Gossamer Falls

by European P. Douglas

  There was a low overhang to the side of the building and standing on the window ledge outside she would be able to reach it. The only question was would she be able to pull herself up?

  “You don’t have a choice, Girly,” she said, “It’s up there or down on the ground with them spiders!”

  Leaning out a little, Maggie gripped the side of the overhang and using a drainpipe close by pulled herself out from the window. Both her feet were planted against the wall now, one hand on the overhang and one on the pipe with her butt sticking out over the lawn. It was the most awkward position she’d been in of her life. But that was just it, her life depended on it. She started to climb, unsure with each step or hand movement if her strength was going to give out and she’d fall to the lawn and be swarmed by the murderous arachnids.

  She dared not look down, feeling the pull of gravity and her lack of upper body strength trying to thwart her at every turn. She could hear the spiders down below, scuttling and crawling over one another, a sound that for some reason made her think of bones clicking together. It was the relief of her life when she finally rested her bosom and abdomen on the slanted roof of the overhang. She lay there a moment letting her legs dangle as she drew in some breaths. When she felt she’d gathered some power, Maggie pulled herself up fully and sat with her knees pulled up to her chest looking out on the street. Not one person was around. Not one. Below, the spiders looked to have set up camp on the lawn, laying like a carpet in the morning sun.

  Chapter 35

  Not everyone in the mountains was dead.

  Harry Sanders had killed all of the men on the hike to Mercy save Lawrence, and he had gone looking for the factory machinist and nearly caught up with him until Lawrence found Anderson’s car and left for town. Sanders had found Anderson’s body and wondered if Lawrence had gotten his gun from the Sheriff and shot him. It didn’t make sense, but he couldn’t see any other situation where the Sheriff could have gotten his head blown off. Sanders had stood just off the road watching the red rear lights of Anderson’s cruiser rush down the mountain. By now, everyone in town probably knew what had happened up here - or Lawrence Karrier’s version of it anyway. It wouldn’t be long before they were up here looking for him, led no doubt by Garrick now.

  He’d thought of going back to town, taking a few more lives before getting taken down himself, but something made him stay. It was a powerful urge to continue on up the mountain and he couldn’t explain it, not any more than he could explain the sudden urge to kill everyone as they took the rest last night. He seemed to have lapsed into unconsciousness and then woke to himself firing the gun into Chuck’s face. Everything was crazy and even if he didn’t understand why he’d done it, he didn’t feel remorseful about it. It was supposed to happen; at least that was how he felt about it.

  He had a long head start, but it was time to get moving again. The source of the clouds was still his objective, though it was no longer the idea of promotion that spurred him on. Now it was a need to see it, to understand what it was. If Harry didn’t get there soon, whoever came up the mountain after him wouldn't let him get to it, and this idea panicked him.

  Sanders trudged on through the barren mountains; the smell of burned wood still in the air even after all this time. He too had always been curious as to what had happened up here in Mercy, and he hoped he might get some clue on his way.

  Small, dangerous clouds drifted about, but he was no longer fearful of them and none seemed to come near him. It was like he a forcefield in front of him that directed them away and to either side of him as he walked. It would be light soon, and the going would get easier. Light would also most likely mean the start of the hunt would begin too. They would not catch him now before he got to Mercy. He just hoped Mercy was the end point of where he was aiming for. The pull was as strong as before, but it didn’t give an indication of how close he was to his goal.

  Two hours later, as Gossamer Falls looked after its own problems, Harry Sanders reached the husk of what had once been the tiny town of Mercy. He looked around and saw the burned-out cars and what remained of the building structures, the largest of which would have been the ‘Lone Wolf Tavern’. What the hell had happened up here?

  Whatever it had been it was still powerful enough to be felt. There was a strange silent electricity in the air and, though Sanders was sure he was here alone, he got the sense of others around him, like the town was still living beneath the curtain of ruin the rest of the world could see.

  As Harry Sanders looked at the shell of the old tavern, his eyes were drawn to the rise of ground a couple of hundred yards beyond. He couldn’t see what was there, but he knew it was what he came for. With the giddiness of a child on Christmas morning, he ran up there, not taking care of where he stepped at all in his haste. At any moment his leg could find a hole or twist of wood and snap clean, but right now he didn’t care a jot for that. All he wanted was to do... something!

  The power around him was immense as he stood over his target. It was a small mine shaft entrance, covered with rotting and breaking wood, and a white rot ran through the wood like some arboreal disease of long ago. He tapped at the wood with his foot; it was so brittle it broke away with little force. The shaft stared up at him and he swallowed. Down there in the darkness was the power he sought. Could he go down there? Would he fit?

  These questions became nullified when long spindly legs started crawling around the entrance of the shaft. He stepped back in shock, but Harry wasn’t afraid. This was for him after all, and he wanted it. The legs were followed by a round head and then a larger bulbous body of a white spider about the size of his hand. It looked powerful and beautiful all at once, and he fell to his knees staring at it. Its many eyes seemed fixed on his, and it was the first time in his life he’d ever ascribed conscious thought to an insect or arachnid. So enraptured was he, that Sanders felt if he spoke the creature would understand him. He could feel it, knew it could communicate.

  “What do you want of me?” Harry asked like a religious zealot before a prophet.

  Without warning, Harry suddenly felt as though thick fingers had seized the back of his neck and he was thrust chest first to the ground. He tried to rise up, but whatever held him was too strong. His head was turned to face the spider and it started to creep towards him.

  The awe Sanders had just felt was rapidly draining away to be replaced by fear, and he asked again in a more worried voice,

  “What do you want?” He reached up to the back of his neck, and though he could feel the force of a hand there through his skin, his own hand felt only his own flesh. The spider came closer and closer. Sanders felt the forelegs brushing off his nose and cheeks before they gripped him with more force than he could have imagined possible from so small a creature and ripped deep into his cheeks as it separated his jaws wide. Harry tried to scream but it was hard in this situation, and the spider pulled itself with its remaining legs until it was inside Sanders mouth.

  Sanders felt like he was choking and he vomited, but still his body was held in place and his mouth held open, and the spider made its way deeper and deeper down his throat. Sanders could take no more and his eyes glossed over and he fell unconscious.

  Chapter 36

  Mayor Eugene Allgood did his best to play nervous around ‘Mr Fenton’ and ‘Mr Agar’ from the State Scientific Board. Their real names were Tommy and Frankie from Allgood’s old college days, and he was paying them handsomely for the deception here today. It would be a low price to save the tourist season, however, he reasoned. It was a bad business that Sheriff Schall might be dead, but that might make this morning go easier. A Sheriff killed in what still counts as the township of Mercy wasn’t going to be anywhere near as bad for the local economy as these clouds would be if they were still around when the summer folks started rolling in.

  Derek Gough had arrived in their party and he was going to be the representative of the Sheriff's Office this morning. A small group of people gathered nearby
as the ‘scientists’ looked at the hardened cloud on Main Street - the closest one to the mayor’s office. The men were playing their role well, taking notes on clipboards, measuring the sample (without touching it, of course), using a small file to scrape some of it into a samples bag. This went on for about ten minutes with no one present saying a word to interrupt the men. Fenton and Agar mixed a blue liquid into one of the sample bags and swished it around. They watched it settle and then whispered seriously to one another. No one could hear what they were saying, but Allgood was delighted to see everyone was lapping it up. When the two men approached Allgood with their verdict, everyone craned to hear what they were going to say

  “Though possibly still harmful to touch, we feel it is safe to destroy the substance with force and dispose of it in the lake. There it will dissolve and become harmless as we have demonstrated to our satisfaction with the samples taken,” Agar said. Fenton nodded along as if giving a second opinion.

  “So how would you gentlemen propose we best to this?” Allgood asked with his pasted-on look of concern.

  “You have a Fire Department in town?” Fenton asked.

  “We do,” Allgood replied.

  “Then their axes should do the trick, and then the shards can be swept into bags and discarded in the lake.”

  “Just to add,” Agar said holding up a finger, “The substance is hard dried onto the surfaces so there will likely be some cosmetic damage to buildings and other structures in the process of the removal.” Allgood nodded.

  “Yes, but that's nothing a little work won't fix,” he smiled. Then turning to Gough, he said, “Can you let the firemen know we need their assistance again, please?” Gough nodded and went down the street to the Fire Department Building. In five minutes, Joe and one of his men were standing by the crowd with axes in hand.

  “Everyone stand back,” Joe called out, “A good distance please. We don’t know how far small pieces of debris might go!”

  “Best do as he says, everyone,” Allgood said good-naturedly. The crowd started to move back, and Joe watched them.

  “Farther please,” he said when everyone stopped. Reluctantly they moved a few more feet back. Joe nodded, though he would have preferred if there were no onlookers at all. The failure down by the lake had been embarrassing and he didn’t want it repeated. “Ready, Pete?” he asked his colleague, who nodded. Both men pulled down their helmet visors and Joe took a step back and swung the axe down hard on the shell of the substance. There was a loud cracking noise like splitting rock and Pete followed up with a swing of his own right after. Some dust had fallen away and they both leaned in for a better look, hoping to have at least made a dent in the stuff.

  “Is it working?” an onlooker called over. Allgood was glad someone asked because he was dying to know himself. Joe just held a hand up as if to say ‘be patient’ and continued looking at the substance.

  Just then a screeching car rounded the corner, and everyone looked to see a police cruiser travelling at a faster speed that anyone had ever seen before. Allgood looked around and saw the look of unease in the gathering and hoped it was not Schall turned up and on his way to thwart Allgood once again.

  The car skidded to a halt just where the firemen were and Garrick jumped out and shouted,

  “Stay away from that cloud; it’s still dangerous!” and then he looked around. With a sinking feeling, Allgood knew it was him Garrick’s eyes sought out. What did he know? “Where’s the mayor?” Garrick called at the same moment his eyes met Allgood’s.

  “What seems to be the trouble, Deputy?” Allgood said, making his way to Garrick as fast as he could but trying not to show it.

  “You know full well what the trouble is!” Garrick shouted, but Allgood was on him now and there was a little distance to the crown.

  “Lower your voice, Garrick, have you forgotten who you work for?” Allgood snapped in a harsh whisper.

  “I know exactly who I work for, Mayor; it’s the people of this town, the same people you feel it’s okay to endanger with fake scientists!” Garrick was furious and his voice was loud. Agar and Fenton shifted uneasily as doubtful looks came their way.

  “What are you talking about?” Allgood asked. Garrick knew; he had no idea how he’d found out, but all the mayor could do now was try to front it out. Perhaps Garrick didn’t know as much as he thought he did.

  “I should be placing you under arrest!” Garrick said.

  “There’s little spiders inside this thing!” the surprise voice of Pete came. Allgood, Garrick and Joe looked and indeed there were about ten tiny white spiders creeping out of a crack in the cloud. Allgood hadn’t expected this and he looked to Pete as though, he having seen them first, he might have an explanation, but Pete just shrugged.

  “Did you guys crack this open?” Garrick asked the firemen.

  “On Mayor's orders,” Joe said, staring hard at Allgood.

  “What the hell were you thinking!” Garrick said to Allgood, and he pressed a thick index finger into the mayor’s chest to send the message home.

  “Don’t you dare touch me or it will be your job!” Allgood shouted at him, furiously indignant.

  “If those clouds were dangerous, there’s a very good chance these spiders will be too,” Joe pointed out.

  “You think they’re poisonous?” Pete asked.

  “I don’t know,” Garrick said in a sarcastic tone. “Perhaps the mayor would like to put one on his finger to find out for us since he’s so gung-ho to smash these clouds up!” The idea terrified Allgood, and for a moment he thought Garrick might grab his hand and force it under the cloud. His mind raced, but he didn’t know what to do. Who the hell would have thought a cloud would go hard and then turn out to contain spiders! It was insane!

  “We need to cover up that crack you made,” Garrick said, turning his attention back to the firemen. “We have to assume those spiders are dangerous. We should kill the ones that have already gotten out.” Garrick looked to the small crowd of onlookers noting it seemed to have swelled a little since he got here. “We need all those people out of here too; think you can handle dispersing them, Mayor, make up for some of the wrong you’ve done today?” Allgood’s initial instinct was to reply to Garrick, but he stopped and the idea of this being an out for him took over. Saying nothing, he walked off towards the crowd with Gough scurrying over beside him.

  “I don’t know what we can use to stem the crack,” Joe said to Garrick.

  “I have some duct tape in the car,” Garrick said, “But I’ll need some of those thick gloves you have to stick it.”

  “You supply the tape and I’ll do the rest,” Joe replied. It was good to see someone showing some town spirit like this, a willingness to help solve a dangerous problem. Garrick smiled and started back to the car.

  Garrick sat in the driver's seat and leaned over; he knew the roll of tape was on the floor under one of the seats, but he couldn’t remember which one. He’d tossed it in a few months back after using the tape to hold the passenger side mirror in place after a little scrape in a narrow alleyway checking out a burglary complaint. His pawing hands hadn’t touched on it before the screaming outside started.

  Garrick looked out the window and saw both Joe and Pete covered in hundreds of white spiders, screaming in pain and dropping to the ground. The crowd around started screaming too and people were running in every direction. Garrick jumped out of the car and ran a few steps towards the stricken firemen, but he saw Joe’s eyes and it stopped him in his tracks.

  “Run!” Joe choked out as spiders flooded into his mouth. His skin was erupting in bloody slits all over and Pete was the same. There was nothing anyone would be able to do for them. Struck dead by shock, Garrick looked at the terrible sight a moment longer before feeling his legs moving, and he jumped back into the car and sped away just as the wave of spiders started to head his way.

  Everyone else had run away, and as he drove, Garrick used the bullhorn to tell people to get inside and seal d
oors and windows. He had to hope this was the only cloud that burst because the firemen had taken an axe to it. But there was only one way to find out. He’d have to spin around to the other sites too.

  Chapter 37

  Sheriff Garrick didn’t have far to go before he was convinced all of the other clouds had burst in the same way as the one on Main Street. Screaming was coming from all over town just like the night of the clouds’ first arrival. Only this time there were a lot more people screaming. Every turn he took he came up on people running and screeching hysterically. If this didn’t call for a town evacuation, nothing did, but he worried about the panic he might cause and the ensuing madness if everyone got in their cars and started hitting the two roads out of town at the same time. As he looked out now, Garrick could see a lot of people had already had the idea and cars zoomed around, heedless of any road regulations or ordinances. Perhaps this was for the best. What was the point in people shutting themselves into their homes against an infestation of tiny spiders? How long would it take for them to find a way in? It might only take one to kill.

  “Gough,” Garrick called into the radio, “You there?” He had to try to coordinate some kind of response to what was happening. There was no response and he tried again. He gave up after that, thinking Gough was probably hiding somewhere pissing his pants by now.

  He tried the Sheriff's Office and Tammy answered,

  “Calls are coming in from all over!” she said before letting Garrick say anything, “Those clouds are bursting and there was white stuff coming out; some people are saying spiders!” He could hear the overwhelming panic in her voice, and he spoke gently over the radio.

  “Tammy, it’s okay, I know about this. I’m on my way back to you now. People are leaving town and I advise you to do the same.”