Free Creeptych by John Everson Page A

frantically for breath. They had run the entire way back to the hut.
    “Make sure none of those damn things came in with us,” he said, and then dragged his nails up and down against the dozens of hive-size bites along his ankles and legs.
    Casey kicked her bag a couple times with her foot before gingerly touching it and unzipping the latch to dig inside for a water bottle. Then she pulled a package of allergy medicine from her overnight bag before handing the bottle of water and a couple pills to Billy, who downed them in seconds.
    She began to zip her things back up when Mark asked, “Got any food hidden away in there?”
    Casey considered for a second and then reached back into the duffel to withdraw a bag of Doritoes. She tossed them to Jess, cautioning, “I don’t know if they qualify as food, but…”
    Jess ripped open the bag and downed a handful of the chips before passing them on to Mark, who hungrily did the same.
    “We need to get settled for the night,” Billy suggested, reaching for the Doritoes. “It’s almost dark and we don’t have a flashlight.”
    He pushed himself up with a groan, and together, they explored the two rooms off the main. Each of them was just large enough to hold a small bed and a tiny bureau.
    “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I would really just like to lie down,” Billy announced. “So I’m picking this room.” He pointed at the far door.
    Mark nodded. “Early to bed, early to rise. And I don’t really feel like sitting here talking in the dark.”
    Since they’d closed the door of the hut, the shadows had moved from orange to red to grey. Night was settling upon the island, and without a generator or flashlight, the hut was probably only minutes from pitch black.
    Casey followed Billy into the far room, and closed the door gently behind them.
    “I hope he’s OK,” Jess said, a furrow creasing her forehead. “I’m sorry this isn’t working out.”
    “It’s fucked up,” Mark said, shaking his head in disgust. Then he stepped into “their” room and pulled her with him. “But we’ll have to make the best of it.”
    He ran a palm down her shoulder, across her ribs and down her waist. “At least we’ve got something like a real bed, and a door.”
    Jess turned and put two hands on his shoulders. She leaned up to kiss him, and then embraced him, hard.
    “Don’t take this the wrong way,” she whispered. “But right now… I just want to go to sleep and forget it all.”
    Seconds later, she was curled up on the bed in a fetal position. Mark lay behind her, an erection pushing its way through his costume that was doomed to remain unfulfilled. In moments, his girlfriend was snoring.
    The Out-doors
    Casey woke with Billy’s hand warm and limp against her breast. The night hung thick in the room and for a second, aside from the familiar touch of her boyfriend, she was disoriented. And then the events of the day came back to her.
    She rolled away from Billy, and realized the reason she’d awoken. A painful pressure ached below her belly.
    She needed to pee.
    And the one thing this hut didn’t have was a toilet.
    Casey pressed her head back into the pillow and tried to ignore the feeling. Maybe she could just fall back asleep until morning.
    Uh-uh.
    Minutes later she could almost feel her leg growing wet. She had to go.
    Damnit.
    When she could ignore it no longer, she slowly disentangled herself from Billy’s arm, and slipped out of the bed. She was going to have to step outside the hut and pee. It would only take a minute…you didn’t have to be a boyscout to pee in the woods, after all.
    And bugs…bugs slept at night, right?
    *   *   *
    Casey let herself out of the hut. Her eyes were already accustomed to the dark, and thanks to the shadows of the moon through the palms, she could see well enough to step around to the side of the metal walls to relieve herself. She didn’t need to leave a puddle where they all would step on their way out the