The Missing Parking Lot (Original)
The Return To The Missing Parking Lot (Part 1)
There was a police cruiser blocking our exit. The officer inside turned on his headlights and red overhead light when we got about 20 feet close.
He was purposely obstructing our path and keeping his vehicle at an angle.
“You can forget your little plan of blackmailing that man, he’s already got the authorities involved, he has a means and place to make sure we are never seen again”. I said, ready to try to drive around him.
We then heard the police cruiser's PA system go off.
“Step out of yer' vehicle” The amplified voice said in a slightly southern accent.
“God dammit not again, get out of the way and let us out” Andy said in a low angry voice, he was talking to himself not meaning for me to hear.
"We need to step out before he calls for back up and they pull us out the car by force." Dario proposed. Andy and I disregarded his suggestion. "Fuck this, you guys can let things escalate, I'm-
"No, hold up, not yet" I said to him, knee deep in my thoughts.
None of us exited the car, we all stood our ground, our cars faced each other at opposing angles. I expected the officer to step out but he never did, I found that odd.
"You guys do know that not complying with an officer is considered a crime right?" Dario added still intending to step out.
Andy put a hand on our police radar. I had taken it off my ride before the trip and installed it on the rental truck. I had practically forgotten it was even there.
“Does this thing even work”? He asked, almost whispering.
“Yeah it beeped when Pedro and I were on the way to pick you up before the trip” Dario answered.
“It hasn’t made a sound since I've been in the car” Andy said looking at the radar up close.
He was right, it hadn't alerted us once.
“Wait a minute, that police car doesn’t look right, it’s too old. Much older and different than what I got thrown in when I got arrested in this town”. I said looking straight at it.
Our headlights shined part of the side of the square bodied cruiser. We were getting accustomed to the opposing light and could now make out the faded and sun bleached police letters imprinted on its side. The red overhead light that sat on its roof was an older spinning beacon light instead of the more modern blue and red police light bar. We almost fell for the ruse thanks to the low visibility.
“That son of a bitch, he probably found that cop cruiser in here and got it running, that’s probably why our scanner hasn’t gone off. There isn’t even a working police radio inside” Andy said, tapping our police scanner with his index finger.
“That’s not the man from the junkyard though, that voice sounds younger. Somebody else is sitting in that decommissioned cruiser” Dario replied, looking forward intently, trying to study the outline of the figure sitting inside.
“Come out of the vehicle with your hands up, this is private property!” The voice rang out again through the siren speakers.
“I don't remember seeing a sign," Andy said looking over to me. "No, fuck off!” He yelled confidently out of his slightly opened window. "Hit the gas and go around him, that piece of shit cruiser won't be able to keep up with us," he then said.
Right as I was about to do so, I saw something stick out the window from the cruiser’s driver side and catch the light from our headlamps. I put our truck in reverse the second I realized what it was.
The person inside was holding a pistol and pointing it at us. With no warning he proceeded to fire a few shots in our direction.
Trying to get away from him I reversed violently turning the steering wheel to the right. Thankfully there weren’t many cars behind us and I managed to not hit any while I got away.
I put our truck back on drive and turned left fast making our tires screech in the process. The man inside the police cruiser stayed put and fired a few more shots at us from out his window. He seemed to be aiming downwards, is he trying to hit our tires? I asked myself.
Hearing a bullet whizz and bounce off the pavement from under us. I kept driving, weaving in between cars and getting as much distance away from him as I could. Simultaneously heading away from our exit.
For a brief second I saw something slender and dark jump out of the way to avoid the range of our headlights. Some kind of animal was frightened by the light.
Also startled, I turned the steering wheel forcibly, smashing our truck into an abandoned vehicle. I saw my side mirror fly off in the driver side crash.
____
I looked around myself after making sure I was okay. I could no longer see the headlights of that car in our rearview mirror. We had crashed in a section of the Parking Lot that had a concentrated amount of vehicles. The massive structure that seemed to be a shopping center was close by. I wondered if that building correlated with the higher quantity of forgotten cars parked close together.
Somewhat blending in, our only obvious choice was to hide.
I was hesitant to turn off our headlights when I heard the engine of the stranger's car in the distance. Andy suddenly reached in front of me and turned off our car along with its headlights without giving it a second thought.
“What are you doing?!” I asked, afraid of getting stranded much like I imagined it happened to the owners of the many cars around us.
“We don't have a choice, he’s gonna come for us. We need to split up for a bit and make sure he can’t find us easily. Are both of you okay?" Andy asked, he was talking fast trying not to waste any time. I noticed he was now holding his pistol in his right hand.
“Shoulder’s aching but nothing serious” I said moving my left arm in circular motions.
“I’m also fine, thankfully that guy is a bad sho- Dario was still talking when he was interrupted by Andy
"Ok..ok good, have your radio’s on hand, I’ll shoot that bastard as soon as I can get a clean shot. I don't think he knows we're also carrying, let's use that to our advantage, just hide and keep your guns holstered, I got this." Andy said before opening the door and running out of the truck into the darkness. He ran past some cars and proceeded to turn off his flashlight and hide behind one that was parked about 10 feet in front of our wrecked truck.
"Wait, are you serious?!" I said, watching Andy run off.
“We can take him, there's three of us, we’ll just use his vehicle to get out if we have to”. Dario said lowering his voice and putting the neck strap of the polaroid camera over his head.
Also in on whatever the hell this plan was Dario stepped out of the car with his flashlight and closed the door behind him. I thought quickly and flipped the small switch on the roof, disabling the truck's interior lights to avoid them from turning on when I opened my door.
I looked out the rear view mirror again and saw that the police car was heading in our direction fast, the beam from its headlights made the outlines and shadows of the other cars twist and shift when light entered through. He drove past looking for our truck amongst the abandoned cars.
I stepped out quickly, putting the truck's keys in my jean pocket and clipping the radio to that same pocket in the darkness. I took two more steps before tripping on what I can only assume was a piece of wreckage from our crash.
I fell on my side and heard something fall out of my hoodie and slide on the pavement. It was the gun Andy had let me borrow, It had flown out and away from me in the fall. I checked and confirmed my hoodie's front pocket was now empty.
Tightly gripping my flashlight. Afraid of turning it on and exposing myself, I laid there in the dark.
Turning to lay on my stomach I heard the car get closer.
Peering through from under the cars I realized he had found us when he stopped and parked his vehicle about 20 feet away. His headlights aimed at the bundle of cars our truck was now a part of. As if pulling someone over he turned on his sirens and red overhead light. The light spun and flashed, bathing our surroundings in ruby-colored light every half second it rotated.
“Get out of the truck!” he said through the PA system before turning the sirens back on.
Holding my breath I crawled under our truck to hide.
I heard him step out of the car. He walked out and sporadically shined his flashlight around. The flashlight he used illuminated a wide perimeter, much better than the measly flashlights we carried, I thought. The person then walked towards our vehicle loudly smacking the bed of the truck with one hand, evidently trying to startle whoever might still be inside. The sound made me jump even while laying down.
He then walked towards the open driver side door. Looking inside he honked the horn on our truck a few times before laughing. Panning his flashlight around himself he suddenly spotted me on the floor. I tried to crawl further over to the next car but he somehow managed to grab me and pick me up by the hood of my sweater, pulling me up aggressively.
“What the fuck are you doin'?!” the man said, slamming my back up against the truck.
I stretched my arms to catch myself as I bounced off the truck and fell forward, pain shooting down my back.
“Where are your friends, they ditch ya?” he asked me as I stood back up. Trying to not make it obvious I slowly looked over in the direction Andy was hiding, I was in his line of sight, he couldn't take the shot.
“Well, go on, run off inta’ the darkness like your buddies!, I'll let ya get off easy” the man said laughing again while blinding me with his flashlight.
I could barely hear him, the sirens were deafening.
Holding my flashlight and blocking his bright light with one arm I held my hurting back with the other, fighting the pain to remain standing.
Turning my flashlight on I saw his face for a second. Not dressed like a cop or forest ranger; he was twice my size and built like a quarterback.
“You won’t be needin' that!", He said, ripping the flashlight off my hands and smacking me in the face with it before I could react. He then turned it off and chucked it in the darkness. The man didn't hold back, I fell to the floor and held my face. I felt blood gush out of my busted lip.
Dario’s watch then began ringing, our timer had run out. The man turned around and took a few steps away from me towards the source.
I then heard a gun go off twice, I knew it was Andy who had pulled the trigger.
“You motherfuckers!!” I heard the man yell out limping a few steps before falling over.
Shot and groaning in pain, he headed towards me on all fours, like a mad dog with an enraged determination
I quickly crawled away, towards my open driver side door.
He pulled on my leg but not before I managed to grab the bear spray from my driver side cup holder. When he pulled me to him and flipped me on my back, I was ready and sprayed him directly in the face.
I crawled away and got up while the man wheezed and breathed noisily. My eyes watered and my torn lip stung with an unbearable burn. I had sprayed him at close range, also spraying myself in the process.
I tried to fight the burn. Opening and closing my eyes, I saw that he had dropped his flashlight when he had fallen. It was still on and pointing towards him, the man was on his knees spitting and coughing. The light also highlighted a red patch of blood that was forming near his left leg. He turned around and began to sloppily crawl in the direction of his car.
"Stupid thing, come on", Dario said struggling and looking down at his wrist, eventually managing to turn off the ringing alarm on his old watch.
Moving in fast Andy covered his face with the collar of his sweater to not be affected by the residual pepper spray in the air. He then kicked the man crawling on the floor, making him fall to his side. Both outlined in crimson from the spinning beacon light, their shadows danced to the movement of Andy's flash light.
Dario came over and grabbed me by the arm trying to take me as far as possible from the capsaicin that still lingered in the air. I was now about ten feet away from where I pulled the pepper spray trigger; still holding the can in my right hand, I stood there almost in complete darkness.
“Fuck bro you got that son of a bitch” Dario said, It was getting hard to hear properly under the sound of the police sirens.
“How bad is my lip?, It burns like hell” I asked him through coughs and wheezes, using my sleeves to wipe the blood, mucus and tears.
Dario then shined his flashlight up to my face.
“It ain’t bad, looks worse with the blood, you’re bleeding quite a bit, I’ve heard face injuries tend to be that way though. Let me get you some water to try and flush out your face,” Dario said, running towards our car.
I could hear Andy cursing the man out in the background.
“Wait, s-stop. They are g-gonna come for me now, n-n-not just you. ” The man said in a croaky voice, clearly in intense pain.
I briefly opened my eyes again. Andy, holding his .45 in his right hand, was giving the man a pat down and taking everything he found on him. I saw him take the man’s radio and pistol before closing my eyes again from the stinging.
“D-don’t leave me in the dark!, P-please!” The man then screamed loudly, through his agony.
“What the hell is that?” I heard Andy suddenly ask loudly, ignoring the man's pleas.
“What?” I heard Dario ask back.
I opened my eyes just long enough to look towards Andy, then Dario.
They were both looking straight at me or more specifically, past me. There was something behind me.
In the darkness.
Andy instantly ran in my direction holding his gun and flashlight. He shined the light and pointed his gun at whatever was just right next to me.
I heard a hiss-like scream and light footsteps take off behind me.
Dario also ran towards me, his neck strapped polaroid swayed as he got closer. He opened a water bottle and doused my face with it. I felt immediate relief and was able to open my eyes for longer than a second. He then handed me a second water bottle, I held it in my left hand tightly.
“Where’s your flashlight?!” Andy asked me, now standing right next to me.
“The man threw it after busting my lip with it” I said, the swelling and burning of my lips making it difficult for me to speak.
“Here” Andy then said, handing me the flashlight that belonged to the man that was still gasping and choking on the floor of the Parking Lot.
“Whatever the hell it was, it didn't seem to like the light” “Stay close!” Andy said looking around in the dark. He and Dario then proceeded to shine their flashlights all around irregularly, standing almost shoulder to shoulder next to me. I turned mine on, illuminating our surroundings substantially.
The burning of my eyes was getting bad again. I was ready to pour the second water bottle on my face.
“What was it?, what's out there?” I asked loudly, doing my best to keep my eyes open.
“I don’t know some kind of animal, it didn't look normal though. The way it took off, that thing was fast” Dario answered, looking around with his flashlight. I could hear the fear in his voice.
“We need to stick together. Pedro you have the best flashlight, we'll stay beside you, can you see now?” Andy asked me waving his light around in the fog and darkness on my right.
“Not very well and not for very long” I answered, wiping blood and drool from my busted lip.
The loud sirens weren't helping with keeping my nerves straight. They were starting to make my ears ring.
“Okay lets walk together towards the police cruiser we can use it to get the hell out of here” Dario suggested scanning his surroundings with his flashlight on our left.
Huddled together we did just that. We were now less than 10 feet away from the police cruiser.
I could hear that the man on the floor was still struggling to breath, he was barely intelligible trying to speak amongst shallow breaths, “T-u-U-R-n! O-f-f! T-h-E! S-i-R-e-N-s!, N-o-I-s-E! A-t-T-r-A!—-”
“You shut the fuck up!!” Andy yelled, stressed, terrified and pissed off.
The man on the floor then let out a bloodcurdling scream. My nerves and fear made me forget the pain I was just in. I kept my eyes fully open reacting the same way Dario and Andy did.
We all shined our flashlights straight at that man.
Something slim and fast moved away from our lights instantly. My vision was blurry but It seemed to run on four legs. It had been on top of that man. Our flashlights made that man's facial sweat, saliva, and tears glisten. He laid on his stomach quivering. We could see he now had a massive laceration on his rear torso, something wet and pale made the light glimmer.
It was his spine, it was fully exposed beginning at his lower back.
“Holy fuck!” I heard Dario yell out, his flashlight was beginning to shake as he shined it at the man.
“Get to the police car!” Andy yelled urging us to continue moving towards it.
That sight had made the pain of my busted lip and burning of my eyes go away. Close together shining our flashlight around ourselves, we moved towards the ringing of the sirens, towards the spinning red light that sat on the roof of the old squad car.
That's when I saw it, through blurry teary eyes.
I would've gotten a better look if my vision had completely returned, it was standing on its hind legs right on top of the police car. Unbothered by the red light that spun beside it, the stretched skin on its bony appendages caught the red glow every time the beacon light spun, was it just the light or was it something else that gave its limbs a red wet glint? I could not tell, everything within range was catching that eerie bloody color.
It was somehow both slender and muscular at the same time. Although I couldn't see its face very well, I could tell something was off.
We immediately stopped moving towards that car.
That thing looked our way. Its eyes blinked rapidly and irregularly, reflecting the red light in much the same way the red-eye effect on a camera makes one's eyes look. We shakily pointed our flashlights up at it, it didn't like the bright light, it shrieked and took off so fast it almost looked like it just vanished.
My peripheral vision was lackluster at this point. Still focused on the roof of that car, I was unaware that there were multiple until Dario and Andy pointed them out.
“We need to make a run for it” Andy said, in a low voice.
All around us inconsistently fast blinking red eyes stared at us from the darkness, all catching the spinning red glow. It must’ve been a whole pack of those things.
They shifted and hid as we panned our flashlights all around us, hoping to hold them back. My flashlight, the one belonging to that man, seemed to be the most effective.
“Which way!? Dario asked, frighteningly desperate.
We all looked around trying our best not to panic.
A wet ripping noise followed by another loud scream made my nerves hit the ceiling, my legs started moving without me thinking, triggering some kind of fight or flight reaction. I took off running.
The man's screams attracted them to him, I could hear those things ripping him apart. I then heard a gunshot and Andy’s voice curse not a second after.
“Oh fuck!, wait, wait, stick together!” I heard Dario yell out to me, pleading.
Running as fast as my vision permitted I looked behind myself. Through watery eyes I saw that I was straying far away from them both. There was some kind of scuttle going on. Something had happened. I stopped running and tried my luck at the closest car, a full sized SUV. I pulled on the front passenger door:Locked, I then pulled on the back side door, it clicked and opened.
Trying to calm myself I hyperventilated by the door before calling to them in between breaths.
“Over here come on”! I yelled pathetically and out of breath. I stood by the door and waved my light around. They heard me and moved in my direction at a much slower pace than I had hoped, still spinning their lights around to keep those things from closing in if they followed.
I shined my flashlight towards them, one of them was hurt.
I noticed Andy's left arm sleeve was bloody before he desperately dove inside the car. I helped Dario inside by giving him a push and then jumped inside myself before shutting the door.
Andy laid on the floor holding his arm while Dario and I both sat awkwardly on the bench seat of the car out of breath. The sirens muffled but still blaring in the background.
“I'm sorry bro, I'm so sorry” I heard Dario say to Andy whilst inside the car.
“What happened back there?” I finally managed to ask, my busted lip making my mouth taste metallic.
“What do you mean what happened? You tried to leave us behind, that's what happened.” Andy answered, understandably upset and in pain.
“Let me see your arm” I asked him, ignoring what he had just said.
Dario helped Andy roll up his bloody sleeve, a deep gash was revealed on his forearm. The injury was oddly almost a perfect straight line. Although not excessive, he was bleeding quite a bit.
“We were supposed to stick together, I might not-this might not have happened if we stuck to the plan”. Dario replied with a look of disdain in his eyes that surprised me.
“Ok I panicked what did you expect me to do, this whole place is too fucking much man! We were supposed to stick together but then you decided we should split up when that asshole showed up!” I said looking at Andy, who was scrunching his face from the pain.
“We shouldn't even be in here to begin with. We planned to explore this place during the day-that went south, our main goal was to try and find that truck-nowhere to be seen. Don’t pretend running into that wannabe cop and those things were something any of us were ready for" I said my voice getting louder.
"There is no planning for any of this bullshit!!” I said raising my voice even more.
"Whatever plan we had we keep having to fucking change it!” I continued, the yelling made my voice even more raspy, the burn from the pepper spray was starting to hit me again. I started coughing uncontrollably.
“Now tell me, what exactly happened back there?” I asked in between coughs.
“I also panicked” Dario answered, frustrated. He looked at me for a sec before putting one hand over his eyes and forehead, replaying whatever had just happened in his head.
Andy exhaled out of his nose and shook his head before cracking a half smile amongst the pain. “This guy fucking shot me” he said referring to Dario.
“Wait what?, and you're giving me shit, come on man. I replied looking at Dario.
"It looked like one of those things was coming straight at us but instead it ran past us, thats when I took the shot" Dario said explaining himself.
"It actually seemed to be headed in the direction of that man, It wanted to be part of the feast. I think thats why none of them followed us." Andy theorized out loud.
"Oh god" I said involuntarily, remembering the man's bloody mangled back.
Dario then looked back down focusing once more on Andy's injury.
“It's just a gash brother, the bullet never entered” Andy said looking at Dario, trying to reassure him. “It sure burns like hell though” he added.
“We don't have anything to treat you with man, all our stuff is on the truck along with the first aid kit. Best thing we can do is rinse your injury off with this water bottle and roll your sleeve back up to not have it fully exposed". I said trying to make the best with what we had.
"Dario, help him, last thing he needs is bear spray residue on his open wound, that stuff's still all over me". I suggested.
Andy winced when water hit his bleeding wound. Dario didn't say a word as he treated him, I couldn't blame him, he was probably in his head kicking himself for what had happened.
Dario then rolled Andy's sleeve back down before mentioning that we needed something to try and stop the bleeding. He thought and looked around for a sec before reaching over and pulling the drawstring out of my hoodie so fast i hardly noticed. He tied it over Andy's sweater sleeve right below the elbow.
"We need to get you out of here soon man we can't afford to get stranded here especially for your sake, we need to get you properly patched up," I said referring to Andy and his bloody sleeve.
"Now that we know what we're up against maybe we can formulate a legit plan to get the hell out, it is currently 9:38. We have....umm seven hours before the sun comes up and we end up stuck here," Dario said not completely sure.
"You guys think this thing runs?," Andy asked looking around us in the confines of the car.
"No, there's no way this dusty thing will start" I said crawling up to the front of the car and reaching over to the driver side. I got excited when I felt the keys in the ignition. The dash turned on for a second then went black again when I tried to start it. Depleting the last bit of juice the battery had; it didn't allow a second attempt.
"If there's a chance one of these abandoned cars has enough battery and gas to start we might be able to use one to get out of here", Andy proposed.
"You really expect to find a completely functional vehicle in here that easily?, thats a lot of luck you're betting on" I said not really liking his idea.
"Don't forget the keys would need to be inside too, I'd like that idea more If one of us knew how to hot-wire a car". Dario added.
"First car we jump and hide in almost turned on, one of these vehicles has got to work, theres a lot to choose from," Andy mentioned insistent.
"Yeah you're right, but that means it might take us a long time to find another usable vehicle nearby. This car might be a fluke. How long do you think it's gonna take us in this massive lot?" I asked Andy, still questioning his logic.
"Well I don't hear any better ideas being thrown out," Andy then said.
"Just give us time to think of something else" Dario replied.
"Thats the thing we don't have time to think, we don't have seven hours like you mentioned Dario. Those things will be done with that man soon and once they are they will likely scavenge and look for more prey. We need to do something now, we are fucked if we stay here and fucked if we go out there, but we might as well try something." Andy declared.
"So what?, what exactly is your plan?," Dario asked Andy, ready to be convinced.
"We, umm we do what we were doing before Pedro took off, we stick together no matter what and... try to start one of these vehicles, until we find one that works." Andy said, still thinking of the plan as he said it out loud.
"Ok, but I am not about to look for a working vehicle all night long, not with those things out there". I said trying to come up with a plan B.
"What do you suggest, that we time ourselves again?" Dario asked.
"No, we need something to fall back on if we don't find a functioning vehicle after a while". I said not wanting to be out in the darkness for longer than necessary.
"And what exactly are you thinking?" Andy asked expecting a quick response.
I thought in silence for a moment.
"What if we head towards that building, some lights were on in that connected parking garage when we drove by it. If those things hate light so much maybe they'll leave us alone in there". Dario proposed.
"Thats not a bad idea, how about we check vehicles while we head towards it. If we don't find a functioning one out here we'll focus our efforts on finding one in that parking garage where its safer" I said adding to Dario's idea.
"Ok I'm down for that, sounds like a plan, but absolutely no taking off and keep your guns holstered, light seems to be effective enough in keeping those things back. If push comes to shove I'll use my gun, just stay as close to each other as possible" Andy said looking at both Dario and I.
I looked down putting one hand in my hoodie's kangaroo pocket. Remembering I had lost Andy's 9mm earlier.
"Ok.. who's stepping out first?" Dario asked confidently, trying to hide his nerves.
"Pedro do us the honors, the light that belonged to that man has the brightest and furthest range, you'll be the middle man" Andy said.
While normally short tempered, in that moment Andy was the most level-headed out of the three of us, he remained calm and collected despite his injury. Dario and I were falling apart under pressure, how long would Andy be able to keep his composure? I asked myself.
___
I took a deep breath and opened the door, my heart went up to my chest when I heard the sirens clearly again. The windows of some cars were reflecting the glow of the beacon light in the distance. I stood by the door as Andy and Dario walked out. They stayed in my light and turned their flashlights On.
Headed in the direction of that building we moved towards it steadily and as a unit. Having the most efficient light, I turned 180° every few steps expecting one of those things to be right behind us. My nerves were through the roof, I could feel my irritated eyes pulsating, blood flowing and pumping through my optical nerves.
Desperately trying to find a worthwhile vehicle, we tried our luck pulling on door handles at every car we walked by. All were locked so far. Andy was doing his best simply holding his flashlight with his good arm and holding his injured arm to his chest.
The door to a white sedan suddenly gave way, Dario tried the headlights immediately. They failed to turn on. He shook his head in frustration.
"Its okay just keep moving" I whispered looking around once more.
"Thats worth a shot" Andy said almost excitedly. He was pointing his light at an old blue Mustang with white vertical stripes. We had been paving our way straight towards that edifice, this car was on our far left, off the path we had agreed on.
We moved towards it without saying a word, quickly realizing both rear tires were missing.
"Damn it" Andy said quietly.
"How about that one? I asked pointing to a shiny, almost perfect looking silver Escalade. It caught my eye likely because it was surrounded by smaller cars.
"If the keys are inside, that thing will get us out of here with no issues at all" Andy said already taking a step towards it.
Dario and I followed his lead when all of a sudden Dario's watch started ringing again.
"Oh shit i forgot i snoozed it" He said looking down at his watch trying to shut off the alarm.
He struggled for a few seconds, Andy and I started running out of patience.
"Well come on man shut that thing off, don't you know how to work your own watch?" I asked him, walking beside him.
"Bro, turn that damn thing off!" Andy said loudly.
"I'm trying, it's just the button get's stuck sometimes!" Dario replied anxiously, his right hand on the face of the watch on his left wrist. Andy and I stood right next to him when he stopped walking, watching him struggle trying to push the button that should've made the ringing go away.
"Just take it off!, take that damn watch off!, get rid if it!" I said reaching for his wrist.
"I can't just get rid of it, it's an expensive watch!" Dario replied pulling his wrist away from me.
"You're gonna get us killed man!" Andy said to Dario loudly.
As if right on queue we heard a loud thud. I knew what that noise was, something had jumped on a car. Something had heard us. We all turned around towards that sound.
Behind us and out in the distance, two eyes reflected our lights right back at us through the fog and darkness. We froze, reacting only when they started blinking rapidly and unnaturally.
"God dammit Dario!," I said starting to run. Dario and Andy also booked it.
I saw Dario was trying to take off his watch with his mouth as he ran beside us holding his flashlight on his right hand. He eventually managed to rip open the leather strap, he threw it into the darkness on our right whilst running, likely hoping it would serve as a distraction.
With that building as our end goal we ran without saying a word, forcibly pulling on door handles in hopes of finding a place to hide.
I could hear those things closing in. We all ran as fast as we could deciding to focus on making it to that structure's illuminated parking garage, bathed in old flickering florescent lighting the vehicles at the mouth of the garage were just out of reach.
Getting closer to the entry way. Our flashlights highlighted the overhead sign that simply read "Parking".
When we finally arriving at the entrance I realized we wouldn't make it to the bright illuminated sections that were further into the parking garage. I tried to think ahead while we ran, focusing my attention on finding a vehicle that we could all hide and jump in fast. We all seemed to split up and head towards different vehicles. One car caught my attention immediately.
It was a unique looking van. The paint was a dark bluish-purple color with bright orange flames running at it side that ran further up the body towards the back. I rushed towards it, the passenger door was unfortunately locked. I noticed an oddly tear-drop shaped side window when I got close.
Realizing quickly that it had no sliding doors on its sides I ran towards the back of the van trying to find a way in. The van had the type of rear doors that are split in the middle and open sideways.
I pulled on the right side door and it creaked open. I was greeted by bright red curtains when I tried to step inside.
"Over here!" I yelled pushing the curtains out of the way and jumping inside.
Andy was near me and quickly stepped inside as I held the curtains open for him.
"Dario!" I yelled out, peaking my head out the curtains. I grabbed the handle to the rear door ready to close it at any moment.
Dario startled me when he showed up out of nowhere and dove inside the van.
I grabbed and pulled him by his belted waist, helping him inside before loudly closing the door behind him. I fell on my back catching my breath once safely inside.
I closed my eyes for a bit and just laid there, all I could perceive were the sounds of our heavy breathing.
Slowly opening my eyes I felt around looking for my flashlight in the dark confines of the van. I had left it on, it was illuminating a section of the shaggy orange carpet. I lazily grabbed it and panned it around, randomly shining the light straight up at the ceiling.
I sat up when I noticed the tally marks.
"Oh shit" I said looking up at the ceiling and counting the marks.
"Someone else has been in here, surviving" Andy said also looking up and still catching his breath. He seemed to be laying on a purple upholstered section of the van that was some kind of custom bed with wood framing.
Dario was also shining his light around now. "What does that say?" He asked out loud crawling over to a notebook paper that was stuck to one of the walls of the van.
Pulling it off the wall his expression changed when he read it.
He handed it to me without saying a word.
Aiming my flashlight I looked down at it and began to read what it said. It looked like it was written in a hurry:
Rules to Survive
Night
Day
There was a smaller note at the bottom that was very obviously added by someone else or at a later time, in green ink it read:
Find the Door with the X