by Phil Maxey
A thud came from the rear door, a sound which echoed across the walls and the door lifted up. The glow from the LED screens lighting a human face which contained a smile.
“Hey there,” said the muscular man with a crewcut. Shadows sped past, behind him. Rufus couldn’t understand what he was seeing, the things were completely ignoring this man who then stepped inside.
“Wow, this place is a regular nerd cave,” said the man looking around. He looked back at Rufus. “No need for any of this shit now though. The boss is gonna fix it so people won’t have need for gadgets like these.”
“Who… who are you?”
The man stood upright, giving a salute. “Captain Finn Carrick!”
“You’re military?”
“Yup, well… was, now I’m not sure what I am. Mercenary?” He looked at a nearby radio set, its lights blinking on and off, then played with a few of the dials. “Anyway—” He looked back at the cowering man. “Did you get a message out on that radio of yours? I mean, now you can’t because my soldiers took down your radio mast. But before… did you do it… before?”
“Soldiers?” Rufus’s inclination was that the man was insane, but then why didn’t the things tear him apart?
“Hey! Pay attention. Did you—”
Rufus shook his head. “I don’t know…”
“Hmm… you see if they know we’re coming. Might make things a little troublesome. Maybe they got guns, maybe they put up a fight. Won’t make any difference. But still, I care about my guys.. or whatever the hell they are now. They’re unique. Don’t want to lose any. They’re gonna be needed to clean up the losers.”
“Losers?” A thought started to dawn in Rufus’s mind. Perhaps this was not a man at all, but something else… His hand slipped to his chest and grasped his crucifix. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the—”
A hundred yards away in the cold dark of the five by five space beneath the house, Agatha, Toby and Helen huddled close to Brad, as a storm of noise erupted. Floorboards shook, dust fell, the ground beneath shuddering as if a train was passing mere feet above their heads. Brad thought he heard the children crying or maybe shouting he wasn’t sure, he just held them close as hordes charged through the walls and supporting structures of the pastor’s home. Crockery, framed pictures, pots, books, a lifetime of belongings shredded by claws with the strength of machines as ceilings collapsed and furniture was reduced to splinters…
The cacophony had been replaced with a low rumble and a whimpering dog, but none dared to speak and minutes passed before the youngest coughed.
“Is…”
“Ssshh…” said Brad. He unwrapped his arms from the kid’s shoulders and moved as quietly as he could to the bottom of the ladder. “I’m going to take a look,” he whispered. “Everyone keep very quiet, and don’t move.”
He gingerly placed his boot on the first wood slat, which creaked a little then the next and the next, climbing higher, pushing his sense of smell and hearing as far as they could reach.
His hair touched the wooden door at the top of the ladder and his breath became mist. He tried to see through the tiny gaps between the planks, but only utter darkness was beyond. Placing his hands on the wood, he pushed upwards, an inch at a time, looking into the gap, ready to drop it back down at any moment.
After a foot, something was resisting moving it any higher. He applied more pressure, but whatever was on top of the door wasn’t budging so he reached his arm into the darkness, then arched it—
Something touched his hand, making him whip it back. Something which stung. He wiped his other hand across his skin, taking the icy flake with it and realized what it was. Reaching back into the darkness he ignored the snow falling and stretched his fingertips to the solid piece of wood that lay on the door.
He let out another icy breath and looked back down to the shadowy forms, still close together.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
3: 03 a.m. Heavercroft School. Principles office.
“Rufus?” Meg turned the volume dial up on the small set of speakers. She was sure she heard him when she was on her way past the office and a voice could be heard beyond the door, but it was hard to make out due to the booming music blaring through the school’s tannoy system.
She frowned. “Hello? Anyone on this frequency? Over.”
A wind blew, throwing flecks of snow at the window beyond the blinds. The winter storm was growing in strength. Not that those inside the school cared and she couldn’t blame them. If what Vance had seen was real, then it was over. The nightmare which had lingered for five days had finally come to an end. If she wasn’t so tired she would have been in the school gym with everyone else. It had been a while since she had a drink and it would probably have been a good idea considering she couldn’t sleep.
Gales battered the outside of the school, bringing with it a whistling. It was enough to convince her that it was the sound she heard and she placed the mike on the expensive looking desk, then leaned back in the leather chair. It was comfy, a good place to sleep while she listened to the storm…
A distant boom made her open her eyes. Had she fallen asleep? She wasn’t sure. The sound happened again but this time she recognized it as a knock at the door.
“Anyone in there?”
Before she could reply the door flung open and Daryl and Tracey stumbled in, with at least two pieces of clothing being removed before Meg cleared her throat and sniggered.
“Oh! Shit… sorry!” said Daryl, while rapidly placing his shirt back on. “We didn’t—”
Meg held up her hand while standing and picked up her pistol placing it in her pants. “Don’t stop on my account. I can’t sleep in this chair anyway.” She walked to the door, pulling it closed behind her as giggles came from the office. She looked both ways along the empty second-floor corridor. Behind her was the route which led to the library. She had already turned off the tannoy speakers in there, so hopefully Josh would sleep through all the frivolity. She had lied about the chair, but now that she was up, she didn’t feel like going back to sleep. She vaguely remembered a dream full of crows, masses of them scratching at the windows. She looked at the door slightly to her left, which led to the roof. Evidently where Daryl had found the boy earlier. She walked to it, pulled it open and immediately felt the chilled air. Closing it quietly she walked up the metal steps which were lit by a single light. Fuel from the vehicles had been poured into the basement generator and now the whole school complex was lit up like the Fourth of July. They even had the school cafeteria up and running, where alcohol of various strengths was being distributed to those old enough to drink it.
She pushed on the door to the roof, which resisted due to ice on the hinges, then applied a little more pressure making it swing open. Pulling her collar tight around her neck and placing her hands in her pockets as the cold began to bite she walked out, onto the few inches which had already fallen. Even some of the lights of the football field were lit, which illuminated the bank of trees just beyond.
If there were any creatures still out there, they would have been here by now, with all this light, she thought. Maybe they really are all dead.
She let out a breath which instantly crystallized in the sub-zero temperature. Was it really over? It was a possibility she couldn’t really believe. So many had perished for reasons she still didn’t understand. What happens next? Questions for those that had survived but as the bracing wind cut across her, she breathed in a lungful of the fresh air and smiled.
She walked carefully across the slippery surface until she reached the southern wall. Below was the parking lot where her own vehicle and many others, were parked. Hers was a red pickup she found abandoned in one of the driveways of a nearby group of houses, with the keys laying on the concrete. It only had quarter of a tank of gas, but that was okay, now the things were gone she could take her time finding…
A spark of light blinked at her in the distance. She waited for it to reappear, tying to asce
rtain its direction of travel.
Definitely coming this way.
The trees which bordered the north-south road, blocked her view and she stood shivering as the snow grew heavier. Behind her the music boomed and throbbed, and she could almost hear the sound of boots and shoes shuffling and tapping as people danced to the beat.
Ha, maybe someone’s come to complain about the music!
She giggled to herself as the light reappeared, now clearly being made up of two bright dots which were bringing with them a cone of light, illuminating the far off two-lane road and trees.
The trees…
It sure was windy, there was no doubt about that, but the forest appeared to be… shrinking… in height and depth.
She rubbed her eyes, leaning over the wall a little, her hands resting on the ice-cold, top bricks. It was a sedan of some color, couldn’t make out which in the dark and it was speeding along the road which wound its way through the forest. The tree thing was now really bothering her. It made no sense. The dark mass which she knew to be at least a few acres thick and made up of Sycamore and various Oaks was now a strip… and… getting…
A thought so horrifying landed in her mind and chest at the same time. She staggered back, then grabbed the wall and strained to better see.
“Oh my… oh…” She turned so quick she lost her footing and landed heavily on the solid surface, pain immediately shooting through her elbow, but ignoring it she scrambled to her feet and ran forward. As soon as she was inside the narrow stairwell she cried out. “They’re… coming!” She crashed out of the bottom exit, running through the corridor, shouting as loud as she could, but her warnings were drowned out by what was coming out of the speakers. Her mind kept replaying what she had seen, trying to calculate how long until the wave was upon the school as she barged open the door to the office she had been in. Tracey immediately grabbed her top, trying to cover up, but Daryl could see the concern on the older woman’s face and immediately ran to the window, pulling the blinds back.
Meg started to turn back to the corridor, but instead ran inside, landing heavily in the chair and fumbled with a switch on the radio set, flicking it to ‘internal.’
“They’re here!” she screamed into the mike, her voice mixing with the music. “They’re here!”
Daryl ran from the room, his pants already back on. “I’ll get, Josh!”
Tracey backed away from the window, shaking her head. “But… they…”
Meg dropped the mike in frustration. “Keep trying the tannoy system. I’ll go to the gym!”
Tracey hardly heard the words, being lost in what she was seeing through the torrent of ice flakes outside. The lights at the edge of the football field flickered then went out.
Meg grabbed her shoulders, spinning her around. “Keep trying the tannoy!”
“Yes, yes, okay.”
Meg ran outside, spotting Daryl with a sleepy looking Josh. “Get him to the roof!” Daryl nodded as she burst onto the main stairs, straining her legs as much as she could, descending to the ground floor, her lungs already burning. She could hear the things now, but they sounded so much like the howling winds, she knew none of the intoxicated would tell the difference.
As she sprinted along the hallway, the music suddenly cut out, being replaced with a frantic Tracey.
“The creatures, are here!” she screamed from the speakers on the wall, repeating over and over. The door to the gym burst open, people pouring out as Meg ran towards them. She spotted Vance who shook his head, placing a hand on a locker and ran to him. “The things are coming! Hundreds!”
He blinked, the alcohol on his breath washing over her. “We… the guns… we need our guns.”
“Yes, get them, but we need to also barricade…”
He was looking past her, thirty or so feet to the other end and the entrance lobby. As people ran into classrooms, closing and securing the doors, a man in military fatigues was standing alone, just outside the large glass doors. She spun around seeing the same strange individual.
“Do we know that guy?” said Vance.
The man knocked gently on the glass, the wind shaking it more than he was.
Meg began to moved forward. “He looks like a soldier, we should—”
Glass shattered from within one of the side rooms. A scream split the air and the door flung open with people pouring out. Meg and Vance ran to the doorway trying to see past the bodies flooding past them and just caught glimpses outside, beyond the broken panels of something large with bloodshot eyes and brown claws loitering in the darkness.
Meg pulled the door closed but now the hallway was a sea of people.
“They’re getting in the building!” shouted someone.
“Everyone upstairs!” she shouted, while trying to see past the heads and shoulders to the entrance area. The man was gone but there was no time to think about that. She waved everyone past as the crowd charged up the steps. More windows shattered and roars came from the room just feet away. She tried to locate Vance but he was nowhere to be seen so joined the others on the second floor, who were dragging desks and bookshelves, then dropping them into the wide set of stairs.
Someone tugged on Meg’s shoulder making her turn. “Where’s my pa?” said Carly, her mother just behind her.
“I think he’s gone to get weapons!”
Daryl burst out of the door to the roof as the whole building shook and the air filled with the fury of what was on the ground floor. Screeches, roars, growls, a symphony of noise causing the humans to draw together. Meg looked at the broken furniture in the main stairs and shook her head. It wasn’t enough.
She stepped back. “Everyone to the roof!” People didn’t need to be told twice and ran towards Daryl as he ran to her.
“Josh is safe up top!”
“They’re coming up the stairs!” shouted a man. Meg looked over the handrail as something lurched onto the bottom steps. It was man shaped, but appeared to crawl rather than walk, its lumbering weight full of scales visible through torn shreds of clothing. Another creature, this one leaner, but with multiple limbs scurried past it immediately attacking the barricade of wooden pieces, which crumbled on impact with its scything claws.
“Quickly!” she shouted to the last of the people that funneled into the small space to the roof.
Daryl helped, starting to close the door then realized he hadn’t seen Tracey. He looked back into the corridor as the destruction on the stairs continued. He jogged forward a few feet, seeing the open door to the office nearby. “Tracey!” he shouted, but no response came. He ran into the stairwell, slamming the door closed and sliding the flimsy latch across then ran up the steps to the roof, the wind almost blowing the external door from his grasp. He turned and forced it closed against the buildup of snow and slid another of the latches in place.
Ice battered against Meg as she staggered towards the wall, and looked over to the parking lot. The sight confirmed what she already could hear. The ground swarmed with things that were tearing apart anything they could. Pieces from vehicles were gouged, scattering across the snow as other creatures, their dark leathery hides covered in snow, glittering in the remaining lights from the school building. Her brain gave up trying to count how many of the things were just twenty-feet below, but somewhere at the back of her mind another aspect of the past few minutes of madness ate away at her.
The man. He must have seen the things, they were all around him.
“I think they’re made it to the second floor!” shouted an elderly woman.
As the blizzard swirled around the group of around a hundred people, Meg looked at the options to escape, but each plan fell apart as it formed. Josh ran to her and she held him close.
“What are we going to do!” cried a man.
One more day… We were so close… so close…
The words kept repeating in her mind as she tried to make sense of what was happening. The creatures below were not dying, they looked strong, even more adapt at ki
lling.
“Look!” shouted someone near the wall, pointing downwards. Everyone ran to him as a horn blared out.
Meg wiped the ice from her eyes, just about seeing through the blur to a pickup at the back of the lot. Its headlights flashed, its horn continuing to bellow out.
“It’s Vance,” said Willa as she held on to her daughter.
“He’s trying to draw them away,” said Meg. It was working, most of the things in the lot were turning, their attention drawn to the lights and sounds he was creating within the dark. She almost didn’t hear the whistling coming from the other side of the roof. The side with the ladder.
“Who’s that?” said a man in the crowd.
Meg swung around as did some others. The man in military clothing was standing like a statue, hardly moving against the storm force winds as snow collected on him. “Everyone keep away from him… I don’t think he’s—”
The scream hit her ears at the same time as the spray of blood. She turned as hands and elbows buffeted her, pushing her back against the wall, her left hand gripped around Josh’s, while her right pulled her gun, but bodies pushed and pulled, some falling onto others as screams and groans fought to be heard against the deafening drone of the storm. Something was moving, faster than she could see. A blur which tore and scraped, turning the surface of the roof red.
Meg pulled the boy with her, along the wall, ignoring the pain in her chest while trying to get a fix on what was cutting people down until a man with panic in his eyes bundled into them, knocking the weapon from her clasp. She saw it skeet across the ice, and lunged in its direction but something solid slammed into her face. She heard the bones crunch and the teeth dislodge before she felt them and realized she was on the ground, looking at wrecked bodies.
