by Mark Tufo
“It’s nothing, boy. Come here.” His face quickly relaxed and his tail began to wag as he realized there was no threat to his new pack. He trotted over, pieces of Cap’n Crunch still clinging to his snout.
“You big moosh,” she said as she wiped the cereal off him. “I’ve got something you might like a little better.” Sampson’s tail wagged even more furiously as he got his first whiff of the near meat product being unwrapped. Drool poured from his mouth. Beth was tempted to put the Slim Jim on the ground, lest the dog in his haste mistakenly take her fingers off. But he waited patiently as she struggled with the wrapper. When she put her shaking hand out to his mouth, Sampson looked into her eyes, as if to ask if she wanted him to have this tasty treat.
“You led me here, you should have the first bite.”
Sampson gently took the offering from her hand and in one bite had the snack in his mouth. Beth couldn’t be entirely sure, but she would have sworn on a Bible that he was smiling. Beth took a little more time to savor hers, but not by much. Sampson waited patiently, his front paws occasionally pattering in anticipation but he never made a threatening move. Ten minutes later and a dozen and a half Slim Jims gone they headed back to the main part of the store. Hunger not yet gone, but the edge definitely dulled. Sampson stopped first, frozen in place right at the door. Beth stopped too, she hadn’t heard anything, but the dog’s reaction froze her in her tracks.
“Are you sure you saw somebody walk in here, Jimmy?” The deep voice carried even in hushed tones.
Beth’s heart began to trip over itself. What is wrong with people? she wondered. Sampson made as if to go through the door and deal with the threat. Beth gently put her hand on his massive shoulder, his muscles quivered with a surge of adrenaline. He looked up at Beth, she shook her head and mouthed the word ‘no’. Sampson eased a little. Muscles not shaking but they were taut, he would react quickly if the need arose.
Beth could tell the people in the store were trying to be stealthy but the spilled dry goods on the floor made their approach pathetically loud in the eerie quiet. She could hear the two men methodically walk up each aisle, searching. Why they were so intent on finding her was a mystery.
“Whoever you are, you need to come out,” one of the voices yelled dangerously close to her hiding spot. Sampson laid his ears back, as if to make himself more aerodynamic when he sprang. “This is our store and we don’t take kindly to looters!”
“Looting?” she whispered, “there’s nothing in here.”
Sampson turned to look at her, as if to say, ‘be quiet’.
“Yeah, we won’t hurt you,” came the other voice.
"Yeah, right, where have I heard that before?" She mumbled.
Sampson looked at her again as if beseeching her to stay quiet, even if she had said it loud enough for only the dog to hear.
“Okay, okay,” she mouthed. Sampson seemed to be happy with her answer and returned his full attention to the store room door.
“Listen, we’re good people, we don’t want any trouble. We just want you out of here.”
Beth knew she was being stupid, but he sounded sincere. She was about to go through the door, when a voice she heard too many times before froze her in her tracks.
“You might not be looking for trouble, but it sure as hell found you,” came the voice of the man that had been relentlessly tracking her for miles.
“Look, mister, we—” Beth never heard the rest of the man’s plea as a gunshot roared through the store.
“Wait-wait,” came the other man’s cry, but it fell on deaf ears. Another shot silenced him even before he could ask God for help.
The acrid smell of gun smoke filled the small store room. Beth feared Sampson might sneeze. But he held fast, even more leery than he had been only moments before. When the echoing from the rounds had finally dimmed, the man spoke again.
“Honey, I’m home,” came the almost cheery voice, but Beth could feel the malice dripping from his words. “Are you here? Were you just picking me up a little something?”
Pegged knew in the very depths of his black soul that his quarry was in the store somewhere. He wanted to rush in and finish this off now, but there was absolutely no light inside whatsoever and she could be anywhere. And something else was troubling him; he couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t think she was alone. He didn’t know why he thought that, but he was sure. And whoever was in there with her was dangerous. Very dangerous.
“What kind of fucking greeting is this, bitch!” he yelled in impotent rage. “I come miles and miles to see you and you don’t even come to meet me at the door—pretty ungrateful if you ask me!?”
He’s the devil incarnate, Beth thought. How in God’s name could he possibly know I’m in here? Beth didn’t dare voice her concern for fear the man’s hearing was somehow even better than Sampson’s. Sampson even sensed how dangerous this man could be. He didn’t back down but his stance showed he was going to be more on the defensive. Beth understood his motives completely.
She jumped a little bit when Pegged startled her out of her thoughts.
“I’d love to come in and shop with you, but I think I might wait until the morning when I can see a little better.
Beth fought down panic at the thought of spending a sleepless night in a store room with no possibility of escape. Surely, the sound of the gunshots would bring help, wouldn’t it? No. She had to be honest with herself, it was more likely that anybody that had heard was going to barricade themselves in. Beth moved to the far wall and slid down as quietly as possible.
“I guess it’s going to be a long night,” she said almost inaudibly. Sampson turned and imperceptibly nodded. He took two steps toward her, turned back around and unceremoniously plopped to the floor. His body supplied ample heat to her rapidly cooling legs. Beth almost couldn’t believe it, even as it happened. Her eyes fell like a stone, she was asleep before her head hit her chest. Sampson propped his head on his front paws, he dozed but not too deeply, nightmares of his butchered family haunted his dreams.
Beth awoke to Sampson’s massive muzzle nudging her arm. Beth stood up slowly and went to the front of the storeroom to look through the glass partitions that at one time housed the dairy section. Sunlight was slowing creeping along the floor of the store and right behind it, quiet as death was Pegged, his eyes blazed as his head swiveled from side-to-side as he tried to take everything in. Beth held her breath as she slowly lowered herself so she wasn’t quite as exposed. Sampson bristled as he watched the man come up the far aisle. Beth moved without thinking as her pursuer disappeared down another aisle. She opened the storeroom door and motioned for the dog to go through. He didn’t need any further urging. Beth and Sampson moved to the opposite side of the store, Beth keeping careful to make sure she was never out in the open, her heart leapt when she came around the corner and stepped in a semi congealed pool of blood, if she hadn’t had Sampson to brace against she would have landed in the gelatin-like liquid. Sampson skirted the carnage, never taking his eyes of the front of the store. Beth contained her angst and managed to not make an uncontrolled run for freedom. She was still scared the madman had somehow noiselessly backtracked toward them and would mow her down the second she left the relative safety of the aisle. Sampson seemed to sense her trepidation and apparently was not of the same mind that the bad man was waiting. He almost casually walked to the front and stopped, waiting for Beth to follow.
Fine, apparently at least one of us knows what he’s doing.
Sampson wagged his tail. Upon successfully exiting the store Beth went to the left so as to be out of sight from the windows. She took her first big intake of air in over ten minutes and it felt good.
***
He eyed the store room door for over fifteen minutes to discern if there was any movement in there. It was impossible for anyone to be that motionless. Unless he had been spotted and she was merely waiting for him to come out in the open, which he would have to do to get to the door. But maybe she was
asleep and that was why there was nothing going on. If that was the case, then he should just open the door and be done with her, but what of the other presence? Maybe they had taken shifts, there was no way they were both asleep, was there? He hated being this indecisive, this was something more the bitch was going to pay for. Good or bad, Pegged had never truly pondered any action he did. Only after it was long over would he spare a short moment to mull over his decisions and then it was never an analytical process, it was more of a sweet remembrance.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Dennis was sullen, looking at his rapidly cooling cup of coffee as I sat down next to him. He briefly looked up to acknowledge my presence and then stared back at his coffee as if he fully expected something magical to issue forth. I felt awkward, on one hand I was happier than a pig in shit that I was back at the Hill amongst my friends, on the other hand I knew the pain Dennis was going through, so I was attempting to reign in my jubilation.
“It’s good to see you, Dennis,” I said. I put an arm around his shoulder.
“It’s good to see you too, Mike.” Dennis finally looked over at me, instead of the steam issuing forth from his cup of coffee.
“I’ve got to admit, I never thought this day would come. Escaping the aliens the first time was a one in a million chance, being able to do it again pretty much seemed like an impossibility.”
Dennis nodded in agreement. “We’re going to die here,” he added.
I nodded in agreement. “I don’t see any other outcome. But it’s not going to be a slaughter, Dennis. We’re going to do some serious payback for all that we lost. They’ll win, they’ll take this Hill—hell, they’ll take the planet, but it won’t be something they will soon forget. They aren’t super beings, they bleed and they die just like we do. They just had the advantage of surprise and superior technology. But the surprise is gone and we’ve got some of their technology now. And one more thing, we’re way more pissed off than they are.”
Dennis smiled. “You got that right,” he said flashing a smile for the first time in days.
“Hey, bud, any chance there’s something around here a little stronger than coffee?”
“Yeah, Frank was saving a little something for when I got back from my last mission. Now’s as good a time as any.”
“Frank would want it that way,” I said.
“You know, bud, I think you’re right,” Dennis said standing up and heading out the door of the cafeteria.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Eastern Seaboard Ground Occupation - Location Northwest of Boston - Lawrence Area
“Sir, we have lost contact with the detachment sent to the Walpole Township,” the Sub Ground Commander of landing party 117B said nervously. Landing parties around the globe have been attacked sometimes viciously, but none yet have taken the damage of the Boston contingent.
“Sub Ground Commander, get in touch with the mothership,” the Ground Commander said, his upper lip twitching in the universal sign of nervousness among Genogerians. “Tell them we will need reinforcements—a battalion if they’ve got it—and have them sent to the Town center in Walpole.” The Ground Commander knew the personnel around the globe were spread thin, until true warships from their home planet arrived, this was more of a containment operation than of an occupation. The Ground Commander still didn’t understand why they hadn’t waited for the larger force to arrive, but he knew in the eyes of the Progerians, he and his kind were expendable and the new Supreme Commander was of the mindset to show his higher-ups he was worthy of his own war vessel by taking this little planet on the outskirts of the known universe with only a heavy scout vessel. The commander knew the whole excursion was teetering on the brink of disaster, if the hu-mans had any idea how truly low in numbers the ground forces were they would rise from their holes and slaughter the Genogerians. “And Ground Sub Commander, tell them to hurry.”
“Yes, sir,” the Sub Ground Commander said as he rushed out the door to relay the message to the communications officer.
Within six hours, close to a thousand heavily armed shock troops began to set up camp in Walpole’s center. A stream of troop ships clogged the sky as they jockeyed for position to land, deposit their cargo, and head back to do it again.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE - Mike Journal Entry 14
I had tossed back more than I had planned. Dennis seemed unwilling to stop drinking to Frank’s memory and I had obliged. Me, my liver, and my head were going to pay dearly. I stumbled back to my quarters and had fallen asleep almost before my body made contact with the bed. Tracy came in a little later after assimilating her men in with the rest of the soldiers on the Hill. She knew where I had been and deeply sympathized with Dennis she would tell me the next day as I nursed one killer hangover. Tracy took off her battle fatigues climbing as quietly into bed as possible. She snuggled up next to me and within minutes was fast asleep.
***
“Mike, want to go for a walk?” Paul said from the doorway.
I was halfway out of bed before Paul had finished his question. I quickly rubbed the cobwebs out of my eyes and reached for my boots before I realized I was still wearing them.
“Rough night?” Paul quipped.
“Yeah, I had a drink with Dennis,” I answered.
“A drink?” Paul asked.
“You get the point. Where’re we going?” I asked, my hangover threatening to cleave my head in two.
“Grab your rifle,” Paul answered.
“Oh, that kind of walk.” I suited up and was out the door in less than two minutes. It didn’t hurt that I was still mostly dressed from the night before.
“What about her?” Paul said motioning back to Tracy’s still sleeping form.
“Who?” I said still a little out of it, as I turned back. “Shit, I didn’t even know she was there.”
“You didn’t know she was there? You must have drank a lot.” Paul laughed out loud.
“Well, you know Dennis. Let her sleep.” I pulled the door shut behind me.
“What’s the story with her?” Paul asked as we got away from the door.
“Not sure, my friend. After Beth pretty much told me to go fuck myself I was in a bad way. Basically, I wanted to take a break from the fairer sex.”
“You weren’t going gay on me were you?” Paul asked with a small smile on his face.
“If I did, I’m sure you would have been the first person to call me,” I shot back.
Paul punched me in the arm and for a small moment, we crossed over a span of time, we both felt more like the eighteen year old care free kids we had been than the warriors we had been forced to become. But our smiles ran from our faces as we rounded the corner and twelve well-armed Marines awaited us.
“What exactly does this walk entail, Paul?” I asked as I tightened down my ammunition belt
CHAPTER FIFTY
Beth was a good three hundred yards away from the store when she heard the muffled sounds of gunshots. She knew without hesitation that it was her pursuer either shooting at phantoms or in frustration when he discovered she was no longer there.
***
Chills ran up and down the length of Pegged’s back like currents from an electric eel, after blowing gaping holes through the metal covered storage room door with his newly acquired .45. He had expected to be shot himself as he kicked the door open, fully thinking the bitch to be lying in wait for that exact maneuver. What happened next scared him more than the thought of her waiting. That he could have dealt with, but this took him completely by surprise. There was nobody there and after a quick survey of the room he was certain there was no back way out, no small windows and certainly no doors. “What are you?” he screamed. Fine lines of insanity began to edge in on the perimeter of his mind. He began to wonder if she was ever even real or if he had taken a deep dark plunge down a rabbit hole.
But what about your ear? a disembodied voice whispered.
“Yeah, what about my ear?” he said aloud.
That didn
’t happen by itself, the voice answered.
“Yeah, it didn’t happen by itself,” he echoed, as he absently reached up to touch the still puss oozing hole in the side of his head. If he hadn’t known better, he might have thought it was his brains leaking out. That would have been infinitely better than the infection causing the putrid liquid. It would have been a much quicker and easier death. “Fuck!” he bellowed.
***
Beth paused a moment, thoroughly enjoying that her pursuer was frustrated.
“Serves him right for making us stay in a closet for the night,” Beth said as she reached down and scratched behind Sampson’s ear.
Sampson looked up grateful for the scratch but not nearly as happy as the woman he traveled with. He could smell the disease and insanity of the man chasing them from there and he wanted no part of it, not in the slightest.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE - Mike Journal Entry 15
For forty minutes Paul, myself and the other twelve soldiers with us watched an alien beehive of activity in the town center. Genogerians tightly patrolled the perimeter as dozens of transport ships continually off-loaded supplies and personnel. Paul sat back down from the hedge he was looking over.
“Looks like they weren’t too happy with our welcome wagon committee,” Paul said wryly.
I kept looking at the spectacle before me. Although we were a couple of hundred yards from the nearest sentry it was still entirely too close. “What makes you say that?” I answered in the same tone Paul had used as I sat down with a hard thump. “There’s got to be about a thousand of them and they look pissed off. Wouldn’t want to be the reason why they were so pissed.”
Paul looked over at me and had to try with great difficulty to not laugh.
