Chapter 6: The Unacceptable Variable
A wave of panicked, furious objections erupted in the diner. The idea of voluntarily going into the woods at night was not just insane; it was a death sentence.
"Absolutely not!" Donna shouted from behind her counter. "I'm not sending anyone out there to die. This is where we draw the line!"
Boyd stepped forward, his face grim. "She's right, son. We've survived this long by being smart, by staying inside. What you're suggesting is suicide."
Jin listened to the emotional outburst with the placid patience of a man waiting for a loud machine to run out of fuel. When they finished, he spoke, his voice cutting through the fear.
"Fear is an emotional response to an incomplete data set. Your strategy of 'hiding' has not prevented casualties; it has merely delayed them. We are blind. Tonight, we gain vision." He scanned the room. "I do not require a volunteer army. I require a small, efficient reconnaissance team."
His eyes landed on his chosen targets. "Sheriff Boyd, for your combat experience. Kenny Liu," he said, nodding to the young deputy, "for your knowledge of the town's layout. Jim Matthews, for your engineering expertise to analyze the terrain."
He then held up four small, vacuum-sealed pouches. "This is your mission gear. It contains a water purification tablet, a signal mirror, and one nutritionally-complete ration bar. The bar has the caloric equivalent of a full meal, though its taste profile is comparable to chalk. Do not consume it unless I give the order."
The men just stared at the sad, tiny ration bars that were supposed to sustain them on a mission into hell.
As sunset approached, a palpable tension gripped the town. The chosen four did their final gear checks by Jin's Lexus. Fatima was holding onto Ellis's arm, her eyes filled with tears as she watched his father prepare to leave. Tabitha Matthews watched from a distance, a desperate, wild hope on her face; this crazy, arrogant boy was the only person who had actually done something.
Kristi strode up to Jin, her face set and serious. She pushed a heavy, professional-grade trauma kit into his chest. "Your 'calculated risk' is a coin toss at best. Your little pouch is useless if a branch severs your femoral artery. Take this."
Jin took the kit. He opened it, his eyes scanning the contents with analytical speed. Tourniquets, coagulants, morphine. He closed it and gave a single, sharp nod. "Your preparation is... adequate. An improvement on the baseline." For Jin, this was the highest form of praise.
Just as he was about to move, Julie stepped in his path. She shoved a small, crudely carved wooden bird into his hand. "Victor gave it to me," she mumbled, not looking at him. "He said it keeps the 'scary things' away. It's stupid, but..."
Jin examined the object. "An anecdotal ward against a supernatural entity. Its efficacy is statistically zero." He then, to her utter shock, slid it into his pocket. "However, its psychological value as a morale booster is noted." He looked at her directly. "Do not die while I am gone. You are a required asset for the inventory." He then turned and walked away, leaving Julie with the distinct feeling that he had just given her the most awkward, robotic, and sincere 'I care about you' in human history.
As the town bell began to toll its mournful song, Jin led his team into the woods. Boyd, Kenny, and Jim were terrified, their senses on a knife's edge.
Jin, however, was in his element. He moved with a fluid, silent grace, communicating only with sharp hand signals. After ten minutes, he held up a fist, stopping the team. He pointed to a small patch of leaves on the ground.
"Hold," he whispered. "Toxicodendron radicans. Poison ivy. Avoid contact. A subsequent dermal inflammation would compromise combat effectiveness by causing a distracting pruritic rash."
Boyd stared at him in utter disbelief. They were being hunted by monsters, and Jin was worried about an itch.
They finally reached the blind. It was a masterpiece of paranoia, dug into a hillside and camouflaged so perfectly it was nearly invisible. Inside, it was cramped and smelled of fresh earth. Jin immediately set up his night-vision scope through a narrow viewing slit.
They waited in suffocating silence. Then, they saw them. The creatures emerged from the deep woods, gathering in a small, moonlit clearing. Jin's team watched, their hearts pounding. But something was wrong. The creatures weren't smiling. Their faces were slack, empty, and utterly blank. They looked like store mannequins waiting for the power to be turned on.
Then, one of them, the milkman, pointed a single finger towards the town. In perfect, horrifying unison, the wide, fixed smiles snapped onto every single one of their faces. The performance was about to begin.
As the team tried to process this horrifying new data—that the smiles were a conscious, predatory choice—a new sound broke the silence.
It came from behind them, deeper in the woods.
It wasn't a whisper. It wasn't a voice. It was a low, guttural, chittering click, like a thousand insects rubbing their legs together at once. It was an alien, inhuman sound that had no place in a forest.
Jin, who had been completely calm, went rigid. He put a single finger to his lips, his eyes wide, not with fear, but with a sudden, intense alarm.
This sound was not in his data. This was an unacceptable variable.
The chapter ended on that chilling, unknown sound, and the terrifying realization that they were trapped in the dark between the monsters they knew, and something far, far worse.
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Chapter complete! I read every single comment, so let me know what's on your mind! If you want to support the fic even more, a review or some power stones would be amazing. Cheers!