Light Up My Heart *Super 8/Cary Love Story*

16: Join The Club, Smartin

As we ride back toward town, the car is unnervingly quiet. I am somehow managing to drive this car without being too jumpy, but I keep looking in the rear view mirrors to see if that monster is coming for us. For all I know, it is sitting a few feet away, waiting to kill us like it killed the general.
A shiver goes through me as the memory comes back, permanently scarring me. I wouldn't recommend playing around with a scary alien giant monster thing.
Scary alien giant monster thing always wins.
"Guys, what is that noise?" Cary asks from the backseat. The sound of gunfire is getting closer and closer as we approach town.
"Joe, where am I going?" I ask. I probably should have asked earlier, but I was a little preoccupied with not crashing. How stupid would it be if we escaped death by an alien but died because I ran into a tree?
"I saw something by the old cemetery," he says. "Woodward said the creature was subterranean, so I think I know where it is." I nod as we pull into town.

Out of nowhere, a tank comes down the street towards us, its roof on fire.
"What the hell is that?!" Cary yells. I swear as I jerk the wheel, trying to change directions. "Move the d*mn car!
"Shut up, I'm trying!" I yell and swerve onto another road as the tank blows up. Yet another tank explodes in front of us, and I struggle to avoid crashing. It isn't helping that everyone is yelling at the same time. I pull into someone's driveway, somehow managing to miss an exploding car.
"Chloe, turn the car around!" Martin yells.
"There's a tank in the way!" I yell back. "What do you want me to do? Get out and push the tank away?!" Joe begins to shake Donny, but he is out cold.
"Donny! Wake up!" he yells at him.
"He's too stoned!" Cary yells.
"Drugs are so bad!" Martin groans. Joe gives up on waking up Donny and gets out. We all scramble out after him and run away from a tank that blows up the house we just parked next to. Everywhere, tanks and cars blow up and soldiers shoot large guns. It seems like everything is on fire, and I'm kind of surprised that Cary isn't fascinated by all of it.

Trying to stay off the streets, we cut into someone's backyard and vault over the fence. Charles trips over the top of the gate, so Cary and I haul him up as we run. We can't even stop for a moment because we have no clue what is behind us. We could be a heartbeat away from getting shot.
We run back onto a side street, but a familiar eerie roar fills the air. A tank is thrown down the street like a child's toy, and only one thing can do that.
Unless there are two giant monsters in Lillian.
We dart away from the rolling tank and past a playground. As we run through it, Cary trips over a metal beam. I trip over him and we both roll down a hill at the base of the playground as the others run on. Without a moment to stop the dizziness, Cary and I pull each other up and try to run without tripping over ourselves. We have to completely hang onto each other just to keep from falling over. We follow Joe into someone's house and I collapse against a counter, breathing heavily.
"Whose house is this?" Charles asks as he picks up a bottle from the counter.
"Cathy's," Cary answers, mirroring me and leaning against a counter. Charles starts to drink from the bottle, and him and Martin begin to argue.
"What the hell is going on?" I groan as Cary walks over by me. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair.
"This is crazy. Have you ever seen explosions like that?" he asks. I roll my eyes at him.
"We almost died and you're focusing on the explosions?"
"Dude, they were massive. Do you think I could rig a stove with a few M-80's to do that?" By the smirk on his face, I can tell he's kidding.....for the most part. I roll my eyes again, but smile. It's amazing that even in a war zone, he can distract me from the horrors outside and make me laugh.

"C'mon guys, let's go," Joe says. We follow him as we walk down a hallway.
"Where are we going?" Cary asks.
"To the cemetery, I'm pretty sure-" Joe is cut off by something smashing through the wall and sending us all flying back. I land on my back under a piece of drywall, which I push off easily. Martin begins to moan in pain and holds his leg. Look whose crippled now, Smartin.
"Holy sh*t Martin, you've got a bone sticking out of your leg!" Charles exclaims. It's pretty weird that I've been running non stop, but I have no pain in my leg. I guess my mind is just numb to everything else but survival.
"It hurts so bad!" Martin wails.
"There's a hole in the house!" Cary yells, completely oblivious to everything else. I rip some material off a curtain and hand it to Charles to wrap around Martin's wound.
"God, it hurts!"
"Calm down, Smartin!" I yell, finally ticked off about this whole mess. "I've been limping for days, and you don't see me crying." I can see Cary smirking out of the corner of my eye.
Martin's a nice guy, but I needed someone to yell at. Everything has just boiled up inside me and he is the first person I found to let it out on. He'll forgive me, so I'm not too worried about it. What I am worried about is the car that just flew past the hole in the house that Cary felt the need to point out.
"Guys, I gotta go," Joe says.
"Are you going to be okay?" Charles asks. Joe nods, and he looks at me.
"I'm coming with you, Joe," I say. "That basterd took my Aunt. I want to show that piece of sh*t that I'm not going to let it take everything from me."
"Wow, your girlfriend's pissed, Cary," Charles mutters.
"Shut up!" Cary says and pushes him backwards.
"You shut up!"
"Calm down!" Joe breaks them apart and nods at Martin and Charles. Joe, Cary, and I run through the hole in the wall.

After running past countless flaming vehicles and houses, we get to the cemetery.
"Just follow me!" Joe yells over his shoulder.
"We've been following you for the past 5 blocks! What are we doing here?" Cary yells back. We run up to this old shed, and Joe begins to pull and push at the doors.
"C'mon help me!" Cary and I begin to push with him, until finally one of them bursts open. I fall forward, but Cary catches me and pulls me back from....
"Holy sh*t," Cary and I say at the same time. There is a giant hole in the ground, dug deep down into a dark hole.
"I wonder how far down it is....." Joe thinks out loud. He turns to Cary. "You've got any sparklers in there?" Cary and I both look at him with amused shock.
"Are you kidding me?" He pulls one out, sets it on fire, and then throws it down the hole. We watch it until it hits the bottom and then flickers out.
"Alice is down there," Joe mumbles.
"And Sara," Cary adds.
"What are we waiting for then? An invitation to come in or a welcome party?" I ask sarcastically. I grab a rope, tie it to the door, and hold it out for the boys.
First Joe descends, then Cary.
As they motion for me to come down, I feel some hesitation.
I've seen horror movies before, and I'm pretty sure going straight toward the monster is never a good way to live.

But Alice is down there, a girl who was nice to me when the others wouldn't.

Sara is down there too, the only family I have left.

And if that wasn't motivation enough, Cary is down there waiting for me.

Cary, who helped me all those years ago.
Cary, who was nice enough to give me a chance to talk at the diner.
Cary, who carried me home.
Cary, who defended me.
Cary, who makes me laugh and smile when no one else can.
Cary, who kept me safe at night.
Cary, who stayed with me while I cried.
Cary, who cared when no one else would.
Cary, who I love.

The realization that that is true hit me like ton of bricks, yet I'm not surprised. I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to figure out something so obvious.

Cary, who I love.

It sounds so right, it can't be wrong.
Without another moment's hesitation, I plant my feet over the edge and descend down into the lair of the monster