by J C Walsh
The one that nearly had a head on collision with me catches up and drives up to my driver’s side. I see its colors, a beautiful glow of blues and greens all over its pulsating body. I can’t see where any evidence of a bike would be. Where the exhaust pipes would normally be located are four writhing appendages. They move like impatient fingers thrumming. It’s head peels from the front; the top of its body pulls away with slime trailing. The long appendage is segmented with an oval-shaped tip. It peels back to reveal a very big stinger.
“Oh fuck!” I swerve away from it just before it swung that tail at me, the tip of the stinger just barely scraping my car. A claw peels from the mechanism its attached to; it opens and closes as if taunting me. The thing closes in and unleashes a combo attack, claw, tail, claw. Before it can go for another attack, Scarred One gives me the gun and he takes the wheel. The creature shrieks in anger as I fire bullets into its side. Its head looks at me, no eyes, the mandibles twitch angrily. It backs away.
“A scorpion! The Deathstalkers are scorpions on wheels!”
Yeah. Don’t you have Deathstalkers in your world?
“Yes! But not scorpion biker gangs that are fused to their vehicles! What the hell are they?”
“At one time, from ancient Sumeria, the Scorpion people were guardians. Now they are guardians of Death Highway.”
“Great! Just fucking great!” I grab the speaker to the CB radio. “Poisonous?”
“Very!” The Scarred One says.
“You’re a great guide, you know that? Hey Laura, Jack. Watch for those things; they are scorpions, and very poisonous.”
“What!” Jack says.
“Is that what it transformed to when it attacked you?” Laura asks.
I watch both sides of the road, the others are closing in fast.
“Yeah, I’m getting the way things are here. The poison could eat your car; don’t let that shit happen.”
Within moments, we were opening fire. I had to make my shots extremely accurate. I am running out of bullets, and it takes nearly the whole cylinder or more to make them fall. Once they do, they are pretty much down. So, I take careful aim, tread water by letting them get close enough to be able to strike with their tail. I fire, the head explodes. The tires stop short and it flips over; its body lays on the ground dead. I look a little longer in my mirror; the freaking thing was huge with its body unfurled like that.
“We have grenades.” The Scarred One says.
“Well, let’s light shit up.”
Scarred One reaches into the bag behind the seat and pulls out two grenades, holding them in our hand. A biker closes in, the sound of metal getting struck by its’ tail. I speed up to put some distance between us. I hear the acid sizzling, the metal bubbling. I can smell liquid metal. Scarred One pops the pins and throws them out the passenger window. They float in the air for a couple seconds, then he directs them to the two nearest bikers. The grenades explode, and the creatures crash to the ground. Pieces of blue green flesh and machinery scatter around their corpses.
Laura has been doing well. I’m impressed with how many she’s been taking out. I worry about how many bullets her automatic weapons have left. We’ve all been battling for a while, and it’s not like we have been able to scavenge our dead friends’ things to restock our inventory.
More mounds grow out of the sands. We are in serious trouble. My eyes go wide. I reach for the radio to warn Jack, but it’s too late. One of the Deathstalkers, going insane speeds, gains on his car in no time. By the time I could even reach the radio, it had leapt in the air. The wheels suck into its torso, freeing its eight legs. It lands on top of Jack’s car and rips off the roof like a can opener.
I speed up. The Scarred One is aiming my gun at it. He fires; the bullet strikes it, but doesn’t slow it down. The legs pin Jack down, the claws are tearing at his flesh. He’s screaming, but the look on his face is that of a warrior who won’t go down.
“Go Randy! This isn’t the end, this is only the beginning!” His Uzi is in his hand; he’s got it up against the Deathstalker’s stomach. He screams; the stomach lights up with bullets. He’s lost in a hail of bullets, blood and torn flesh. The car loses control, goes off into the desert and flips over. Both Jack and the Deathstalker lay still.
Up ahead, the mountain is closing in. It’s the same mountain I saw at the starting line. I now realize it’s a massive organic mass. Two of them actually; they are moving toward each other, possibly to form new land, or new organisms. Either way, I do know that’s the way through; the end is on the other side.
“Laura get in front of Cody, now! While he’s distracted.”
Cody is shooting off his flame thrower, out of his engine at the monster on top of his car, tearing into it. The Deathstalker is on fire, but that doesn’t stop it. Another one comes up to his driver side. He reaches and grabs its head; it strikes his arm with its tail. The poison does nothing to his magma flesh, the tail burns off.
Laura gets in front, slows down and forces Cody to reduce speed. Many of the Deathstalkers continue their assault. They go after Laura. I fire my last bullets from the snub, getting perfect head shots. I swerve so I don’t run over their fallen bodies.
We are almost at the moving mountains.
I move in to slam into Cody. I know my NOS is rigged, just from the look in Will’s eyes when I last saw him. They had all been planning this, this suicide run. Even if we didn’t like it, we knew that it was the only way to end the merging of the worlds.
“All of you were getting affected by the merge, other versions of you were dying but they were also molding into each other, as well.” The Scarred One says, “The last version, all of you became killers to survive the underworld that street racing brought you into. You were all ready to die and kill each other because of that.”
And I am ready to end myself.
“Go Laura, you got this. I’ll stay behind; I’ll take care of Cody.”
I hear her screams over the radio..
“Laura?”
A dead scorpion nearly struck my car. I see the acid bubbling on her door; there’s blood and flesh sticking to it, as well.
No! No!
“Laura!”
“Go Randy.”
I can tell she’s in pain.
“I’m done, the acid is moving fast,” she cries out, hisses through her teeth, “It’s you, it’s always been you. End it, all for what we fought for. Go.”
“Damn it!
Before I switch gears, I use my last three bullets, and fire them at Cody. The look of shock on his face is priceless, even better when it explodes into blood, bone and magma. He’s not dead, but it’s enough of a distraction, enough for Laura to keep him pinned.
I gun the engine. As I pass her, I see the damage. It’s eaten most of her left shoulder; she’s driving with one arm. The left is almost falling off. I look into her emerald green eyes one more time before bringing my car in front of her just in time.
On both ends, the organic mass is full of teeth and writhing things that may be tongues. They are close enough to lick my car. I shift gears again to push the speed past one hundred. Laura is slowing down significantly. Before the mass completely closes in on her, she slams on the brake, forcing Cody to rear end her. Then an explosion happens before they are swallowed up into nothing.
I am the last man standing.
I am the merger of all things.
I am the end.
I will not shed a tear.
There will be new worlds after this.
18.
This is not what I expect. After narrowly surviving the Deathstalkers and getting past that titanic mass of teeth, I did not expect to see this. I thought I’d be at the end. Instead, I am witnessing a surreal beauty of this world I didn’t expect. The blood red tint to the sky is less over here; its faded like the colors of the sunset. I still don’t see a sun, but there are stars in the inky blackness above. We are driving around the bend of a mountain. It amazes me that, during this
whole journey, Midnight Beauty hasn’t run out of gas.
A lake is below us. It’s dark, the surface like black ice. Large worm-like creatures jump in and out of the dark water. They sound like whales. It’s beautiful. There’s a peaceful tranquility on this side of this world that I wouldn’t even consider calling the Red Plane. Maybe this is what the end looks like here; this is the reward of surviving Death Highway. I understand why the wretched things want to protect it. It’s the only thing that isn’t touched by their madness, don’t know if it will ever be, but they’ll make sure it isn’t for as long as they can.
Even the Scarred One is enjoying this; he hasn’t said a word and I won’t force him too either. I am surprised to find that I am sad our end is nearing, but it’s better this way. At least I hope he thinks so, to end of all our pain and suffering.
“Yes. I agree. I am very tired.” The Scarred One says.
“Me too, buddy. Me too.”
We reach the top of the mountain. There’s a long road the length of a drag racing strip. At the end of the road on the left is an open cave, on the right, The Dead One.
I rev my engine for what may feel like the final time.
“Choose,” He says, his arm stretched out, pointing to the opening.
Choose what? I only see one entrance. Is this another one of his tricks?
The Dead One is in true form. He stands at nearly nine feet tall. He is completely naked, the crotch area smooth, no genitals of any type. His head, a long black tusk, seems longer than before. Maybe it’s his height, but the black ivory head still curls behind to his thick neck. His chest is riddled with more tormented faces, all of them frozen in time. Great black wings stretch out from behind him, his shadow withers.
“Choose, Randy Jones, before it’s too late.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Randy look.” The Scarred One says, “Behind him.”
I see it. The rock surface is round, like the cave to my left, but it’s closed off. The surface bares cracks; there’s a light breaking from behind it. It pushes away the mass of his shadow. I shift the gears and stomp on the pedal.
“Here we go!”
The front lifts, the wheels screech. I will never get sick of the smoke, the tires burning into the ground below, the rush when it feels like I am flying as the car stays in the air. I press the switch for Tank One of the NOS tanks; she’s off like a rocket, and we collide with The Dead One.
His huge body folds over the hood of the car. He’s squealing; the sound of panic coming from him fills me with great joy and triumph. Out of all the things I have been wanting to defeat, even Death Highway itself, this is the true reward.
He scratches at my hood, tearing into the metal easily. She won’t give; Midnight Beauty is still on her two back tires. Dead One’s wings flap uselessly after they strike the mouth of the cave, the surface collapses when struck. We are driving through a small tunnel. The light is so close, it burns; the pain is beautiful and free. It’s healing. The Dead One is on fire. His form melts into other organic masses. Eyes, and tentacles and mouths try to find purchase with my car, try to damage it. But they don’t have any power. The earth slowly climbs back onto its axis. The cosmos stops spinning. Minds mend, souls shake off the soot that has corrupted their inner beings. Things are righting themselves. The Red stops bleeding; the wound is cauterized, healed with a burning hot poker that glows a bright white.
“You know what to do.” The Scarred One says.
“You bet.” My finger hovers over the button for Tank Two, Will’s special delivery.
“It’s been a pleasure, Randy Jones.”
“Yes, it has, Scarred One.”
The pain is intense as the scars squirm and begin pulling from my body.
I press the button.
My vision explodes.
The sun shines bright overhead in the clear blue sky. It is warm on my skin, warm like the smile on my face. This is how my life is supposed to be. We are on my porch now; Cody hands me a beer. Alex and Will grab a beer and four of us cheers. We went through hell and back but we made it, together.
Grandpa and Grandma arrive, moving slower up the porch steps now that they have gotten older. They too are still full of life, because life is what truly matters. My two-year old girl runs by me; her bright red curls bouncing. She squeals with excitement and runs right into Grandpa’s arms. He cradles her in his arms and says hello to the Slaters as they are next to arrive.
John Slater shakes my Grandpa’s hand, playfully gives his hand a squeeze to still see if the old man still has his strength. Jack walks up to me by the grill with a big cooler in his hands. He tells me the steaks are in the cooler, I tell him it’s time to get those suckers on the grill.
The steaks are sizzling on the grill, the beers are flowing, and the hot summer air is just right with a kiss of a light breeze. Life floats on this breeze, full and vibrant as the trees in my yard. Perfection. And yet, I still feel sadness.
Everyone is here. Even Karen Blackwell, our secretary at the Auto Body shop stopped by to enjoy good food and good company. My smile betrays the overwhelming emptiness corroding my insides. There are two people in my life missing from this picturesque day, my mother and Laura.
When all of this started in the other reality, I was in prison and the ceiling above my bed was blank of any pictures. There was a good reason for that. Look what happened with Laura. I tried my best to not allow the Red Plane to use my mind to betray me, and still I had to face the nightmare my sins had caused. Laura had a miscarriage because of me, and the Red Plane turned our unborn baby into a creature of the abyss.
During the first convergence, when the wormhole had appeared in my garage and I barely escaped my bloodthirsty memories I saw my mother amongst them, staring at me from the window of my home while I was fighting off Chris’s army of creatures. It still hurts when I think about her somber face, pale like the monsters of the Red Plane. After she had died years ago in an accident, I used to picture her smiling face as a glowing sun in my mind, until the Red Plane tainted it.
Even though I beat Death Highway and won, I still feel in some way I lost. I couldn’t change the fact that my mother still died in the car with my alcoholic abusive father. I couldn’t change the fact that I blamed myself because I wished for him to die and unfortunately, my mother died with him. My Grandparents adopted me and fought hard to give me a better life and the chance to grow up with a future. I learned how to fix cars from Grandpa, watching his every move. It helped keep my mind busy, and he added lifting weights as another means to help keep the anger at bay. Because no matter what, anger is always a stranger taking your hand; you need to stop before it becomes your friend.
Picked on many times, I learned how to fight under my Grandpa’s training. The training helped greatly, and, day by day, year by year, I became more focused, more driven. Not wanting me to have to deal with the same kids I had fought in middle school and had to deal with their bullshit in freshman year, he had enrolled me into Votech classes to help further my interest in auto mechanics. During my years at this new school, I met the best of friends I could ever wish for. I graduated high school with a certificate in mechanics and a high school diploma. I went to college to better myself, just like Grandpa had asked of me. I still struggled sure; real life after high school wasn’t meant to be easy.
I did my internship at Blackmore Auto Body and Repair. I worked with another high school buddy of mine Jack Slater and his dad, John Slater. I provided the skills I had learned from Grandpa, from school and applied them at the shop. I gained a name for myself; became one of the top young mechanics and was fortunate to work at one of the best auto body shops in Blackmore, Rhode Island.
Despite the success at my day job I still street raced at night. We were racing kings, just me and the boys. Our names carried on the wind between city buildings and on the roar of engines. We owned it; we were that good, and then I met Laura. She was a damn good racer as well and completed the crew. S
ometimes days were tough at the shop, so I made extra money from the races. But the crew and I always knew it would end, especially after Chris died. Chris was our bookie, also a racer. He talked too much shit and challenged another racer. Chris lost control and struck the other car. His car became a fireball and both drivers died in the explosion. We swore to never step foot in underground racing ever again.
This is my true reality.
I look at my little girl smiling and laughing in my Grandpa’s arms. Two years. My little girl is already two years old. She looks like her mother, and I could only imagine how much more she’ll look like her as the years get lost on us. Two years since my wife passed giving birth. After we were done with the racing life, we learned Laura was with child. I asked her to marry me. We bought a house and made an amazing life together, short as it was, gone in a blink of an eye. I still see her on that day we met, getting out of her car after a race, taking off her helmet, shaking out her long red hair. It seems like forever. It seems like yesterday.
Now she’s gone.
I won Death Highway to change it all. I’ve done everything right with a few speed bumps in the road, and still I lost her. I try to fight back tears every time I think of her. Not now. I can’t cry now in front of everyone when we are having a great time.
This is the life I am meant to have, but I still see evidence of that other life. Cody has that look in his eyes, and for a fearful moment I think they will burst into flames and he would change back into the monster he was. With Alex, I see the thick veins pulsating in his neck and the white foam coming out of his mouth like he’s suffering an overdose of heroin. Will, John and Jack are covered in their own blood from the multiple lacerations on their bodies. Grandma rubs at her chest as if she’s about to suffer a heart attack, and Grandpa just has a far away stare. I can feel his mind slipping away. I won’t dare look at what my two year old has become.
