Legends of Windemere

(Can you believe what happened last time?)

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Trudging through the snowy hills, the travelers stop at the mouth of a narrow pass and stare at the campsite below. A long line of people in heavy jackets lead to a collection of tents that are surrounded by a white wall. It takes Dawn a minute to realize that the barrier is really a circle of snow-covered wagons, which have been connected to each other by metal plates fitted into two grooves. Bike-powered generators are scattered about and the caravan members take turns maintaining the lights and heaters. Livestock can be heard from far away, but the animals are nowhere to be seen. As they walk down the steep incline leading to the valley, Kara points at a series of barns that look to be collapsible. Guards patrol the top of the wall, each one given a single car to stand atop instead of trying to leap over the gaps. Dawn frowns when a man whistles and shakes his gun in their direction, but the threatening gesture is quickly turned into a silent order to get in the back of the line. Not wanting to cause any trouble, the pair do as they are told and join the huddled figures who are hoping to be accepted.

Hours pass as they trudge along, the warmth of bodies in front and behind them helping to stave off frostbite. Teenagers walk down the line to offer cups of mild tea, the hot drinks a welcomed gift for the desperate masses. Dawn tries to keep herself near the edge of the mob and counts how many people are turned away. She is surprised that only five people are rejected, their vicious outburst and brandished weapons making it clear that they were perceived as a danger. Those with children are let in almost immediately, the three guards on top helping them up the ladders and onto an inflatable slide. Anyone traveling alone is sent through a door to the right while groups of adults go to the left. Dawn catches a quick look at the inside where a doctor and two nurses are waiting with their equipment. The lack of screams helps keep her fear under control, but a voice in the back of her head whispers about caution. The fact that it sounds more like Addison than herself does not help, but she takes Kara by the hand to remind her that getting the girl inside is the only thing that matters.

With only two families ahead of them, Dawn gets a clear look at the desk that has been set up in front of the entry ladders. There is a pile of papers that are kept in place by a long needle jammed through the middle. A cup of pens, a stapler, and an ink pad that goes with a stamp ring are the only other items in view. Judging by the Grand Caravan’s leader immaculate and simple clothing, Dawn assumes they are about to deal with someone who hates complications. The woman’s curly black hair goes down to her shoulders and she has a collection of butterfly clips in the thick tresses. Red gloves cover her hands and the left pinky dangles limp due to not having a digit inside. A pair of reading glasses dangle from the woman’s neck and she randomly puts them on as she goes over the questionnaire for each person. There is a quickness to her words, but her tone is not sharp or aggressive. It is her piercing gaze that causes Dawn and Kara to delay their approach, the guards having to remind them that they are next.

“My name is Melissa Williams and I’m in charge of the Grand Caravan,” the woman says in droning tone. Taking a sip of coffee, she scratches at her neck where a scar runs across her throat. “You’re the thirty-eight mother and daughter pair today. What is happening to the fathers out there? Sorry, but that’s just me noticing a trend. You two don’t look that alike though. Is she really your kid?”

“I can see why you’re in charge,” Dawn answers before pushing Kara forward. She puts her hands up when one of the guards shifts his gun, which causes everyone to stare. “I thought I was in trouble. Sorry about that. This girl lost her parents and the small caravan that she was traveling with. We stumbled into each other in a desert and I promised to bring her here. She’s very smart and wants nothing more than to travel to the haven with you. I don’t have to go along if you think I’m a danger. My only goal was to get Kara here.”

“We’re a package deal!” the girl declares with her arms crossed. She ignores the laughter from the crowd and refuses to change her defiant pose. “Dawn got me through so much that I can’t leave her behind. She might not be my mom, but I don’t want her to miss out on reaching haven. I mean, she is kind of weird and twitchy, but who wouldn’t be if they lived alone in the wilderness for years?”

“Alone in the wilderness,” Melissa mutters as she makes a note. Taking an unsharpened pencil out of her pocket, she puts it in her mouth and chews on the eraser end. “Kara can come in without question since we’d never turn a child away. That’s probably a belief you share with us, Dawn, since you escorted a total stranger. The nearest desert is about fifty miles away, which means you came a long way. I agree that it would be an insult to not give you a chance to earn a way in.”

Still unsure if she wants to join the Grand Caravan, Dawn runs a hand through her brown hair and bites her lip. “Honestly, I didn’t know what I’d do at this point. The idea of a haven strikes me as a pipedream. You aren’t the first group to go hunting for such a place. No offense, but that’s the truth. That isn’t to say I will refuse your offer. Feels wrong to hand Kara to you and walk away. At the very least, I should make sure she gets to where she’s going. I’ll decide if haven is for me when we get there.”

“Have to admit that I’ve never heard that before,” the caravan leader says.

Hearing an outburst in the line, Melissa stands on the desk and whistles at the sight of black clouds on the horizon. Several teams come out of the wall with tents and large beams that end in dirt-caked points. Preparing the structures for those who have not been allowed inside, the workers call for extra hands. A guard cuts into the line and waves for those in front of him to help while those who remain continue waiting to speak with Melissa. Cracks of thunder and an icy breeze stirs all of them into a frenzy that erects the cluster of tents within minutes. The beams take longer to set up with a hooded foreman making sure the dimensions are right before he fires a gun seven times into the air. People are urged to get into the tents where food and sleeping bags are waiting while two groups of guards come running around the wall. Those with large ladders to the lead and put them against the wall and the others stop to unfold the metal rooftop.

“We really should finish this quickly,” Melissa mentions while her people finish putting the structure together. Hearing people whisper about there being on way out, she clears her throat and spits on the ground. “It’s for their own protection. A door would take too long and they can simply pop the roof off if there’s flooding. I have one of my men in there with them. Now, Dawn, what can you bring to the Grand Caravan?”

“I can survive in the wilderness better than anyone,” the brown-haired woman swiftly replies without thinking. Noticing that the leader is not writing anything down, she puts her hands on the desk and leans forward. “As Kara said, I lived alone in the wild. I’ve learned how the monsters operate and know how to identify their traps. You can use me as a scout, a hunter, or a gatherer. I’m not much of a seamstress, but I can help with cooking if given instructions. I can even help with construction like what you did over there. Is that enough to get me inside, Ms. Williams?”

“Very good to know, but I do have a concern,” she admits before waving Kara to go into the door on the left. The girl is hesitant to leave, but a gentle push from Dawn is enough to get her moving. “She’s attached to you, which makes me worry that rejecting you means she’ll be left in the wild. You say that you can identify the traps that our tormentors have created, but I’ve heard that before. It’s by dumb luck and that eventually runs out. Now, you could be telling the truth and you possess an insight that every other human lacks. That’s what I’m concerned about. How could you have done that without seeing others make the mistakes?”

“Most of it was caution and watching animals,” Dawn states, remembering the time a deer blew up after eating some leaves. Catching a flicker of doubt in the other woman’s eyes, she sighs and takes a step back. “The forest I lived in before meeting Kara was a common playground for the monsters. It was where they tested out their traps and I just happened to stumble into it one day. Figured it was the last place they would look for a human and I happened to be right. They never showed up at the same time and would routinely try to sabotage each other, but I observed enough to get an idea of how they operate. Before everything went to hell, I was a behavior psychologist, which came in handy.”

“That’s a hard story to accept.”

“It’s not easy sharing it due to it being so ridiculous.”

“But it’s the truth?”

“As true as my birth.”

“Odd phrase.”

“My grandmother used to say it.”

Melissa clicks her tongue a few times before sliding the paper and a pen to Dawn. “Fill out the rest of this while I move the line along. If I like what I see then you can go into the door on the left. Anything suspicious and I’ll turn you away. Keep in mind that the storm will be here in twenty minutes and that form will take about ten if you answer honestly. You won’t be able to find cover around here in the time you have left. Also know that I’ll be keeping an eye on you for the next week. Not sure what it is, but there’s something about you that seems both familiar and unnerving.”

“Unfortunately, I have that kind of face,” Dawn claims with a smirk. Pinching her thigh to prevent an eye twitch, she spins the pen in her fingers and goes about answering the questions with the best lies that she can imagine.

(Fun fact: Like the rest of the story, I wrote the previous section while awake.)

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Sitting on opposite sides of a large tree, Dawn and Kara listening to the pounding rain that they narrowly escaped. A blinding curtain of water blocks their view of the area, but they remain dry thanks to the thick canopy above their heads. Only a few streams come through the network of sturdy branches and leathery leaves, which has given the travelers a chance to get clean and have a drink. Regardless of the serene atmosphere and the relaxing smell of fresh rain, they cannot relax as an inevitable conversation lingers on their tongues. Dawn is no longer trying to get around the tree to check on Kara, who has claimed all of the food for herself. The sound of chewing and the occasional burp continue until she is certain that that girl is trying eat as much of the food as possible. She waits for the sound of footsteps rushing into the rain, but they never come. Dawn takes it as a sign that her companion is willing to talk and will not disappear into the wilderness. The thought of angry mobs coming after her sends a shiver along her spine, but a part of her considers that she deserves such a fate. Unnerved by the dark thought, she gets to her feet and begins gathering rocks to throw at the fist-sized figs that are growing in the lower branches.

“Are you a monster too?” Kara asks from her side of the tree. The girl peeks around for a second and swiftly goes back out of sight before she is spotted. “I heard what Addison was calling you. Also, I know what absorbing means. There are beasts out there that do that to their prey. So, are you going to eat me?”

“I prefer chicken, beef, and moose,” Dawn replies, hoping to cut through the tension. Not getting a response, she sighs and continues trying to knock down some food. “I’m not a monster and I won’t eat you. If you were really listening then you’d know Addison was calling me the sane one. She’s always been crazy, but I used to be that flicker of sanity inside her head. Now, she depends on Gemma for keeping her slightly grounded. This is why you see so many strange things in the world. Addison has no focus and follows whatever whim she has unless somebody manages to stop her in time. It really isn’t that different than when we were together since she never listened to me. I had some control when Corvus was around, but that leash disappeared a long time ago.”

“I don’t get it,” the girl admits before tossing a package of crackers into the open. She shuffles around the tree when she sees the woman go for the food. “How did you get out of the monster? Why don’t you have powers too? Also, she mentioned a safe zone. Is that the place I met you?”

Chuckling at the barrage of questions, Dawn ties her hair back and leans against the warm tree. “Kids always get right to the point. I guess Addison keeps all the powers since she has the original body. My creation was an accident when Ian tried to remove her insanity. That would be like pulling the pulp out of this tree and expecting it to live. All he did was split us into two parts, which did do some damage. I gave Addison enough focus to use her powers with precision, but now she’s entirely random. Since you’re going to ask, I ran away as soon as I was knocked out of the body. Neither of them realized what happened until a week later, but I was long gone by then. Haven’t come across Ian since then, but you can tell that Addison and I have had a few encounters.”

“So, she made the safe zone for you,” the girl guesses as she comes into view.

“Yes, but she did a terrible job,” Dawn admits with a smirk. Fearing that the expression will turn dark, she fakes a cough and bends down to fix her boot laces. “Remember me telling you about those monsters? They were supposed to make sure I stayed in the territory, but they ended up wanting to hunt me. Addison’s goal was to keep me contained until either she found a way to absorb me or I came back willingly. Instead, she made me hate her even more because every day was a battle for survival. Still, it’s better than being stuck in her head. At least, I can control my own actions out here.”

“But you stayed in one place for all this time.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were still trapped in the safe zone.”

“As you can see, I could leave whenever I wanted.”

“Then, why did it take you so long?”

Dawn’s mouth opens to answer, but she cannot think of the reason she never considered leaving the safe zone. The urge to go back rises in her chest as she tries to remember if there was ever a time she tried to leave. A few brief outings to help people in the desert or show them the way out of the forest come to mind. Yet, none of them made her want to go far or travel with them like Kara. Tapping her chin, she stares at the girl, whose face is covered in chocolate and sprinkles. She does not see anything out of the ordinary, but the fear that she has walked into a trap refuses to disappear completely. Regardless of the fresh paranoia, Dawn knows that Kara will probably die on her own. The silent acknowledgement helps her strengthen her resolve and push the doubt into the back of her mind.

“I have no answer,” she finally replies as the rain starts to stop. Staring out at the sparkling landscape, she munches on a few crackers that are about to go stale. “It isn’t like I had a plan when I was given freedom. With all of the memories and knowledge in my head, I was still a baby with no personal experience. Maybe I was simply comfortable and happy to have a life of my own. There were a few times I interacted with people, but I never traveled with them. The best answer I can give you is that the only reason I left is because you were alone. I’m not insane and cruel like Addison. I feel bad about my actions. Letting you wander off to get killed in the wilderness didn’t sit well with me.”

“So, you’re going to protect me?” Kara asks with a smile.

Wetting her sleeve, Dawn cleans the girl’s face and promises, “I will make sure you get to where you’re going. Maybe I’ll stick around after that. Seems you’ve kind of grown on me even though you ate most of our food.”

“I saved you the vegetables.”

“We didn’t have vegetables.”

“Then, what are the green things?”

“Guess bringing cheese along was a mistake.”

(Check out Part 6 . . . These can’t all be silly.)

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“Almost there,” Dawn mutters as she finishes climbing the rope.

With Kara strapped to her back and their supply bags hanging from her arms, she barely has the strength to pull herself out of the hole. The ground is littered with feathers and chunks of meat left by the ravens, which can still be seen flying in the distance. A single set of large prints are near the edge of the broken earth, the tracks the only sign that the large bird ever existed. Not wanting to fall back into the decimated cavern, Dawn crawls towards a nearby stream and dunks her head into the water. She immediately comes up coughing and gagging, the taste reminding her of the ocean and leaving her tongue burning. To her relief, she hears Kara yawn and begin mumbling, which are the first sounds the girl has made in the last few hours. Undoing the rope harness, she puts her companion next to her and lazily flops onto her back to stare at the evening sky. She is surprised to see the stars gradually appear with no extra constellations, the normal sight giving her an odd sense of peace. The effect is nearly lost when the moon comes out as full, but sheds enough of itself to become a crescent.

As the minutes pass by, a shiver runs up Dawn’s spine and she leaps to her feet with renewed strength. Knowing that they are in danger, she grabs only one bag of supplies and puts Kara over her shoulder. Slightly awake, the girl tries to complain, but her throat is too dry for her to do more than whisper. Catching a sense of urgency in the faint words, Dawn turns around to see that she forgot her companion’s precious satchel. Sprinting back to retrieve it, she nearly chokes on the thick air that is flowing out of a forest to the south. Seeing the pulverized remains of the factory, she charges over the uneven ground and prays that they can find a hiding place in time. Leaping over a low wall, she stumbles at the feeling of electricity running up her legs. The shock is not enough to hurt, but she can only limp towards an overturned vat that is covering most of a hole. Holding Kara tight to her chest, Dawn forces her body to run and she slides into the narrow gap. Landing neck deep in a pool of cake batter, she quickly puts the gasping girl on her shoulders and puts her finger to her lips.

“I can’t smell them in here,” a voice says from nearby. Strange footsteps can be heard coming around the vat, the alternating noises being a meaty thwack followed by a barely audible hollow thud. “All of the food is making me hungry. Not that I have a stomach thanks to your botched repairs. Are you sure the missing you is here? The ravens didn’t find it in the underside and they’ve never made a mistake before.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” another woman replies with a laugh. Dawn steps back at the sight of heeled feet and a long, crimson skirt coming into view. “The stars distracted me when she was running. I know she came in here, but there are so many hiding places. Where would a normal, sane me go? I should just level the place and scrape the remains into a sandwich bag.”

“As far as we know, you need her alive.”

“That’s so boring.”

“Ian is the one who wants to kill her.”

“The little puppy really needs to stay out of my personal business.”

“You did inadvertently create him.”

“Stop blaming me!”

Without warning, the vat is knocked over by the woman with a golden eyepatch knocking her companion across the factory. Dawn makes out the limp form of a red-haired person whose right side is flesh and bone. Gemma’s left side is a mannequin that has half of her face drawn on its head and a large dent in its chest. The startled travelers are frozen in place as they watch the woman, who looks exactly like Dawn, walk over the hole and continue heading towards the former cop. Kara is the first to snap out of her stupor by leaping onto solid ground and run for a metal box that she can squeeze into. Unable to escape as quickly as the girl, Dawn tries to swim to the other side of the hole where she can press herself against he wall. She is halfway across when the batter erupts into a geyser that launches her into the air. The woman lands in the wreckage of an oven and narrowly misses hitting the bright red heating elements. She whirls around to see that the Gemma and her master are at the edge of the debris, neither of them daring to take another step.

“It’s been too long, Addison,” the woman with the eyepatch declares. Hearing Gemma clear her throat, she cocks her head to the side and giggles at her mistake. “I mean Dawn. You’re looking well, other me. Sane and normal, but healthy. That’s good because I could use those muscles when we recombine. Don’t you think it’s time for that? I promise to give you more attention. Maybe you can take the reins of our body during an eclipse. Do something mundane like read a book or . . . what else to the boring and sane do?”

“Leave me alone,” Dawn snaps while backing away. A wall of bodies and metal rises up behind her, but it bows inwards to avoid being touched. “You can only reclaim me if I go willing and I refuse. I had no room or purpose in your head. Out here, I have a body instead of being a bundle of subconscious thoughts that never gets to breathe. We’re both better off without each other, Addison. It isn’t like I have any of your power, so stop tormenting me whenever I leave my forest.”

“Why did you wander out of that safe zone?” Gemma asks, her eyes falling to the satchels hanging from Dawn’s shoulders. She is about to go in search of anything suspicious when her fake leg stiffens and refuses to move. “How about a compromise? Give me her body and she can have this piece of junk. I can feel human again while she will be free. You can alter it to look more like my true self, right?”

“Yes, but then I’d have nothing to put my hats on,” Addison bluntly replies. Floating over the debris, she reaches out to touch her sane self, but is shoved away by an invisible force. “The angry puppy put a lot of work into keeping us apart. Without you, I can’t focus enough to destroy him. All I can do is fight until I’m bored and then I go away. What if I give you the month of February?”

“I said no,” the woman growls.

“Nobody speaks to me that way, except my reflection.”

“I am your reflection!”

“That’s why none of my mirrors work!”

Dawn hurls a handful of batter at Addison, who swiftly ducks her head into her body like a turtle. Temporarily blinded, the reality-bender is unable to avoid a second glob that hits her in the chest. With a tired sigh, the god-like stares at her ruined dress and reaches up to tear the garment off her body. She stops when Gemma coughs and settles for wiping the goo off the smooth fabric. The smell puts Addison in a trance and she goes about licking her fingers, which gives Dawn an opening to sneak by the other woman. When the former cop reaches out to tap her master on the shoulder, her mannequin side is turned into a large spoon. The fleshy half falls to the ground and flops about like a panicking fish, the chunks of metal leaving deep cuts on her body. No longer paying attention to her sane self, Addison skips over to another pool of batter and stretches her jaw down to her knees to take in every spoonful. Seeing no reason to stay, Dawn casually walks over to the box where Kara is hiding and drags it away. For the next few miles, she can still hear Gemma struggling to talk with only half a mouth and bring her master’s attention to their escaping prey.

(Someone left a contact lens at Part 5. Might want to click here and pick it up.)

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The pungent smell of kerosene lanterns is nauseating and nearly causes Dawn to pass out again. She is saved by a gasmask being put over her face, the inside dotted with an aromatic oil to help block the stench. Looking through the yellow-tinted lenses, she can see that they are in a dome-shaped cavern. None of the locals are wearing masks thanks to years of living within the stifling conditions. There is a sickly tint to their skin and their pupils are barely visible, which makes their eyes appear white at first glance. Tents have been arranged in square groupings with fencing around each one to create front and backyards. Communal buildings are motorhomes that have had their wheels removed since there is nowhere to go underground. Numbers are on cardboard flags that stick out of the top of the structures, all of them written in gold and fringed with glitter. Hearing whispers, Dawn looks up to see that there are ropes leading to a network of walkways near the ceiling. She can barely make out the distant forms standing on the suspended bridges, their gloved hands pressed against the densely packed dirt.

“Scavengers and bandits,” the woman mutters before she remembers Kara. She breathes a sigh of relief when she finds the girl lying behind her, a gasmask already on her face. “The stench must have knocked both of us out. Don’t see the person who slapped this on me. Hey, it’s time to wake up and keep moving.”

“Children need more sleep,” a robotic voice says from nearby. Coming out from behind a dumpster, a scraggly man in a toy mask limps over to the outsiders. “Let the little one rest since she will have to find work soon. Both of you will. Once you come to the underside, you can never leave. We need more breeders too. That is why we risked our fingers to save you. The little one came because a mother would never wish to be separated from her child. Please know that you must take a job and a husband.”

“This is why I live alone,” Dawn mutters as she picks the girl up. She frowns at the feeling of Kara’s rapid heartbeat and notices that her hands are clammy. “As thankful as I am for you rescuing us, I don’t think we can stay here. This girl . . . My daughter is obviously sick. She was fine before we came down here. If I had to guess, I’d say she’s having an allergic reaction to either the kerosene or whatever you put in the mask.”

“Her scent is a combination of lilacs and peanut oil,” the man claims, his gnarled fingers scratching his rash-covered head. He watches as the woman hastily switches masks with the gasping girl, the bigger one difficult to keep in place. “I do remember allergies being an issue before the destruction. Perhaps that is why so many are weak and others have died. I will tell the other elders about this knowledge. Now, what job and husband do you wish to take? I can see that you would be a useful nurse and two of our doctors have a spot in their harem.”

Struggling to breathe in the small mask, Dawn gives up and angrily tears it off. “I can handle this world long enough to get out. Show me to the exit because I have no intention of being in a harem. My daughter and I are heading for the Grand Caravan. That’s where we will reunite with her father, who is a powerful man. He’ll come with his soldiers to find us if we’re gone for too long.”

“Then, all of them will join us.”

“Pretty confident there.”

“Nobody ever leaves the underside.”

“Has anyone ever tried?”

“Yes, and we have built monuments to them.”

Watching the man walk over to a pedestal, Dawn takes the opportunity to look for an escape route. She doubts that she can make it through the town, so the only path is a rope that will take her to the walkways. A sputtering snore reminds her that Kara is asleep and possibly sick, which makes such a climb impossible. Hearing a constant squeak, Dawn’s attention falls on a pulley-operated elevator that is not very far away. An idea begins to form in her mind when the man coughs in his robotic voice, his hand hovering over a blue button. She smiles warmly in the hopes of hiding her intentions, the expression briefly becoming a mad grin that causes the local to reach for a gun on his hip. Clearing her throat, Dawn hangs her head and walks forward to make it look like she is being obedient. As soon as she is standing at the pedestal, the man hits the button and the hum of a generator echoes across the cavern.

“They will always be remembered,” he whispers as electric flood lights in the floor come to life. They shine on a collection of suspended skeletons that are wearing gasmasks and have been posed to look like they are climbing. “We could not let their bodies leave, so we let the spirits travel to the dangerous outside world. They were foolish and paid the price. Look at them and see that it is not the true path. Down here, the monsters never harm us. They do not even know we exist and that is for the best. Now, please choose a job and a husband.”

“Definitely a persuasive argument,” Dawn says as she steps away. Hearing movement, she stares at the display and notices that there is a fleshy body in the back. “You hang them alive and let the flesh rot off? You have the gall to call the two up there monsters when you’re doing something just as bad if not worse. This is what drives me nuts about humans. You do such horrible things to each other, but rationalize it while condemning others for be equally as evil and sadistic. A beast kills one of you and has to be put to death. Yet, a man commits murder and is simply locked away. At least Ian and Addison have an excuse for looking down on humans since they’re so powerful. What the hell goes through your head when you’re doing this to someone who simply wanted to leave?”

“I don’t understand the question,” he answers, his robotic voice sputtering. He blows a whistle that calls the other citizens to the area, many of them holding chained hooks and syringes. “It’s sad that you could not make it a day. We need more breeders and the little one could have helped with the smaller tunnels. She can still be saved, but you will have to be put in the monument. I promise that the woman who cares for your daughter will bring her to visit as often as she can.”

Gripping Kara to her chest, Dawn backs towards the monument until she hits the railing that is slick with damp blood. She scans the crowd for any spot that she can charge through, but the citizens have created an impenetrable wall of bodies. With nowhere else to go, she climbs over the barrier and enters the display, which causes the mob to pause. They are unsure if they should follow into what is considered unholy ground and whisper about who is willing to be sacrificed to catch Dawn. The flicker of hope in her heart is dashed when a child throws a syringe and nearly gets her in the eye. Following his example, the others begin hurling the needles with very little precision. A scratch on the leg sends a quiver up her leg, the numbing agent potent enough that even a drop will have an effect. Lining up behind the throwers, the men with hooked chains wait for the order to attack and drag the woman out of the monument.

A loud crash from above stops the attack and the citizens look up at the sound of a blood-curdling scream. Everyone scatters at the sight of an ebony beak pulling a man out of the cavern by his head. Once the hole is clear, an enormous flock of ravens swarm underground and dive at the people who are trying to get into their tents. The giant bird on the surface continues stabbing holes in the ceiling until the dirt collapses and exposes the entire animal. It refuses to drop into the confined space, but it quickly snatches up those who are hanging onto the remains of the walkways. A cluster of ravens knock over a motorhome and get inside through a shattered window, which inspires the others to do the same. Tents are shredded and sent flying while the hungry birds enjoy their feast. Hearing an echoing caw from the giant raven, the groups begin to grab people and lift them high enough to feed to their companion. Throughout the massacre, Dawn and Kara cower beneath the skeletons that help to shield them from view.