Day 10 - Fear

In the middle of the night, a voice echoed softly, "Are we there yet?"

"For f*cking sake, I dare you to say that once more," shouted another.

A third party interrupted with a low voice, "Both of you should keep quiet. You will alert the abominations."

The cause of the ruckus was Lara, who kept shivering in the dark. Ever since they left the mall, she had spared no efforts to hide her scared state.

Of course, William would not simply leave her to jeopardize the safety of the group. He reacted aggressively to her whimpers, which earned the hostility of Lara's husband, James.

However, after Theo intervened, the group quietened.

.......

The group had begun their journey about an hour ago. At first, they kept their torchlights, but Theo told them to turn them off. The brilliant light generated by the torchlights in the night was sharp. It would easily be noticed by abominations, despite the fact that they were sleeping.

Cain agreed to this. It was better to be safe than sorry.

After breaking out of another street, Theo asked Mark, "Which way now?"

"We will cross five more streets and meet up at the highway," told Mark after looking at his phone.

The group followed the path described by Mark. They paid attention to every noise they made and help their respective weapons tightly.

They were positioned in a simple triangle formation.

William, Macie, Lara, and Mark were in the middle. Theo was the north point. Azrael supported Theo at this position, while Cain and James were left to guide the rare edges.

Suddenly, Theo stopped in his tracks, thereby stopping the group. Cain peaked his head front to understand the reason for this.

It was dar. He couldn't see much…..heck, he couldn't even see at all. This was one of the things he was worried about.

"Hey, Macie, come look at this," whispered Theo.

Macie walked to him and looked in the direction he pointed, "What is i--What the hell?!"

She instantly covered her mouths in shock. She could not keep her composure as she fell to her butt and revealed a look of panic.

This broke the formation of the group as they scurried to Macie, trying to see what terrified the latter.

One by one, they became awfully terrified. When Cain came to the stop, he was able to calm himself but the terror in his heart didn't diminish one bit.

At the corner of the street, there was an abomination sleeping with its head facing them.

"Everyone, calm down," Theo whispered, "Remember just one noise and we are all dead. Not just one of us, all of us."

His words echoed in the hearts of all of them as he conversed, "Macie, pull yourself. What do you think?"

As the one with the most knowledge about abominations, Theo was hoping she could advise him.

"Me?..." Macie asked. Clearly, she had not gotten over the appearance of the abomination.

"Yes, you. Please focus, our lives are on the line," pleaded Theo.

His words managed to pull her out of her previous state, "Ok. Logically speaking, I think we should proceed as usual but----"

"Wait, stop here. What are you even saying?" panicked James as he trembled.

Even William became increasingly scared as he heard the words of Macie, "Ehh, is there no other way?"

"No. If there is one abomination blocking the path. I reckon we shall meet others no matter which route we take," spoke Theo

He grabbed the phone for a scared Mark and analyzed the map once more.

Macie pondered out loud, "We might have a chance. If we think of the abominations as still having human roots then it is possible to walk by them. During our childhood, most of us have sneaked out of our homes in the dead of the night, right?"

"Yes"

They all had that moment.

"Then think of this like that. The abomination is our parents and we have to walk past them without them waking up. It's risky, yes. But it is viable," explained Macie

She didn't resemble the Macie of minutes ago whom almost had a panic attack.

"You heard her. It is the only option we have left. There is some time to go back if you want to. However, if we are going to cross the abomination, I'm going to be clear….."

Theo looked at each one of them in the eye, "No sound. Not even your breaths should be heard. Even if you are harmed by an unknown object. Prioritize the sound you make before anything else."

He then said, "Alright, who's is going is and who is not?"

Cain smiled internally when he heard that. He could see why Theo was the de-facto leader of the group. He had a way with words.

With what he said, there was no way anyone would opt-out.

Theo gave them what they treasured the most. The feeling that they had a choice in important matters. However, it was a farce, they were still influenced by mass opinion.

No one would like to be left behind but at least, they would like to think they had an option to get left behind!

They nodded in affirmation at Theo, who then revealed a calm smile.

Leading the group, he rearranged them back to their formation, "Okay, follow my lead."

His eyes glinted as he began to proceed on the path. He tiptoed, pulling all his muscles to execute a soundless movement.

The others watched and tried to mimic his actions. They stayed behind him, making him some sort of scapegoat.

Soon, they were feet away from the abomination. They could see the sharp edges of its large body. They could feel the heavy breath it took every second.

It was even louder than Cain's dad's snores, which he could confidently say was the loudest snore he has ever heard.

Cain noticed that Lara was weeping as she walked. She didn't make any sound but the tears that rolled down her eyes spoke well of her emotions.

He could understand her. Even he couldn't process the feeling he felt being close to an abomination that could kill him with a single swipe.

He was unhinged. Even the rough breaths of the abomination dealt mental damage to his mind.

However, he simply closed his minds and pretended there was nothing besides him. Yes, he had to pretend