Having to walk home from work in the middle of January is as cold as it sounds. My commute from work is usually about ten minutes, but after my car broke down in the bar parking lot it gave me no other choice but to walk. All of my coworkers have already left and the storm knocked out the power, leaving me without a way to contact anyone for a ride. My best guess is that it will take about an hour and a half to get home while walking.

The walk wouldn’t be that bad if it wasn’t 18 degrees and snowing very heavily outside. Luckily im prepared and have a strong flashlight, a very thick winter coat, and lots of hand warmers in my car. With the flashlight i can maybe see 30 feet ahead of me, my hope at this point is to get some late night drivers help and hitch a ride home. I know how to defend myself so im not too nervous about some weirdo trying to pick me up, plus my flashlight has one of those taser attachments on it.

The best choice I’ve made so far is putting hand warmers inside some of my clothes to keep me just a little bit warmer. I’m nervous to leave my car and start the walk home, but i would rather be next to my wood stove curled up in a blanket.

The first couple minutes of the walk are not that bad, but progress is just as slow as i expected it to be. I’m fortunate that the way home doesn’t have any large hills to slow me down, but the piling snow is doing that either way. The weather forecast said we are supposed to get about two and a half feet of snow in this storm, but so far there is only about 5 inches on the ground. It’s enough to make each step just a little more difficult.

The cold winds start to penetrate into my jacket, i wouldn’t say im cold yet but im starting to feel the effects of the weather. The storm hasn’t let up at all, but i would say im about a quarter of the way home and making good time. So far not a single car has passed by, and im not surprised. I wouldn’t want to drive in these conditions, if I could avoid it.

I’ve been walking for about fourty five minutes when i notice something ahead of me on the road. When i get up close i notice that the thing i saw is a puddle of something red, and i start to smell the obvious iron smell in the air. It’s blood, and a lot of it. There is a trail of it leading into the darkness towards the woods. I’m terrified to shine my flashlight in that direction but i need to make sure its not a persons who is hurt, I would never be able to live with myself if I saw on the news that someone died out here and I could have helped.

I shine my light toward where the trail of blood leads, and at first there is nothing, but after a few seconds of looking two large eyes shine the light back toward me. They are about 5 feet up and staring directly at me, but they aren’t moving at all. I am frozen in place, and not because of the weather. I notice that i can see a vague shape of whatever im looking at, and it is huge, roughly the size of a motorcycle with legs. The creature stands on two feet and has a head that resembles a bird, but it doesn’t have a beak, instead it has large jaws. It has two arms that have what look to be claws on them, and their feet also have large claws on them. The creatures tail is as long as it is tall, and it looks to be covered in feathers.

The creature makes a loud barking sound and i see it run into the woods faster than i have seen any living creature move. Panic takes over me and i start to run toward home, and i run at a full sprint for as long as i can before my lungs burn in protest. I look around and see an intersection that i recognize, im about a mile away.

I keep moving at a pretty good pace for running in a snowstorm, and I think i have put enough distance between me and the creature. As soon as i stop to take a breather i hear the same loud bark the creature made before running off come echoing from far behind me. I take that as a sign to keep running toward home when i hear an noise from ahead of me that makes me completely frozen with fear. Another bark comes from the direction i need to go to get home, and it sounded closer than the one behind me.

Whatever these creatures are they seem to be communicating, and i hope it isn’t about me. At that moment the street lights turn on, the power is back. Down the road at the second street light from me i see the other creature, just as big as the other standing in the street eating what looks like a deer. The lights turning on must have spooked it, because it quickly snaps its head up toward the light. I am very exposed in the middle of the street so i hurry over to the trees and hide under the piling snow, and turn off my flashlight.

What feels like an eternity later i hear the barking of the creatures again, but this time they are much closer, and to my horror it sounds like there are a lot more of them than i thought. Much like coyotes they all join in musical barking and howling as a pack. The one i saw down the road is way to close for comfort.

I notice as the creature that was following behind me comes running down the street towards where I was standing under the street light a few minutes ago. It moves fast, faster than a cheetah. There is no way I could outrun this thing if it wanted to chase me. My best guess is that before when it ran off it didn’t know what i was or if i was a threat to it, but now it looks like it has been following me through the storm.

When it gets to the street light it quickly skids to a stop, and my breath catches. The thing puts its snout to the snow where i was standing before and takes a deep breath. It is hunting me i realize, and it has my scent.

The creature lifts its head and barks a few times, but there is no response. This makes me even more confused and i glance down the road toward the second creature I saw. It is running to the one that barked. Over the next few minutes 3 more of them show up and gather with the first. It takes everything in me not to cry knowing these things might try to kill me.

They all start to sniff the ground where the first one picked up my scent and they start to wander the area searching for me. One of them walks directly towards me following my footprints right to me. I’m pretty well hidden under the snow since plenty has fallen on top of what i covered myself with. The creature slowly makes its way over, and it is standing directly over me.

The creatures snout is inches from my arm when it takes another deep inhale. I’m almost certain the thing knows im here but i remain as still as possible. It seems almost curious as it starts to nudge some of the snow away from my arm, and the creature takes a small almost playful bite of my sleeve.

With my other arm i ram the taser end of my flashlight into the creatures eye and hold the button. I head the electric crackle of the taser and a very loud yelp from the creature. It takes off running toward the street and doesn’t stop until its almost a hundred feet from me. It starts to bark and yelp again, probably calling the others to warn that i am a possible threat.

I stand up and look to the street where all the creatures spread out to look for me, and i can see their footprints they left behind in the snow. I notice that none of them went in the direction of my house, so i start to walk in that direction away from the one i attacked. I keep my eyes on the creature for as long as i can before i lose in to the storm. Once its out of sight i keep heading toward home, luckily im not that far.

I make it about two hundred feet before i hear another wave of barks and yelps, and i can’t help but think they sound angry. All of the barks come from behind me, and i think i slipped past them until i see a shadow running just at the edge of my vision.

The creature is off to my left and running fast, its trying to cut me off. These things are clever, they know i need to go in the direction im moving. I start to run as fast as i can in hopes that it overshoots my house letting me get to safety in my home. Will my home be safe i start to wonder? These things are large and seemingly strong based on their size, plus they are good at hunting.

Home has to be safer than out in the open, and im close. I feel a weird combination of relief and utter terror at the same time. My breathing is ragged and quick from running away from these creatures. The cold has started to penetrate deep into my bones, but that is the least of my worries at the moment.

I haven’t seen the creature since it ran past me a minute ago. But i can hear them in the distance, they are on all sides of me. They must be circling me so they can slowly trap me between them all. They are clever and terrifying, but I’m so close to my house at this point, it should come into view any second. I pick up the pace a little more so i can end this nightmare, but when my home comes into view one of the creatures is standing directly in front of my door.

They must be more intelligent than i thought. They knew i was going to use my house to hide from them and so they waited for me to walk directly to them. I stop and lock eyes with the creature, its the one i tased before. I don’t know how I know, but i do. There is something about the way it looks at me, the same way it did when it alerted the others that i could be a threat.

A soft rhythmic thudding noise comes from my right and i turn to see one of the other creatures rushing towards me at a full sprint, and i only have a split second to jump out of the way. The creature swings its huge claw at me and tore a long gash into my thick winter coat. Luckily the creature kept running past me into the woods.

The one defending my door takes a few slow step toward me and barks in my direction. I think it wants to be the one to attack me, because I notice all the other creatures watching from just out of sight in all directions. The creature lowers its head and upper body lower into an aggressive stance and hisses at me. We are about ten feet apart, and I lift my taser in its direction.

I hold the button down to the taser sparks and cracks with energy, causing the creature to lift its head and look almost nervous. I keep sparking the taser and take a step toward it.

The creature looks uneasy as i slowly approach it with the weapon that hurt it minutes ago. It snaps its jaws and snarls at me but i keep moving toward it. The creature takes a few step toward me and skids to a stop, its clearly trying to intimidate me. Now I know this is a contest, it thinks i am a threat and is trying to assert its dominance on me. I keep advancing slowly, sparking the taser every few seconds.

The creature starts to move out of my way as i put myself closer to my front door. I can tell it wants to attack me but is too afraid, and so i slowly step up to my front door without making any sudden moves.

With one had i spark the taser while the other grabs my door handle and turns it. The door behind me swings open but i keep my eyes on the creature that has been hunting me all night.

As quick as i can i step back and slam the door shut locking it and pushing a chair up against it. I run around my house frantically piling stuff in front of every possible entry to my home. Once i feel like I’ve covered every possible way in i relax and start a fire to warm up.

All night i hear distant barks and yelps coming from deep in the woods. In the morning i turn on the tv and flick to the news channel, and im not the only one who has encountered these creatures. There are dozens of reports of sighting from last night alone. There was one reported attack, but luckily the person was not alone and the creature was scared away before they could be killed. The news stations are saying that the creatures starting appearing along side the storm and no one knows what they are.

I decide to call the news station and tell them my story, and i make sure to let them know that they are smart and good hunters. I emphasize the part of my story proving that they can be beaten in hopes that i might save someone else’s life in the near future.