Afflicted

There were mumblings of assent from everyone and we all upped the pace in silent agreement. It got harder to keep up the speed as we approached the bottom of the hill but I gritted my teeth and forced my feet to keep moving.

Ryan took my hand again but this time I felt it was more for his benefit than mine. I squeezed his fingers reassuringly and we finally reached the corner.

The wind shifted as we rounded it, sending the column of black smoke swirling around us. I grabbed the edge of my jacket, pressing it across my nose and mouth and slammed my eyes shut just a second too late.

The acrid smoke stung my eyes and I tried not to cough as I breathed through the thick material of my jacket. As the wind howled around us again, the smoke lifted and I carefully eased my eyes open.

Two cars blocked the road ahead, so entangled that it was hard to see where one ended and the other began. A huge fire was burning its way through the wreckage and a man lay on the tarmac in front of it. He was either dead or unconscious and I wasn't sure if I wanted to find out which.

The screaming was closer now. It echoe

d down the street and reached us through the smoke. My heart was pounding again and I looked to my friends, hoping to find strength somewhere amongst them.

Rose stepped past me and approached the man laying in front of the wreckage. She placed two fingers to his throat and I held my breath as the seconds ticked by. I checked my cellphone to see if I could dial nine one one but the call didn't connect.

“He's gone,” Rose said quietly as she stood and hurried away from the raging fire.

As soon as she said it I felt relief, quickly followed by shame. But if he'd been alive we would have had to try and help him and we wouldn't have known where to begin. Panic was threatening to engulf me again and I forced myself to take a deep breath tainted with smoke. We just had to get home. I closed my eyes to block out the sight of the corpse. Home. But what the hell was it going to take to get there?

The screaming intensified, suddenly sounding a lot closer to us. My eyes snapped open and I squinted into the black smoke just as a woman came tearing through it. She screamed as she ran and blood flowed down her face from a wound to her head.

We scrambled aside, our group parting like the tide as she sprinted straight at us but it was like she didn't even notice us. She didn't slow down as she reached us but raced by. I caught sight of tears flowing down her face before she passed and disappeared around the corner.

Beyond the smoke the screams were closing in on us. We were frozen, like rabbits in the headlights waiting for a truck to approach. But there was no way in hell that I was going to get mown down.

“I'm not sticking around for this!” Carter shouted as he turned and fled. Most of the football team and several of the squad followed him, running back the way we'd come. But that was the wrong way. We had to get home.

“This way!” I shouted before I even knew where I was heading.

I spun around, catching my heel on the curb before spotting a gap between the houses to our left. I grabbed Lacey’s arm and propelled her ahead of me as I started running. She stumbled as she snapped out of a daze and looked where I was pointing.

“Run!” I yelled as I grabbed a handful of Reese’s jacket and dragged him after me.

The screaming was getting closer and it was so loud that I couldn't even hear our footsteps as they pounded the concrete. Lacey ran down the narrow passage between the houses and I shoved Reese after her as I turned to see who else was following.

Our movement had snapped the remainder of our group out of their shock and they flooded past me as a crowd of around thirty screaming people erupted through the smoke on the street.

Spencer was at the back of the group and he grabbed my hand as he passed, pulling me into the alley behind him. I stumbled after him, glancing back over my shoulder at the mayhem on the road.

The screams elevated in pitch as a tremendous roar sounded above all the rest of the noise.

Spencer dropped my hand in surprise and I froze halfway down the alley as I stared on in horror.

A huge golden cougar leapt over the flaming wreckage of the cars and pounced on a man who was trying to escape. With one snap of its powerful jaws, the man’s screaming was cut off and blood sprayed in every direction.

My blood froze in my veins, sealing me to the spot as I stared on at the creature as it feasted. My heart raced, slamming against my ribs in a frantic rhythm. I was watching someone get eaten and all I could do was stare on mutely. I couldn't believe my eyes, I was stuck in some nightmare but I wasn't going to wake up. All I could think about was my mom and dad and wonder if I would ever get to see them again.

The cougar stilled and sniffed the air. It's head turned slowly, almost gracefully, as blood ran from its mouth and stained its golden fur. It was going to spot me.

My heart leapt as I turned and ran. Everyone else was gone. I didn't know how long I'd stood transfixed in the alley but my friends had moved away leaving me room to sprint. My feet hit the concrete one after another so quickly that it barely felt like I touched the ground at all. I wasn't running, I was flying.

Cold air whipped my hair back behind me as I heard the creature roar again. It was coming for me. But there was no way that I was letting it have me.

At the end of the short alley I entered a small backyard. A low fence ringed it, separating it from another yard. My friends were clustered inside the house beyond the fence, holding the door wide as they stared over my head in silent horror.

The cougar snarled as it closed the distance between us. I could feel its hot breath on the back of my neck. I leapt the fence in one bound, not pausing for a second as I flew across the next yard. Three stairs led up to a small deck before the open door.

My friends were backing away from the door, retreating into the house as I closed in on the stairs.