MELT: A Psychological Thriller

by Shane M Brown

  'We need to bury him in ice,' said Megan. 'Not just move

  him.'

  Chrissie nodded. 'Help me then.'

  A better corpse-moving technique occurred to Megan.

  'You're doing it wrong,’ she said. ‘When I did first-aid training they taught us how to roll an unconscious person into the recovery position. Let’s roll him. '

  Chrissie waved at Ericsson. 'Go ahead.'

  Megan knelt and grasped Ericsson's leg.

  She snatched her hand back.

  He feels like plastic. Cold disgusting plastic.

  'Not that easy, is it?' said Chrissie.

  Megan's self-control wavered. Why are they leaving a corpse in here with us? I shouldn't have to do this. No one should have to do this.

  An acid-hot tear scorched down Megan's cheek and dripped off her chin.

  'Jesus Christ,' complained Chrissie. 'Are you crying now, Megan?'

  Am I? thought Megan. Is this too much for me?

  'No,' she said. ‘I just need something to cover my hands. Can I use your apron, Victoria?'

  'Don't be disgusting,' said Victoria. 'He won’t bite you. Just hurry up and do it.'

  Megan glared at Victoria. While you do nothing, as usual, you nasty old witch.

  'Get ready to pull his shoulder,' said Megan.

  Megan bent Ericsson's knee into a lever.

  'Pull now, Chrissie.'

  Both women pulled.

  Ericsson's body flopped over and whumped onto its front.

  And farted.

  Braaaaaat!

  'Oh, my God!' shrieked Megan, scrambling backward until her back hit the ice.

  Both women stared at the body, waiting for any further sign of life.

  Ericsson farted again.

  Long and loud.

  Brraaaaaattttt....taaat...tat...tat.

  'He's dead,' said Victoria. 'It's just the gas escaping.'

  'Still think your way is better?' asked Chrissie. 'He wasn't doing that when I was moving him.'

  'He's probably empty now,' said Victoria.

  Then the smell hit.

  Megan covered her nose too late. She dry-wretched, gagged, and then barely managed not to vomit in her pullover.

  Dead man's fart!

  'Let's just finish this,' said Chrissie, glancing sideways at the bomb.

  They did. One roll at a time. Thankfully Ericsson had nothing more to say on the matter.

  Breathless, they finally positioned their human trampoline under the bomb.

  Megan nearly felt warm. She took a photo with her phone. The image looked like a crime scene photo.

  I can’t even remember what he looked like and he only died a few hours ago.

  'Where's his watch?' asked Megan.

  'What?'

  'He was wearing a big black wristwatch.'

  'I took it,' admitted Chrissie, tapping an oversized pocket on the fatigues she’d also taken from Ericsson.

  'Why? You already have a watch.'

  Chrissie shrugged, and Megan realized Chrissie had taken more than just Ericsson's watch.

  'What else did you take?'

  'Anything useful,' declared Chrissie. ‘Someone has to think around here.'

  'Show me,' said Megan.

  Chrissie raised an eyebrow. 'You want to share resources? Then let's share your phone.'

  Megan clamped her hand over her pocket.

  'I thought not,' said Chrissie.

  Megan waved at Chrissie’s pocket. 'Having two watches won’t get you out of here twice as fast.’

  'We'll see,' said Chrissie, walking toward the sound of Alex chipping ice. 'I hope the men have hunted up some water, because this gatherer is thirsty.'

  'You're supposed to be watching the bomb,' called Megan.

  Chrissie called over her shoulder, 'Ericsson's watching it now.'

  #

  'What was that all about?' asked Alex, turning from the ice.

  'We put Ericsson under the bomb,' explained Megan.

  After a moment of awkward silence, Megan held up her phone. 'Glen, can I record your details?'

  'Sure.'

  Megan started the voice recorder. ‘Go ahead.’

  Glen leaned toward the phone. 'I'm Glen Parkyn. I’m from Portland, Oregon. I'm twenty-eight. I work as a telephone support technician for Linksys. I work nights.’

  Glen shrugged.

  'Describe your abduction,' prompted Megan.

  'Oh, it happened at home,’ Glen said. ‘In the morning. I didn’t see their faces, but I think they were both men. They both wore full protective suits. Like those biohazard suits.’

  ‘Really?’ Alex asked. ‘Full suits? That’s pretty conspicuous.’

  ‘That’s what they wore,’ nodded Glen. ‘Head to toe. They lured me out of the house by cutting off my power. Once I was outside they trapped me.’

  ‘Did you fight back?’ asked Alex.

  ‘Of course. I head-butted one, but his mask protected him.’

  ‘Did they say anything?’ asked Megan.

  Glen shook his head. ‘They didn't say a word. It was over pretty quickly.’

  Megan wasn’t sure what else to ask. ‘Do you think anyone might have seen it happen? A neighbor or maybe someone driving past?’

  Glen looked away for a moment, thinking. ‘No. They planned it well. They trapped me where no one could see us. Only my cat saw it happen.’

  Glen pointed at the phone as though suddenly remembering something important. 'This is pretty weird. They returned my mail and my slippers. I lost them before the struggle, but after they cut off my power. When I woke up, I had them again.’

  'Same with me,' said Megan. 'They returned my bag. Even my phone.'

  ‘Why would they return our belongings?’ asked Alex.

  Megan had no idea.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Glen said. ‘I’ve got nothing else to say.’

  #

  'Okay, it's coming...coming...got it!'

  Alex jerked the object free.

  Ice shards showered over everyone.

  Alex turned to reveal what he’d pulled from the ice.

  Megan backed up a step. What is that horrible thing? A basketball squashed by a steamroller?

  'It looks like a giant dried prune,' said Victoria.

  Glen tilted his head. 'Or a dried elephant's ballbag.'

  'Fucking hell,' cried Alex, dropping the leathery disk.

  'For God's sake!' complained Victoria. 'Can't you stop swearing for just one minute?'

  'I think Glen’s right,' said Chrissie.

  ‘Nonsense,' pointed Victoria. ‘It has a drawstring, see? It’s a leather bag.’

  'That's just a big nutsack wrinkle,' said Alex.

  Megan took a photo of the thing.

  Carl crouched and pointed with the knife tip. ‘Someone's used animal tendon for string. It's threaded through here, see? I think it is a bag.'

  ‘Let’s open it,’ said Glen.

  Carl braced the leathery disk under his boot. He cut away the edge, leaving the drawstring intact. With a series of icy cracking sounds, he pried open the bag.

  Megan knelt for a better view of the mess inside.

  'Are those grasshoppers?' pointed Glen.

  'And grubs,' pointed Chrissie. 'And a lizard. Look, its tail has black stripes.'

  Carl pried something free.

  He held it up to the light.

  'It's a needle,' said Megan, taking a picture. 'A bone needle.'

  Carl compared the bone needle to the tendon drawstring. 'Probably what the owner used to sew this scrotum bag.'

  'It's really a giant ballbag then?' asked Glen.

  Carl nodded. 'We've found a ten thousand year old lunchbox.'

  'Maybe not that old,' reasoned Megan. 'People still eat grasshoppers and lizards today.'

  'Not from nutsack lunchboxes, they don’t,' said Alex. 'It could be from the Stone Age for all we know.’

  Carl studied the ice. 'You were right, Alex. We just needed to dig to find
food.'

  Megan wasn't hungry enough to eat anything wrapped for ten thousand years in a scrotum.

  Alex agreed. 'I'm not eating ballbag surprise.'

  'It's better than starving,' said Chrissie.

  I’ll never be that hungry, hoped Megan.

  ‘Better put it under some ice,’ said Carl. ‘Just in case.’

  #

  His story was incredible.

  Megan recorded everything Alex remembered about his abduction.

  She saved the audio file with the recordings from Carl and Alex.

  Everyone’s abduction was so different. There’s no pattern I can see. I need more information.

  Chrissie just swore at Megan like a brooding teenager when Megan asked for her story.

  Megan asked Alex, 'So Chrissie didn't mention her abduction at all?'

  'Not a single word.’

  Megan blew into her hands and glanced toward Ericsson. Along with his brains, his story lay smeared under a ton of stone.

  'She's mumbling again,' whispered Alex.

  Victoria walked past.

  'She can’t last much longer without water,' said Megan.

  ‘She won’t take anything from the ice,’ said Alex.

  Alex pulled the Sprite bottle from under his shirt. 'Better fill this up again.'

  Megan took the bottle. 'If she doesn't drink she'll pass out and freeze to death. She knows that.'

  Alex shrugged. 'Maybe she wants that. I don't understand her at all.'

  Victoria confused Megan too. She was helpful one moment, then spitting like a cobra the next. Right now she looked exhausted. Every dozen steps she rested with her hand on the wall.

  She must be badly dehydrated.

  ‘I’m going to check on her.’

  Megan began following at a discreet distance.

  Victoria stopped to rest again. This time she rested much longer.

  Is she going to fall?

  Glen joined Megan.

  'What’s she doing?' he asked.

  'I don’t know. What's the time?'

  ‘Where’s your watch?’

  ‘I don’t have one.’

  Glen tapped his nerdy-looking watch. 'This is a Casio W800. It has a ten year battery life. If I die, it’s all yours.'

  'That's not funny in here.'

  'Sorry,' said Glen, lifting his watch for Megan to read.

  2:52 pm

  Megan spotted her deodorant bottle near the wall. How did this get here?

  'DON'T TOUCH THAT!'

  Megan jerked back like a rattlesnake had lunged for her fingers.

  Victoria had shrieked like a banshee.

  'Jesus, Victoria!' Megan exclaimed, lifting her hands defensively. 'You frightened me. Calm down.'

  'What are you yelling for?' demanded Glen.

  'Don't you dare touch that.’ Victoria shoved her index finger in Megan's face. ‘That could save our lives.'

  Megan backed away.

  She’s lost it.

  'Why shouldn't I touch it?' Megan asked gently.

  Victoria glared back. 'Well, it didn't just grow legs and walk here, did it, you silly, patronizing little girl? I put it there!

  Glen and Megan swapped glances. What the hell?

  Victoria wasn't exhausted at all. She sounded more alert and motivated than any of them.

  Carl and Chrissie approached from the other direction.

  'You're dehydrated,’ said Carl.

  Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘Are Chrissie and I the only people with more than half a brain in this chamber?’

  Carl reached for Victoria's arm.

  'Leave her alone,' shouted Chrissie. ‘Let her talk.’

  Victoria smiled at Chrissie. 'Can you feel it, Chrissie?'

  Megan fumbled with her phone and started recording.

  Chrissie stood beside Victoria. 'Do you know something we don't, Victoria?'

  Victoria pointed at the deodorant bottle. 'That direction is south.'

  She crossed her arms and waited.

  Glen looked around at the others. 'She's just making stuff up now.'

  Carl said, 'Without a compass it's impossible to find south in here.'

  Victoria shot Carl a calculating look. ‘You hate smart women, don’t you, Carl? You like deciding what's impossible.’

  'You can’t change the laws of physics,' replied Carl.

  'Exactly,' said Victoria. 'Nor of time and thermodynamics. For all your climbing and fancy phones, you still haven't learned anything. You've put all your trust in machines and forgotten to use the senses that God gave you. When your machines don't work, you don't work. You might as well be machines.'

  Glen turned to walk away. 'I've had enough. Thanks for showing us your magic deodorant bottle, Victoria.'

  Victoria pointed at Glen. 'You thought we were hidden underground, correct?'

  Glen paused and shrugged. 'It's possible.'

  'Well, we're not,' said Victoria. 'This chamber isn't buried or in a cave or inside another structure. We're on the surface, in plain sight.'

  Victoria pointed to Carl. 'And you thought we might be in another country, correct?'

  Carl nodded.

  'Well, we're not,' Victoria said emphatically. 'We're in the Northern Hemisphere. Still in the United States.'

  Carl asked, 'And you know this because...?'

  'Because our watches match the local time outside this chamber,' revealed Victoria.

  She can't know the local time, thought Megan. We could be anywhere. She’d need to have x-ray vision.

  'She's-making-it-all-up!' Glen hollered, blending his words in frustration.

  'I am NOT!' barked Victoria.

  Carl stepped between them, raising his hands. 'Victoria, where's your evidence? How can you know any of this?'

  Victoria peeled her hateful glare off Glen. 'Because my father was a butcher.'

  'Oh, for fuck's sake,' said Glen, throwing his hands up and walking away. 'I'm done. She’s crazy. I'll be digging.'

  Megan and Carl traded doubtful glances.

  'Go on,' prompted Chrissie.

  Victoria watched Glen depart.

  Victoria did that on purpose, realized Megan. She stalled and provoked Glen into leaving. Now neither Alex nor Glen were present, the two people she trusted the least.

  'It was our family business,' began Victoria. 'My mother served at the front counter while my father and brothers butchered. I managed the ice room.'

  ‘Wait,’ said Megan. ‘Did you say ice room?'

  Chapter Eight

  'That was my job before electricity reached our town,' explained Victoria. ‘I kept the ice room cold. I know how ice affects confined spaces. So I know that we should all be dead by now. Frozen stiff.'

  'Then why aren't we?' asked Megan.

  'Because this chamber is being heated.'

  'Through the ceiling vent?' asked Carl.

  'It's not the vent,' said Megan. 'I was right under the vent up on the ice. It's no warmer up there.'

  'The sun!' cried Chrissie. 'That's why you were checking the walls.'

  Victoria beamed at her star pupil. 'The sun is shining on us. I've been tracking it.'

  She wasn't exhausted, realized Megan. She was monitoring the wall’s temperature.

  Everyone stood dumbstruck.

  Carl reacted first. He felt the wall above the deodorant bottle. Without speaking, he dashed around the ice.

  'She's right,' he called. 'This side's colder!'

  'The drain’s our north pole,' Victoria stated. 'It's exactly opposite this point. This is our south pole.’

  Megan pointed at Chrissie. ‘Chrissie has Ericsson’s watch. It has a thermometer.’

  Chrissie fished Ericsson’s big watch from a cargo pocket. She checked the screen. ‘This says the temperature is dropping.’

  ‘Because of your body heat,’ explained Carl. ‘It was measuring how warm it was in your pocket. Just give it a second.’

  Chrissie nodded. ‘It’s stabilized
at forty-four degrees.’

  She rushed to check the other side of the chamber. ‘It’s thirty-nine degrees around here!’

  Carl said, ‘You were right, Victoria.’

  ‘I didn’t need a machine to tell me that,’ replied Victoria.

  'Okay,' said Megan, 'We have north and south poles. How does that help?'

  'Lots of ways,' replied Carl, checking his watch. 'It's three pm outside now. So this is the warmest this chamber will get.'

  'Did you say warmest?' asked Megan. I'm already so cold!

  Carl nodded.

  Chrissie shuffled back into the conversation. 'I'm freezing, and you're saying it will get colder?'

  'Much colder,’ confirmed Carl. ‘We should be resting now. When night falls outside, resting will be suicide. We’ll have to walk or work non-stop.’

  'Non-stop?' blurted Chrissie. ‘With no breaks?’

  Carl looked to Victoria for confirmation.

  Victoria said, 'Anyone who stops moving too long will freeze. Simple as that. With no source of outside heat at night, we have to generate our own.’

  Thank God I didn't hurt my ankle when I slid off the ice, thought Megan.

  'That's crazy,' cried Chrissie. ‘Non-stop? We can't do that.'

  'We can,' said Megan. 'We've mostly been doing it today.'

  'Not non-stop!' declared Chrissie. ‘We haven’t even eaten.’

  ‘That’s why we need rest.’ Victoria’s voice now commanded attention. When she spoke, everyone listened.

  'We'll rest huddled together,' said Carl. 'We've got six hours before the true cold sets in. That means six hours to rest. Anyone who needs the drain, I’d go now.'

  Carl fetched Glen, but Alex stayed on bomb watch.

  Everyone sealed their clothes as best they could to conserve body warmth. Megan found herself lying between Victoria and Chrissie.

  As Glen bent over, mail spilled from his robe. He snatched it up.

  'You can put those in my bag,' Megan offered.

  'I'll keep them,' said Glen.

  Megan understood. Evidence of the real world felt important to keep close. Even mail.

  As they huddled down together, Carl said, 'The ice is melting faster now. We'll keep a continuous watch on the bomb. Same order as today. When the ice melts from the second tailfin, we'll double the number of people watching it. We’ll double again when the third fin melts free. When it falls, we'll all be ready.'