Reid stepped off the Wheel-trans bus under the canopy of the concrete overpass. The wind was muted by the pillars but not enough that it couldn’t drag aged garbage into the road. The torrent of faded newspapers and food wrappers died against the terminal’s cracked windows leaving him wondering when last the living walked the halls.
While the others filtered out, they quickly made for the abandoned vehicle ahead. The small school bus was empty, that much Reid could tell from the road, but still, Shannon and Eric hopped on to check.
“Engine’s cold,” Shannon said loud enough for Reid to hear. It already seemed that Shannon was back to his travelling self, even if keeping his voice low wouldn’t have mattered. The sound of a working engine would have drawn more attention much sooner.
Reid turned his attention to the building. The airport was a huge mess of glass, steel, and concrete that would be impossible to search quickly. Thankfully, he couldn’t spot any movement inside and he sighed in relief. No wendigos. Not yet at least.
The others gathered closer together, no doubt making plans of where to search, but Reid started for the building. The sliding glass door ahead wasn’t much of a door anymore. The glass had shattered and littered the floor but that could have happened years ago. He cursed under his breath as he knelt to the debris.
Monte and the others could have been long gone by now. They could have left hours earlier, none of them were sure. What if we’re too late. He made his way inside the building and the air grew stale, even with the slight draft at his back. But it was inside that he spotted it.
Wet. Dark. Not water, but from a few feet away he couldn’t quite tell. Stepping into the building further, despite the hiss from Helena at his back, he saw blood. Footprints. Smears dripped and trailed off towards the stairs. Reid remembered waking to find Ashley’s clothes gone but he strained to think… what about her boots?
He crouched down and kicked a stray shard into the blood. Sure enough, it wasn’t a trick of the eyes. It was fresh.
“What are you doing?” Helena said from outside the empty door frame.
Reid stood. “There’s blood.”
With a wave, Helena signaled Eric over and the others joined. The glass crunched under their boots as they all stepped through what had once been automatic doors.
“This was recent. It hasn’t dried much at all,” Reid said. “They can’t be too far ahead of us.”
“Tidy trail to follow,” Tish said as she pointed to the bloody prints. “I say we go find Monte and kick his ass.”
“No.” Reid, Eric, and Helena all said together.
“Oh come on,” Shannon scoffed. “What are we waiting for?”
Helena seemed to want to say something but her mouth opened and just stayed that way for a moment. When Eric didn’t pipe up, Reid sighed.
“We’re smarter than they are, for one. They left their vehicle unattended, which is dumb. So some of us should stay.”
“I will,” Helena offered rather quickly.
“Not on your own,” Eric said and Reid nodded.
“He’s right. No one should go anywhere alone. Besides, we need to make sure we have enough gas to head back if shit goes sour. Whoever stays should siphon more gas.”
“Then the three of us go,” Tish said. “Like old times.”
“No.” Reid looked to Shannon and for a moment he thought he’d protest. Three would be smart in case someone needed carrying or if Monte and his boys were dumb enough to use the stolen guns. But Reid needed Tish to stay behind.
Shannon had given Ashley an out. The pack stowed in the next room over that only Shannon knew about said a lot more to Reid than it seemed to say to the others. Shannon had agreed to let Ashley go once and Reid hoped Shannon might agree to do the same again. Tish wouldn’t let that happen, or at least Reid couldn’t be sure if she would.
“He’s right,” Shannon said with a slight nod Reid’s way. “Neither of them have been out here long. If it gets bad—“
“Fuck that,” Tish frowned and looked between Reid and Shannon. “I’m not babysitting anyone. Have Reid stay if it’s so damn important.”
Reid shook his head. “Not happening.”
Tish looked ready to yell her head off when Shannon reached out and turned her to face him. “Yeah, he’s not going to stay here. So, unless you want to hang out with Reid for the next while…”
Tish sighed and she crossed her arms. “Fine. But you better not die or I swear I will kill you.”
With a smirk, Shannon turned and nodded once more to Reid.
[MAD Wendigo - Prologue Narration]
Thank you very much for your patience between postings. As always, if you have any comments or feedback I'd love to hear from you.
I have been releasing MAD Wendigo chapters early on my Patreon granting immediate access to all previous posts and new ones while subscribed. There's early access to narration vids, exclusive updates, and more!
