Free Ward Z: Revelation by Amy Cross

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    “What?” Lizzie asked.
    “Something moved in there!”
    Turning to look down at the dead deer, Lizzie watched the flies and maggots for a moment. “It's nothing,” she said after a few seconds, “it's just -”
    “Something moved ,” Laura said again. “I swear to God, it wasn't the maggots or the flies or anything like that, something moved under the skin.”
    “You think it's still alive?” Lizzie asked. “That's kind of gross.”
    Laura shook her head. “It wasn't the deer itself, it was more like...” She paused. “It was like something moved in the belly or the gut area. Something big.”
    “You're imagining it,” Lizzie replied. “You're just letting yourself get spooked out, there's no -”
    “There!” Laura shouted, taking another step back as the deer's rotten torso seemed to flex and bulge for a moment. “You saw that , right?”
    “It's probably just gas,” Lizzie said uncertainly.
    “No way was that just gas. Something's in there!”
    Lizzie took a cautious step forward and leaned down. Just a few feet from the deer now, she watched as the creature's belly seemed to writhe and wriggle. The surface was covered with maggots and flies, which seemed to be feasting on the flesh, but she couldn't deny that something deeper seemed to be churning in the deer's corpse. A moment later, part of the fur seemed to slice open, and a patch of maggots was sucked down into the interior of the body.
    “Woah,” Lizzie whispered, “that's messed-up.”
    “What did you see?” Laura asked, having turned away to avoid seeing the mess.
    “It's like something's in there,” Lizzie continued, “and it just ate some of the maggots from the surface.”
    “That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. Can we please get out of here?”
    “Hang on.” Making her way around the body, making sure to keep a short distance back, Lizzie watched the churning corpse, waiting for another hint about whatever was lurking inside.
    “Lizzie, can we please just get going? We're supposed to be looking for Beth, remember?”
    “I know, but this is insane.” She took a cautious step closer, unable to stop staring at the dead deer. “I'm no expert, but I've never heard of anything like -”
    Suddenly something thin and long and black whipped out through a hole in the deer's side and scooped a load more maggots up, before disappearing back inside as quickly as it had appeared.
    “That's not normal,” Lizzie said, wide-eyed with shock.
    “What isn't normal?” Laura asked.
    “It was like a worm or...” She paused. “Or a tentacle!”
    “Oh God,” Laura replied, looking up at the sky. “Oh God, please, can we just leave it the fuck alone?”
    Lizzie picked up a stick from the ground before taking another step forward and reaching out until the stick's tip was touching the deer's rotten chest.
    “Don't poke it!” Laura shouted. “Didn't anyone ever tell you not to poke things? Like, ever! That is the first rule when you find creepy shit in the forest!”
    “I'm not poking it.”
    “You are! I'm watching you do it right now!”
    “Fine, I am,” Lizzie whispered as she used the tip of the stick to nudge the deer's carcass, in an attempt to provoke whatever was inside and make it show itself again. “I make no apologies for being a poker.”
    “That thing is probably diseased,” Laura continued, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears. “Lizzie, please...”
    “I just want to see,” Lizzie told her, pressing the stick against the spot where she'd seen the tendril. “I want to -”
    Suddenly the tendril whipped out again, wrapping itself around the end of the stick and trying to pull it into the deer. Holding on, Lizzie was shocked by the strength of whatever she was dealing with, and finally the stick broke. Stepping back, Lizzie watched as the tendril dragged the stick into the deer's corpse. The carcass churned for a moment and then fell still.
    “Wow,” she whispered.
    “Wow?” Laura