The creature had been on her from the moment her knee touched the ground. Massive, strong hands gripped her head like a vice, pulling her into the firewood room. Lori grabbed hold of the door jam and forced her legs out from under her. When her feet met the walls, her legs pushed as hard as they could. Her body lunged backward, freeing her from the creature’s grasp but barely lasting a second before it was on top of her, biting at any part of her it could reach. The teeth made a clicking sound with every missed bite. Lori pushed with all her might against its chest trying to throw it off. She felt the room start to go black as its hand dug deep into her flesh, pulling a chunk of muscle out. Lori lay there with her arms spread out and life passing from her.
The creature dug back into the same spot, pulling more flesh from her shoulder and stuffing it into its dead face. Lori felt the crossbow and arrow under her fingertips. Grasping the arrow, she waited for the creature to move toward her shoulder again. Once she knew it was going to grab more flesh, Lori put every ounce of strength she had left into bringing the arrow up to the creature’s eye and shoving it deep. The arrow plunged easily for a moment, then met with resistance. Lori didn’t allow that to stop her, she struggled with her grip on the arrow’s shaft but managed to force it further into the dead monstrosity’s brain. It stopped immediately, and its full weight pressed down hard on her. Lori had no strength left in her to push the creature off. She lay with the reeking beast on top of her as consciousness slipped away