Fork in the Road

Written for Struck By Lightening – Prompt: She/He/They stood at the fork in the road...

Word Count: 498

The monsters towered over the city, and when Jan and George had seen the first one devour an entire bus full of people, they thought it best to get out of there. The beasts were usually invisible, but they had seen a pair mating behind a building. George nearly threw up; weak stomach. It was the female – they think – that chased them into the woods, lashing her nine tentacles. Perhaps sex made them angry.

They now stood at the fork in the road, half a mile into the woods. Light filtered in through the thick evergreens dappling the path with white spots of sunshine, though the moment warranted overcast skies, maybe an occasional crack of lightening.

Their breath came in quick bursts. George looked at Jan. Their eyes met; a laugh laced with hysteria burst from his lips. She smiled weakly and reached for his hand. As their finger tips met, George’s body lurched. His smile disappeared, and he flew into the air.

“No!” Her voice tore from her vocal cords.

His body dangled among the trees, struggling at the unseen bindings. Jan couldn’t hear him gasping as the tentacle tightened, constricting his organs. With a whoosh of air, his lungs expelled any chance of breathing. Sweat broke out on his face, hot and prickly. His eyes bulged, threatening to pop from their sockets. In a final struggle, the capillaries in his eyes burst and he was gone.

Jan picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could with an angry gasp. It hit something; a hiss issued from high above her. George’s body dropped to the ground. She turned and ran down the left path. She fought to contain her fear with anger. She pumped her arms as fast as she could, her lungs screamed for mercy, her calves burned, tears leaked from her eyes. Trees thrashed behind her, trunks snapped, branches crashed. The thunderstorm of the monster’s movement made her stomach tighten. She had to get out of this place. She had to find safety.

Jan looked over her shoulder, just in time to see a tentacle lash out at her out of nowhere. She ducked and her shoe caught on a tree root, flinging her forward. She landed hard on her stomach. Gasping, she struggled upright. Her emotions finally overwhelmed her; tears leaked from her eyes.

“I’m going to die,” she whispered. Visions of the fight she had with her lover, the promotion she received at work, the positive pregnancy test flashed through her mind. “No, no you’re not,” she said through gritted teeth. She turned around to face the monster.

The woods were quiet and still. The only thing Jan could hear was her short gasps. She held her breath and heard her pulse booming in her ears. Had she outrun the monster? Was she safe? She wiped her hand across her brow and bent over to catch her breath as a tentacle snaked through the underbrush inches from her foot.