Chapter 4

The car doors are still unlocked, as expected.he takes a cursory look inside and finds that, despite not locking the car, he did remove the key from the ignition.he almost pulls his head back out when he notices something.A piece of paper is hidden beneath the windshield.

After securing his hand around the note, he takes it out.A message written in his mother's handwriting appears on it.Because he reads quickly and is accustomed to reading his mother's script, his eyes simply skim the paper to read the message.However, his brain is unable to connect the letters to form any meaning when his eyes reach the note's bottom.

Scott looks at the paper while blinking a few times.his eyes skimmed over them, and it was almost as though the words parted.he can see that they aren't actually moving, but the writing is almost impossible to read.Scott moves the paper closer to his eyes while clenching his teeth.

"What in the world is this?"he thinks as he gets angrier because the writing seems to get harder to read, which makes his even angrier.Before he is able to regain his composure, he is about to throw the little piece of paper on the ground.he reads each word out loud, paying close attention to each letter.

Astrid.Can't remain.Monsters with wings.Go to the next city.Will be safe to wait.

Scott Straightens his back and pushes the paper into his pocket.Although it is comforting to learn that the others are still alive, he is experiencing the same empty feeling in his chest as he was unable to stand.he feels handicapped because it shouldn't be so difficult to read a few handwritten sentences.As if his brand-new body is betraying his.

he quickly moves to the back of the vehicle and opens the trunk, fortunately his tight clothes are still restricting his entire body and serve as the ideal distraction.Even though his bag is at the top of the pile, whatever is in it will fit about as well as what he is currently wearing.he takes the bag with his parents' belongings instead.

he observes that the bag is already about half full.The majority must have been left behind while his parents crammed as much as they could into their backpacks.he doesn't care about his clothes because his mother was smaller than he was before the events of yesterday.he chooses one of his father's T-shirts instead.

Scott tries to remove his previous shirt, but it stays on his.he pulls it by the sleeve in a brief outburst of rage.It takes a lot of strength, but the shirt tears at the seams after a few hard tugs.As he puts his father's old shirt on, the expensive rags fall to the ground.

After that, he wears his father's sweatpants and his spare sneakers while slowly removing his long legs from his jeans.

Even though Scott doesn't even want to know what he looks like, he can't help but look in the rearview mirror.he looks like an overgrown child in this shirt, his previous one was everywhere too tight.It barely covers his shoulders and is too big around the stomach. The blue shirt doesn't show enough of his skin to make it look like it was done on purpose.The black pants are even worse because they are too short to cover his ankles and are too wide at the waist.

When Scott notices a shape behind him, he realizes he is completely ridiculous and is about to laugh at his own outfit.he experiences an instant surge of adrenaline and an instinctive response.he tries to fall to the ground, but just as he is about to do so, a sharp pain cuts across his shoulder.

Even though the monster is unable to grab him, the force of the impact propels him forward to the point where his head hits the mirror and breaks the glass.White spots move in front of his eyes as blood drips down his forehead.

Scott falls to the ground and barely avoids hitting the pavement face-first.Scott manages to raise his head quickly enough to see the enormous creature that tried to grab his soar above his head, despite the fact that his shoulder is burning and his skull throbs.It has horrible claws on its feet and has white feathers covering its body.he gets a brief glimpse of the creature's head as it pulls back into the air and lets out a screech-like roar.It also has feathiss, but unlike birds, it doesn't have a beak. Instead, like raptors, it has teeth in its jaws.

Scott leaps to his feet, stumbles toward the forest's edge, and dives into the shade of the trees while the monster regains altitude.

As he picks himself up from the ground, Scottgasp gasps for air.As the threat vanishes, Astrid's pain in his shoulder gets worse and his adrenaline levels drop.he screams and falls back to his knees, unable to stop himself.he feels like a brick on his head because he was close to death.The fact that luck and his quick reflexes were the only things that prevented his from being impaled by talons and taken away by that monster, as well as the excruciating pain in his shoulder, do not make matters any better.

Before he examines the wound the beast's claw caused, he needs a few seconds to calm down.his shirt was ripped off in the attack, and his blood has turned the blue a dark brown.

The wound itself appears to be worse than it actually is.The skin appears frayed, similar to paper cut by a sharp knife.Thankfully, the gash isn't too deep or long, and the drip of blood gradually stops, but the wound is still extremely painful.

From the safety of the trees, a quick glance at the sky shows that the flying monster has regained its height and is now making circles in the sky.Scott is aware that that thing will come swooping down once more as soon as he steps back from the safety of the canopy.he decides that not having a shirt that is bloody and ripped is not worth being killed by a raptor-eagle thing after briefly considering his options.

He just decided to follow the road because his mother didn't say anything while they were going.

Naturally, Scott follows the road under the trees, always looking for any other creatures that this event might have created.

That is, until his stomach starts to complain.It wouldn't be a problem if it were just some noise, but the sound is also accompanied by a dull burning sensation and a strong desire for food.

He has gone several days without eating before, but this is different.he experiences a wave of hunger every few minutes.The first one occurs shortly after he departs from the vehicle.The second one happened as he was driving by a different broken-down vehicle.

The bursts themselves give the impression that his organs are twisting inside of his, and then the sudden pain causes the muscles in his abdomen to tighten up.It is still impossible to ignore, but not enough to cause his to double over.The fact that the attacks keep his mind clear and his eyes on his surroundings is the only bright spot.It removes the previous confusion and fear, leaving only bubbling rage and burning desire.

He is hit by the third attack as he passes a road sign.It warns motorists to be on the lookout for animals running across the street by displaying the black silhouette of a deer.

he moves his hand to hold his stomach.Through his shirt, he can feel his tense muscles.

he sighs, "Crap.''Before we started driving, we had dinner.Leave me alone, please.'He knows exactly what his intestines think about that idea when he gets another cramp.

The forest's peace is abruptly disrupted by three sharp bangs that come in quick succession.Due to the noise, Astrid's entire body tense up.

He is certain that the distant gunshots he is hearing are real, despite the fact that he has never actually heard a firearm.Either that or someone is celebrating the beginning of the new year.

Scott stops dead in his tracks as he considers whether to move toward the sound or stay well out of its way.On the one hand, the armed individuals in front of his may be able to assist his.After all, the only people he can think of who wouldn't be roaming the streets armed are police officers.

However, they might shoot his at first sight.he decides to try his luck with the person who fired those shots because he is certain that the second option is probably not very likely.Even if they do shoot his, he will no longer have to worry about his stomach because he still has a human-like appearance.

He decides to simply follow the road because he is unsure exactly who the gunshots came from.Every step is more like a leap because of his long legs, which make running feel like flying over the ground.

A gas station on the road in front of you appears quickly.Scott walks nearer to the structures.These is a store and café inside the large station itself.On the truck stop that surrounds it, dozens of cars and a few trucks are parked, but no one is visible.

"Probably I don't want to frighten someone with a gun," I say.he makes a distant call, "Hello?Who is this?”Nobody responds.

"Whose are everybody?"As he passes an abandoned truck, Scottw wonders.he stops when he realizes that the storeroom's sliding doors have been ripped out of their frames and that a blood trail has emerged from the room.

he calls out once more:``Who is this?”This is no response once more.

his eyes scour the abandoned automobiles.Several remain connected to the fuel pumps.The trunk of one of the vehicles appears to have been blown open from the inside.As he passes the wrecked SUV, Scott peeks inside to find a dog crate and various pieces of damaged outdoor gear.Although the metal is bent outward, those are no scorch marks or other signs of an explosion.The dog and its owners are not visible.