Terror Hell: by Nick Venom (great books for teens .txt) 📕

killed without hesitation, while the quicker ones barely escaped with their lives. They dashed into the Town Hall, marking the building as a safe haven. After doing a quick double-check on the building, she rushed down to meet with the others. There, she then explained what she had witnessed. 

“Survivors at the town hall?” Mert questioned, raising his eyebrows.

“Yes, I wasn’t able to see how many but I noticed some survivors fleeing to the Town Hall.”

“One of us has to go check it out and establish communication with them, but who wants to go?” Mert asked, his stare lingering on Red; almost as if he expected Red to go, instead of himself. 

Red and Taylor remained quiet, unsure of what to say. Going back out could spell death for their future, and neither wanted that. Red’s eyes, which were staring down, lingered towards Taylor. He noticed that she was looking out of a nearby window as if she was thinking about venturing outside.

“I’ll go,” Red blurted out.

“You can’t!” Taylor protested, turning to face him. “I’ll go, I’m much faster than you.”

“That’s true… but you can’t kill. Mert just lost his wife and he needs to remain here to deal with fortifying the house and establishing the connection. You will freeze if cornered and end up a bloodied corpse lying in a puddle of blood.” He argued. “I will kill for survival.” Taylor didn’t argue with Red anymore. Mert nodded, allowing him to take on the journey. He understood that if pushed, Red would kill; he was motivated by Mert’s war stories and had helped with hunting. Unlike Mert, Red was motivated and strong. He could’ve killed Edith if it wasn’t for his moral compass and the belief that it would be better if Mert ended her, instead of him. He would have relief if he finished the job.

“Maybe, I shouldn’t have told him my war stories,” Mert whispered to himself. However, he was too late. The war stories had motivated him into enlisting for the army, which his parents disagreed with. They wanted their boy to stay with them, instead of leaving Solaris and die in Europe.

All things aside, a plan was agreed on with Red as the runner. Mert handed Red four walkie-talkies to him, explaining, “if you come across another survivor camp then hand them one of these.” Red nodded, dropping the walkie-talkies into his bag before heading toward the backdoor of Mert’s house. Red’s task was to travel through the backstreets and make it to the Eastwood home before charging across the main road to reach Town Hall. He would then establish a connection with the survivors there before returning to Mert’s house. 

While Red lingered at the backdoor, Mert rushed to the windows that faced the front of his house, checking to see if the coast was clear. Taylor, meanwhile, went to the backdoor and laid her hand on the doorknob. She shot him a concerned look as Red seemed to not treasure his life; this extremely upset Taylor.

With the coast clear, Mert gave a thumbs up, allowing Taylor to open the backdoor.

“I can’t lose you. Please, come back alive.” She whispered as she let him out of the house. Her parting words motivated Red for the return trip.

“I will,”

 

TBC…

Chapter Three "Eastwood"

Red walked out of Mert’s house and went to the corner, crouching to avoid making sounds. He peeked around the corner before wrapping around the building. There he stopped, facing the street, where monsters roamed. A huge monster with bulging monsters---which used to be Gary and dubbed the Muscle Monster---patrolled the main street of Solaris, somehow not seeing Red in the process. 

Red used this to his advantage, sprinting across the street to the backyard of the Monroe house. Once there, he glanced around the corner for the Muscle Monster before sprinting into the next backyard. The backyard belonged to his family.

He peeked over the corner at the street, watching as the Muscle Monster traveled from one end of the street to the other, before retracing his footsteps. 

Red ignored the monster, heading into his house through the backdoor. He scanned the living room, searching for survivors or supplies, but couldn’t find either. Instead, the room was empty, aside from the furniture. 

“I remember seeing supplies in the cabinet.” He thought out loud, running to the stairs that led him to the second floor. Once there, he searched the floor for supplies, finding food, water, and knives. However, his house had no ammunition hiding anywhere as his parents weren’t keen on guns. 

He finished checking the house before doing a second sweep, ending at the second floor’s bathroom. There, he opened the mirror cabinet, which housed a variety of pills, and stored them in his bag. 

“This should be enough for the future. I doubt that we’ll have any troubles with fevers or headaches, but who knows.” He said to himself. He chuckled softly, grabbing the back and sliding the straps on his back. 

“I should hurry before Taylor scolds me. She’ll worry that-” He was interrupted by his bag brushing against a glass jar sitting on the edge of the sink. It flew off the sink and crashed on the floor, fracturing. 

The loud sound echoed throughout the empty house, attracting the ears of a nearby monster. The monster, which wasn’t the Muscle Monster, heard the sound of the glass fracturing and barged into his house. 

Meanwhile, Red stayed in the bathroom, hearing the monster barge into his house and quickly scan through every room. Worried for his life, Red slowly placed the bat down before brandishing the pistol. He then picked himself up, closing the door. Unfortunately for him, the door didn’t close without a fight. It screeched loudly as he forced it closed, locking it.

The monster, that was roaming the first floor, heard the door’s cries; investigating the origin of the noise. It crept up the stairs, scanning its surroundings. It stopped at the top of the stairs, listening for any type of noise to no avail. Red was managing his breath, draping a hand over his mouth, while pointing the gun at the door. He didn’t move a muscle in fear of attracting the monster. 

The monster, irritated with not figuring out the cause of the sound, decided to go through every room and search for the sound’s origin. It quickly made its rounds through every room on the second floor before reaching the final unsearched room in the house, the bathroom. 

It crept up to the door, placing its large deformed ear against the door. It searched for sounds, but Red had eliminated any sounds in the room. Even so, the quietness of the room wasn’t enough evidence for the monster. It picked its head up before raising one of its lanky arms, swinging it towards the door. The arm whacked the door harshly.

Red, who had his hand gatekeeping his mouth, looked at the door with widened eyes as a slight gasp slipped through his fingers. The monster, who was waiting on the other side of the door, heard the small gasp and began throwing its weight at the door. 

Unfortunately, Red was discovered by the monster, resulting in him pressing the trigger. A total of five bullets escaped the chamber and found themselves embedded in the monster’s skull. The monster reacted by tearing at its skin, ripping the bullet cases out of its skull. However, this reaction led to a fatal weakness being revealed in its skull being exposed. 

Red peered through the holes created by the bullets, noticing the weakness. He reacted quickly, pressing the trigger once more, but found himself with a jammed gun. Knowing that he had mere moments before the monster would charge through the door and destroy it, he holstered the pistol and grabbed his baseball bat. He then yanked the bathroom door open before striking at its skull. The attack didn’t destroy the skull but dented it. Fortunately, however, this was enough to knock the monster unconscious. 

“Is it dead?” He muttered to himself. “It can’t be… I should make sure it's-'' He was interrupted by a girl calling out his name. The voice didn’t belong to Taylor, but, instead, his neighbor; Mae Eastwood.

“Red is that you!” She called out.

“Yeah, it’s me?” He responded. “That’s you, Mae, right?”

“Yeah, are you okay?” She asked, reaching the top of the stairs. She turned to the left, glancing down the hall, and noticed the unconscious monster. “That’s one of the monsters!” 

“It is, let me-” He was interrupted by her for a second time. 

“No time, let’s leave. I saw the Muscle Monster outside, looking in through the windows. It’s going to attack soon.” Red nodded, heeding her advice and following her out of his house. They then departed through the backdoor, jumping over the four-foot fence and reaching Mae’s house. She opened the backdoor for them, locking it after them. 

Now out of danger, Red began to collect his thoughts, sitting cross-legged on the floor. He managed to incapacitate the monster, but he wasn’t able to slay it. 

“You’re okay, Red?” Mae asked him, standing in front of him. She wore a black leather jacket with straight blue jeans. She crouched to meet his eyes, staring at him with her lapis-lazuli eyes. 

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just a little shaken, nothing more.” He remarked before standing up. He then noticed Mae’s family standing behind her. Earl and Jane Eastwood, two elderly people wearing matching shirts and tattered jeans, stared with curious eyes. Standing to their left was Freddy Eastwood, the only son, and on their right was their neighbor, Doris Yohin.

Red didn’t have the best relationship with the Eastwoods due to property line disputes, but, nonetheless, he was happy to see them. 

“How have you been, Red?” Doris asked him. She was a plump woman with a round face and sharp black eyes. She wore a floral sundress that limited her motion, which could spell trouble for her in the future. 

“I’m-” He was then interrupted by a voice crackling from his bag. He quickly took his bag off his back, digging into it and revealing a walkie-talkie.

“Red? Are you okay? Please respond!” Taylor’s voice asked from the walkie-talkie.

Red raised the walkie-talkie to his mouth, responding with “yeah, I’m alright. I was stuck in a sticky situation, but I escaped it. Oh, and I found Mae alive.”

“Oh, thank god you’re safe. I was scared when I heard gunshots going off. I assumed that you were…” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t want to finish her sentence. “Anyways, is it just Mae there?” 

“The entire Eastwood household, as well as Doris, is here. We’re all safe in their home.” 

“Okay, as long as you’re safe,” She said. “Oh, just to tell you, after this I won’t let you leave again.” She playfully remarked. Red softly chuckled to himself before saying his short goodbyes and shutting off the walkie-talkie. 

“Was that Taylor?” Mae asked.

“Yeah,” Red responded.

“Is there anybody else?” Jane Eastwood asked.

“Only Mert, Edith didn’t make… “ He started before his voice trailed off. Jane nodded her head, bowing her head to the heavens. She was a good friend of Edith.

“What about your parents?” Freddy asked. Jane rose from his bowing, smacking the back of his head and getting a small yelp from him. He then caressed the back of his head while looking at his mother, who shook