by Jake Bible
“I don’t understand you!” Linda yells. “You get across three states on nothing but willpower, and now you want to give up?”
“I didn’t say I wanted to give up,” Terrie says. “I said I don’t think you understand what happens once we leave. I do. We get out there, and we are alone. There’s no one to trust. People are as dangerous now as those monsters. We’re as likely to get shot for our coats as crushed by some nightmare on six legs.”
“Six legs?” Linda asks.
Terrie laughs. “Six legs. Four legs. Wings. These things have it all. Some are as tall as this building, some are as tall as ten buildings. Blue tongues, massive teeth, bulletproof hides. We’ll be fighting every inch of the way.”
Linda looks towards one of the windows, the glow of fire flickering against the glass. “You forgot tentacles.”
“Those are new,” Terrie says. “I also didn’t mention the eggs that melt skin and eat concrete, but you know about those.”
“We still can’t stay,” Linda says, another explosion and more roars punctuating her words. She points at the windows. “See.”
“Okay, then we leave,” Terrie says. “Which way do we go? East is not a good idea. West is nothing but ocean and those things coming out of the ocean. South? More people that way, which means more desperation now that the power is out. North? It’s winter. Gonna just keep getting colder.”
“We can’t stay here,” Linda says. “I know that much. If we stay, we die.”
“If we go, we could die also,” Terrie says.
“But we’ll have a chance!” Linda snaps, her face red and hands shaking with rage. She points at Terrie. “You want to die here? Fine! But I won’t! No one will trap me again!’
“It wasn’t your mother,” Terrie says.
Linda throws up her hands. “What does that matter?”
“I need to know who I’m traveling with,” Terrie says. “If you have triggers then I need to know what they are. I’d rather not find out while we’re exposed on the road.”
Linda stares for a second. “Are you fucking with me?”
“I’m testing you,” Terrie says. “And please don’t curse.”
“Fucking Jesus freak,” Linda says. “Fine, you want to know who I am? I’m a lesbian. Have been most of my life.”
“You have beenall of your life, sweetheart, not most of it,” Terrie sighs. “Honesty with yourself is the first step to being honest with the Almighty.”
“What?” Linda asks. “Oh God, you aren’t going to try to convert me, are you?”
“Convert you? To what?” Terrie laughs. “Are you Jewish?”
“What? No,” Linda replies. “I’m gay. You want to convert me to being straight, right? That’s what all you Jesus freaks do.”
Terrie smiles. “Who you love on Earth has nothing to do with the Lord’s love in heaven, Linda. That I know for certain. It’s something I used to tell the love of my life again and again. Her name was Stephanie.”
Linda stumbles back and nearly falls on her ass. She reaches out until she finds the frame of a bunk, and then sits down hard.
“You...You’re…?” Linda stutters.
“A female adventurer?” Terrie laughs.
“A what?” Linda asks.
“Sorry, it’s something my grandmother used to say,” Terrie replies. “I have a feeling Nana did a little adventuring of her own.”
“But… But, you’re Christian, right?” Linda asks.
“The two aren’t mutually exclusive,” Terrie says. “It was hard to reconcile at first, because of the way I was raised, but then I looked deep and sought solace in the one place I always have—the scriptures. You know what the teachings of Jesus Christ comes down to, Linda? Love. If you practice that, then you practice His faith. You honor Him.”
“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation,” Linda says, then winces as several roars cry out in the night. “But I guess the unbelievable is normal now.”
“It appears that way,” Terrie says, and pulls herself to her feet. “We’re going to need something to carry our supplies. Let’s find us a cart we can push or pull, fill that puppy up, and get a move on.”
Biscuit raises his head at the mention of “puppy”.
“Maybe we can make a harness and have Biscuit here do some of the work,” Terrie smiles. Biscuit whines. “Just joking, boy. You’d make a horrible cart dog. First squirrel you see, and we’d lose our supplies to the woods.”
“You are a bizarre woman,” Linda says as she gets up and takes Terrie’s arm, then pushes her gently back to the bunk. “I know where some carts are. I’ll get one and see if I can find some more supplies, then hurry back here. You pile a few things up, and just be ready to go.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Terrie says. “Once we do that, then what? South or North?”
“North,” Linda says. “I know an island we can go to.”
“You want to cross the water with those monsters in the Sound?” Terrie asks.
“I don’t want to do anything,” Linda says. “But it’s worth the risk. There’ll be only a couple people there, if that. And enough supplies to last us until summer, if we need them.”
“Really?” Terrie says. “And when were you going to mention this island?”
“You weren’t the only one doing the testing,” Linda says. “If there are people on the island, then they’ll be pissed I’m bringing a stranger. But I think you’ll fit in fine.”
“Let’s hope so,” Terrie says. “Go get that cart. I’ll rummage some more in here. But don’t be gone long. Fifteen minutes max. Like you said, this base isn’t going to last long.”
***
The water laps at the sides of the canoe as Alvarez and Dr. Hall continue paddling, despite both of them well beyond the point of exhaustion. Each time Dr. Hall starts to complain, a high wailing comes from the riverbank, and the two men look over to see a glowing green horde of creatures following their progress. As the night grows darker, the size of the horde becomes more and more apparent.
So, with their constant companions watching their every move, Alvarez and Dr. Hall never let the paddles stop. They slow, they stutter, but they never stop.
The Potomac River is full of ice chunks that don’t help with the progress. The canoe bangs and bumps into chunks here and there, creating a hollow clunking sound that many of the ooze creatures try to mimic. The eerie mimicry doesn’t help with the progress either, since with each deliberate echo, Dr. Hall misses a stroke and nearly drops his paddle.
“I should have brought backups,” Alvarez says.
“What?” Dr. Hall gasps.
“I should have brought backups,” Alvarez repeats.
“Backups of what?” Dr. Hall asks. “What are you talking about?”
“Paddles,” Alvarez says. “I should have brought backup paddles since you look like you’re going to drop yours at any second.”
“I’m not going to drop mine,” Dr. Hall says. “It’s just that my hands are frozen, and those things over there are not helping with my mental state.”
“Your mental state?” Alvarez laughs. “I hate to break it to you, Doctor, but I don’t think anything is going to help with your mental state anymore. The world is gone as we know it. Time to move to a new mental state.”
“Easy for you to say,” Dr. Hall replies. “You get to live in ignorance. I actually have an idea of what’s going on.”
“Do you?” Alvarez laughs again. One of the creatures laughs with him, which ends Alvarez’s laugh instantly. “Okay, Doctor. What’s your idea of what’s going on?”
“If I tell you, then you’ll think I’m crazy,” Dr. Hall says.
Alvarez looks over at the glowing entourage and shakes his head.
“I think my mind is open to crazy, Doctor,” Alvarez says. “Try me.”
“Well, I should tell you anyway in case I don’t make it, and you do,” Dr. Hall says. “The last view of the Yellowstone chasm showed what I thought was
a mass of hundreds of tails.”
“Tails? Did you say hundreds of tails?” Alvarez asks. “Tails to what?”
“More of the monsters,” Dr. Hall says. “The big ones, not these weird ooze things.”
“What big ones?” Alvarez asks. “You mean like the flying carpets?”
“No, no, those are something entirely different,” Dr. Hall replies. “I don’t believe theflying carpets, as you call them, are anything more than carriers. Think of them as vehicles to drop the spores.”
“Spores? The eggs? You think those are spores?”
“For lack of a better term,” Dr. Hall says. “But those aren’t what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the big monsters, the behemoths. The ones that are a thousand feet tall with six legs and jaws that could swallow a house.”
“Jesus Christ,” Alvarez says. “Those things are out there?”
“Yes,” Dr. Hall says.
“And the hundreds of tails are more of those?”
“No!” Dr. Hall snaps. A series of no’s are parroted from the riverbank. “No. There are no tails. That’s what I’m trying to say. I was wrong. The tails aren’t tails, they’re cilia. Or something like cilia.”
“Is that what you were trying to tell President Nance before the EMP hit?” Alvarez asks. “That’s why I’m out on this frozen river paddling my ass off? Because you think that your first guess was wrong, but your second guess is right?”
“You don’t have to sound so bitter about it,” Dr. Hall replies. “I wasn’t trying to be wrong. It was an easy assumption based on the data I had at the time. There was no way I could have conceived of something so huge, so massive, that its cilia would be mistaken for tails.”
“How huge?” Alvarez asks. “How massive?”
“What?” Dr. Hall asks as he nearly fumbles his paddle after hitting a chunk of ice instead of water. “What was that?”
“How massive?” Alvarez asks. “I took biology in college. I know what cilia is. If you mistook it for tails, then the whatever that’s attached to the cilia must be gigantic.”
“Yes, well, that’s true,” Dr. Hall says. “My guess is that it could be massive on a scale we have never seen. Quite possibly miles instead of feet.”
Alvarez nearly drops his own paddle at the news.
“Miles? What do you meanmiles?” he croaks.
“For cilia to show like that, then the creature would need to be at least a mile or two tall,” Dr. Hall says. “Probably closer to two.”
“What? How? I don’t… You have to be shitting me?” Alvarez stutters. “Nothing could be that big, could it? We would have found something like that a long time ago. How could anything that large stay hidden?”
“I do not know the answer to that,” Dr. Hall replies. “And I could be wrong. They may be tails and not cilia. But I have to get to the White House to tell the President. Whatever it is could be coming out of the ground right now. That may be the reason for the second eruption.”
“Dear God,” Alvarez says and crosses himself. “I don’t need to hear this. Don’t fucking tell me anything else, Doctor, okay? I need some ignorance if I’m going to operate on a level needed to get you to the White House.”
“Well, I appreciate that, Agent Alvarez.”
“Paulo, please.”
“Yes, Paulo, thank you. I will carry the burden of knowledge for the both of us,” Dr. Hall says. “If only you could carry the burden of paddling for the both of us. I can no longer feel my arms. Could we stop paddling and rest?”
“No, we can’t,” Alvarez replies, just as unhappy with his answer as Dr. Hall. “The current and the ice flow will send us over to the shore. We keep paddling.”
“I don’t know if I can keep paddling,” Dr. Hall says.
“You don’t have a choice,” Alvarez says. “I can’t do the work for the both of us.”
There are a few loud screeches from the riverbank, and Alvarez glances over to see the ooze mob turning from the river and hurrying into the city streets beyond. More screeches echo in the night, then the sound of gunfire. Human screams and shouts mix with the screeches, and Alvarez shivers at the thought of what will happen to those people.
More gunshots, more screams, more shouts. But a vastly larger number of screeches soon over powers the other noises, until the gunshots stop and the human screams are cutoff in mid-cry. Alvarez looks away from the land even though he can’t see anything in the dark anyway.
“They should have just run,” Dr. Hall says. “Or hid.”
“Not everyone has that option,” Alvarez says. “A lot of folks that stayed instead of evacuating have health issues. And a lot are here to prey on those that stayed. You may be able to hide from the ooze things, but it’s a lot harder to hide from people.”
“I guess that may be true,” Dr. Hall says. “I did have some issues like that. Luckily I was helped by…”
Alvarez waits for Dr. Hall to finish, but when he doesn’t he asks, “Help? Helped by who?”
“Whom,” Dr. Hall corrects.
“I wouldn’t get all grammar Nazi on someone sitting behind you with a paddle in his hands,” Alvarez says.
“Academic reflex,” Dr. Hall replies. “Sorry.”
“You didn’t answer the question,” Alvarez states. “Who helped you?”
“I’d rather not talk about it,” Dr. Hall says. “It did not end well for him.”
“It wasn’t another agent, was it?” Alvarez asks. “A man named Zakarian?”
“What? No. Not another agent,” Dr. Hall replies. “A boy. Or teenager, I guess. He wasn’t a child. But he wasn’t an adult, either. He had a life ahead of him. He didn’t deserve…He didn’t deserve to die that way.”
Alvarez waits for a minute. “How did he die?”
“No,” Dr. Hall says.
“No? Doctor, you brought him up,” Alvarez says. “It’s good to talk about these things. Trust me. I have lost friends and seen horrific things in my time. You don’t want that stuff sitting inside you, festering and getting worse.”
Dr. Hall is silent for a long while, then clears his throat. “His name was Thomas. His mom died of cancer. I saw it happen. None of her medical equipment was working anymore because of the power outage. She didn’t last long.”
“Jesus,” Alvarez whispers.
“Yeah,” Dr. Hall responds. “Jesus, indeed. The boy, Thomas, came with me. Or more accurately, I went with him. He knew the streets better than I did, and he had some gun training because of his mom’s job.”
“What does that mean? What was his mom’s job?” Alvarez asks.
“We made it a few blocks,” Dr. Hall continues, obviously ignoring Alvarez’s questions. “We cut through yards and took shortcuts. But then we got to a park…”
“What happened in the park?”
“You see them every day when you go walking,” Dr. Hall says, his voice rising in pitch. “They’re all over the Mall. Flocks of dozens, flocks of hundreds, and you never think twice about what would happen if they attack.”
A lone gunshot, coming from DC, and not Alexandria, but far off. There isn’t a second one.
“Doctor? What happened in that park?” Alvarez asks. Dr. Hall whispers something, but Alvarez doesn’t catch it. “What was that?”
“We ran,” Dr. Hall says. “We tried to get away. Thomas kicked at them, tried to kill them, but you know that doesn’t work. We didn’t really know then, so we didn’t realize the danger we were in. Plus, they are so small. Even with the numbers, you just don’t think they can kill you.”
“What can?”
“Those...things,” Dr. Hall says.
Almost in answer, some of the ooze creatures start to moan and screech, then taper off until only the clunk of ice against the canoe is heard once more.
“I should have helped him,” Dr. Hall says. “But I didn’t know how to. If I’d stayed, then they would have gotten me too. They were small, but they knew how to swarm. Just like they’d swarm a statue or a tou
rist tossing out peanuts.”
It hits Alvarez then what the Doctor is talking about. “Pigeons. That’s why you were freaking out about pigeons back in the park.”
“Yeah,” Dr. Hall sighs, sounding somewhat relieved. “Pigeons. So many pigeons.”
“How’d you get away?” Alvarez asks.
“I took the envelope with the codes and the key card, and I just ran,” Dr. Hall says. “I let them take that poor boy down, and I ran!”
Dr. Hall starts to sob, and Alvarez worries the man will drop his paddle in his grief.
“Keep paddling, Doctor,” Alvarez says. “Focus on that.”
He is about to leave the man to his trauma and grief when some of Dr. Hall’s words come back to him.
“Wait. Did you say an envelope with codes and a key card?” Alvarez asks. “What codes? What key card?”
Dr. Hall doesn’t answer, just sniffs loudly, and then spits a large wad of snot into the river.
“Doctor? What codes and key card? Why would a teenager have those things?” Alvarez asks. “Why would they be important to take from a kid that’s being killed by monsters?”
“What? Oh it’s nothing,” Dr. Hall says. “Doesn’t matter now. You found me, so I’ll be able to get in without a problem.”
“Get in? Get in where?” Alvarez asks.
“The White House,” Dr. Hall says, sniffing and spitting again. “You were right. That did feel good to say. I feel lighter.”
“Are you saying you have codes and a key card on you that will grant you access to the White House?” Alvarez asks. “I need to know the truth, doctor.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Dr. Hall says. “I don’t need that stuff anymore.”
Alvarez watches as Dr. Hall reaches into his jacket and pulls out an envelope. It’s impossible to see any exact details on the envelope because of the darkness, but Alvarez knows a government envelope when he sees one.
“I should throw this in the water,” Dr. Gall says. “It’ll take even more weight off.”
“Don’t,” Alvarez nearly barks. “Hand it back to me.”
Dr. Hall stiffens, but doesn’t look back. Alvarez can tell by the tension in the man that he’s seriously thinking of dropping the envelope anyway. Alvarez takes a risk and sets his paddle in the bottom of the canoe, then pulls his sidearm and aims it at Dr. Hall.
