Calm and Calamity

Chapter 10

Day: 275 (Blood Moon, Food Drop-Off)

Days Left: 5205

Lives Saved: 1

This was it. Corinna took a deep breath and held onto the ladder that led out of the basement. She glanced back at Harmony who was tied to a chair, her vacant face and dazed eyes entranced by the holographic dancers twirling around above the spinning vinyl of the record player. Hesitating, Corinna caressed Harmony's cheek with a soft smile, the young woman unresponsive to the affectionate gesture. Giving one last look to her roommate, Corinna climbed the ladder to the surface. After closing the trap-door she pushed one of the armchairs on top of it with the help from Calixte.

The amphibian placed a reassuring webbed hand on Corinna's shoulder. "Do not fret. I am sure Miss Harmony will be unable to escape."

Corinna nodded, forcing a smile. "She's not that strong whilst in that trance... nor particularly bright. But I..." She gazed at the blocked trap-door. "I still worry."

"Then let us be swift," said Calixte.

The two turned to the other being in the room, a large grey wolf that towered over them, only just able to fit inside the house if it kept its head bowed down low.

"You ready, Reggie?" Corinna asked the wolf, scratching his ears.

Reggie, now a giant wolf, responded in glee with his tail wagging frantically from side to side.

"Let's go!"

Corinna grabbed her spear and donned her red bicycle helmet with flames on the sides, wearing a pair of earmuffs underneath. Calixte was also wearing a matching set of earmuffs over his pointed ears, and Reggie had some makeshift ones crafted by Corinna to protect against the banshee's howling.

After Reggie squeezed through the front door and Corinna locked it, she mounted onto the giant wolf's back with Calixte behind her. With Corinna's guidance and directions, Reggie bounded across the sand dunes that had turned scarlet, matching the bleeding moon and sky above them.

Reaching closer to the food drop-off location, Corinna readied her spear and looked back at Calixte and gave a slight smile. They both jolted as a blood-curdling scream echoed across the Eternal Abyss.

"That'll be the banshee," said Corinna adjusting the earmuffs underneath her helmet.

Calixte did the same, making sure that his earmuffs were securely on.

"We're almost there. Be ready!"

Reggie's ears flickered. The ground beneath them crumbled and the giant wolf's legs hobbled and collapsed as a pair of claws scratched at Reggie's fur. Howling and squirming in pain, Reggie clambered out of the shallow hole. In one swift motion, the giant wolf seized his assailant, entrapping it in its powerful jaws, its fangs puncturing into the creature's neck. The giant mole-rat writhed and flailed its short arms, unable to escape.

Calixte's antenna on top of his head popped up, and a small orb hanging off the end of it started to glow. Corinna averted her eyes from the illuminating, protecting herself from the hypnotic effect. Despite the mole-rat's pinprick sized eyes, it was ensnared by the amphibian's antenna and fell into a trance. Its body drooped, plunging into a deep sleep and was limp in the giant wolf's mouth. Reggie let go of the creature, and the mole-rat lied asleep on the dead grass.

A guttural howl resounded. Corinna and Calixte looked to their side as the black hound appeared on top of the slope leading to the food drop-off location. The canine growled and snarled then froze, its eyes looking from its teammate, the mole-rat, lying motionless on the ground, to the giant grey wolf.