kicking it off of Newt. The creature topples through the glass railing at the edge of the floor and falls with a shriek to the ground below us.

Thomas immediately helps Newt up, steadying the blonde.

"Newt, you good?!" He cries, looking around frantically for a sign of more of the creatures.

"Yeah, thanks, Tommy!" The blonde shouts back, trying to regain his breath. I see more of the creatures sprinting out of a room just a few feet ahead of us. Just like that, we're back to running again.

"Come on, Newt! Keep going!" Thomas encourages, helping the boy as he struggles to run due to his leg.

"Through here! Through here!" Minho shouts, leading the way. "Let's go! They're coming!" He leads us down a ridiculously long, narrow hallway.

"Guys, where are we going?!" Newt asks, trying desperatly to force himself to keep running.

"Okay, run! Go, go!" Teresa shouts. We come to an abrupt stop as Minho tries to open a door. He lets out a shout of frustration when it refuses to open. The shrieking is growing louder. The creatures are coming.

"Minho, we don't have time for this! They're coming!" I shout, watching as the creatures round the corner of the hallway we're in.

"Just keep going!" Teresa screams. Minho gives up on the door, sprinting farther down the hallway. We come to the very end of the hallway.

"It's a dead end!" Minho cries. Thomas spots two doors, immediately trying to open them. Both of them are locked.

"Get us out of here, Thomas!" Teresa shouts. Thomas tries the other door, opening it just slightly before it stops.

"This one!" He shouts. Minho immediately tries to help, the two boys throwing their bodies against the door.

"I'll hold them back!" Winston cries, pulling out a gun he must've found in the building before beginning to shoot at the creatures just feet away from us.

The rest of us all begin helping the Runners, kicking and throwing our bodies against the door in a desperate attempt to open it.

"Get that door open!" Winston shouts, firing more shots at the creatures as the gain on us. Frypan takes a flying leap at the door, hitting it with all of his body weight. This causes the door to bust open. We immediately run through the door.

"Come on, Winston! It's open!" I cry out, as we file into the room. He chases after us, but a cry from behind us tells us that he's not behind us anymore. We turn around and see one of the creatures grabbing onto his leg, dragging him out of the room.

Sprinting over to him, we grab his arms, trying our best to pull him away from the swarm of creatures back to safety. He screams and cries out in pain as the creatures claw and scratch at him. Minho lets out a cry as he tries to push the door shut, trying to keep them out of the room.

I watch as one of the creatures digs its nails into Winston's stomach, blood immediately spurting out of the wound. The boy lets out a horrified cry.

We pull his arms until the creatures outside lose their grips on him, letting us drag him into the room before Minho and Thomas shout for us to run, trying to close the door. I help Aris and Frypan carry Winston away, hearing Thomas tell Minho to go and that he's right behind him. I look back for a second and see Minho towards us. Thomas shoves the door one last time before giving up, sprinting after the rest of us.

The creatures are swarming into the room a little ways behind us. We run until we find a hole in one of the walls, dragging Winston outside and finding a hiding spot a ways away from the building.

Sand flies through the air all around us, the sky still dark. I lean against wall we're hiding behind, closing my eyes as I listen to the sounds of the shrieking and roaring that the creatures are making. Their voices are distant, but they echo through the night as they search for us. They're the definition of a nightmare on earth.

I lean my head against the wall as I sit beside Winston, still breathing and panting heavily. I wrapped a bandage around his torso where he was scratched, but until I can find proper supplies to clean the cuts with, there's not much I can do for him. All we can do is hope we'll survive and make it to the morning. 

I run my fingers through Winston's hair, trying to calm him down as we sit silently, the only sounds in the night being those of the creatures hunting for us and that of the wind howling around us to lull us all to sleep.