There were more snapping of twigs and cracking of branches. Heavy and definitely two-footed.
He was just about to shout Alec’s name when a shadow appeared in front of him, stepping out from behind a tree. There was the scratching sound of a match being lit right before it flared to life, revealing the man who held it.
The Toad.
“What…,” Mark said, relief like a bursting cloud in his chest. “Toad. Sheesh, man, you about scared me to death.”
The Toad dropped to his knees and held the lit match closer to his face. He looked gaunt, and his eyes were moist and haunted.
“Are … you okay?” Mark asked, hoping his friend was just tired.
“I’m not,” the Toad answered, his face quivering as if he were about to cry. “I’m not, Mark. I’m not okay at all. There are things living inside my skull.”
Chapter 16
Mark shook Trina awake and scrambled to his feet, pulling her up with him. The Toad was definitely sick, and he was standing just a few feet from their camp. They didn’t know anything about this sickness, but that only made it scarier. Trina seemed disoriented, but Mark didn’t relent, half dragging her to the other side of the dead coals of their fire from earlier that night.
“Alec!” he shouted. “Lana! Wake up!”
As if the two were still soldiers, they were on their feet in three seconds. But neither of them had noticed the visitor yet.
Mark didn’t waste time explaining. “Toad. I’m glad you came, that you’re safe. But … are you feeling sick?”
“Why?” Toad asked, still on his knees. His face was only a shadow. “Why did you leave me like that after all we’ve been through?”
Mark’s heart was breaking. The question had no good answer. “I … I … we tried to get you to come with us.”
Toad acted as if he hadn’t heard. “I have things in my skull. I need help getting them out of there. Before they eat my brain and start heading for my heart.” He whimpered, a sound that seemed to Mark more like it would come from an injured dog than from a human.
“What symptoms are you feeling?” Lana asked. “What happened to Misty?”
Mark watched as the Toad raised his hands up and pressed them against the sides of his head. Even his silhouette was creepy doing such a thing.
“There … are … things in my head,” he repeated slowly. Deliberately. His voice was laced with anger. “Of all the people on this forsaken planet, I thought my friends of over a year would be willing to help me get them out.” He got to his feet and began to shout. “Get these things out of my head!”
“Just calm down there, Toad,” Alec said, the threat clear in his voice.
Mark didn’t want the situation to explode into something they’d all regret. “Toad, listen to me. We’re going to help you however we can. But we need you to sit down and stop shouting. Screaming at us won’t help.”
The Toad didn’t respond, but his figure seemed rigid. Mark could tell his hands were clenched into fists.
“Toad? We need you to sit down. And then tell us everything that’s happened since we left the village.”
The guy didn’t move.
“Come on,” Mark pushed. “We want to help. Just sit down and relax.”
After a few seconds, Toad obeyed, collapsing to the ground in a heap, lying there like he’d been shot. Several moans escaped him as he shifted, rocking back and forth on his side.
Mark took a deep breath, feeling like the situation was back under some kind of control. He realized that he and Trina were standing right next to each other, but neither Alec nor Lana seemed to have noticed yet. Mark took a few steps forward, to the side of the fire pit, and sat down.
“That poor kid,” he heard Alec mutter behind him, thankfully not loud enough for the Toad to hear. Sometimes the old man said exactly what he was thinking.
Thankfully, Lana’s nursing instincts won out and she took the reins of the conversation.