. The Crust
Jake Tecca

    Holy fucking shit!
He ripped them apart! They’re all gone… he tore every last one of them to pieces!
        Lucky was the first to go, obviously.
       Rose and Lily were next, arguing over which sister had to die first. Molly followed, shortly after a failed attempt at defusing the situation with a sarcastic remark.

       Next was Callum- he was caught off guard while trying to give CPR to Lucky’s decapitated
head! Chucky was ambushed whilst chain-smoking other people’s cigarettes at the cache.
Saffron tried to reason with her old friend, but to no avail… Jacob was eaten in a single
bite, and his dog Kona was had for dessert.

       Then, Agnes- she didn’t even see him coming! And last but not least, Lee, his own SISTER- what the fuck.. despite her hardened exterior, she couldn’t bring herself to harm her brother in self-defense.

       Even worse was that his moustached face remained totally devoid of emotion throughout
the whole encounter. He had hardly needed to use the latent strength in his robust, chiseled
muscles. And those eyes, jet black like those of a doll, not an ounce of humanity left inside
them...

       Only hunger. A deep, soul wrenching starvation that can’t ever be satisfied- and one
other thing, something we have all felt, but never to this extent...
THE CRUST.

       THE CRUST was once a human, a crew boss, a friend, even- but when the crew found
themselves without food, stranded out in the bush after a week-long mid summer snowstorm,
our former foreman looked upon his crew for one last time.

       Needless to say, the raging hunger within overtook him. Once he gave in, it was all but over.. he fed and fed, but the hunger only intensified, and he began to undergo a rapid transformation. His canines elongated, becoming razor sharp; what were once dainty hands and feet ballooned to twice their size, their nails becoming jagged claws that cut through shovels like butter. His ears grew pointed, and a new sense of smell and hearing now rivaled that of any wolf.

       I’ve heard many stories of creatures like this, traded in hushed whispers by candlelight in the saloons of industry towns all across British Columbia… creatures that were once humans, creatures that gave in to THE CRUST.

       I’m hiding now. The only reason I’m still alive is because I was shitting in the treeline. I hadn’t
run out of food yet- there were plenty of vegan snacks in my block bag, but no one seemed
interested.

       I tried in vain to turn on my cellphone and check for service, but I had drained the battery
singing along to Type O Negative several days earlier.

       Wait- It’s close- I can hear it seeking me out! The soft sounds of sniffing and panting fill the air, and the sticks snapping in the distance seem to get closer and closer...

       Oh god- it can smell me!
       I desperately try to mask my vegan scent by slathering myself in mud and schnarb, forgetting for a moment that this creature has several other heightened senses that can easily locate me.

       CRRRAACHHHK!!
       The massive fallen douglas-fir I was using for cover is suddenly upheaved and tossed to the side like a shitty little twig tripped on by a rage-filled planter.
       
       Now, I’m face to face with THE CRUST.

       Before I even had time to scream, THE CRUST picked me up by the top of my head with one
arm, and with its other, thrust a gnarly clawed hand through my chest. All I could do was watch helplessly as my spine was ripped out, and my innards spilled across the forest floor.

       The entire block fell silent. That is, except for the squelching, ripping, and snapping of flesh,
sinew & bone. To this day, THE CRUST is still out there, roaming the west, exhibiting a
bottomless hunger that drives it to feed on anything or anyone it comes across...

       The next time you’re out on the block, and hear a twig snap behind you- WATCH OUT!

       THE CRUST is coming for us all!

        -Jake Tecca