Curtis listened to the exchange in silence, as he removed a folded over sheet of plastic from his pack. He moved quietly over to the logs and wrapped one as directed, even as he wondered how much longer their luck would hold out. Jacob, grim and pessimistic as he was, thought they should chance the journey to Fort Wood. It sounded like as good a plan as any (they definitely couldn't hide away in a barn for the rest of their days, tempting as the thought was), and Curtis didn't really mind all the extra time it would take if they used the route the old man suggested. It would be safer, although in truth any time spent out in the wilderness represented a risk.<br/><br/>All in all, Curtis was glad it wasn't up to him to decide.<br/><br/>When the former cop silenced Abby, her brother froze in place, the protected log right on the brink of entering his pack. He found himself instinctively looking over at the door, straining his ears, and then he heard the sound. The inhuman groaning he'd come to fear more than anything else was outside, and all he could do was pray that it didn't draw any closer. It was the kind of sound that preceded terror and death, while also serving to remind him he was never really safe.<br/><br/>One set of guttural groans was joined by another, and then another from a different direction - Curtis' head whipped around and he stared at the opposite wall as shuffling sounds reached his ears from outside. It sounded very much like the barn was being surrounded on every side.<br/><br/>One pistol and two knives weren't going to be enough. They might not even be enough for just one of the things, let alone a whole group. Getting trapped inside the small structure wasn't something they could afford to let happen, but what else could they do? Go running outside?<br/><br/>His eyes roved around the barn's interior until they locked onto those of his sister, who was staring at him with the same look he knew was plastered onto his own face. The strange moaning grew closer, and as he turned to stare at the point of the sound's origin he spotted something he hadn't noticed before. Mingled with the stack of dry logs in the corner was a length of wood that looked different from the others. It was smooth, and lighter in hue than the timber surrounding it. Careful to avoid making any sounds, he rose from his crouch and approached the pile, afraid to even exhale as he moved.<br/><br/>He gripped the smooth length of wood, and with painstaking care, he freed it of the other pieces. In spite of his efforts one log rolled a fraction of an inch away from the stack, colliding with a section of wallboard.<br/><br/>A tiny<span style="font-style: italic">thunk</span>emanated from the small impact, and Curtis froze, his eyes as wide as they could go, as he listened for whatever was about to happen next.<br/><br/>He heard a scream.<br/><br/>The distant sound reached the barn, sending a bucket of ice careening into his midsection. It was the most horrific sound imaginable in that moment - a scream thrown outward with a violence that effectively stripped the sound of any remnants of humanity. It continued for so long it couldn't possibly be real, and as its pitch heightened and the sound grew in intensity Curtis felt goosebumps rise along his skin. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as the sound was joined by others just like it; the hateful chorus formed a cacophony of bloodthirst and horror he was sure would be able to shake the barn's foundations hard enough to bring the walls down.<br/><br/>The screams moved closer, right for them, and Curtis straightened up with the axe in his hand, knowing that it was over. There was no way three people, including an injured old man and a skinny girl with OCD, could handle so many at once. It was over.<br/><br/>The screams drew closer with alarming speed, and then they were right on top of them, filling Curtis' ears as he stared at his sister, filling his chest with dread stemming from the knowledge that he couldn't protect her. He couldn't save any of them.<br/><br/>Scuffling sounds filled the barn, and there was a bang as a body collided with the exterior on the opposite end from where he stood. The screams were all around them, permeating everything, becoming all they could hear.<br/><br/>And then it was over.<br/><br/>They faded away, moving on past them; the impact sounds had been Purples glancing against the structure as they raced by, and a moment later their destination became known as a new sound broke out. The man's desperate, frenzied shouting sounded oddly human against the backdrop of demented shouts following in his wake. Instinctively, axe in hand, Curtis twitched in the direction of the door, stopping when Jacob spoke.<br/><br/>"Don't be a fool, boy. He's dead now, whoever that is."<br/><br/>Curtis stopped where he was, but he didn't sit down again as the screams of pursuit in the distance died down, replaced by a different kind of scream - the kind that made him feel sick to his stomach.<br/><br/>He looked at his sister, and then turned to stare into the depths of the fire without a word.