Carnivore
Chapter 8

Copyright© 2018 by JRyter

Chester and Daisy Reyland were on their way back up to Mt. Skinner after taking their eleven year old son, Chet, to the doctor to have x-rays taken on his left arm. It was broken, as they suspected, and the doctor placed a cast on his lower arm and wrist. Their old ¾ ton 4X4 Dodge pickup was lumbering and straining to make it up some of the steep grades on Skinner’s Mountain, but they’d made this trip before and Chester knew the old truck would still make it up the mountain this time.

Chet and his younger sister, nine year old Rena, were sitting between their mom and dad, leaning forward, looking over the dash, watching the road ahead.

On the steep downhill grades, Chester let the old truck run, getting up speed to help it make it up the next steep incline. They rounded a sharp downhill curve and saw three deer in the narrow highway.

A big doe came over the hood and hit the windshield. A four point buck’s antlers went right through the grill into the radiator, a ten point buck went under the pickup, its antlers entangling the fuel lines.

Chester finally got his old truck stopped after swerving all over the road and nearly going over the cliff on the right as he sideswiped the guardrail. Steam was coming from the grill and the deer on the hood had bled all over the windshield.

Hitting a deer was a common occurrence on Skinner’s Mountain, but it sure was a bad time for it to happen to the Reyland’s. It was dark and their old headlights weren’t as bright as they once were. Chester knew they would have to wait for the next vehicle to pass, going up or down the mountain, so they could send for help.

“Daisy, we got to get the kids out of the truck, there’s gas spraying all over the road!” Chester yelled, when he stepped out to look at the damage.

“You kids get out on your Momma’s side, no telling when another car will come barreling down that long grade and wipe us out,” he yelled.

Chet grabbed his sister’s hand as he bailed off the high seat onto the narrow shoulder. The old guardrail was bent and twisted, where others had swerved into it along this sharp curve.

Daisy was sitting on the rusted and twisted guardrail holding her left arm to her body.

“Momma, you alright?” Chet asked, as he and Rena turned to see her bent over in pain.

“I’m alright, I think I may have broken my arm when I slipped and fell getting out and hit it across that rail. I’ll be alright. Are you kids both alright?” she asked, as she looked up at them.

“We’re OK, Momma. Do you think we’ll have to stay here all night?” Rena asked, as she looked up at the steep rock bluff on one side of the highway, then at the sheer drop off on the other.

“There’s lots of traffic on this old road, someone will be by here soon, Hon. Just stay over here out of the way so you won’t get hit if they don’t see us in the dark.”

Chester Reyland had dragged the big buck out and was on his back under his old truck trying to get the broken fuel line bent back so the gas wouldn’t run out. He had his pliers in his hand and with the gas still leaking like crazy, they were slippery. They slipped from his hand, causing him to skin his knuckles on the frame of the truck. While holding his thumb over the leak with one hand, he felt around on the pavement with his other hand for the pliers. His hand hit an odd feeling object that he first thought was a deer antler on the pavement. He knew he’d dragged the deer off the roadway, as he twisted his head around to see what it was.

He saw a big black foot with huge claws. Next to it were three more of the huge feet. Chester thought there were two big bears standing in front of his truck at first. Then he heard his wife scream and saw the feet move to the side of the truck where his wife and kids were.

Chester rolled out from under the truck just as the creatures came around the front. His chest was ripped wide open before he could defend himself. He was trying to yell at his family to run, when his throat was slashed.

Chet heard his dad scuffling under the truck and looked under there from the back wheel. He saw blood and he saw huge feet on the pavement coming around to where his sister and Momma were sitting.

“Momma, you and Rena get over the side of the rail; there’s some big bears up there and they’ve hurt Daddy!” Chet yelled, as he rose and ran to them.

Grabbing his momma’s and his sister’s hands, he bailed over the rail into the brush that grew along the bottom of the rail. He knew there wasn’t a lot of room to jump, but he also knew he couldn’t let his momma and sister be attacked by wild animals.

“Chet, stop pulling on my arm, it’s broken and I hurt too bad to be falling like this,” Daisy Reyland said, as she tried to hold onto a bush with her good hand.

“Momma, you got to turn loose, Rena and I will catch you. There’s wild animals up there and they’ve hurt Daddy really bad!” he yelled louder, as he looked up to see three grotesque heads peering over the rail.

With one fast swat of the largest beast’s paw, the Reyland kids saw their momma being swept up and over the rail in a flash.

“MOMMA!” Rena yelled, as she tried to climb back up to help her.

Chet grabbed his sister and clamped his good hand over her mouth as he saw one of the beasts look back over the rail. He held her as still as he could, trying to get her to be still and not make a sound.

Rena looked up and saw the ugly beast as it slobbered its drool down through the bushes over them. She felt like she was about to throw up at the stench of the drool and that awful odor that filled the air.

“Rena, we have to be still and be quiet. I think Momma and Daddy are gone. I have to try and protect you from those ugly critters up there, whatever they are. Someone will be along here soon and we’ll be saved,” he whispered to her, as her sobs shook her whole body.

He turned her face to look into her eyes and she nodded. He slowly took his hand from her mouth and she clung to him, sobbing silently.

Chet was scared; he didn’t know what was up there. He didn’t know what he would do if one, or all of them, climbed down here. He could look over his shoulder and see the valley far below, there was nothing else to cling to, except the two bushes they were holding onto. His feet were lodged securely against a big stone as he held his sister. They were safe for now.

He could smell gas and knew it was still running from under the truck. He was hoping there wasn’t a spark up there or the old truck would explode. Suddenly he remembered seeing a penny box of matches on the ground where they’d all jumped from the cab earlier. If he could get to that box of matches, he could stop those beasts from hurting or killing their Momma and Daddy.

“Hold still, Rena, put your foot right where mine is. I’m going to look up there and see if the big animals have left,” he whispered.

She nodded her head again and shifted her foot to where she had a solid foothold on the rocks.

Rena watched her brother as he climbed slowly up the steep, jagged rocks to peep over the edge. She saw him duck his head back quickly and look down at her. The look on his face was enough to make tears come to her eyes. She knew it wasn’t good for her momma and daddy. While she wiped her eyes with her fingers, she saw her brother quickly reach up, using his hand with the cast on it, while holding onto a small rock with the other. The rock slipped and he slid back down. She reached out to grab his shirt and felt it rip as he slid past her. She just knew her brother was going over the cliff and die. She’d be the only one left and the big beasts would come for her then.

At the last second, Chet reached up and grabbed the one bush that had saved them once before. His hand clamped hard on the base of the bush and it shook violently with the sudden weight.

It held.

Chet looked up to see the three ugly beasts looking over the rail once more, their faces were covered in blood as they lapped their long ugly, gray tongues out to slurp the bloody slobber from their grotesque lips.

“Rene, take the box of matches out of my hand and strike one. Throw it up over the rail, there’s gas all over the place up there. We have to make those ugly animals leave us alone or we’ll be killed,” he told her, with a soft steady voice.

“Chet, what about Momma and Daddy?” she asked, already knowing the answer by his look, as he slowly shook his head from side to side.

Rena grabbed the small crushed box of matches from his clenched broken hand and pulled the cardboard apart to take two wooden matches out. She was crying with big heaving sobs as she fumbled with the sides of the box to get the rough strike strip exposed, wishing for the old ‘strike anywhere’ matches her momma used at home.

She looked up as the bushes above her began shaking violently. One of the animals was trying to pull the bush up by its roots to get to her.

“Hurry, Rena!” Chet told her, as she fumbled nervously until she had two of the match sticks in her fingers side by side and swiped them across the strike strip. They flared and she looked up into the eyes of the ugliest beast she had ever seen. Just as it reached for her, she flipped the two matches past its arm.

The beast was still leaning over the railing, trying to reach Rena, when she saw the huge blast just behind him. First there was the flash, then the almost silent whoosh of hot air. Then came the loud noise of the truck exploding. The beast was blown into the air and sailed out over them as its arms and legs flailed helplessly. Its matted, stinking long hair was ablaze as it soared out over the valley, falling in a heap until they couldn’t see it anymore.

Up on the roadway, the gasoline had run down the pavement in two steady but meandering streams. When the matches ignited the gas, the other two beasts started running down the slope of the highway, right through the streams of gasoline. The gas burned almost as fast as the speed of light, as the flames followed the streams down to where they puddled at the bottom of the hill

The beasts became disoriented with the fire, running right through it until they were consumed in the blaze. When they fell to the pavement, rolling and wallowing, trying to stand back up, they were covered in gasoline. By the time the fuel had burned completely, the beasts were nothing but huge, charred carcasses.

Rena looked down at her brother and smiled as she grabbed his good wrist and helped him pull himself up beside her.

“I’m proud of you, Rena. Let’s try to get back up there and see what’s left. I want to tell you now, Rena, Momma and Daddy are dead. They didn’t feel the blast. Please keep your mind together; there may be more of those beasts around. We don’t even know if the blast killed the other two. Be really careful and help me, we’ll get to safety some way.”

“I’m proud of you, Chet; you saved Momma and me the first time. I just did what you told me to do and it worked.”

“Let me look up there first, then I’ll pull you up if everything is alright,” he told her.

“Don’t you let those ugly beasts get you, Chet, you and I are all that’s left of our family now,” Rena said, choking back another sob.

He raised his head and peered under the truck, across the surface of the roadway. The truck was still ablaze and he saw one of the ugly beasts burning to a crisp as it lay on its back in the middle of the road. He didn’t see any more of them and pulled himself up to get a better look.

When Chet stood erect, he walked slowly between the smoldering right front tire of the truck and the guard rail. He looked down the long slope in the road and saw two more of the huge beasts lying in the road. They were on their backs and burning to a crisp. He felt better now and raised his head to look over the fenders of the truck. The hood was blown back over the cab and the deer that hit the windshield was burnt black.

Chet slowly made his way around the truck; he didn’t see his daddy or momma anywhere. Just as he was thinking they may have somehow survived, he saw his momma’s head on the far shoulder, there was his daddy’s head beside it. He had to cover them before he let Rena come up.

He pulled his torn, soiled tee shirt over his head and ripped it down the middle to cover both of them, sobbing as he silently repeated The Lord’s Prayer to himself. He hurried back to the other side to see Rena climbing up over the railing by herself.

“Chet, they didn’t make it, did they?” she asked, as she looked at his sad face.

“No, Rena. I’m sorry,” was all he could get to come out before he started crying.

She grabbed him, and they stood behind the old burned out pickup, holding each other as they cried.

Suddenly the lights of a vehicle came around the sharp curve and they saw the red and blue strobe lights begin to flash when it stopped behind their truck.

“Here’s the police, Chet,” Rena said, as she pulled his head up to look.

They walked out into the road to see a Sheriff’s Deputy get out of his patrol car; he held the mike to his radio as he talked into it. The other door opened and they saw their daddy’s friend, Doolin, get out of the passenger side and stand there on crutches.

 
There is more of this chapter...
The source of this story is Storiesonline

To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account (Why register?)

Get No-Registration Temporary Access*

* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.

Close
 

WARNING! ADULT CONTENT...

Storiesonline is for adult entertainment only. By accessing this site you declare that you are of legal age and that you agree with our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.