The Siege

by Hautala, Rick

  “Quick!” Dale snapped. “Up on the porch!”

  He waited while Donna quickly scaled the steps, then, without taking his eyes off the limo’s headlights, he followed her. They stood side by side at the railing and watched as the limo backed up. Dale knew it had to be just his imagination, but he was positive the limo’s headlights glowed with an eerie red.

  “Who’s my insurance?” Dale said, forcing a laugh as he turned to Donna. “Why, John Hancock, of course!”

  The limo’s engine whined as it raced faster and faster. Then, with a sudden roar, it sped forward, spewing dirt and gravel out from under its rear wheels. Dale’s car took the hit squarely on the driver’s door this time. The car shifted to the side as the wheels bent on the axles. One of the limo’s headlights went out, but the driver slammed the car into reverse and pulled back for another hit.

  But he didn’t aim for the car again. As the limo backed up, the front wheels turned and aimed directly at the front porch.

  “Jesus Christ,” Donna whispered. “He isn’t going to…”

  “I think he is,” Dale said, pushing her back toward the corner of the house.

  The limo’s single headlight swung around, nailing both of them as they cringed on the porch. Dale was surprised to notice how cleanly and sharply the light illuminated everything.

  Maybe your senses sharpen just before you die, he thought as his arm blindly sought out Donna and pulled her to him.

  “The man’s lost his goddamned mind!” Donna said softly. “He can’t get away with this!”

  “Be ready to jump to your left as soon as he hits the porch, all right?”

  Donna nodded.

  The night suddenly filled with the revving sound of the limo’s engine; it cancelled out every other sound except the steady arterial thump Dale heard hammering in his ears. He tried not to picture his body, broken and lifeless, twisted across the hood of that limo.

  Then the limo started forward, its tires churning up clots of grass as it charged toward the house. Dale imagined the car was a raging bull, ready to gore them both, but when it actually hit the porch, the impact wasn’t quite as bad as he had expected. The car bounced up over the steps. The front bumper tore into the porch railing, leaving behind a gaping hole. Handrails splintered and scattered everywhere, clattering like bowling pins. The top rail was knocked loose and slammed into the side of the house.

  At the instant of impact, Dale and Donna both jumped to the side, clear of any danger. The limo’s engine raced wildly as the rear wheels sought purchase to press on further. A loud, insect-like whine filled the night. Held in check by the stairs, the rear wheels spun uselessly, spewing out the sickening smell of burning rubber. At last the limousine sagged backward and, swerving from side to side, pulled back down the driveway.

  “Fuck you, you bastard!” Dale shouted. He picked up one of the broken porch pieces and brandished it like a club. “Come on, you prick!” he yelled, so loud he thought his throat would tear. “Come on! I fucking dare you to come up here, one on one!”

  In response, the limo sat there, its engine suddenly dropping to idle with a steady rumble. The single headlight glowed like an angry eye.

  It reminded Dale of Rodgers’ left eye and the thought sapped him a bit of both strength and anger.

  “We can’t stay here all night, fighting him,” Donna said.

  “You feel like walking down the road there?” Dale said. He felt curiously detached from what was happening, as though he had suddenly realized he was dreaming. But the choking smell of burning rubber was too real, as was the cold knot of fear tightening in his stomach.

  “So what are we supposed to do?”

  “It’s his move. Let’s wait and see. He’ll run out of gas if he sits there too long,” Dale said.

  His grip on the loose handrail relaxed, but he didn’t drop it yet. If Rodgers made another charge at the house, he wanted to charge the car and smash the windshield if he could. It sickened him, but Dale savored how sweet it would be to take that piece of railing and pound Rodgers’ face to a pulp.

  He’s the man who killed Larry! Dale told himself.

  The night hushed as the limo waited, idling. The darkness telescoped down into a narrow tube. But then, suddenly, the engine roared and the car bolted forward, its tires squealing. Dale pushed Donna behind him, cocked the handrail back, and positioned himself as the headlight came rushing forward.

  The limousine didn’t aim for them where they stood on the side corner of the porch. Instead it roared up the walkway and catapulted up the front steps. It knocked down both porch columns, and the porch roof sagged downward as the limo slammed like a battering ram into the front door. The door buckled inward with a loud snap.

  Glass and wood exploded into the house as Dale darted forward, the handrail high over his head. In the light reflecting from the house, he could discern Rodgers hunched at the wheel. His face was perfectly composed, certainly not the insane maniac Dale had expected to see. In a blinding instant, Dale brought the railing down as hard as he could onto the window, shouting his anger over the screaming engine.

  “You rotten bastard!” he wailed as the wood glanced off the window. A numbing tingle shot up his arm. It was enough to make him lose his grip, and the piece of handrail flew off into the darkness. It landed somewhere in the darkness as Dale ran back to the corner of the house where Donna watched in horror.

  The limo’s rear tires sent up thick clouds of vile-smelling smoke as it tried to climb further up onto the porch. The car labored and lurched like a heavy animal, trying to force its way into the house. Below the ear-splitting whine of the engine, Dale heard the splintering of wood as the porch started to crumble.

  Dale watched helplessly as the dark edge of the porch roof fell lower, closing down on the limo like a huge mouth.

  Maybe it will swallow him, he thought hopefully.

  But the limo suddenly jolted backward and, miraculously, escaped just as the roof folded downward. Dale’s rage bubbled like lava as he watched the limo skid across the lawn. The underside of the chassis glanced off the walkway, sending out a spray of bright sparks. Back on the driveway, the limo waited, its engine purring.

  “And who’s your insurance company?” Dale said, glancing quickly at Donna. The whole situation struck him as ludicrous, and he wanted to burst out laughing.

  Donna was silent as she stared at the single headlight of the limo as it idled there, watching and waiting. The night seemed to hum and crackle with anticipation.

  “The man’s obviously lost his mind,” Donna said softly. She was mulling over in her own mind their best chance to get out of this. If they went into the house, they’d be trapped there. Rodgers could set fire to the house, wait until they made a run for it, and then easily run them down. On the other hand, if they made a break for it, which way could they run? Would they be safer in the woods, or would Rodgers send some of his dead creatures after them?

  Dale was shielding his eyes and watching the single headlight, nothing more than a watery smudge in his vision. The sound of the limo’s engine cut through to him. It reminded him of an angry beast, growling as it waited for its prey to bolt.

  “If he had a gun, don’t you think he’d have used it by now?” Donna asked.

  Dale shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose so.”

  “We could try to make it into the woods around back,” she said softly. “His car wouldn’t get too far into that.”

  “And then where do we go? Where do we run?” Dale shouted, turning and glaring at her as if this was her fault. “How do we know he doesn’t have some of those things in the car with him? He could send them after us. I, for one, don’t want to get caught in the dark by one of them!”

  “Do you want to get caught right here by one of these guys?” Donna snapped. So far, she felt she and Dale had handled the events of the night fairly well, at least considering what they were dealing with. But if the threat continued for much longer… well, she felt confident in
how she’d handle things, but there was no telling how he’d react. Even just a second ago, his gale of laughter had unnerved her. If he was going to lose control, she might be better off not sticking with him.

  “We could go into the house,” Dale said softly, stiff staring at the headlight as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I think we’ve got to wait until dawn before we make a break for it. How close is the nearest house?”

  Donna shrugged. “More than a mile to the Larsen’s.”

  “How fast could you run it?” Dale asked.

  “With that on my ass?” she asked, nodding toward the idling limo. “I could probably make it in about thirty seconds.”

  “Right,” Dale said. He edged over to the smashed-in front door, inspecting the damage in the halo of light from the car. His heart was hammering hard in his chest, and in spite of the cold night air, his face glistened with sweat. He pushed on the broken door, and it gave way enough for them to get easily inside.

  And then what? Dale wondered. Would Rodgers wait out there all night? Or would he leave, maybe to come back with some of his creatures to finish them off?

  “Come on,” Dale said, waving Donna over to him. “We can keep an eye on him from inside the house. I don’t think he’s going to get that car any further up onto the porch tonight.”

  Donna peered into the dark opening of the door. She was filled with a rush of memories as the old, familiar smell inside the house reached out to her. She could hardly believe that this is how it would all end at the old home. She had always assumed she and Barbara would eventually sell the place, split the money, and that would be an end to it. But not this! Not to be held at bay by a madman who was threatening to kill them. It was too insane!

  “How do we know he’s even in the car?” Donna asked. Her eyes glowed like a frightened animal in the light from the headlight.

  As if in answer, though, the car’s engine revved up. Suddenly darting forward, the limo scattered a shower of dirt behind it as it started a third time toward the house. Dale tensed, expecting that Rodgers was going to make one last attempt to nail them, now that they were standing in the wreckage in front. But then the car turned sharply to the left. The tires churned large clots of the lawn as it raced around the side of the house. After a few seconds, it reappeared from around the other side of the house, still speeding and swerving crazily.

  Dale didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh hysterically or shout with anger. All he knew was that Rodgers was toying with them, as if he had them under his complete control and would dispense with them when he felt like it. He suddenly knew what a mouse felt like, trapped beneath a cat’s playful paws.

  “One on one!” Dale shouted, shaking his fists in the air as the car passed by close to the fallen porch.

  After another circuit of the house, the limo cut back across the lawn. It must have been moving at least fifty miles an hour by the time it shot down the driveway and, without even a flicker of brake lights, onto Mayall Road, heading back toward town. Dale and Donna both let out long sighs of relief as they listened to the sound of the engine, rapidly fading into the night. The quiet of the darkness settled over them like a heavy blanket.

  “You okay?” Dale asked. He took hold of her by the shoulders and looked at her squarely. In the darkness, her face wasn’t much more than an indistinct blur, but she smiled and nodded.

  “I think so,” she said huskily. “And you?”

  Dale grunted, still holding onto her.

  “I thought you were losing it for a while there,” Donna said. “When you started laughing like that.”

  Again, Dale snorted. “Well, you’ve got to admit this has been one hell of a night!”

  Donna suddenly leaned forward, collapsing into his arms. Dale ran his hands up and down her back, trying to quiet the subtle trembling he felt in her shoulders.

  “Where do you think Rodgers is going?” Donna asked after a moment lost in the comfort of his embrace. She pulled back and looked up at Dale. “Do you think it’d be safe for us to try to get back to town?”

  Dale shrugged. Looking out at his wrecked car, he said, “Well, we certainly aren’t going to drive. I don’t know about… holy shit!”

  “What?”

  “What the Christ is wrong with me?” Dale said, his voice threatening to break. “All this time, and I haven’t even thought about Angie! What if that’s where he’s going?”

  Donna’s stomach did a quick flip, and the tension she felt was made worse by the thought that if that was where Rodgers was heading, they were helpless to stop him.

  “No,” Donna said, her voice tight with fear. “I mean, he may have seen her with you at the funeral today. But he doesn’t know where you’re staying. She’ll be all right.”

  “You think where I’m is some kind of secret? Come on, Donna, this is your hometown. You know damned well he knows where I’m staying.” If Winfield was in cahoots with Rodgers, Dale realized, Angie was as good as dead already!

  Dale looked out at the dusty light of the moon brushing the lawn with a cool blue. The sound of the limo had long since faded, leaving nothing but the hissing quiet of the night. The driveway and road unwound like a smoky ribbon, leading to town. And to what horrors? he wondered. What horrors did Rodgers and possibly Winfield—have in store for this little town?

  “There isn’t a chance the phone’s still connected in the house, is there?” Dale asked.

  Donna shook her head quickly.

  “I didn’t think so,” he said, pressing his fist to his mouth. Worry and fear were gnawing at his gut like tiny, hungry animals. If that bastard does anything to hurt Angie…

  “So…?” Donna said. She took a step toward the broken door but tripped on something in the dark and almost fell. Dale reached out and steadied her. His features were lost in the shadows under the porch, but she could tell his face was creased with worry about his daughter.

  “I really want to get back to town, to make sure Angie’s all right,” Dale said tightly. “But I just don’t think we should try it in the dark. I know he’ll be out looking for us. At least here we have some protection.”

  “Not if he returns with some of his… Jesus, even trying to say it sounds so goddamned stupid!”

  “His zombies! What, you still can’t admit the truth? You saw one of them,” Dale said evenly. “Just tonight, you saw what Rodgers did to my best friend.” His voice broke at the memory of Larry’s cold, death-glazed eyes staring at him as he lumbered, stiff-limbed, after them, his hands flexing to tear the life from them.

  “So you think we should wait here until dawn, huh?” Donna said. “And what if he knows we’re staying here? He wrecked your car. He knows we won’t chance the woods in the dark. If he comes back here with any of those things, we’re as good as dead.”

  “I know, I know,” Dale said. “We’re stuck between the proverbial ‘rock and hard place.’ ”

  “I guess you’re right, though,” Donna said, sighing as she looked again at the smashed-in front door. The whole night still seemed like a bad dream she hoped would end soon.

  “I’ve got a flashlight in the car,” Dale said. “Wait here.”

  He leaped over the tangle of splintered wood and ran down to his demolished car. The driver’s door was hammered in so badly the door handle was flat against the panel. He couldn’t even get his fingertip under the door trigger. Both front and back wheels on the driver’s side stuck out at sharp angles from the wheel wells. The axles were bent way out of shape, and he was positive this car would never see road service again!

  On the passenger’s side, though, he could open door. The dome light didn’t come on when he opened the door, but that was no surprise. After fishing around blindly on the floor for a few seconds, he found the little penlight he kept for reading maps at night.

  As he started back up to the house, he looked at the damage the limo had done to the front lawn. Everywhere, there were deep trenches and skid marks. Moonlight cast them in black sh
adows, making them look deeper than they really were. The front of the house, Dale thought, looked as though a bomb had gone off. Behind a large section of fallen roof, there was a gaping black hole where once the front door had been.

  “Come on,” Donna said, her voice coming from the blackness under the fallen porch, seemingly disembodied. “Hurry it up.”

  Dale ran up the walkway and, once back beside Donna, snapped on his penlight. The beam was weak and threw a feeble circle of light onto the caved-in door.

  “That’s it?” Donna said, watching with a trace of amusement as the little yellow oval darted over the smashed wood.

  Dale grunted. “ ’Fraid so,” he said. “Come on, let’s get inside. Maybe we can get some wood from the barn and brace the door back up. At least we won’t be stumbling around in the dark all night.”

  He held the light so it shined into the opening, and stood back as Donna entered the house. He followed her in, taking one last look out onto the silent, cold night. That Rodgers would return, he had no doubt, the only real question was when? Dale was determined that, when he did, Rodgers wouldn’t catch them off their guard. Not ever again!

  II

  Mrs. Appleby and Angie left for the hospital in Houlton seconds after the call that Lisa and a police officer had been taken there by ambulance. They left a note on the kitchen table, telling Dale where they had gone and not to worry, that everything was under control.

  In the ambulance on the drive to the hospital, Officer Brooks had regained consciousness and identified Lisa. He had gotten increasingly agitated about being anywhere near her, and had gotten so upset, one of the Medcu crew had to give him a shot to sedate him. They were both unconscious when they were wheeled into the emergency room.

  Lisa was still asleep when her grandmother and Angie entered her room. She had been washed up, and her blood-soaked pajamas had been exchanged for a fresh hospital johnny. She was hooked up to an intravenous tube, but the on-duty nurse repeatedly assured Mrs. Appleby that, so far as they could tell, Lisa was just fine. There were no signs of any internal or external injury at all except for the large bruise on her forehead.