Chapter 6: Chapter 05- Story of the Aftermath

Jackson panted and then gulped. His face was mere centimeters from the window. A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead and fell, splashing on the window. Paulie's arm was digging into his side, but he couldn't feel it. His adrenaline and endorphins were racing within his body.

"I'm gonna let you go, okay, Jacks?"

"Y-Yeah... Thanks, Paulie."

Jackson placed his hands on the window and caught himself when Paulie released him. Then, he stood up and shifted along the window, giving Paulie space to land. Paulie, hanging from the seat, lowered his feet and landed, letting out a sigh of relief when he did.

"Good god, we made it," Paulie said as he soothed his arms.

"Thanks, Paulie."

Paulie looked up at his friend. The poor shut-in looked terrified. Paulie nodded at him and smirked. "You got to experience a bus crash. Not many people have done that, right?"

Jackson nodded as he caught his breath. "Yeah... you got that right," he said as he tried to convince himself that he was okay.

Groans had finally reached their ears, snapping them back to reality.

Paulie looked back. A few people had been tossed from their seats. 

"Oh my god..." slipped out from Paulie's lips.

He noted someone immediately. The big guy who had been riding with Cassandra--his hands--they were holding onto the seats on the fallen side of the bus, like he was holding himself up. 

"Is everyone okay?" that guy, Gregorio, asked.

Paulie became elated as he watched Cassandra and Kia get their footing and pop their heads out over the bus seats.

"I'm okay, Greg."

"M-me too, Mister! Thank you..."

"So cool," Paulie mumbled, guessing that Gregorio had caught the two.

A groan came from one row in front of them. "Shitty bus, screw it all," said Kaz as he stood, holding his hat against his head.

Paulie nodded to himself. Kaz looked dubious, but he didn't want the guy to die.

"What you looking at, kid?" Kaz said, sounding annoyed.

"Yeah, sorry, nothing."

Paulie's eyes wandered back toward Greg and the girls. Kia looked toward Paulie with wide eyes at the same time. 

His heart raced the moment they locked eyes. "Hey, you okay--"

"Mei!" Kia screamed.

Paulie whipped around and saw the white-haired Mei with blood running down her head and her broken arm dangling from her lifted elbow.

"Holy shit." Paulie had never seen such a break before.

"Oh my gosh," Mei said, shocked. "Wicked."

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fainted without another word.

"Mei!" Kia screamed. She tried to scramble over the seats, but was unable to. Her arms were still shaking from the crash and unreliable.

Someone stirred beyond the row Mei was in. A second later and Ryza poked her head out, rubbing it. That mass of muscle looked fine, but Susy was STILL screaming, though a little quieter and getting quieter by the second. There were no signs of her, however. Ryza's face--the way she was looking down--something nasty was going on over there.

"I'm coming, Susy!" Haunting yelled as she nimbly leaped from seat to seat, using their sides as stepping stones. What was most impressive was that she did that while crouching.

Paulie had never seen such crouch-jumps. "Is she a gymnast?" he mumbled as she jumped past.

"No! Tolk! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" another of the passengers blurted out.

"Urgh..." 

Paulie's heart raced at the notion of kind Mister Tolk being hurt. He slipped into the row behind them, and looked at the next row to see Mister Tolk all bent up and with a three-foot spear in his gut. The tan and well-built man, Gran, was in the row behind Mister Tolk, and sobbing as he apologized. The spear was his.

"It's okay, lad... I'll be fine, lad," Mister Tolk said, his voice filled with pain as he gripped the metal shaft that stuck out of him. Blood dripped from it onto his shirt and pants. "If this is how I go... then... make sure you tell stories to all your fishermen friends."

"I don't want to tell this kind of story, Tolk!"

"Men only die when they're forgotten..." Mister Tolk said, holding up a bloody thumb.

Paulie could hear others groan from farther away but couldn't make out where they were or what had happened to them. His attention was on the harpoon in a man's gut.

Jackson tapped Paulie's shoulder. "Paulie--"

"HEY! Is everyone okay?!"

A yell--someone had called from outside.

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"HEY!"

Paulie slipped past Jackson and slammed on what was the bus's roof. "HEY! HEY! Can you hear us? People are hurt! We need help!"

Jackson pulled on Paulie's shoulder and pointed his gaze down the way. "There's a hatch on the ceiling, Paulie! We can get out through there!"

 

***

Present Time

 

Paulie told us his version of events up to the moment when Lorio and some others found them in the woods. One detail, in particular, stood out to me.

"So," I said, stroking my chin. "This young woman--Susy--was it? She was the one who caused the accident with her outburst?"

"I don't know," Paulie replied. "People started freaking out before Susy got to the driver."

"And those were the people you think saw something," Rigs followed.

"Maybe," Paulie replied.

"So, what injuries are we dealing with? A girl with a broken arm and head wound, and a man with a spear in the gut?"

Paulie shook his head. "The big guy, Gregorio, wrecked his back. It looks nasty. Susy--a log got over her and lodged itself in the bus. She's stuck and was freaking out when we left. One of the teenagers in the back got their face messed up. The bus driver's in bad shape too... It's not the worst it could be. There was another guy--Mitch. He looked like a survival pro. He was the one giving first aid. Another guy, Reio--he was saying he knew how to bandage people up too."

"So, we've got six people in dire straits," Rigs said.

"We're lucky no one's died so far," I followed.

"Yeah, 'so far.' Who knows what happened after these guys left."

"I heard howls."

We all looked at the trembling Jackson.

"I heard howls," he repeated. "Are they going to be okay?"

Rigs and Pitter exchanged looks before nodding. "Don't know about the injuries, but if you're wondering about that cursed howling, then yeah. Sun's still up. Those howls ain't going to come closer 'til twilight."

"The mist was creeping in when we left the bus!" Lorio yelled back at us.

"And there's that mist again," I mumbled, hoping one of these boys would follow up and satisfy my curiosity.

"You saw the mist too, 'ey, Mari?" Rigs asked.

"I did. Should I be concerned, or should I be counting my lucky stars?"

"Neither," Rigs replied, stern-faced. "Mist ain't nothing but a scare tactic when the sun's still out." 

"'Scare tactic?' What a strange choice of words," I mumbled, a little amused by how much I didn't know and wasn't being told.

Rigs looked at the boys again. "As long as we leave the crash site by twilight, we'll be fine. The horses can outrun the howlers if it comes down to that... And if it gets hairy..."

Rigs gripped the crossbow beside his foot. I studied it quickly. It looked mundane, with no traces of magic or magical ammunition.

"We can put up a fight," he said. Looked like he had experience with this.

Pitter held up a finger. "Twilight--that period when the sun has set, but its light still shines--lasts around an hour in these parts. If we leave right at twilight, we'll have an hour to pile everyone into the community and the clinic."

I raised a brow. "What happens if we miss that window?"

Pitter grimaced. "We're not missing the window. Get that in your head now. You too, boys. We're ALL going into this with a positive outlook. I don't want any negativity slowing down our arms and legs. You heard me, boys?"

""Yes sir!"" said the two startled boys.

Pitter looked at me. "You heard me, Mari? We need positivity."

"I'll give you positivity, but I'd love to know what exactly we will be avoiding."

Rigs sighed. "Some shit's just better seen than explained, Mari."

"Well," I said, looking ahead. "Consider me curious."

Lorio called to the rest of us. "Mist is creeping in, team. We're getting close to the crash sight. Get ready to dismount. We've got to move quickly and surely!"