Monsters and Maidens

Mark Dodson had watched as the teacher and the crazy cat-monster had left into the forest, and he knew that those left in the bus were doomed. It was a simple statement of fact; now that the feline had taken off, the spider monster was likely to come back sooner or later. And when she did, it would be unlikely they’d have a way to scare her off.

Being near the feline was a death sentence, but so was staying here, away from it.

Within the stuffy darkness of the totaled bus, Mark had kept himself focused monitoring the others, especially the teachers and older adults that pretended they had a clue what was going on. There was an air of self-importance that they were keeping as they tried to convince the others everything was under control.

Now that they were distracted talking over what to do next, there was no time to lose.

Moving fast, Mark stuffed some extra food into his backpack while glancing around at the various survivors that were in varying states of shock. He paid closer scrutiny to those that were talking with one another in loud tones and wide, angry gestures. The last thing he needed was to draw attention.

Most of all, he was keeping an eye out for the woman that called herself his step-mother. She was likely to prove the biggest obstacle if he gave her the chance.

“Barry.” He threw a half-empty bag at his brother, the young man had been looking down at a phone with a broken screen. “We’re leaving.”

That snapped him quick out of it. “Wha-? Are you crazy!?”

The younger sibling raised his voice. It made Mark flinch as it caught the ears of several people around them all at once. The first one to react was the old crone of a woman that had invaded their lives for too long.

“Going somewhere, young man?” The sound was irritating, nails over chalk. Mark belatedly turned to look at her. The half-decrepit woman almost appeared to step out of the shadows on the bus. The leather mask she called a face was a stretched raisin hidden behind a pair of half-moon glasses, leathery pale skin, her hair was a soggy wet black ball of fur that’d been left to dry for too long under the sun. if she ever had the ability to smile, it was surely lost over a decade ago.

Mark kept from grinding his teeth, his lips stuck on a downward curve. “I was going to help find aid. Maybe food.”

“Whatever made you think you’d be of any use?”

His hands clenched slightly. He glared at her, at the woman whose very presence was likely no worse than an ill omen. His blood began to simmer. “I’m at least not as useless as you.”

Her bony palm slapped him faster than he could realize she’d done so, for a woman that looked like she belonged behind a glass, she was surprisingly quick. His eyes widened in shock at the dismissive glare she’d given him, her face almost furious enough to turn red- an otherwise near impossible feat considering the amount of makeup she wore.

“Mark!” Barry lunged to step between the two, glancing at the older woman. “He didn’t mean that, could we stop this fight?”

A snarl came upon Mark’s lips that interrupted any further words out of his brother. The eldest Dodson sibling would have pushed things were the situation a different one, but there was no reason to. “I’m going to head out, and I’m going to be searching for food and help. Unless you plan to stop me, get out of my way.”

Rather than wait for a response, he shoved forward, pushing the old hag to the side and making his approach to the front of the bus. His steps came to a halt as Ms. Smith walked in his way, the young teacher giving him a pleading look. “Give me one minute, Mark, just one.”

“Why?”

“I can’t let you leave alone.”

“Then make me.”

“I can’t do that either, please, just one minute. There are others that can help, I’m sure.” She looked at him with those deep green eyes and an asking, quiet expression, her hands reaching to clasp his own tightly. The gesture surprised Mark, who was unable to remember when the young psychology teacher had ever gotten this close to him before.

With a grunt, he pulled his hand out of her reach, looking over his shoulder at the old woman and Barry. “Fine.” He dropped the inner glower as he strode out of the vehicle, ignoring the almost hostile looks some of the others were giving him.

The air outside didn’t help calm him much- not when he could see a literal line-up of corpses just a couple dozen meters away. How much longer until they’d rot and bloat and decay? How long until their stench drew in other things like the spider or the cat? Mark looked the other way, reaching for his pocket and pulling out a cigarette. That damn crazy teacher hadn’t proposed to bury the dead, it was infuriating in its own way.

“Need a light?”

The voice made him turn his head, glancing at the young woman offering her neon pink lighter. He rolled his eyes, pulling out his zippo, a simple gray worn-out metal thing that had been scratched to hell and back. A quick puff and he felt the bitter relief of nicotine.

“Alrighty then.”

She raised a delicately trimmed brow, pocketing her own and peeking at him for a moment, leaning against the bus chassis and taking a drag of the cig. Quietly, she swung her attention away, and Mark’s eyes took the chance to trail up and down her body. A part of him was trying to confirm whether he should know her from somewhere.

There was something aloof about how her long black hair seemed to cascade around her head and into a lazy ponytail. Her face was pale. There were traces of Asian descent, but Mark couldn’t pin them down to anything specific. What he was sure of was that he didn’t recognize her from anywhere. “What’re you studying?”

She glanced at him, giving him a corner of her eye worth of attention. “Psych. You?”

“Admin.”

“So the simple crap.”

“Whatever got me somewhere else.” A shrug, and quiet. “Name’s Mark.”

“I am aware.” She let out a little chuckle.

“Yours?”

“I guess you’ll have to find out.”

The redhead snorted, shaking his head. Well, the minute was up. He turned towards the bus, hearing the muttering inside and not very much liking the tone. The young man spared a thought to Barry. He did not want his younger brother stuck here, even less with the harpy. But he also wasn’t about to force him to follow along. It would be impossible to, anyway. That one was going to bite him.

“They’re about done.”

Mark’s attention returned to the black-haired woman. “What?”

“I can hear them talk, the old prune is trying to stop your bro.”

“You can... Wait, you know who my brother is?”

“Hard to miss the hair.” She laughed with a soft lilt to her voice, gesturing at his head. “I’m in his class.” Her lips parted ever so slightly. “Why did you come on the field trip? Would’ve thought you took it already last year.”

“Barry didn’t tell me the prune was coming.”

“Family trouble?”

“None of your business.”

“Hey, don’t mind me, I’m just looking forward to poking into that head of yours.” Her voice lilted. “Psych students just looove to mess around with everyone’s heads, hadn’t you heard?”

“Yeah, well, keep your bullshit to yourself. I need no more.”

The words only prompted her to laugh a little, nodding but not adding further comment. She took a long drag of her cig, the gesture reminding Mark he still had one of his own. The redhead’s gaze kept flickering at the currently nameless young woman, his foot tapping against the ground as he mentally counted down the seconds.

Ms. Smith stepped out of the bus, glancing around with an expression of desperation that turned into reassurance as she locked onto Mark. “Barry insisted on coming along with you, but don’t push him, he hurt his ankle.”

At least the brotherly sentiment wasn’t one-sided. “Yeah, sure, whatever, we’re burning daylight.” Snorting, he crossed his arms. “Who else is coming with?”

“Five others, safety in numbers.”

“Six.”

Ms. Smith turned her attention to the raven haired woman as the latter dropped her cigarette and stepped on it. “I’ll be coming along.”

“But you are a-”

“Young independent woman capable of taking care of herself?” The nameless woman arched a brow. “I also know a thing or two about hunting.”

The psychology teacher hesitated, nodding after a moment of consideration. “I can’t stop you, Veronica.”

“Ah, fuck, I hoped to keep the mystery going for longer.”

Mark glanced at her, cracking a half grin. “Welcome to the team, Veronica.”