Just enough time

"We have plenty of time," Jason said nonchalantly. Ellie’s gaze immediately turned to her other friend Lisa, fearful of what her response was going to be. Lisa’s dark grey eyes turned to him.  

  “Are you kidding?” She almost yelled at him. “We have to be out in five minutes or we won’t make it!” She quickly resumed packing her belongings into her duffel bag. Ellie knew she could trust Lisa. She had been protecting them for so long, Ellie couldn’t even remember a time without Lisa in her life.  

  She started packing as well, at the same rushed pace Lisa was. Jason just stood there for a couple of seconds and then, knowing the others would not listen, he started packing as well. Right before the five minutes passed, they left the building. It was an old building and the rooms were small, the wallpaper was mostly torn off the walls. But nevertheless, Ellie loved it. It was a place that had kept them safe for almost six months. She loved it more than the hut on the beach they had lived in before and even more than the big house in a small town before that. She was going to miss this building, she was going to miss the black cat that roamed the hallways and most of all, she was going to miss the lady that owned the building. Ellie felt it in her bones that it wouldn’t take long before the lady would pass away. The lady had been kind. She would always talk to them when they passed each other in the halls and whenever she could, she would give them leftovers. Ellie loved the talks they had. She loved the cookies she used to make for her. She loved the old lady. 

  And now they were hurrying through the parking lot to their car, a large grey jeep that had helped them escape from their hunters numerous times. Normally everyone carried their own weight, but right now Jason was carrying Ellie’s bag. They had to move quickly and Ellie was not strong enough to run with a bag over her shoulder. 

  Just as they got in their car, the window of their room in the building shattered. A loud shrieking noise cut through the dark sky. “I told you, Jason! We have no time to waste!” Lisa yelled at him, completely terrified and struggling to start the car. 

  Jason just kept staring at the broken window, as did Ellie. She could vaguely see a black shape in the room. A large shape. Ellie quickly turned away and shouted at Lisa. 

  “They are here! Drive! Drive!” Her high-pitched voice was full of fear. Lisa finally got the car to start, but instead of driving off like a crazy person, she drove out slowly. Jason and Ellie had questioned her for that many times, but she always reasoned that if they drove out like they were running from something, the others would notice and follow them. They had never been attacked on the road.  

  She drove out of the parking lot and through the narrow streets. She took the first street left, then the first right and at last another first street to the left. They ended up on the highway. Lisa drove with experience and a calmness she was known for. It was the reason they had survived for so long. She was the disciplined and intelligent one, Jason the muscles and Ellie… Ellie didn’t know who she was or what she added to the group.  

  To hide his fear, Jason took out a map of Europe. “Where to now?” He asked Ellie, smiling. Ellie chose the hideouts; it was not an important job. Anyone could do it, but nevertheless, she liked it. 

  They were all born in the United States. They met each other on the run and stuck together. They had been travelling east ever since. They travelled to Canada by car and then took several boats. They went from Canada to Greenland, from Greenland to Iceland and from Iceland to Scotland. It cost them a lot because they wanted to take their jeep overseas. From Scotland, they drove all the way down to the south of England and finally, they took the train to Calais. That is where they were the last six months.  

  Now they had to move, again. Ellie started examining the map. She looked at the country north of France, Belgium. Bruges was a town she had read about. She liked the place. The centre of the city was old and beautiful. Canals had been the veins of the city for centuries. She wanted to go there, but it was too close to where they were now and she had a feeling they had to go somewhere else, more southwards. 

  She started following the border of France and Belgium, all the way down to the Ardennes. She felt a pull from that place. She instantly knew they had to go there.  

  “The Ardennes. We have to go to the Ardennes,” Ellie said aloud, not looking up from their map. “Isn’t that like, more than four hours away?” Jason asked, frowning at Ellie. 

  “Less, actually,” Ellie answered, unbothered by Jason’s tone. Lisa ignored Jason and responded to Ellie’s proposal. “That’s in the countryside, is it not? With forests and few people?” She always looked at the practical side of things. She wanted to know how well they could hide at the new location.  

  “It’s rough terrain. Hills and large forests dominate the area. I think it would be a good place to hide from both humans and them,” Ellie answered. Every time she mentioned them, shivers ran down her spine.  

  “Good. Then to the Ardennes, we go!” Lisa yelled happily. She was relieved. She always relaxed when they had a plan to stick to. “It’s going to be a long journey. We’ll stop at the next gas station to get something to eat, after that we’ll go straight to the Ardennes. You better get comfortable!”  

Ⱦ 

They had stopped at a gas station. Ellie and Jason had stayed in the car, Lisa had gone out to get food. It was early in the morning. The sun was on the horizon, the start of a new day.  

  “How long do you think we will be on the run?” Ellie asked Jason quietly. Jason looked at her thoughtfully and answered as well as he could. 

  “I am nineteen, I have been on the run my entire life. Lisa is twenty-one, she has also been on the run her entire life.” He hesitated. “I’m not saying there is no chance of being able to settle. I’m just saying that as long as they keep hunting us and we can’t fight back, we’ll have to run.”  

  “Can they even be killed?” Ellie asked as soon as Jason had finished talking. He looked at her frowning. “Lisa and I killed one with the jeep once. We crushed it against a wall.” He stayed silent for a while. “They can be killed. But for that, we need to know how to fight. We will need weapons and a well-fortified home if we want to settle. For now, we don’t have that so we’ll keep running. Maybe when you are older…”  

  That’s when Lisa entered the car. She gave two big bags filled with drinks and food to Ellie in the back of the car. Ellie put them next to her.  

  “Jason says you have killed one of them before,” Ellie stated quietly. Lisa immediately looked at Jason, with a flare of anger in her eyes. But then she looked down, frowning. 

  “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, Ellie. Those damned creatures are hard to kill. We had to smash it against a wall with our jeep repeatedly. It is not something I would like to do again.” Lisa looked at Ellie with worry in her eyes. 

  “We had no other choice. We almost died.” And with that, she looked forward, started the car and drove back onto the highway. They didn’t talk. They just drove in silence. Ellie watched the countryside shift into towns and back into the countryside. It felt like an eternity in the car. Sometimes food was passed around. They ate in silence as well, only when they needed something they opened their mouths. They had been driving for hours when they finally reached the Ardennes. Lisa drove into a path leading into a forest. It was almost eleven O’clock. The sun was nearly at its highest point in the sky.  

  Lisa drove into a parking lot they found and they stopped the car for the first time in hours. The parking lot was surrounded by huge trees and the ground was made of gravel and dirt.  

  Lisa looked at Ellie smiling. The sunlight was shining through the window onto Lisa’s silvery blonde hair. Her pale skin matched beautifully with her grey eyes and hair. She was beautiful. Ellie was often jealous of her looks. She wished she had the same colour of eyes and hair. Ellie was stuck with dark brown hair and brown-red eyes. Her skin was a little tanned.  

  “You picked a good place, as always,” Lisa spoke to Ellie affectionately. “Let’s stretch our legs, shall we?” And with that, Lisa got out of the car. Jason and Ellie eagerly followed. 

  The fresh air felt great to their lungs. Ellie took a deep breath and exhaled happily. “I could get used to this!” She said, almost yelling. She felt giddy for some reason. Jason smiled at her. They were in a good mood, even though they had just left their home behind for the sixth time.  

  Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. A black shape. Terror dawned on her. She looked at the edge of the trees and there it was. One of the monsters that had haunted her dreams her entire life. It was as black as the night. Its eyes were little specks of white surrounded by darkness. Its forelegs almost double the size of its hind legs. Its body was thin but looked strong. It looked terrifying. 

  The moment she saw the monster she shouted. “Lisa!” She immediately saw the reason for Ellie’s fear. She grabbed her and pushed her into the car. “Jason, get in!” She yelled loudly to her friend.  

  She got in the car as well, started it and just as the monster leapt behind the car, she drove in reverse. She hit the monster hard, driving over one of its forelegs. They heard it shriek out in pain. Lisa wasted no time. She hit the gas pedal and drove forwards, shooting into the forest.  

  This was the reason they had a jeep. The terrain was rough, no other car could drive here with the ease their jeep could. Now you could truly see the extent of Lisa’s driving skills. She dodged trees easily while maintaining high speed. She was the reason they had survived this long, Ellie realized again. Lisa’s instincts. 

  They were driving when suddenly the trees disappeared. Before them, there was a hillside with not a single tree. Far away, Ellie saw the forests. But around them, there was nothing but grass. Lisa pushed the pedal down harder. When Ellie looked through the back window, she saw why. There were a dozen monsters behind them. She counted them quickly while Jason loaded a rifle in the front seat.  

  “There are thirteen!” Ellie yelled to him when she was done counting. She heard him curse under his breath. They didn’t have enough bullets to kill them all. They didn’t know how many bullets it would take to kill one, let alone a pack.  

  “Drive faster!” Ellie yelled in a higher octave than normal. “Calm down,” Jason ordered firmly. “We’ll get out of this, we always do.” Lisa shot a quick glance at him, her eyes desperate. 

  Ellie shut herself up, berating herself for losing control like that. Jason passed the riffle to Ellie and started loading a second one. Ellie shoved the glass pane aside, opening the back window, and aimed her gun. 

  Before she could shoot though, another car entered the clearing at their right side, Ellie’s left. Ellie thought it was speeding towards them, but then she realized it was speeding towards the monsters. Some of them split up and ran towards the other jeep.  

  They leapt at the car. But instead of the car getting destroyed like Ellie expected, like she had seen many times, a loud bullet shot rang through the clearing. The nearest beast fell down and the jeep drove over the corpse. Before the others could react, more shots rang. More monsters started falling after the first.  

  Out of the thirteen, seven were left. Lisa had not been paying attention and a monster had managed to get close to the car. They only saw it when it was too late. 

  A tire was slashed and the car toppled over. Ellie was thrown back into her seat and because of her quick reflexes, she could buckle herself into her seat. The car rolled for what felt like seconds and then came to a stop. Somehow the car had managed to land on its wheels. Lisa coughed up blood and kicked the door open. She grabbed the gun from Ellie’s hands and got out of the car.  

  The monster was prowling towards them. It sped up when it saw Lisa walking towards it. Ellie watched with wide eyes as Lisa started emptying the gun into the monster. It kept approaching her, unbothered by its wounds, and Lisa kept shooting until she had no more bullets. Just before the monster got to her, Jason had joined her and started emptying his gun into the beast as well. At last, it fell dead in front of them.  

  The other jeep skidded to a stop not so far from where they were. Six other monsters were still inching towards them, very carefully this time. Ellie got out of the car to join her friends, a hunting knife in her hand.    

  She watched both the monsters and the jeep. She saw two people in it, a man and a woman. The man got out and started walking towards them. He had black hair and green eyes. His shoulders were wide, he looked strong and fit. Ellie watched him walk past them confidently, with an expression of pure determination and anger.  

   As soon as he was close enough to them, the beasts leapt at him. What happened next took seconds. 

  The black-haired man reached over his shoulder and a blade appeared in his hand. The first beast that got to him got cut down instantly. The others didn’t realise he was stronger than them until it was too late. 

  The man was a whirlwind of death. He rolled, jumped and slashed at them. Within moments, he had cut them all down. He was standing in the middle of a heap of corpses. Six dead bodies of the monsters that terrified her so much, lying on the ground motionless. 

   How easily the man had killed them had shaken Ellie to her core. It wasn’t supposed to be like that. Or was it? Ellie questioned her beliefs. 

  Somehow, she knew this man was one of them, she knew he was being hunted, just as they were. But even though they were alike in some ways, he was very different in others. He was a warrior. He had experience. Ellie knew he had decided to hunt down the hunters. He would not stand back. He would fight. 

  And from that moment, so would she.