by Bloodthirstybutcher » Tue Aug 16, 2022 10:08 pm
Chapter Forty-Seven-"The Terror of the Filling Station"-Epilogue, Part Two
Earlier that spring, when the deep high-altitude snows had finally melted away to expose the already sprouting green of the wild grasses beneath, the decision was made to open the front doors of The Store. The front gates would crack open for the first time since the oldest among them were but young men and women themselves. There were anxious stirrings among the residents, worries about what horrors could be unleashed upon them when exposed to the outside world. The excitement that Alana had instilled in them before her death had had plenty of time to cool off over the long winter, allowing the fear of the unknown to creep back into their minds.
The amount of food remaining had been grossly overestimated. Only a single can of shucked corn and four cans of green beans remained by the time the snow that piles high against the building each winter had disappeared. Even though the Mattels had done their best to integrate into a society that didn't fully trust them, with the food disappearing faster each day, mutterings among the the smaller classes began to arise. Fears and rumors that the giants could revert back to their cannibalistic ways circulated like cruel gossip among those that loved nothing more than to spread it. And on the other side, the Mattels began to worry that the little people might rise up against them once again out of fear of such possibilities.
Despite Alana's desire for a peaceful unification, tensions had grown high. Infighting over scraps of food between once friendly neighbors had become commonplace. The frightening reality of starvation hung on every mind. Something had to be done.
The reconstructed Store Council settled upon a gathering, actually... more of a celebration, for when the great glass doors would finally swing open. They needed people to be excited about about the event, to join together again in purpose like they had at the end of the war... and the proposal worked.
The entire population turned out to see the massive twin gates swing open and invite them into the world. Some were fearful of course, those convinced that titanic monsters would swarm in to consume them all the second their only defense was compromised. Others cautioned that whatever had shrunk them in the first place could still be lingering out there... and exposing themselves to it all over again could shrink them all out of existence. Their concerns were as valid as any, but the need to find food enough to feed thousands trumped any apprehension. After emptying what little WD-40 was left into the seized-up locking floor pegs, along with a lot of elbow grease to lever them free, the first burst of fresh mountain air blew into The Store in nearly half a century.
When the cheers began to ring out, even those still skeptical about the nature of what they were doing found themselves caught up in the excitement. Faye would lead the first scouting party, made up solely of Mattels to begin with, for safety's sake. Their sole mission... to make it across the street to the gas station and back alive. Michael and Heidi would join her, as well as Aaron... of all people.
The crushing revelation that the man he so admired, Conrad Hartman, was nothing more than a charlatan and a murderer had filled him with such shame and guilt for his involvement. Aaron soon realized that only Alana's desire for peace had saved him from a violent death. He could also sense the Kenners' understandable distrust of him and the others of his kind... so throughout the winter, he dedicated himself to trying to remedy that any way he could. Giving up portions of his own ration shares to those who needed it more, helping deliver food to those injured in the war who were unable to retrieve it themselves, even coordinating scouting plans with Faye and the others once spring finally rolled around. The young man proved himself worthy of forgiveness ten times over, and one wonders how things might have gone had he seen the light earlier.
The four explorers crept through the gaping entryway, filled with uncertainty and uneasy stomachs. Faye was the first to step over the threshold, cautiously moving forward over the strange feeling surface of weathered wood beneath her bare feet. It took time for her eyes, so used to the darkness of the Stockroom, to adjust to the unbelievable brightness the sun bathed the world around her in. The tall weeds and grass that had grown up through the cracks in the sidewalk, as well as having overgrown the street itself, appeared so alien to her eyes. The mountain wildflowers had already begun to bloom, speckled among the green sprawled out before her with pinks and purples and yellows. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, or even dreamed of.
It was so beautiful... and she wished Alana could be there to share it with her.
The party made their way down a pair of steps and initiated their trek across the expanse before them. The gravel hidden beneath the overgrowth made the journey slow and painful. Faye and the others made mental notes about what they would need for further expeditions, something to cover and protect their feet, a ramp or raise to make bringing what ever they may find easier to lift back onto the elevated wooden sidewalk. For this initial trip, they only brought weapons.
The towering gas pumps rose above their heads as they passed them, making the small party's imaginations run wild with the strange monoliths' meaning and purpose. Moving forward, the entryway to the convenience store was still propped open with a wedge, as it had been ever since that terrible day, oh so long ago.
Upon entry, the place looked like it had been ransacked... evidence that the fur-covered monsters of the world had taken advantage of the humans' sudden disappearance. Empty bags, shredded cardboard, leaves, and candy wrappers littered the building. Claw marks from paws, too frighteningly large to even comprehend a beast gargantuan enough to wield them, had torn long gashes in the walls and floor. Even the canned food was empty, the cans themselves crushed and bearing strange puncture holes... bite marks from crushingly massive and powerful jaws.
"I don't like this," a frightened Heidi cautioned, "we should go back."
"It's ok," Faye tried to assure her, "this didn't just happen... look around... it's been this way for a very long time."
"Maybe she's right," Aaron sounded in, "we made it here... that's all we planned to do. Let's get the fuck outta here."
Faye continued to scan her surroundings, ignoring her companions' reservations.
"Faye! Let's go before something bad happens," Michael added to the collective unease.
"Not yet," Faye finally spoke up. "We can't go back empty handed."
Heidi protested, "what do you mean?! Look at this place! There's nothing here!"
"What I mean," Faye snapped back, thumbing in the direction of The Store, "is that those people back there are terrified they're going to starve to death. If we come back without some evidence of food, some... tangible hope for them to see and touch, then what was the point of risking our lives out here in the first place?!"
Faye's question was rhetorical, which was for the best when she was met with silence. "Look, there is a wall way back there with big glass doors, just like back home," Faye pointed out. "Maybe there's food in them, like ours used to have."
"What makes you think the monsters didn't already beat us to it?" Aaron asked.
"Because they're the only thing in here that isn't trashed or broken," she replied. Their collective apprehension hadn't eased, so Faye's next step was bargaining, "tell ya what, lets go check them out... and if we don't find anything right away, we'll go straight home. Deal?"
The other three looked to one another for their wordless approval, then Michael reluctantly nodded. The reluctant quartet made their way between the strange looking browsers towards the cooler wall. The shelving units were smaller than the ones in The Store, and made from the same material as the sidewalks. Not unlike their own, they were mostly barren and coated in a thick layer of dust. The wrappers and leaves beneath their feet crinkled as they walked, adding even more fear that their very footsteps might attract a hungry predator.
Before long, the group had reached the huge glass doors, craning their necks to fully take in their grandeur. They couldn't see inside, as the interiors were coated in a disgusting layer of dark mold, so they spread out and began to search for something they could use to pry it open... that is, if these opened like the doors they were used to.
Behind what must have been the register corral, Michael stumbled upon a huge tool caddy. It had been knocked over by whatever titanic nightmares had scavenged the building long before any of them had even been born. Rummaging around in the large, crumbling leaves and prickly pine needles that covered most of the enormous tools, Michael found a long-handled, flat-headed screwdriver... perfect for what they needed. He rushed back to rejoin his comrades, looking over his shoulder the entire way.
It took the strength of both Aaron and Michael to jam the end of the oversized screwdriver beneath the door seal, and all four of them pressing their weight against the handle to crack it open. Portions of the once squishy seal crumbled instantly from age and rot, then rained down on the Mattel foursome like an avalanche of dried out rubber. The all too familiar smell of mold wafted from inside, oddly reminding the Mattel foursome of their home inside the Stockroom.
Then... a rustling...
Motion... emanating from the small hallway in the back corner.
The sound halted the group in their tracks. The ripping of the old seal breaking for the first time in forty years was enough to startle something lurking in that dark corner. Some nameless horror waiting patiently for tiny creatures such as them to wander into its deadly trap.
No one moved. No one dared to.
Images of razor sharp fangs and terrifyingly piercing eyes raced through the minds of the helpless foursome. Each imagined watching one or more of the others getting torn apart, chewed up and swallowed by this invulnerable beast straight out of their worst nightmares.
Faye was afraid she'd doomed them all with her insistence. She forced herself out of her fear stricken paralysis, knowing she couldn't fail them... not like Alana. Looking down at her custom blades, she worried that they wouldn't be enough against the terror skittering ever closer through the crinkling leaves. Faye dropped them at her feet with a clang, then extracted the long screwdriver from the door like Excaliber from the stone.
"Stay here," she instructed. "I'll draw its attention. When it attacks me, that'll be your chance to get away."
"Faye! No! Wait!" Despite Heidi's attempt to stop her, Faye crept towards the ominous sound.
Her heart pounded in her chest with each agonizing step forward. Sure she had trained to fight off invading creatures such as this, should they ever find their way into The Store, but there Faye was a part of an army. She had the comfort of knowing her turf and a plethora of weapons at her disposal. As the corner rapidly drew nearer, Faye felt sick with nerves and vulnerability. 'It' was close too... just around the corner. The brave Mattel pressed her back against the wall and took one last look back at her companions before preparing to strike.
The creature hopped forward from the shadows, revealing its dreaded form, and Faye immediately began to size it up. The animal was large, having to weigh two or three times more than her, by her best estimates. It's entire bulky body was covered in thick, grey fur. The ears were freakishly long, as were the back legs it used to propel itself forward, despite resting its weight on all fours. The pink triangular nose on its face wiggled tirelessly as it sniffed its surroundings. This clearly wasn't the animal responsible for the deep claw marks found throughout the edifice, but that didn't make it any less dangerous.
For a moment, Faye thought the animal appeared quite cute... if she wasn't certain she was about to bitten in half by the long, grotesque teeth protruding from its mouth. Clearly this was an evolutionary trait this particular terror had developed to lure its prey into a false sense of security before striking them down. She could only pray it's bite wasn't venomous.
Faye took a deep breath and whispered to herself... accepting her inevitable fate, "I guess I'll see you soon, 'Lana."
The Monster of the Filling Station reacted instantly to Faye's muttering with its long, sensitive ears. It turned to look directly at her, then rose up on its back legs out of its own sense of curiosity. The creature had never seen another animal quite like the one its emotionless, pink eyes were gawking at... and was just as unsure of its threatening nature as Faye was of it.
Standing up tall on its back legs, the fury animal dwarfed Faye, and that wasn't even including its lengthy ears. It curled its paws at its chest and continued working its busy nose as it processed the smell of this strange visitor. Again, the animal offered a harmless, if not submissively adorable appearance.
Faye wasn't falling for it.
Ever the Mattel warrior, Faye charged forward with the screwdriver raised above her head and drove it straight down into the, deceptively cuddly, monster's chest. The animal screamed in pain and fell onto its back, kicking wildly in agony. One of the aimless kicks hit Faye square in the chest and knocked her backwards through the air into a pile of collected leaves.
The brave woman popped back up to her feet. She instinctually felt around at the impact spot on her chest, thankfully not finding any broken bones. Recovering from her broken ribs after the war was no picnic after all, and Faye had little interest of going through that again. With the screwdriver still embedded in the creature's chest, she bolted back to where her blades lay, realizing how foolish of her it was not to bring them with her in the first place. The others were still standing there, staring slack-jawed in disbelief at what they'd just seen.
Faye screamed, "what the hell are you idiots still doing here?! Fucking run!" The sprinting leader of the party slid to the floor, scooping up her blades, then spinning back to her feet in a defensive stance... and all in one fluid motion.
"Faye... look," Aaron said with a raised finger pointing back at the writhing monstrosity.
Faye was so amped up on adrenaline that it took her a moment to process that the creature wasn't moving.
"You did it... you killed it!" Heidi shouted and leaped in the air with excitement. "You saved us!"
Faye slumped to the floor to catch her breath, and a chance for her nerves to settle down. Through deep, panting breaths she scolded the rest, "the next time... I tell you... to run... FUCKING RUN!"
While Faye took her well earned break, the other three ran towards the still twitching corpse of the felled beastie. Michael climbed on top of it and flexed his muscles while Heidi and Aaron pried the screwdriver from the animal's chest, a sight that made Faye chuckle and roll her eyes.
"Sure, you guys... take credit for my hard work," she laughed. "Can we just pry this door open so we can go home?" Her brush with death had made Faye as eager to leave as the rest of them.
Once again, the four of them wedged open the cooler door, and they wouldn't be disappointed. The racks were still stocked floor to ceiling, wall to wall with bottles full of various colors of liquid, each nearly as large as any one of them. The sugars and dyes had mostly settled to the bottom, but it was at least drinkable water.
"It's gonna be a hell of an undertaking to get even one of these out of here," said Michael. "I bet they weigh a ton, too."
"Then we take that," Faye replied, thumbing towards the lifeless body of the monster. "Then we come back prepared."
"You think it's edible?" Aaron asked.
Heidi replied, "only one way to find out."
---------------
Upon the exploring party's return, the quartet were met with joyous applause. The first people to (actually) leave The Store had returned safely. Not only that, but hanging by its paws on a tire iron and hoisted upon their shoulders was some fantastical cryptid, the likes of which few who dwelt in The Store had ever seen.
"Faye Nelson risked life and limb to save us from this monster," Michael announced to the awestruck audience of thousands. "She pitted herself against it alone, knowing it could cost her her life! Let's hear it for Faye!"
While the younger generations cheered Faye and the others on like rockstars, those old enough to know what this mysterious creature truly was couldn't help but break up in laughter. Among the first to greet the daring Mattels who'd braved the unknown and returned unharmed was Keri... and she was laughing as hard as anyone.
Spotting the strange reaction from what would have been her mother-in-law, Faye raised an eyebrow and grinned. "What? You think Alana could have done better?"
Keri dropped to the ground and rolled with latter, something especially strange to see from someone of her age. Between her breaths and billowing laughter, Keri exclaimed, "oh my heroic friends! Only you could have faced this fearsome bunny wabbit and lived to tell about it!"
The cheering had stopped, leaving only the sound of the elderly laughing up a storm to confuse the rest. Through some intuition, Faye managed to piece together why she had become the butt of some inside joke. "It's not dangerous, is it?"
Keri howled, "oh yes! Absolutely ghastly creatures! They're every bit as much of a threat to you as I am!" The laughter intensified among the other elders with Keri's sarcasm.
Michael, Heidi, and Aaron hung their heads with embarrassment with the revelation that this animal they feared so much just a short time ago, was only a docile rodent, once kept as cuddly pets by their gigantic ancestors. Each member's pale skin turned beet red, and the instinct to flee the situation began to feel like a good one. That is, until Faye began to laugh as well.
"You weren't there, old woman!" Faye joked, "that thing pounced on me! Held me down as it tried to sink its fangs into my skin!"
Keri was laughing so hard that it hurt, "oh god! Stop! It's too much! She called its stupid buck teeth 'fangs'!
Faye continued, "it slashed at me with its deadly claws and its pink eyes turned red as fire!"
"No more! No more!" Keri pleaded. Faye just knelt down and started tickling the tiny woman's stomach, becoming consumed by laughter herself. "No don't! I'm an old woman, don't pick on me!"
"Ah, you can dish it out, but can't take it, huh?" Faye replied, playfully.
Sarah appeared from the crowd, looking as perplexed as always, so Faye quickly pinned her to the floor and began tickling her as well. "So! You want some too?!"
Even those who didn't understand what was so funny couldn't help but get caught up in the moment. It was an entertaining and joyous one for sure. The four Mattels, one of whom was considered an enemy less than a year previous, had returned from the outside world... something thought impossible not long before. They had returned with fresh meat as well, and news that more provisions awaited.
The next day, the explorers would venture out again, this time finding the entrance to the small, untouched stockroom at the back of the convenience store. A lot of what was there was unusable, but there were cases upon cases of canned foods, dried meats in sealed plastic bags, bottled drinks, as well as other non-edible supplies like matches that they so desperately needed. And there was enough of all of it to last for several years to come.
Newly established forces of Kenners, Mattels, and Hasbros worked tirelessly together to bring the supplies the scouting team found back to The Store day after day, like a line of busy ants rebuilding their colony. For many, it was the first time their lives felt like they had any purpose. They had work to do that was necessary for their survival, not just wasting away the days in boredom behind locked doors.
Meanwhile, Faye and her growing group of adventurers pushed further and further into the vacant town. With the sole exception of the aforementioned incident with the Hasbro woman and the hawk, their excursions had been without incident. Some of the abandoned homes were easier to get into than others, but the ones that took more effort tended to yield greater quantities of food, as they hadn't been ravaged by wildlife.
The warmer months were few in the mountains, so the importance of getting as much done before late fall brought the first snows wasn't exaggerated. As sure as the sun rises, spring gave way to summer, and a couple of months after that, the first leaves turned red and orange in as dazzling a display of beauty as nature had to offer.
But... as the front doors were forced open once again by a dozen or so Mattels, digging their heels in and using their combined weight to do so, the day Faye and Sarah had been discussing would be different. This would not be a day for exploration, or for back-breaking labor. As decided by the council, this... the anniversary of what would be referred to from then on as The Twenty-Four Hour War, would be forever held in reverence as a day of remembrance and mourning.
Hundreds, if not thousands had gathered at the gate once again, this time not to celebrate, but to grieve together. It was a day for all, from the smallest Kenner to the tallest Mattel... the latter having suffered the most loss of life in the concluding battle. This was to be a day to not only honor the dead, but also served as a reminder to work diligently to prevent such a thing from ever happening again.
For some, it would be their first frightening steps outside the safety of the walls. Even with The Store coming together to work as one, just as Alana had hoped, and the myths of what awaited them outside being dispelled... there were still those that couldn't get past their own fears of the unknown.
Sarah was one of them.
End Chapter Forty-Seven-Epilogue, Part Two
Chapter Forty-Seven-"The Terror of the Filling Station"-Epilogue, Part Two
Earlier that spring, when the deep high-altitude snows had finally melted away to expose the already sprouting green of the wild grasses beneath, the decision was made to open the front doors of The Store. The front gates would crack open for the first time since the oldest among them were but young men and women themselves. There were anxious stirrings among the residents, worries about what horrors could be unleashed upon them when exposed to the outside world. The excitement that Alana had instilled in them before her death had had plenty of time to cool off over the long winter, allowing the fear of the unknown to creep back into their minds.
The amount of food remaining had been grossly overestimated. Only a single can of shucked corn and four cans of green beans remained by the time the snow that piles high against the building each winter had disappeared. Even though the Mattels had done their best to integrate into a society that didn't fully trust them, with the food disappearing faster each day, mutterings among the the smaller classes began to arise. Fears and rumors that the giants could revert back to their cannibalistic ways circulated like cruel gossip among those that loved nothing more than to spread it. And on the other side, the Mattels began to worry that the little people might rise up against them once again out of fear of such possibilities.
Despite Alana's desire for a peaceful unification, tensions had grown high. Infighting over scraps of food between once friendly neighbors had become commonplace. The frightening reality of starvation hung on every mind. Something had to be done.
The reconstructed Store Council settled upon a gathering, actually... more of a celebration, for when the great glass doors would finally swing open. They needed people to be excited about about the event, to join together again in purpose like they had at the end of the war... and the proposal worked.
The entire population turned out to see the massive twin gates swing open and invite them into the world. Some were fearful of course, those convinced that titanic monsters would swarm in to consume them all the second their only defense was compromised. Others cautioned that whatever had shrunk them in the first place could still be lingering out there... and exposing themselves to it all over again could shrink them all out of existence. Their concerns were as valid as any, but the need to find food enough to feed thousands trumped any apprehension. After emptying what little WD-40 was left into the seized-up locking floor pegs, along with a lot of elbow grease to lever them free, the first burst of fresh mountain air blew into The Store in nearly half a century.
When the cheers began to ring out, even those still skeptical about the nature of what they were doing found themselves caught up in the excitement. Faye would lead the first scouting party, made up solely of Mattels to begin with, for safety's sake. Their sole mission... to make it across the street to the gas station and back alive. Michael and Heidi would join her, as well as Aaron... of all people.
The crushing revelation that the man he so admired, Conrad Hartman, was nothing more than a charlatan and a murderer had filled him with such shame and guilt for his involvement. Aaron soon realized that only Alana's desire for peace had saved him from a violent death. He could also sense the Kenners' understandable distrust of him and the others of his kind... so throughout the winter, he dedicated himself to trying to remedy that any way he could. Giving up portions of his own ration shares to those who needed it more, helping deliver food to those injured in the war who were unable to retrieve it themselves, even coordinating scouting plans with Faye and the others once spring finally rolled around. The young man proved himself worthy of forgiveness ten times over, and one wonders how things might have gone had he seen the light earlier.
The four explorers crept through the gaping entryway, filled with uncertainty and uneasy stomachs. Faye was the first to step over the threshold, cautiously moving forward over the strange feeling surface of weathered wood beneath her bare feet. It took time for her eyes, so used to the darkness of the Stockroom, to adjust to the unbelievable brightness the sun bathed the world around her in. The tall weeds and grass that had grown up through the cracks in the sidewalk, as well as having overgrown the street itself, appeared so alien to her eyes. The mountain wildflowers had already begun to bloom, speckled among the green sprawled out before her with pinks and purples and yellows. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, or even dreamed of.
It was so beautiful... and she wished Alana could be there to share it with her.
The party made their way down a pair of steps and initiated their trek across the expanse before them. The gravel hidden beneath the overgrowth made the journey slow and painful. Faye and the others made mental notes about what they would need for further expeditions, something to cover and protect their feet, a ramp or raise to make bringing what ever they may find easier to lift back onto the elevated wooden sidewalk. For this initial trip, they only brought weapons.
The towering gas pumps rose above their heads as they passed them, making the small party's imaginations run wild with the strange monoliths' meaning and purpose. Moving forward, the entryway to the convenience store was still propped open with a wedge, as it had been ever since that terrible day, oh so long ago.
Upon entry, the place looked like it had been ransacked... evidence that the fur-covered monsters of the world had taken advantage of the humans' sudden disappearance. Empty bags, shredded cardboard, leaves, and candy wrappers littered the building. Claw marks from paws, too frighteningly large to even comprehend a beast gargantuan enough to wield them, had torn long gashes in the walls and floor. Even the canned food was empty, the cans themselves crushed and bearing strange puncture holes... bite marks from crushingly massive and powerful jaws.
"I don't like this," a frightened Heidi cautioned, "we should go back."
"It's ok," Faye tried to assure her, "this didn't just happen... look around... it's been this way for a very long time."
"Maybe she's right," Aaron sounded in, "we made it here... that's all we planned to do. Let's get the fuck outta here."
Faye continued to scan her surroundings, ignoring her companions' reservations.
"Faye! Let's go before something bad happens," Michael added to the collective unease.
"Not yet," Faye finally spoke up. "We can't go back empty handed."
Heidi protested, "what do you mean?! Look at this place! There's nothing here!"
"What I mean," Faye snapped back, thumbing in the direction of The Store, "is that those people back there are terrified they're going to starve to death. If we come back without some evidence of food, some... tangible hope for them to see and touch, then what was the point of risking our lives out here in the first place?!"
Faye's question was rhetorical, which was for the best when she was met with silence. "Look, there is a wall way back there with big glass doors, just like back home," Faye pointed out. "Maybe there's food in them, like ours used to have."
"What makes you think the monsters didn't already beat us to it?" Aaron asked.
"Because they're the only thing in here that isn't trashed or broken," she replied. Their collective apprehension hadn't eased, so Faye's next step was bargaining, "tell ya what, lets go check them out... and if we don't find anything right away, we'll go straight home. Deal?"
The other three looked to one another for their wordless approval, then Michael reluctantly nodded. The reluctant quartet made their way between the strange looking browsers towards the cooler wall. The shelving units were smaller than the ones in The Store, and made from the same material as the sidewalks. Not unlike their own, they were mostly barren and coated in a thick layer of dust. The wrappers and leaves beneath their feet crinkled as they walked, adding even more fear that their very footsteps might attract a hungry predator.
Before long, the group had reached the huge glass doors, craning their necks to fully take in their grandeur. They couldn't see inside, as the interiors were coated in a disgusting layer of dark mold, so they spread out and began to search for something they could use to pry it open... that is, if these opened like the doors they were used to.
Behind what must have been the register corral, Michael stumbled upon a huge tool caddy. It had been knocked over by whatever titanic nightmares had scavenged the building long before any of them had even been born. Rummaging around in the large, crumbling leaves and prickly pine needles that covered most of the enormous tools, Michael found a long-handled, flat-headed screwdriver... perfect for what they needed. He rushed back to rejoin his comrades, looking over his shoulder the entire way.
It took the strength of both Aaron and Michael to jam the end of the oversized screwdriver beneath the door seal, and all four of them pressing their weight against the handle to crack it open. Portions of the once squishy seal crumbled instantly from age and rot, then rained down on the Mattel foursome like an avalanche of dried out rubber. The all too familiar smell of mold wafted from inside, oddly reminding the Mattel foursome of their home inside the Stockroom.
Then... a rustling...
Motion... emanating from the small hallway in the back corner.
The sound halted the group in their tracks. The ripping of the old seal breaking for the first time in forty years was enough to startle something lurking in that dark corner. Some nameless horror waiting patiently for tiny creatures such as them to wander into its deadly trap.
No one moved. No one dared to.
Images of razor sharp fangs and terrifyingly piercing eyes raced through the minds of the helpless foursome. Each imagined watching one or more of the others getting torn apart, chewed up and swallowed by this invulnerable beast straight out of their worst nightmares.
Faye was afraid she'd doomed them all with her insistence. She forced herself out of her fear stricken paralysis, knowing she couldn't fail them... not like Alana. Looking down at her custom blades, she worried that they wouldn't be enough against the terror skittering ever closer through the crinkling leaves. Faye dropped them at her feet with a clang, then extracted the long screwdriver from the door like Excaliber from the stone.
"Stay here," she instructed. "I'll draw its attention. When it attacks me, that'll be your chance to get away."
"Faye! No! Wait!" Despite Heidi's attempt to stop her, Faye crept towards the ominous sound.
Her heart pounded in her chest with each agonizing step forward. Sure she had trained to fight off invading creatures such as this, should they ever find their way into The Store, but there Faye was a part of an army. She had the comfort of knowing her turf and a plethora of weapons at her disposal. As the corner rapidly drew nearer, Faye felt sick with nerves and vulnerability. 'It' was close too... just around the corner. The brave Mattel pressed her back against the wall and took one last look back at her companions before preparing to strike.
The creature hopped forward from the shadows, revealing its dreaded form, and Faye immediately began to size it up. The animal was large, having to weigh two or three times more than her, by her best estimates. It's entire bulky body was covered in thick, grey fur. The ears were freakishly long, as were the back legs it used to propel itself forward, despite resting its weight on all fours. The pink triangular nose on its face wiggled tirelessly as it sniffed its surroundings. This clearly wasn't the animal responsible for the deep claw marks found throughout the edifice, but that didn't make it any less dangerous.
For a moment, Faye thought the animal appeared quite cute... if she wasn't certain she was about to bitten in half by the long, grotesque teeth protruding from its mouth. Clearly this was an evolutionary trait this particular terror had developed to lure its prey into a false sense of security before striking them down. She could only pray it's bite wasn't venomous.
Faye took a deep breath and whispered to herself... accepting her inevitable fate, "I guess I'll see you soon, 'Lana."
The Monster of the Filling Station reacted instantly to Faye's muttering with its long, sensitive ears. It turned to look directly at her, then rose up on its back legs out of its own sense of curiosity. The creature had never seen another animal quite like the one its emotionless, pink eyes were gawking at... and was just as unsure of its threatening nature as Faye was of it.
Standing up tall on its back legs, the fury animal dwarfed Faye, and that wasn't even including its lengthy ears. It curled its paws at its chest and continued working its busy nose as it processed the smell of this strange visitor. Again, the animal offered a harmless, if not submissively adorable appearance.
Faye wasn't falling for it.
Ever the Mattel warrior, Faye charged forward with the screwdriver raised above her head and drove it straight down into the, deceptively cuddly, monster's chest. The animal screamed in pain and fell onto its back, kicking wildly in agony. One of the aimless kicks hit Faye square in the chest and knocked her backwards through the air into a pile of collected leaves.
The brave woman popped back up to her feet. She instinctually felt around at the impact spot on her chest, thankfully not finding any broken bones. Recovering from her broken ribs after the war was no picnic after all, and Faye had little interest of going through that again. With the screwdriver still embedded in the creature's chest, she bolted back to where her blades lay, realizing how foolish of her it was not to bring them with her in the first place. The others were still standing there, staring slack-jawed in disbelief at what they'd just seen.
Faye screamed, "what the hell are you idiots still doing here?! Fucking run!" The sprinting leader of the party slid to the floor, scooping up her blades, then spinning back to her feet in a defensive stance... and all in one fluid motion.
"Faye... look," Aaron said with a raised finger pointing back at the writhing monstrosity.
Faye was so amped up on adrenaline that it took her a moment to process that the creature wasn't moving.
"You did it... you killed it!" Heidi shouted and leaped in the air with excitement. "You saved us!"
Faye slumped to the floor to catch her breath, and a chance for her nerves to settle down. Through deep, panting breaths she scolded the rest, "the next time... I tell you... to run... FUCKING RUN!"
While Faye took her well earned break, the other three ran towards the still twitching corpse of the felled beastie. Michael climbed on top of it and flexed his muscles while Heidi and Aaron pried the screwdriver from the animal's chest, a sight that made Faye chuckle and roll her eyes.
"Sure, you guys... take credit for my hard work," she laughed. "Can we just pry this door open so we can go home?" Her brush with death had made Faye as eager to leave as the rest of them.
Once again, the four of them wedged open the cooler door, and they wouldn't be disappointed. The racks were still stocked floor to ceiling, wall to wall with bottles full of various colors of liquid, each nearly as large as any one of them. The sugars and dyes had mostly settled to the bottom, but it was at least drinkable water.
"It's gonna be a hell of an undertaking to get even one of these out of here," said Michael. "I bet they weigh a ton, too."
"Then we take that," Faye replied, thumbing towards the lifeless body of the monster. "Then we come back prepared."
"You think it's edible?" Aaron asked.
Heidi replied, "only one way to find out."
---------------
Upon the exploring party's return, the quartet were met with joyous applause. The first people to (actually) leave The Store had returned safely. Not only that, but hanging by its paws on a tire iron and hoisted upon their shoulders was some fantastical cryptid, the likes of which few who dwelt in The Store had ever seen.
"Faye Nelson risked life and limb to save us from this monster," Michael announced to the awestruck audience of thousands. "She pitted herself against it alone, knowing it could cost her her life! Let's hear it for Faye!"
While the younger generations cheered Faye and the others on like rockstars, those old enough to know what this mysterious creature truly was couldn't help but break up in laughter. Among the first to greet the daring Mattels who'd braved the unknown and returned unharmed was Keri... and she was laughing as hard as anyone.
Spotting the strange reaction from what would have been her mother-in-law, Faye raised an eyebrow and grinned. "What? You think Alana could have done better?"
Keri dropped to the ground and rolled with latter, something especially strange to see from someone of her age. Between her breaths and billowing laughter, Keri exclaimed, "oh my heroic friends! Only you could have faced this fearsome bunny wabbit and lived to tell about it!"
The cheering had stopped, leaving only the sound of the elderly laughing up a storm to confuse the rest. Through some intuition, Faye managed to piece together why she had become the butt of some inside joke. "It's not dangerous, is it?"
Keri howled, "oh yes! Absolutely ghastly creatures! They're every bit as much of a threat to you as I am!" The laughter intensified among the other elders with Keri's sarcasm.
Michael, Heidi, and Aaron hung their heads with embarrassment with the revelation that this animal they feared so much just a short time ago, was only a docile rodent, once kept as cuddly pets by their gigantic ancestors. Each member's pale skin turned beet red, and the instinct to flee the situation began to feel like a good one. That is, until Faye began to laugh as well.
"You weren't there, old woman!" Faye joked, "that thing pounced on me! Held me down as it tried to sink its fangs into my skin!"
Keri was laughing so hard that it hurt, "oh god! Stop! It's too much! She called its stupid buck teeth 'fangs'!
Faye continued, "it slashed at me with its deadly claws and its pink eyes turned red as fire!"
"No more! No more!" Keri pleaded. Faye just knelt down and started tickling the tiny woman's stomach, becoming consumed by laughter herself. "No don't! I'm an old woman, don't pick on me!"
"Ah, you can dish it out, but can't take it, huh?" Faye replied, playfully.
Sarah appeared from the crowd, looking as perplexed as always, so Faye quickly pinned her to the floor and began tickling her as well. "So! You want some too?!"
Even those who didn't understand what was so funny couldn't help but get caught up in the moment. It was an entertaining and joyous one for sure. The four Mattels, one of whom was considered an enemy less than a year previous, had returned from the outside world... something thought impossible not long before. They had returned with fresh meat as well, and news that more provisions awaited.
The next day, the explorers would venture out again, this time finding the entrance to the small, untouched stockroom at the back of the convenience store. A lot of what was there was unusable, but there were cases upon cases of canned foods, dried meats in sealed plastic bags, bottled drinks, as well as other non-edible supplies like matches that they so desperately needed. And there was enough of all of it to last for several years to come.
Newly established forces of Kenners, Mattels, and Hasbros worked tirelessly together to bring the supplies the scouting team found back to The Store day after day, like a line of busy ants rebuilding their colony. For many, it was the first time their lives felt like they had any purpose. They had work to do that was necessary for their survival, not just wasting away the days in boredom behind locked doors.
Meanwhile, Faye and her growing group of adventurers pushed further and further into the vacant town. With the sole exception of the aforementioned incident with the Hasbro woman and the hawk, their excursions had been without incident. Some of the abandoned homes were easier to get into than others, but the ones that took more effort tended to yield greater quantities of food, as they hadn't been ravaged by wildlife.
The warmer months were few in the mountains, so the importance of getting as much done before late fall brought the first snows wasn't exaggerated. As sure as the sun rises, spring gave way to summer, and a couple of months after that, the first leaves turned red and orange in as dazzling a display of beauty as nature had to offer.
But... as the front doors were forced open once again by a dozen or so Mattels, digging their heels in and using their combined weight to do so, the day Faye and Sarah had been discussing would be different. This would not be a day for exploration, or for back-breaking labor. As decided by the council, this... the anniversary of what would be referred to from then on as The Twenty-Four Hour War, would be forever held in reverence as a day of remembrance and mourning.
Hundreds, if not thousands had gathered at the gate once again, this time not to celebrate, but to grieve together. It was a day for all, from the smallest Kenner to the tallest Mattel... the latter having suffered the most loss of life in the concluding battle. This was to be a day to not only honor the dead, but also served as a reminder to work diligently to prevent such a thing from ever happening again.
For some, it would be their first frightening steps outside the safety of the walls. Even with The Store coming together to work as one, just as Alana had hoped, and the myths of what awaited them outside being dispelled... there were still those that couldn't get past their own fears of the unknown.
Sarah was one of them.
End Chapter Forty-Seven-Epilogue, Part Two