Daniel walked over to the pickup to put the chainsaw away, since it wouldn't be needed for now. The priest maneuvered the vehicle so Kenny could secure the rope to it as well.
Once it was tied, the priest began using the pickup as a tow. The engine roared. The rope went taut, groaning under the strain. The sedan groaned too, metal protesting with every inch. They had to be careful.
Slowly, centimeter by centimeter, the car began to move. The trees creaked, but finally released the vehicle. With one last pull, the sedan was dragged free.
Boyd and Daniel approached the wrecked car, their boots crushing shards of glass that crackled like thin ice. The smell of gasoline and blood hung heavy in the air. Kristi came running up, her medical bag thumping against her thigh with each step, her breathing short and fast.
"Watch the glass," the sheriff warned, smashing what remained of the driver's window with a piece of wood.
They managed to open the doors with difficulty, first the driver's side, then the passenger's. Kenny climbed in through the passenger side to hold Tobey steady. Meanwhile, Boyd used a pocketknife to cut the seatbelt that held him.
They carefully pulled him out and laid him on the ground. Kristi knelt beside him, beginning a rapid examination.
Her fingers moved over his body, checking pulse, breathing, bones. Her face tightened.
"His condition is serious," she said, her voice professional but tense. "Left leg fractured. Right arm too. And he has a broken rib that may have punctured his lung. He's breathing, but barely."
She looked at the sheriff. "The pickup can't go fast. Any jolt could make it worse. He could die on the way."
Everyone kept their distance, but watched closely. When Kristi finished explaining Tobey's condition and said his life was at risk, Jade lunged forward, but Boyd grabbed him firmly.
"No. No. Let me see him."
"If you touch him now, you could kill your friend," Boyd snarled.
Jade froze, panic etched on his face, breathing fast.
The priest placed a hand on his shoulder. "Son... breathe. Let them work."
Kenny looked up at the sky, his expression tightening, then stepped closer to Boyd and whispered, "We have to move. It's going to get dark soon."
The sheriff cursed under his breath, rubbing his face. The tension was palpable. "Let's go. The sooner we get to town, the better."
They lifted Tobey carefully. Boyd supported his shoulders, Daniel and Kenny kept his legs steady. Kristi guided them, eyes fixed on the injured man, to make sure they didn't make any sudden movements. The late afternoon air grew colder, heavy with the metallic smell of blood and fine dust.
Jade watched everything, pale, hands trembling. "He's going to be okay, right? Please tell me he's going to be okay."
"We'll do everything we can," Kristi replied, but there was no certainty in her voice.
Tabitha covered her mouth, eyes wide at the sight of Tobey's shirt stuck to the open wound. Ethan shrank behind her. Julie looked away, a wave of nausea rising in her throat.
They placed Tobey in the bed of the pickup with the utmost care. The creak of the suspension under the weight was the only sound besides their tense breathing. They improvised supports with ropes to keep him from moving.
"Kristi, stay with him in the back," the sheriff ordered, his voice deep and commanding. "Kenny, you too. Hold him if the truck jolts."
Daniel climbed into the truck bed as well, positioning himself on the other side of Tobey.
Julie came over carrying his bag with some effort, the weight making her lean slightly to one side. Her shirt was smudged with dirt. "Daniel, here's your bag and your jacket. I put the lighter in the pocket."
"Thanks, Julie. I knew I could count on you." He took the bag, feeling its weight in his hands, and tossed it into a corner of the truck bed. He put on the leather jacket, the familiar weight settling on his shoulders. He noticed the small bloodstains left from the accident were gone.
She cleaned the jacket. She's really attentive.
Julie gave him a pale smile, still shaken by the sight of Tobey covered in blood. "Take care." She turned and went to grab her backpack.
Boyd looked up at the sky and began urging everyone along. "Jim, your wife and kids ride up front. There'll be more space."
Jim nodded, his brow creased with stress, and helped Tabitha climb in. Ethan sat on her lap, clinging to her tightly, leaving room for Julie beside them. Jim grabbed two bags Tabitha had set aside and climbed into the truck bed last.
The pickup took off. The sun was nearly on the horizon, painting the sky orange and deep red, almost like an omen.
And night was coming.
In the truck bed, Tobey lay still. Kristi kept him stabilized, while Kenny tried to hold him steady, his hands trembling slightly. Jade sat on the floor, staring at his friend with red, swollen eyes, the fragility of the moment hanging in the air.
Boyd sat on the edge, scanning the surroundings with a worried look, as if calculating how much time they had left. Jim sat beside him, watching the growing tension.
On the opposite side sat Daniel, a lighter in his hand. Open. Close. Click. Click. Click. The repetitive sound was almost hypnotic. He even thought about lighting a joint, but decided against it, given the situation.
He needed to stay alert. Not relaxed.
"Sheriff, that tire spike trap I saw you burying... did you remove it from the road already?" he asked after a while, his voice coming out more tense than he intended.
"I took it out before going to prepare for Tobey's rescue," Boyd replied, without taking his eyes off the horizon.
That eased him a little. At least one tragedy avoided. In the show, the pickup had blown a tire precisely because Kenny forgot to remove it.
"We're not going to make it before nightfall," Boyd muttered, watching the horizon fade. "We need to speed up," he said, banging on the side of the vehicle to get the priest's attention.
"If we go faster, his condition could get worse," Kristi's voice was firm, but there was a tremor of worry.
Jim looked from one to the other, confusion setting in. "Can someone tell me what's going on? Why the rush to get there before dark?"
The sheriff looked at Jim, jaw clenched. "It's not safe at night."
"Why?" Jim insisted, his voice rising.
Boyd took a deep breath. "I'll explain everything when we reach town."
Daniel felt apprehension creep in as well, thinking of the monsters, but he tried not to show it. His heart raced, but he kept his expression neutral.
The pickup accelerated as much as it could without jostling Tobey too much. The smell of burning diesel filled the air. Trees blurred past. The sky darkened by the second.
Daniel kept opening and closing the lighter. Click. Click. Click.
[Calm down, Rambo. Breathing helps.]
"Shut up," Daniel spoke, but strangely, the System's sarcasm helped ease the panic. His heart slowed.
Finally, the town's lights appeared. The pickup turned onto the main street. The sky was almost completely dark now, just a thin strip of orange light on the horizon, struggling against the heavy blanket of black that swallowed the trees and the darkened houses lining the street.
The priest stopped the vehicle with a squeal of brakes in front of the clinic.
Daniel closed his eyes for a fraction of a second.
[Danger Wi-Fi – Activated]
The translucent minimap appeared in the corner of his vision. White dots scattered around, people inside houses, behind locked doors. And then, the red dots.
One. Three. Seven. Twelve.
Walking through the streets. Slowly converging, like predators sensing fresh prey.
"Shit," Daniel murmured, so softly he wasn't even sure he'd said it out loud.
[Twelve and counting. Welcome to your first encounter with the Smilers. Try not to die.]
"Thanks for the encouragement."
Boyd, Jim, and Kenny quickly grabbed Tobey. Jade followed, stumbling over his own feet.
Kristi ran to the clinic door and started pounding on it. "Gina. Gina, open up. Hurry." She called for the nurse as if her life depended on it, and it did.
And then, they appeared.
Human figures emerged from the shadows between the houses, as if they had been stitched into the darkness and were now being torn free from it. Their steps were slow, rhythmic, but completely wrong. No natural sway of the hips, no natural movement of the arms. Robotic. Mechanical.
But it was the faces that made his stomach churn.
The smiles were far too wide, stretched beyond what facial muscles should allow. The eyes didn't blink. Not once. They just stared, fixed like porcelain dolls, reflecting the little light there was.
The air seemed to drop ten degrees at once. Daniel felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
A well-dressed man with neatly combed red hair stopped a few meters from the pickup.
The smile never faltered. His head tilted slightly, the expression one of macabre satisfaction.
"Boyd..." The voice was soft, almost affectionate, like a long-lost friend. "It's been a while."
A pause. His eyes slid over the area, capturing every face.
"Did you bring new friends?"
A woman in a floral dress stepped closer. "You look like you need help. Can I help carry him?"
A third figure appeared, a woman dressed as a nurse from the 1950s, pristine white uniform. The smile was gentle, professional, and completely empty.
"I'm a nurse. I can help with the injured man."
Beside the truck, Tabitha frowned, hugging Ethan tighter. "Jim... who are these people?"
Julie tightened her grip on her backpack strap, uneasy. "They're... strange."
Ethan shrank into his mother's arms. "Mom, they're scaring me."
Still holding Tobey, Jim asked, confused, "Do you know these people?"
Jade looked around, disoriented. "They... they want to help?"
Daniel felt a chill run down his spine. He slipped the lighter into his pocket and grabbed his bag from the truck bed, his hands shaking not just with fear, but with excitement too. If necessary, he would pretend to pull a grenade from the bag and throw it at them.
[Look at that. The adrenaline junkie finally found something better than extreme sports?]
"Seeing this in person... it's completely different from watching it on TV."
[Welcome to hell, champion.]
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