Par Avion/Issue 6

This is Issue 6 of Par Avion

202; Bottle
These things came out of nowhere, destroyed us. I was staying at this hotel in Hugoton when I first encounted one of those... those things. I don’t know what to call them. It was an older man, late 60’s I’d say, though it was hard to say. He was chewing on this little girl, couldn’t be older than six. My first instinct was to kill this fucker, as I was hearing these strange stories about them on the radio. Though, if I attempted to kill him, that might have left me vulnerable.d I got my keys and a hunting knife; one I always carry around. It was a gift from my father, I got it when I was nine. I remember every detail about that time. Getting these things, I ran through the hallway, past the moans and screams. A woman was even screaming ‘save my baby’, but I just kept running. I feel about that, though I had to. I realize that now. I ran down the emergency stairs, into the lobby. I stopped down there, seeing these things surrounding the hotel manager. He screamed for my help, though I couldn’t do anything. I just ran out to my truck, and drove away.

And that’s where I am now. Driving down this road, headed for the police station in Hugoton. As I drive, I see this pretty blonde woman and dark skinned guy, both fighting off these things with some assault rifles. I’ve never really known much about guns, never any of my interests. I quickly realize that they are aiming for the heads of those things. The blonde woman shoots one of these things right in the chest, though it seems to ignore it. It just continues to approach them. She then shoots it in the head, and it instantly falls over. Head trauma. Like the radio said. Head trauma. While driving past them, I realize that I can’t just leave them like I left that hotel manager behind. That’s not me. I park the truck, open the door an yell “Get in! Hurry!” They both look over, seeing me. Without really thinking about it they begin to make their way towards my truck. I take a quick look around, seeing that these things are approaching from everywhere. I look back again, seeing the two people coming closer. I see it, though too late; two of these things grab the blonde woman, dragging her down. They start to bite hear, and from here, it looks like they are eating her. The dark skinned man knocks over the two things, getting up the woman. He then heads to my truck again. I help the woman get inside. The dark skinned man also gets inside, closing the door, and I now see that he is mexican. They both have blood stains on their shirts, though the woman defentialy has more than the mexican. Probably due to the fact she almost got eaten by those things. “Is she okay?” I ask, taking a quick look at the woman before starting to drive again. “It doesn’t look fatal, and she isn’t bleeding that much.” The mexican says. I nod, finding the situation a bit awkward, so I decide to introduce myself. “I’m Craig.” I say. The mexican man looks up, a bit confued. “Eh. I’m Julio, that’s Rachel.” “Any idea where we should go to?” I ask, realizing that the police station wouldn’t be the best idea, as most people would probably go there. “Yea...” The mexican man, named Julio, says, trying to keep a pressure on the bite mark on the woman. “Clancey’s Coffee Shop. It’s close and my friend might be there.” “I know the place.” I say, nodding, turning a corner.

We drive up to the coffee shop, which is boared up with wood, or at least they are boarding it up right now. I look out my window, seeing around 20 of those things around the coffee shop. I quitley exit the truck, helping out Julio and Rachel. As Julio reach for their guns, Rachel begins to limp towards the coffee shop. I pull her back, as that would be suicide. We’ve already seen what those things can do. “We can’t just go up there. We need a plan.” I whisper. “What do you mean? Can’t we just make a run for it?” Julio asks, his mexican accent being very easy to hear. I ignore the last part because that’s just plain stupidity. “I noticed that these things like noise. Like, when you were shooting them, more kept coming.” I say. Julio nods, not really understanding where I’m going. “That makes sense...?” I notice that he is observing Rachel very carefully. “Do you have anything to throw?” I ask, and I see Julio’s face changing, now realizing what I am talking about. “No, but I noticed something.” Julio says, opening the door of the truck. He takes out a glass bottle. Rachel tries to say something, but the pain seems to make her unable to. Julio throws the bottle, and all these things slowly follow the noise of the breaking bottle. While we have the opportunity, we get to the coffee shop across the street. I get to the door, while Julio helps Rachel. As I knock on the door, I hear people talking inside. “That was a knock.” A voice which I reconigze says. I can’t really put my finger on to who the womanly voice belongs. “Can those things knock?” Another voices says, this one I haven’t heard before. The door opens, just as Julio and Rachel get up beside me. I see Adam, standing there with his gun out. I raise my hands, but Adam just pulls us in. I take a look around, seeing some familiar faces and some new. “What happened?” The waitress who served me the other day, asks. I recall her name to be Erin. Julio, who has just given a hug to another man. He turns around, looking at Erin. “I... those things got her. Just took bites of her. It was crazy.” Julio says, obivusly panicking. I look at Rachel. A woman with dark hair is checking on her. “She burning up. Defentialy a fever.” She says, holding Rachel in her hand. “Will she be okay, Clancey?” Julio asks. The woman, apparentley named Clancey, looks worried at Julio, saying “I don’t know.”

Credits

 * Erin Fergerson
 * Adam Smith
 * Craig Nelson
 * Greg Demoor
 * Julio Valentin
 * Rachel Grey
 * Clancey Baron
 * Unnamed hotel manager

Deaths

 * Unnamed hotel manager