*Chris' Point Of View*
I knew there was no way I was going to convince Abby of staying behind while I went to go get Josh. That was the only way we could stop her, and Mike knew. I saw as he carried her away to the basement with Sam and Em not far behind. I turned to look at Ash for a second before she nodded and left with them. The stranger cleared his throat and walked towards me.
"You don't seem to understand the magnitude of this situation."
"Well I'm going to get Josh, aren't I?" The way he looked at me like I was nothing more than a nuisance annoyed the heck out of me.
"No I'm going to get Josh. You're going to help me . Do you understand?" His gaze turned from cold and distant to deadly serious as he said that, leaving me at a loss for words. This guy was scary.
"... Uh... Yeah.. I think so..."
The guy turned and walked towards one of the side entrances, as if he knew the layout of this place by heart. I just blindly followed him, my mind entirely on getting Josh and bringing him to safety. Abby and I knew he was sick, but didn't understand just how bad it had gotten. Sam seemed distraught by everything and I knew she was somehow blaming herself for what had happened, we all were. She was the one that was with him almost all the time though, so this must have hurt her more than she shows. Flame guy stopped when we arrived at the door and turned towards me, handing me a shotgun.
"This is the end you point towards the thing you want to kill." He simply stated, pointing towards the muzzle, I just stared blankly at him.
"I think I know how to use a shotgun, man." Did he really think I was that stupid? I mean, sure I called P.E. climbing class, but he didn't know that!
"Hey... Come back safe." Ash said, appearing out of nowhere and interrupting my train of thought. I turned towards her, startled, and had no time to react before she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. It was quick, nothing more than a peck, but it felt as if I'd leveled up, like I could take on the world and would be okay thanks to that kiss. She pulled away too soon and smiled at me waiting for a response.
"We need to hurry, son." Flame guy was still there, waiting on my answer just as impatiently as Ash for completely different reasons and suddenly the pressure just got too heavy and I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"I uh... I'll see you soon." No you idiot! Say something else, something romantic or whatever. I turned away hastily and walked outside with Flame guy, face-palming on the inside.
"So... So tell me. you're the expert on these 'things'. What's a guy gotta know?"
"You just be careful. You follow my lead." Flame guy seemed to be smirking, probably at what I just said to Ash, but I decided to ignore it.
"How many times do I have to shoot it with this shotgun before it's dead?" He was silent for a bit before he answered, the smirk still in his face.
"Well, you'd be shooting it a long time." What the hell did that mean?
"you mean this thing won't even kill it?!" I looked at my shotgun sadly, so much for protection.
"No... But it'll slow it down."
"Then how do you kill it?"
"They don't like fire." Flame guy was really getting on my nerves.
"I don't like fire."
"They fear it, and it can kill them if you have to... See their skin is like... it's like tough armor, unless you burn it off first." That's gross.
