Page 86 of Afflicted

“Something just bit me!” Demi screeched, pointing at her thigh where a small tear was cut into her pants matching mine.

“What the-“ Spencer began but the wind kicked up again and more of the walnut-sized shapes zipped through the air, colliding with us. Jason and Chloe both flinched and inspected slices to their own clothes and skin.

As the brown things appeared again, Spencer lunged forward, almost tripping over Reese as he had the same idea.

“I've got it!” Reese exclaimed as he raised his cupped hands into the air triumphantly.

“Let's see what it is,” I said as I hurried forward with the light.

Everyone huddled around as Reese slowly let a gap form between his fingers.

Sitting in the palm of his hand was a fat brown cricket. It's beady eyes glared up at us as its antenna twitched.

“Look at its legs.” Jason pointed and I raised my eyebrows as I spotted what he'd seen.

Along the insect’s powerful back legs were sharp, pointed spines that protruded outwards. As we all leant closer for a better look, the insect thrust out one if its spine-covered legs, striking Reese in the flesh of his palm. He swore and slapped his hands together violently, making a loud clapping sound.

“Gross,” he swore as he flicked the squashed insect out of his hands and quickly wiped his palms on his pants.

The clacking sound grew louder, seeming almost angry.

I glanced around at the bushes nervously. It sounded like there were thousands of the spiky crickets hiding all around us. I just hoped they didn't mind Reese killing their friend.

The clacking got louder still and the wind gusted through the clearing once more.

All of a sudden the air was alive with the tiny creatures, flinging themselves in every direction.

Tara let out a blood curdling scream and ran headlong into the trees.

“Tara!” Chloe yelled as she sprinted after her.

“Wait!” I shouted. “We’ll lose the trail!”

But the crickets clacked louder still and the rest of my friends turned and ran too. Some followed Tara and Chloe while others ran the other way.

I wrapped my arms over my head as I took off into the trees as well. The stinging cuts of the crickets kept finding my skin and I ran faster.

I thought I could hear someone stampeding through the trees just ahead of me but I couldn't be sure.

The insects swarmed around me, clacking angrily as their spines cut into my skin. I couldn't hold it back any more and I screamed. They were everywhere. I was running blind, surrounded by tiny legs and twitching antenna which battered my skin and caught in my hair.

I almost dropped my cellphone as I sprinted away wildly, hoping to find safety somewhere among the trees ahead. I stumbled on a hidden tree root and fell crashing to the ground, tumbling over the lip of a bank and sliding down quickly.

Before I could panic, I came skidding to a halt surrounded by dead leaves and darkness.

The crickets were gone but so was my cellphone and my source of light. I lay panting in the darkness, hoping to hear one of my friends moving near by.

At first there was nothing, just the sound of the wind moving through the trees. And then I heard someone calling my name.

Chapter Twenty Six

Kaitlyn

I scrambled upright and gazed up the short hill I'd fallen down. It was steep but the top of it wasn't too far away and I could make out a faint glow beyond the crest which I hoped was my cellphone.

I rolled my shoulders to loosen the stiffness that had gathered in them during my fall and started to clamber up the hill. I was forced to use my hands to claw at the mud but after several slips and a very near fall, I managed to make it back up.

My cellphone was illuminating the inside of a briar patch. The thick thorns created a tangled cage to encase it and I could see no way to retrieve it without tearing my skin. I looked around until I found a thick branch and used it to knock my phone free.