Behemoth

by Michael Cole

  “Come on!” It was as if his natural voice spoke louder than with the microphone. The people were moving slow, but they were finally beginning to come in. Slow was good. However, as Bondy scanned, it appeared that several swimmers were still far out, either swimming or on floating devices. All he could do was hope that they begin coming to shore quickly.

  ********

  “Oh God,” Thompson said. She was on the upper deck, looking out to the aft of the Catcher. Napier glanced back through the open cabin doorway, but quickly redirected his attention to the bow to focus on steering his vessel.

  “What is it?” he called back to her. His voice barely carried over the roar of the boat’s engine and the strong wind. Thompson turned back to face him, and although he couldn’t see her, his senses could detect the worried expression on her face.

  “Rick! I think that thing is after us!” Napier, with his hand still on the throttle, took a prolonged look back. He focused his vision out to the distance behind his vessel. He could see the bulging and splashing in the water nearly a few hundred feet back.

  “Oh shit! Shit! Shit!” he called. He already had his vessel at the maximum speed. Thompson quickly joined him in the cabin.

  “Can’t you go any faster?!” she worriedly asked.

  “I’m already pushing her as far as I can. If I go any harder, the engine will blow, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t see how that would be helpful in getting away from that thing.” Thompson simply nodded, indicating that she understood and looked back to monitor the distance between themselves and the ‘thing’. As Napier got himself to calm down mentally, he recalled noticing Thompson’s initial reaction when they first saw the beast taking down the vessel. While she was somewhat shocked and puzzled, there was something else in that expression as well. There was a sense of reminiscence and recognition. Then he remembered the circumstances of them meeting. Her incident at Mako’s Edge…

  “Lisa?” he spoke. “Is that the thing you saw when that diver was killed?” There was a few moments of silence.

  “It is,” she answered softly.

  “Well,” Napier said, “at least we know you’re not insane.” Despite everything going on around them, all of the terrible things that have just occurred, and may yet occur, Lisa managed to crack a smile. It was a little smile, and it by no means signaled that she was in a good mood, especially being on the run from an enormous unknown creature that appeared to be on a killing spree. But she was relieved that she didn’t hallucinate, or mistake something for another while diving down there. However, that enlightening feeling was extremely brief, and her mind snapped back to reality. She looked back once again to try and monitor the distance between them and their pursuer. “How far is it?” Napier asked.

  “I don’t see it,” Thompson said.

  “Huh?”

  “I think it gave up!” she exclaimed. Napier took an extended look over his shoulder. There was no splashing in the water. No clear indication of any mass anywhere near the Catcher. “I think we’re in the clear.”

  “Fine with me!” Napier remarked. “Now to get back home to Razortooth Cove.”

  “You’re not heading into East Port?” Thompson asked.

  “No,” Napier answered. “Bondy’s instructing all of the boaters to come in. East Port will be jammed packed within twenty minutes. It’ll be easier to head back to my place, and then we’ll use my truck to drive the girls to the beach area. Bondy will probably take a statement from them.” The two remained silent for a few minutes, both feeling relief that they had escaped the near grasp of the deadly ocean predator. In addition to the relief, Napier also felt Lisa’s hand on his shoulder, and the affection they were unknowingly sharing.

  ********

  Several electric impulses seemed to hit the creature’s sensory receptors at once. The vibrations were so strong and distinct, that its instinct instructed it to cease the pursuit of the larger, inedible creature. Its small brain analyzed the signals, concluding them to be originating from more of the small, edible life forms which it had been gorging on. Except in this case, there were several of them to feed upon. Abandoning the chase of the large inorganic species, which had retreated from its expanded territory, the beast moved in toward the land, where these organic creatures flourished in shallower waters.

  ********

  “Please move in from the water! This is the Chief of Police speaking. I need everyone to come out now in an orderly fashion!” Bondy moved up and down the beach, struggling to get the swimmers to come in. While the beach was beginning to flood with compliant tourists, there were still several people out in the water. Some of them were even still swimming, much to the chief’s frustration. He overheard some static over his handheld radio, which was clipped to his belt. He clutched the device and held it to his mouth.

  “Was there traffic for Command?” he asked.

  “This is Forty-nine-nine. We‘ve made contact with all vessels in our area, and they’re complying with our instructions. We‘ll be heading into East Port.” Forty-nine-nine unit was comprised of two reserve deputies; Deputy Nick Piatt, and Deputy Kyle Tindall. Both men served in the Florida Department of Corrections before becoming emergency medical technicians in Mako’s Center, and had served the local police department since moving to the island five years earlier.

  “Before you come in to port, I want you to come to Palm Beach. I’ve got several people swimming far out and I can’t get them to come in. Not sure if they’re unable to hear me, or if they’re just fucking stupid. Pardon my radio etiquette. Either way, I’m gonna need help getting some of these individuals to cooperate.”

  “Ten-four. Forty-nine-nine in route.”

  ********

  Approximately seventy yards from the beach was a twenty-seven year old man, Terry Willis. He had been swimming for hours, without taking a break. He extremely enjoyed the sport of swimming, being a swim instructor for the University of California swim team. He had just surfaced from a deep dive, finding himself next to a couple of other enthusiastic swimmers, who happened to be an engaged couple. As he took a deep breath to fill his lungs with fresh oxygen, he noticed the swimming couple looking toward the beach.

  “I think the police want us to come in from the water,” he heard the man say. His girlfriend let out a drawn out sigh. She obviously wanted to stay in, and did not appear to have too much concern for the law.

  “Why?” She said. “There doesn’t appear to be anything wrong.” Her tone expressed her frustration.

  “Well, honey, we’re a little far out to know that for sure,” her man said. After listening to this conversation, Terry could finally hear the echoes of Bondy’s microphone. Don’t care about these people. I’m heading in, he thought to himself.

  ********

  The sensory impulses grew stronger, originating from multiple sources. The creature was nearing its many targets, which were occupying shallow waters. But this did not present a problem for it, as it was plenty capable of coming on land for short periods of time.

  Its bulb-shaped eyes locked their vision onto many of the smaller prey. With the targets in range, the creature unleashed its multiple tentacles, intent on capturing as many victims as possible.

  ********

  Two. Three. Four strokes. Terry did not complete the fifth when the petrifying sounds of screams from behind him stopped him cold. He looked over his shoulder, only to see the man and woman elevated over the water’s surface, held there by two slithery tentacles, wrapped around their waists and torsos in a corkscrew shape. He could see blood oozing from their bodies, and heard the sound of their screams transform into an airless gurgle as their skeletons were crushed by the constricting tentacles. Finally, after a horrific five seconds which felt like several long minutes, Terry witnessed both people get pulled into the depths of the sea. The swimming instructor was left in a bewildered state of shock, although he was able to gather his thoughts together enough to begin swimming to shore as fast as he possibly coul
d. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine strokes. He completed the tenth, and then the eleventh. Then the twelfth. However, he realized he did not appear to be moving forward, despite completing several more strokes. His heart raced and he frantically lashed out at the water to pull himself to the shore, which felt as if it was forever away. It took several more seconds for his mind and body to finally recognize the crushing sensation in his waist, right before being dragged under the water. The safety of the shore was now truly forever away.

  ********

  Chief Bondy continued monitoring the beach area, as several more compliant swimmers were coming in, crowding the beach. Realizing the overcrowding situation, he took his eyes off the several remaining swimmers to address the crowds.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, if you please, I’d like you to please move back and make space. We’re starting to overcrowd the beach, and we have more people coming in.” Almost immediately, several individuals in the crowd had begun raising their voices. Bondy expected a horde of questions, such as ‘why can’t we swim?’ or ‘what’s going on?’ However, the crowd appeared to be quickly collapsing into a state of panic, with several people pointing out toward the water and screaming.

  “Oh my God!”

  “What in the hell…?”

  “What the hell is that?!”

  “Let's get out of here!

  “Did you see that?!”

  Chief Bondy turned around, and his eyes beheld the horror that the terrified horde was witnessing. The air filled with panicked screams from all over the beach and from the water, as the chief helplessly observed an enormous mass surfacing a little over a hundred feet from the shore. The bulk of the bizarre life form was a sixty-foot shell, with four long tentacles protruding from both of its sides. The front of the enormous ‘thing’ reared up, revealing its two thick, shelled arms and pincers - like those of a crab. He could see the creature’s face, including the expressionless eyes held up like antenna’s, and the flapping mandibles surrounding a gigantic bird-like beak, which also opened and clamped shut like the pincers did.

  “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…” Bondy exclaimed, hopelessly watching the flexible, slithery tentacles wildly flailed into the ocean for the numerous tourists who were frantically swimming to safety. In single swift motions, one swimmer was snatched from the water and fed into the creature’s chomping bird-like beak, which was quickly turning red with blood. Bondy grabbed his silver Smith & Wesson Model 66 revolver and aimed it at the beast, but held fire due to several people in the line of fire. He then used his other hand to lift his radio to his mouth.

  “Attention all units! There’s an enormous creature at Palm Beach. I’m gonna need any unit with a high powered rifle here ASAP! Police dispatch, if you’re copying this, I need you to alert the Coast Guard immediately!” He could only hope the other units could understand his instructions despite the deafening screams filling the air around him. He didn’t wait to find out, rather he ran toward the beach to assist people out of the water. “Let's go! Come on out! Run!”

  The creature appeared to be in a massive frenzy. It was as if there were so many victims in the water and on the beach, it almost didn’t know what to do with them all. While many of its tentacles were frantically scooping up one hapless swimmer after another to feed into the eagle-like beak, some of the other slithery arms acted more sinister. One male swimmer in blue swim trunks kicked against the water, only forty feet from the sand. But those forty feet may as well have been forty miles once he felt that intense pressure around his waist, followed by several raw piercing sensations. However, the tentacle did not stop squeezing. The swimmer’s mouth, nose, and eyes pooled with blood as his internal organs ruptured from the pressure overload. The squeezing continued, and the barbs dug deeper, as if trying to meet the ones on the opposite side of the body. Finally, the swimmer’s belly skin met back tissue, which itself quickly tore, and the man simply fell from the tentacle’s grip... in two pieces.

  One tentacle had been successfully grabbing up one person after another, then dropping each one into the chomping beak as if it were trying to make a quota. After feeding its previous victim to the mouth, it whipped viciously into the water to target another swimmer. Its speed was too fast for its own good. Instead of getting a grab on the person, it simply whipped his body in two pieces, in a nearly perfect diagonal cut, from his right shoulder down to his left side mid-ribcage, causing anything on top to simply peel off.

  Another tentacle had also been moving too fast for itself. A female swimmer took one stroke after another towards the shore, getting into very shallow water. She was beginning to feel the sand and pebbles at the bottom of her feet. But the next feeling wasn’t so pleasant, which was a much more slimy, tightening sensation on her left arm. In an action which was as quick as each of her individual heartbeats, the tentacle yanked with so much force, it didn’t even succeed in lifting the swimmer off the beach. Just her whole left arm.

  Throughout the midst of panic, confusion and hysteria, Chief Bondy did manage to hear the radio traffic:

  “This is Forty-nine-nine! We‘re ten-twenty-three!”

  ********

  Deputy Nick Piatt, a slightly chubby man in his early thirties, grabbed the fully loaded M-16 rifle from its wall casing, as the skinnier Kyle Tindall took the wheel. They approached the shallow waters, coming up from behind the enormous creature.

  “Shit! Don’t get too close! This thing is bigger than our freaking boat!” Piatt demanded. The creature was several yards away, seemingly unaware of their presence. The tentacles were thrashing through both the air and the water, as if the beast was intentionally in a murderous rage. He witnessed one swimmer after another get scooped from the water and fed into the razor sharp beak, where they met their end. Within minutes, the beach water was becoming a sea of blood. Piatt did not allow the intensity or the shock of the situation to distract him from his duty. “Be prepared to get us out of here in a hurry!” he said to his partner and good friend.

  “Don’t have to tell me twice!” Tindall said. Piatt gripped the weapon appropriately, pressing the butt of the rifle against his right shoulder, and balancing the barrel with his left hand. Taking aim was the easiest part, as the creature was nearly impossible to miss due to its incredibly enormous size. He squeezed the trigger, absorbing the kick of the recoil. The rifle was semi-automatic, and he quickly fired one round after another.

  “Die, you bastard!” he yelled. There did not appear to be any reaction from the creature whatsoever, leaving Piatt uncertain whether the bullets had any effect. It was clear that the creature had a thick shell, and it was highly likely that it was too thick for the bullets to penetrate. He continued firing until he emptied the thirty-round clip. He quickly dropped the empty clip and grabbed a second one which he had tucked in his waist. After chambering the first round of the fresh clip, he realized that the creature was suddenly submerging. Within a single moment, it had disappeared under the water.

  “Did you kill it?!” Tindall asked from the cabin.

  “I’m not sure,” Piatt said. His voice expressed his uncertainty. “Tindall, I think we should move…” His warning was too late, cut off by the sudden rearing up of the thirty foot police vessel. Piatt hit the deck, losing his grip on the M-16 which fell over the guardrail, into the thrashing water. More horrifying than that was the sight of what appeared to be all eight tentacles, rising upward from the water on all sides of the vessel. Piatt looked up to the sky as he grabbed for his Glock. Each tentacle then reached across the vessel from its relative position, clasping together as if making an enormous fist. Both Piatt and Tindall let out a terrified scream before they, along with the vessel, were crushed by the constricting power of the combined efforts of the tentacles as they pressed their enemy against the submerged shelled body of the monster. After the cruiser disappeared beneath the surface, all that remained was a floating graveyard full of broken up metal, wood, flesh, and bone.

  ********

  It had slaughtered cou
ntless enemies, and expanded its territory. At the moment, there were no enemies within reach, as the rest of the smaller creatures had retreated further inland, leaving no more in the water. But the creature had fed and was momentarily satisfied. Instinct took command, instructing it to return to the safety of the cave. Soon, it would forget the events of the day, aside from the memory, itself serving as instinct, that its rightful territory had been greatly expanded, and any life form lurking in those waters would have to be eliminated.

  It filled its jelly-like sacks and propelled itself away from the island, leaving behind a beach full of debris, despair, and blood.

  CHAPTER

  12

  The sun was slowly beginning its descent from its position in the sky as the late afternoon transitioned into early evening. Rick Napier hated this time of the day, because the sun always shined into his rear view mirrors, which in turn redirected the light into his eyes as he drove his truck into town. After arriving back home, he and Thompson immediately took the girls they had rescued to the Main Hospital, and stayed long enough to make sure they would be alright. After nearly a half hour at the hospital, they witnessed the main lobby suddenly overflow as over a hundred injured tourists flooded into the building like a rampaging tsunami. Within a few minutes, the whole hospital was in chaos, with several injured and dying people seeking medical attention, and the hospital only having limited doctors, staff, and resources to immediately care for everybody. Realizing the doctors and nurses had more important concerns, Napier and Thompson both knew their services were no longer required and they let themselves out of the building. Now they were on their way to the police station, knowing that Chief Bondy was probably in need of assistance following the events of earlier. He didn’t know the half of it.