Pain was beginning to sting in Tressa’s forearms from the weight of the pistol and her fingers were growing numb from squeezing the grip tighter than she had ever gripped anything before. Beads of sweat from just below her hairline slid their way down into Tressa’s eyes, causing her vision to blur. Tap, tap, tap. The sound from the left side of the truck caused her to momentarily shift to her eyes only to find another creature standing on its hind legs with front paws up against the window tapping at her with equally massive claws. Coal black, lifeless eyes seemed to beckon to Tressa to give it up, open the door and accept her fate. Drawing its mouth open, the creature roared with such intensity that it felt like the truck shook in fear. Returning to look at the creature perched on the hood, she found it laying, its eyes glued to her. Tressa thought they may catch a break even with Todd crying. If they could just keep still, if Todd would just stay still, the creatures were getting used to his cries and starting to settle down, seemingly content to wait for their dinner to come out. Buying time would allow them to freeze to death rather than be torn apart like Doc was. Daring to feel the slightest bit of hope, she thought the time might provide a chance for someone to find them and save the day. Tressa knew there wasn’t much chance of that happening but it never hurt to hope.
By some miracle that Tressa couldn’t see, a noise or movement someplace in the woods along the river caught the creature’s attention. It leapt down from the hood and stood sniffing the air then howling like a wolf. The other creatures left their looming positions around the truck and joined what Tressa could only guess had to be the leader of their pack. Todd stopped crying when he finally heard the howls over his sobbing.